The Stage Door, Eastbourne

With the adjacent theatre looking rather quiet and with nothing going on, I feared that without anything else open locally, the Stage Door might have been closed. However, the advertised opening times of all day every day turned out to be correct and the pub was open. However, the pub was very quiet, with just myself, a couple in the raised area overlooking a tennis club to the rear and the friendly barman. Another customer arrived later and also commented how quiet it was. The main bar area is L-shaped with booths along the right-hand wall. The real ale range was one of the better selections in Eastbourne. Harvey's Sussex Best Bitter was present alongside other regular beers (Long Blonde & Rising Giant) from Long Man. In addition, there was Lister's Pride of Sussex & Gun Scaramanga. In common with all other pubs I visited in Eastbourne, I couldn't find any real cider. I instead opted for the Pride of Sussex, which was pretty awful and certainly the worst beer of the day. It had clearly not been pulled through properly (or at all).

The Buccaneer changed its name to the Stage Door a number of years ago, the refence being the adjacent Devonshire Park Theatre. The pub is L-shaped with high tables across the front windows and an L-shaped bar counter that runs up the left facing tables up the right. A raised area with seating at the rear overlooks Devonshire Park Tennis club that hosts the Eastbourne tennis before Wimbledon every year. There’s also a projector screen at the rear for live major sporting events, no Sky Sports. Premium keg and Beavertown’s Neck Oil are available alongside six hand pumps, four of which were in operation during my latest visit on the Friday afternoon of Airbourne weekend. Gun Brewery’s Scaramanga and Harvey’s Best were available alongside Long Man’s Long Blonde (on its way out) and Rising Giant (very good). Pub grub is available, the burgers are priced at £15. I think it’s a lot better in here since the name change, the service is certainly a lot more friendly. Worth a look.

Facebook page of The Stage Door - www.facebook.com

Facebook page of The Stage Door - www.facebook.com