The Heart & Hand, Brighton

Love this pub really old school complete with old style juke box. A few tables & chairs outside on pavement, while inside really cosy and comfortable, only issue is they dont except cash but the staff do bring your drink to your table. Look out for the pub cat Bailey, he knows this is his home. Overall a pleasant friendly pub I alway go to when in Brighton.

This pub has a pleasingly well preserved exterior with the striking green tiling and stained glass windows from the United Ales brewery days retained, reminding me also of several Portsmouth pubs where there was a tie-in between the Portsmouth and Brighton breweries. Once inside there is an L-shaped carpeted single room, lower walls wood panelled, all very traditional, nothing much has been altered in here for a long time and all the better for it. The bar gantry still has the United Brewery stained glass feature in place, seating is mostly perimeter banquettes and small stools at round tables but with a single larger version each end and a solitary high table, virtually unusable, apologetically tucked into a corner. There is a fully functional old vinyl jukebox, free at weekends, a Harvey's brewery mirror, a montage of customer photos and naturally, being Brighton, a wall full of concert flyers for venues around and about. The TV high on an end wall was off while the juke box treated us to a few classics from The Jam, Jimi Hendrix and the Stones. Modern twists were limited to ceiling fans and single tulips in a beer bottle on each table. Two handpumps, Harvey's Sussex Best and Doom Bar, the only food I saw advertised were pizzas but there may be more options. Not the most exciting pub in the world and there are better beer ranges available nearby but I do like to discover a real old fashioned pub that hasn't been tarted about. Recommended indeed.