Regency Tavern, Brighton

Tucked away behind the Churchill Square shopping centre, this is a pretty madcap Shepherd Neame pub styled quite comprehensively, in Regency-era décor. You enter into a carpeted, staple-shaped space with the servery along the back wall and plenty of seating around the rest of the perimeter, mostly in the form of banquettes and chairs. The bar counter is fronted with the most remarkable, detailed panels, which are well worth a bit of closer inspection and totally overshadow a rather uninspiring bar back. Elsewhere, the general décor is equally as eye-opening and almost impossible to describe but includes some Regency style furniture including a chaise longue and some sort of fancy throne-like seat, over-elaborate mirror frames, chandeliers and other such features, various statuettes, large wall paintings and a massive coat of arms, almost all presented in gold and all very garish and tacky. Some large potted plants in the front windows provide some greenery to contrast the gold onslaught, and there was a small stage set-up at the front of the pub, where a keyboard player was taking requests from the crowd, which helped liven up the atmosphere a bit. The pub is dog friendly, with one mutt surprising a group of ladies sat next to me, by jumping up onto one of their chairs. There was just the one Shep’s beer on cask – Master Brew at £3.00 a half and in pretty poor condition if I’m honest. I came pretty close to taking it back, but with no other cask alternative, I ploughed on, against my better judgement. The staff were really nice and friendly, and the older clientele were just getting warmed up and I can imagine it would’ve been quite a raucous environment if I’d turned up later in the evening. This is a fun pub with a pretty unique interior that is worth having a stop-off to explore, and the friendly service would also encourage me to make a return some day. However, it’s tricky to look past the poor quality beer and I think that is enough to knock this off the essential list and drop it back into the chasing pack.

An opulent Shepherd Neame pub situated in a narrow alley just off Regency Square, while conveniently close to the shops of Churchill Square. The usual SN keg range is supplemented with Spitfire and Masterbrew (£4.80), which was deliciously cool on a baking hot afternoon. With not too many in when I was there, the pub was a relaxing respite from the inevitable crowds in the centre of Brighton.