The Red Lion, Pevensey

We were in here at lunchtime on Christmas day, when it was absolutely heaving, with a surprisingly large number of family groups in with bored looking young children in tow. It was so crowded that it wasn’t a particularly pleasant experience having a drink at this session. We just stayed for the one. But the pub itself is OK, and I’m told that it is usually a quiet and fairly civilised place to have a drink. Being in Sussex it does Harvey’s ales, with Best Bitter, Old, and a seasonal Christmas ale (I didn’t note the name) on. There was a board on the wall mentioning various specials (such as a roast for about £8 as I recall), presumably not available on Christmas day. The bulding has clearly been extended over the years, including the addition of a separate building on the left as a stand-alone function room. The bar counter is a scant few feet in front of you as you enter; the room extends round to the left which seemed to be only place for drinkers on Christmas day, which I guess is why it was so crowded. A room off to the right, which I believe is usually available to drinkers, seemed to be reserved for those who had booked the Christmas dinner, which was about £40 a pop on Christmas day. There is some outside seating here, as well as a smallish car park. On the whole this is a reasonable enough pub without being anything very special. Without the Christmas day hordes I reckon it would be a comfortable place to stop off for a pint. The pint of Old I had was superb, especially as it’s an ale virtually unseen (Royal Oak excepted) in London. I don’t think it’s worth going far out of your way to visit, but I’d have another pint in here if it was on the way to where I was going.

It was dead in here when I visited on Saturday afternoon and the barman didn’t look that impressed to see me, but he was polite enough when serving me a decent yet expensive pint of Guinness. Harveys Best and Old Sussex were the ale options along with Stowford Press cider and a standard draught range. There seemed to be a leaning towards serving food and the mains cost between £8 and £10. The main bar area is nice enough with plenty of seating and there is more seating to the right of the pub in Muckers Bar. To the left there is a small room that houses a servery and fruit machine and further left is a large function room that was being decked out for a party. There was no background music and I didn’t spot any TVs, but I did see a dartboard with no oche and a large table lying across it – There was a league fixture list though so it is used. I found this place to be a little depressing and it wasn’t just the lack of other drinkers.