The Cuckmere Inn, Seaford

The Cuckmere Inn is situated at the head of the Cuckmere estuary and provides a decent place for refreshments if walking the Seven Sisters and/or the nearby South Downs path. The pub itself is now part of the M&B Vintage Inn brand and as such has clearly had a major makeover since previous reviews and is fairly typical of the brand with the usual large internal smart space with several distinct areas mainly laid for dining, which has the usual modern gastro decor and liberal use of the Farrow and Ball colour pallet, and the main reason for people to visit is to dine here. But we were he just for drinks and in that respect the pub has the advantage of an excellent multi area external garden area with a lot of the tables underneath giant jumbrellas with most providing wonderful vistas of the Cuckmere River and its estuary. Surprisingly this outdoor space did not seem that busy just after lunchtime on one of the most brilliant weather days of the year so far we were able to bag one of the best tables under the umbrellas for views of the estuary. The reason that the garden wasn’t busy became evident when I walked into the pub and up to the bar to be confronted with a prominent chalk board notice proclaiming that no food was available due to structural damage in the kitchen, which initially explained why it was good news for me that the pub was not busy but very bad news for a pub that focuses on diners, and bad news for most of the punters who entered and promptly left in search of somewhere that was serving food. The downside however then became clear because, despite the few customers who hadn’t turned heel there was still a queue at the bar and it was evident they must have sent most of the staff home and we were left with only one young lad serving. And that lad was doing a very good impression of someone who was mightily miffed that he hadn’t been sent home and was suffering for his profession in both joviality and speed. But finally I got my pint of Thwaites Wainright, which I decided was the best choice from that , Doombore and Pedigree and headed back out into the cracking garden to enjoy it. As a pub to have an alfresco beer on a fine weather day it is rather good. But as a pub /restaurant with decent service levels it all seemed a bit of a disaster.

I was travelling the main road and expected to find the Golden Galleon which seems to have changed its name to Cuckmere Inn. I note that the last review was in 2011 but I believe name change has been within the course of the last twelve months. Unfortunately I didn't have the time to do more than photograph the Inn Sign but from outside it looked much the same as usual.

The Golden Galleon is a large food led pub located in Exceat which is a couple of miles East of Seaford. There’s not much in the area other than a river and fields of sheep so I think that the only option was for this pub to go down the food route and judging by the size of the car park it must be very popular with diners. It wasn’t very busy when I visited Early on Monday afternoon, but for the time of day it had more than enough customers. There are a few steps up to the main entrance, but there is step free access at the rear of the pub, I would suggest putting the car at the top of the car park as near to the pub as possible. The exterior of the pub is lined with picnic tables and there is a grassed area towards the car park that has some picnic tables which I’d imagine being very nice to sit at in the summer months. Inside the pub the bar is surrounded with plethora of tables and up the left hand side of the bar there is an open fire in a brick column and more seating at the rear. The bar is stocked with standard and premium draught products and there are three hand pumps that were drawing Harveys Best, Nutty Black and Doom Bar. I found the barman to be polite and the waitresses said hello even though I was only standing at the bar, but I’ve had better Guinness. This is the sort of pub you take the in-laws to for a meal in sedate surroundings, so not great for a few beers and a laugh.

Love the riverside location, views and its within walking distance of the beach and cliffs. However, the food lets this pub down, very small sandwich selection with even smaller fillings!! The menu says freshly made sandwiches yet when I asked for the chicken and bacon sandwich without the mayo I could not have it as the filling was already made up!!! Had the steak ciabatta instead (if you could call it that) for the tiny amount of steak the ciabatta actually had in it. I filled the ciabatta with chips which were nice and you get plenty of them (a whole bowl full), still I suppose they are cheaper than steak!!!