The Hope & Ruin, Brighton

The Hope was empty at 22:30 on Tuesday night last week and I got the feeling that this is more of a live music venue as bands were advertised for every weekend night and others in the week for the foreseeable future. I think that the bands set up in the right hand side of the pub, that was closed during my visit, as the bar area I visited didn’t seem large enough to call itself a music venue. The two student barman on duty were friendly enough and this pub is aimed more at their generation than mine, as the ‘House of the Dead’ shoot-em-up arcade machine in the corner hints at. One of the four hand pumps on the bar was unused, but Brighton Best, Arundel ASB and Heritage cider were available. Sagres and Standard draught products are also available and there are happy hours from 17:00 until 21:00 every Monday thru to Friday. Tapas is available from the kitchen and the pizzas are flogged for £5. This place isn’t on my list of must revisit pubs in the area.