The Sackville Bistro, Bexhill-On-Sea

Official site of The Sackville Bistro - www.thesackvillebistro.co.uk

Official site of The Sackville Bistro - www.thesackvillebistro.co.uk

This is a compact bar and restaurant located on the ground floor of a former seafront hotel. Opened in 1890 for the De La Warr family, the hotel gained a degree of fame in 1902, when the Da La Warr’s organised the UK’s first ever motor car race from the hotel, taking place in May that year along the seafront opposite. Nowadays, the hotel has been converted into luxury apartments, but a bistro and bar has been retained and is available for the public to visit. You enter through the old hotel lobby, which has a couple of motor racing themed bits on display, turning left to pass into the bar and dining area. Both spaces are fairly small and similarly decorated, with nice carpet, plain painted walls, smart high backed chairs serving pre-set tables and a compact servery on the left hand wall of the front room. It’s a bit light on decor, with a large TV screen, unused on this visit, dominating one wall, but not too much else to catch the eye. On what might well have been the last warm day of the year, we took a seat out on the large split-level front patio which is amply furnished with faux-wicker chairs and glass-topped tables. Despite not really being able to see that much of the seafront from here - the beach is a fair distance across the road - this was still a nice spot and we were joined out there by many other punters who seemingly agreed. Sadly, there's no cask ale available here - just a few mainstream brands plus Brooklyn IPA on keg, the latter of which went down surprisingly well. We came here mainly for a bite to eat, and having seen some of the plates of our fellow diners, I ended up going for the carvery, which was excellent, with endless replenishment allowed. The staff were also very friendly, making for a good dining experience all round. I really enjoyed my visit here, but that was mainly because of the tasty food, excellent service and pleasant front patio area. From a pub-goer’s perspective, it falls some way sort, with its lack of cask, limited keg range and general food-led approach, but if you’re content to just have a pint of lager (or Brooklyn IPA) on the seafront, then you probably need look no further.