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Beer of the Week (w/e 27th April 2025) with Thuck Phat
on the Pub Forum
Detail Pages
The Lion & Lobster, Brighton
Brighton
BN1 2PS
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Real Ale Ray left this review about The Lion & Lobster
A good traditional back street pub managed by Portobello Brewery. The interior was Edwardian in style and had a lot of curios and pictures adorning the walls. Four handpumps serving Lion Bitter a house beer from Portobello, Harveys Bitter and two ciders and an extensive range of keg lagers. The landlord was friendly and chatty, beer was in good shape. The downside for us was the type of music and the levels on a relaxing Thursday afternoon sup, no need for it in such a splendid pub.
On 13th April 2025
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3645 recommendations about 3645 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Will Larter left this review about The Lion & Lobster
Really good back street pub with five hand pump, one used as a posing place for a couple of ciders, the other four having cask beers on (see photo). A notice about cocktails had accidentally obscured the house beer, Portobello Lion & Lobster Bitter. This was a really good bitter in the regional style, so I was really glad I'd spotted it. Only £4.70/pint. The interior is warm and attractive, with plenty of pictures on the walls including a tremendous steam locomotive. It was lively for a midweek afternoon, with several groups of people whose conversations occasionally overpowered the background music. They're staying open late for the Superbowl this weekend, too late for me to change my arrangements to be here. Maybe next year.
On 8th February 2024
- rating: 8
[User has posted 4273 recommendations about 3935 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Lion & Lobster
Located down a quiet side street just off the seafront and a short walk from the i360, this is a very pleasant traditional, street corner pub. The interior wraps around three sides of an attractive dark wood servery with matching counter and canopy – the latter liberally decorated with old jugs, pictures, model ships and other such junk. There’s a good amount of seating available around the perimeter, including some decent tables and chairs, nice, padded button backed banquettes and an uncomfortable looking hard bench booth to one side. The whole pub has been painted in dark shades and is lit primarily by fairy lights, so even during the daytime, the place has a warm and cosy feel to it, enhanced by plenty of traditional décor, such as a large painting of a train, lots of retro advertisements and a great many framed pictures, which cover lots of the wall space, especially in the cosy right-hand side of the room, and also line the pillars that support the bar canopy. There’s a bookshelf to the left which had a big stack of board games on it, which we ended up taking advantage of, having dived in here to escape the bitterly cold weather outside.
On the bar, there were five operational handpulls, dispensing Harvey’s Sussex Best, Dark Star Hophead and Portobello Lobster Bitter plus two real ciders. The Hophead was in very good condition and slipped down nicely, although the Lobster Bitter wasn’t quite on a par and I regretted not sticking to the Hophead. The barmaid here was really friendly and there was a decent crowd in, which grew and grew as the afternoon progressed, ensuring a nice atmosphere.
This is a pretty good pub that I’m surprised I hadn’t heard about prior to this particular visit to Brighton. The traditional interior and decent beer meant that it was easy to settle down here for a session and with a few other decent pubs this side of the city centre, it would be easy to incorporate this place into future pub crawls
On 13th September 2023
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3350 recommendations about 3350 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The Lion & Lobster
A nice pub internaly, traditional U shaped room with a further restaurant area to the rear. The three cask ales and two ciders were exactly the same as on Blue Scrumpys visit a month previous, with the cask ales a bit middle of the road I opted for Gun Scaramanga on keg.
Worth a drop in.
On 18th June 2023
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2151 recommendations about 2118 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Lion & Lobster
A pub I've been meaning to visit for some time, it has a real cosy feel to it, with separate drinking and dining areas, as well as a secluded roof terrace. Bar staff were friendly.
There is a house beer (Lobster Bitter) from Portobello and Dark Star Hophead is a regular beer. The guest ale was 360° Session IPA and there were 2 real ciders which amazingly I'd never had before - Abrahall's AV & Pulp Pear Craft Cider.
On 10th May 2023
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3040 recommendations about 3038 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
hondo . left this review about The Lion & Lobster
A characterful dark interior serving 5 real ales and food. The real fire was a bonus on a cold breezy day. Didnt visit garden/terrace.
On 7th November 2014
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2933 recommendations about 2866 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Strongers . left this review about The Lion & Lobster
The Lion and Lobster is made up by a U shaped bar area and a room with seating to the right rear that is labeled as the restaurant. The food is priced around £9 for the mains and looked pretty good from what I saw on a few diners’ plates. The bar supports five hand pumps that were drawing Harvey’s Best, Sharp’s Doom Bar and Abbot along with Festival and Hophead from Dark Star. There is also a standard draught selection and I found the service to be friendly enough. Sky Sports is shown and there are plasma screens throughout. These were all muted during my visit yesterday (Tuesday) evening and some low background music was playing. There is an open fire around to the left of the bar and every inch of wall is plastered with old pictures, photos and posters. There is an advertised garden and roof terrace that I didn’t visit on this occasion. Bed and Breakfast is also advertised on the exterior.
The bar area is quite narrow so it can be a bit of a squeeze at busier times, but that wouldn’t stop me popping back in again for a pint or two.
On 29th February 2012
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5965 recommendations about 5931 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Nigel Sheppard left this review about The Lion & Lobster
Serving Dark Star and a couple of other beers this is not a bad pub. Inside it is interestingly fitted out with lots of nick-naks and memorabilia, The beer however is a bit hit and miss, but when its good, its great. Just off the front off Bedford square. If you are that way , don't miss it.
On 1st June 2007
- rating: 8
[User has posted 192 recommendations about 192 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
train man left this review about The Lion & Lobster
One of my favs in Brighton. Good selection of high quality beer, attractive barmaids, local feel. Busy in a good way early evening but very relaxed this lunchtime. Darkstar Hophead & Festival, Wessex Bitter from Cottage Brewing, Harvey's Sussex, and Abbot from boycotted GK. Wood bar and panelling, 2 TVs (no sound today), 1 plasma out back. Best pub near seafront for beer & atmosphere. Food selection didn't look great, in fact I can't recall seeing anyone eat there on my half dozen visits, but Bankers chippy is just up on Western Rd where I tend to eat in, as the gulls round here attack in squadron formation - I'm sure they must be in radio contact.
On 28th March 2007
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 412 recommendations about 411 pubs]