The Comet, St Leonards-On-Sea Town, St. Leonards-On-Sea

Official site of The Comet - www.cometstleonards.co.uk

Official site of The Comet - www.cometstleonards.co.uk

Shepherd Neame pub in a quiet residential area on the western edge of St Leonards but quite close to the sea. Fairly plain, elongated T-shaped layout with the main sports TV at one end of the bar at a pool table at the other beyond the small dining area on the other branch. Also has a decking terrace and lower beer garden at the back, plus a few wooden benches on the grassed area at the front behind the tall hedge. Just Spitfire (£4.90) available from the bank of four handpumps, but at least this was in reasonable condition (and a reversed Whitstable Bay Pale clip was also visible).

I vaguely remember spending a rainy afternoon in here about twenty years ago whilst attending a Combe Haven holiday park dart weekend. I cannot remember much about it and if it was anything like it was during my visit a couple of Saturdays ago I’m not surprised that it didn’t give me any lasting memories. The pub looks quite promising from the outside as there is a lawn area out the front that had a small bouncy castle on it and a large lawn area at the rear houses some picnic tables and a small toddler climbing frame. The disappointment started once I had walked into this T shaped pub as the welcome was far from enthusiastic, verging on rude, and the four hand pumps clipped as Jack, Master Brew, Late Red and Early Bird were all off. The usual Shepherd Neame draught was available and I went for the Guinness which was OK. There is a pool table that was free to play and a dartboard can be found in a room the size of a broom cupboard. The oche actually sticks out in the bar area, which I found a bit odd. A plasma screen on the left hand wall was airing Gold FM complete with adverts so I decided to wander out onto the rear decking area that has very distant views of the sea. There is a BBQ on the decked area that hasn’t been used for a while as it was full of smelly dog-ends. If I lived locally I would take that 10/15 minute walk up and down the hill to drink elsewhere.