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Halifax Crawl - 21 June 2024 with sheffield hatter
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Detail Pages
Elephant & Castle, Lewes
Lewes
BN7 2DJ
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about Elephant & Castle
One that got away, unfortunately not open on a Wednsday afternoon when I was expecting it to be, maybe next time.
On 8th September 2022
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 1872 recommendations about 1845 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Graham Coombs left this review about Elephant & Castle
A good ale house, laid out with lots of space and plain wooden furniture including numerous pews. The large side room houses pool, darts and toad in the hole and there is a function room upstairs. On handpump were Hervey's Best, Hambleton Nightmare Porter, Langham Hip Hop and Derventio Spartan. Numerous craft beers were also available in can and bottle. Appeared to have a strong local following and definitively a pub for the serious drinker.
On 16th October 2019
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3339 recommendations about 3276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about Elephant & Castle
This is a decent sized two room pub located to the rear of Lewes Castle. Despite the fact that the pub has been opened out quite a lot, there are still distinctly separate areas. The bar has a central position and can be accessed from three sides, although there were lots of people sat on high stools along the counter which meant I initially had some difficulty getting served. There is a bulls head above the bar and an unusual sculpture suspended from the ceiling whilst the walls display the odd bit of brewerania and some interesting posters. To the right of the bar there is a seating area which had been rearranged so that all of the chairs were facing the TV screen which was one of many throughout the pub showing the Man Utd vs Arsenal fixture. To the left of the servery, in what is essentially a second room, there is some more seating, mainly pews and standard chairs around scrubbed tables, as well as a dartboard, pool table and toad in the hole game. A fireplace in the middle of the end wall acts as a nice feature and is flanked by trophy cabinets and some mounted antlers. There is a first floor room available for private functions and an outdoor seating area to the rear of the building.
Three ales were on at the bar – the permanent choices of Harvey’s Best and Taylor Landlord plus a guest ale which was Harvey’s Bonfire Boy on my visit. Having opted for a pint of the latter, the barman rather considerately informed me that it was a 5.8% brew and offered me a taster not only of the Bonfire Boy but also of a mix of Bonfire Boy and Best which he said his customers tended to prefer when drinking earlier in the day. All very responsible I thought and the staff in general seemed like a really nice bunch. For the record, I thought the half and half was probably a bad idea and went for the Bonfire Boy regardless, which was a good choice as it was a lovely drop.
The pub was packed on my early afternoon visit, with plenty of Sussex based Man Utd fans cheering on their adopted team, but I didn’t mind that too much and thought it had a nice community feel to it. If I wanted to watch some televised sport in Lewes, this would be the first place I’d head to and there was enough about the place to recommend it in its own right as well.
On 24th November 2012
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Mark Davey left this review about Elephant & Castle
A sports pub with decent beer, great food and a pool table that you can actually play around. I ordered a pint of TT Landlord and a Brie & Bacon baguette. Both were superb and the 6 of us on the crawl settled in for a game of pool. The TV was showing footie and just as we arrived, they rolled up a large projection screen that had been showing an early match. Great locals sports bar, well worth a flying visit.
On 29th August 2012
- rating: 7
[User has posted 292 recommendations about 276 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about Elephant & Castle
Situated on a junction, a number of attractive hanging and window baskets plus a previous GBG entry made me try my luck. Three ales (TT Landlord, Harveys Best, Flowers) plus a cider (Westons). My Landlord was fresh and went down very well. Quite a local’s local with a heavy slant towards sport (a muted TV was showing the football) with pool, dartboard and table football in the side room. Food is offered and sounded a bit above the average pub grub as the menu included red snapper - I would have tried some if I wasn’t on such a tight schedule. Plenty of interesting nik-naks inside. There’s a very ornate carved wooden archway by the entrance; a ‘flying’ halloween skeleton on the ceiling; a gigantic framed mock newspaper with some irreverent slants on the towns local issues; stuffed animal heads mounted on the walls; large posters from previous local events adorning the upper bar.
On the evidence of this somewhat flying visit I’d be happy to look in again next time I’m in Lewes.
On 4th September 2010
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5099 recommendations about 5082 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about Elephant & Castle
This is primarily a sports pub as there are a couple of plasma screens in the bar area and another in the back room which also has a projector screen, table football, pool table, toad-in-the-hole and a dartboard. There is also a jukebox with a vast array of songs available which are quite loud, but a little quieter in the front bar.
The barman was very friendly and Harveys Best and Landlord were available along with a guest ale, Old Rosie, Guinness, which as good, and an array of lagers.
The locals seemed friendly enough and I would make a point of revisiting if in the area again.
On 4th November 2009
- rating: 7
[User has posted 5254 recommendations about 5222 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Clive Thompson left this review about Elephant & Castle
Good down to earth pub that has done the whole refurb, oak table, pub menu thing without losing it's character and sense of community. 3 ales and a cider on draught and they seem to know how to look after them. Good place to stop off on a crawl.
On 13th June 2009
- rating: 7
[User has posted 777 recommendations about 697 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about Elephant & Castle
Very sport orientated, with screens all over showing football, rugby and racing on Saturday. Having said that not unfriendly, overly noisy or unwelcoming. A choice of several areas to sit, and view, good beer range too which is unusual for a sports bar. Arundel Stronghold, Brakspears Bitter, Harvey Sussex Best and Old Rosie cider. Pool, darts and bar football in the side room. Certainly worth a look in on a Lewes crawl.
On 5th April 2009
- rating: 6
[User has posted 1708 recommendations about 1681 pubs]