The Crescent, Brighton

It's a sign of the times that there are so few neighbourhood pubs in Brighton open on a Friday afternoon; hence my arrival at The Crescent, in an attempt to find a pub that is not only open, but also has something worthwhile to drink. Things were looking, if not promising, then at least tolerable, with handpumps offering Asahi Hophead and Long Man Best (the keg taps pouring the likes of Madri and Camden Helles). However, the first attempt at the Hophead was very much end-of-barrel, while the second was just as much start-of-barrel-tapped-too-soon (unless whoever brews it now has completely ruined it). I took the ale to one of the many tables - this particular one on a slightly higher level. A good crowd was rocking out, so it's obviously popular, but most of the punters seemed to have lager of some sort and I can't say I'm surprised. A shame: it's not a bad pub, though the cask ale was on this visit.

Official site of The Crescent - www.thecrescentpub.co.uk

Official site of The Crescent - www.thecrescentpub.co.uk

The Crescent was dead on Saturday night a couple of weeks ago and the only two other customers were entertaining themselves by trying to name the artists that performed the obscure music playing in the background. The seating on the right hand side of the pub is raised and the bar on the left hand wall supports two hand pumps that were drawing Harvey’s Best and Doom Bar. There is also a mix of premium and standard draught products and food is served during the day. I didn’t see a menu due to my late visit, but the mains on the specials board were priced around the £8 mark. I didn’t spot a television, but there was an advertisement for the weekly on Tuesday nights. There is a beer garden and pub cat that was strutting around the bar. I found this pub to be very boring and the barmaid didn’t help as she looked like she would rather be anywhere else but working.