The Rock Inn, Brighton

This pub has recently reopened and the name reverted to one of its several former incarnations. The Rock Inn is tucked away at the far end of Kemp Town on a quiet back street. The bar supports 4 handpumps, 2 facing you on entry and 2 round the corner to the left. Of the former pair, one was clipped up for Long Man Best (and very good it was as well), the other had the Long Man Blonde badge turned; those other 2 seemed unused. Keg options cover standard lagers and mainstream craft, such as Brixton & Beavertown. A simple menu of bar snacks and burgers is also available. With a very "Brighton cool" soundtrack playing, this was a reasonable location to avoid the summer drizzle for an hour or so.

I visited the Rock on Tuesday evening last week when there were hardly any other customers. The bar is at the front of the pub and a door to the left of the bar leads to a lounge type area with fireplace. To the right of the entrance is a coffee bar and some more seating can be found around to the back. The toilets are at the rear behind the bar where there are steps up to a gallery and some steep stairs lead down to who knows where. The bar is stocked with standard draught and one of the hand pumps was unused leaving Harvey’s best and Doom Bar as the ale options. The only food that I saw advertised was the £4.50 pizzas and £7 roasts that are available on Sundays. There is a quiz every Thursday from 20:30 and there is live jazz on Sundays. I didn’t spot any televisions, but there was some quite loud random background music and a big pile of board games can be found by the front windows. The barman was friendly and didn’t mind me quizzing him about the closed Swan over the road which doesn’t open on Tuesdays for some reason. I wouldn’t go out of my way to drink here again, but I would pop in every now and again if I was a local.