Olive & Coal, Bexhill-On-Sea

Now called Olive and Coal and i think it is more of a restaurant than anything else.

After a spell as The Forum this venue is now a Spanish restaurant and bar known as Tapa Tapas. Seating is found throughout, but the left-hand side does feel more like a bar than the right-hand dining area. During my early afternoon visit the Friday before Christmas there was a twenty-something Christmas work crowd mixed in with a group of all-day drinking down-and-outs. Some low background music was playing and I noted the lack of a television. Out the front is some seating that was being used by smokers. Available from the friendly barman was a standard keg range alongside Peroni and Amstel; unsurprisingly no real ale, but there is a cocktail menu. An extensive tapas and sharing menu is available along with a range of burgers, which are priced between £8 and £11. This is the sort of place I would consider popping into for lunch if I was passing with the wife in tow. At other times I think the Spoons around the corner is preferable.

Rebranded "the forum"

Walkers is a brasserie and cocktail bar that was busy with a young party crowd late on Friday night. It is open plan and the bar is stocked with premium draught products along with Guinness that was well served. The dance music wasn’t overly loud and there was a decent atmosphere, but being thirty-five I did feel quite old. There are some picnic tables out the front and this place may be ok during the day, but I think that in the future I’ll leave it to the youth of Bexhill at the weekends.