The Conquerors March, St Helens, Hastings

Substantial new-build Marston's pub / restaurant, doing excellent business late on a Friday lunchtime. Nothing remarkable in the L-shaped arrangement of seating and dining areas, other than it didn't feel crowded despite the numbers in, and it was surprisingly quick to get served. Slightly disappointingly, just 61 Deep and Pedigree (£4.70) available from the two banks of four handpumps.

The Conquerors March is a large newly built Marston’s pub to the North of Hastings Town. The door to the L shaped interior is watched over by the maître d who seemed fine with the fact that I wished to stand at the bar. There are currently nine menus on offer including a children’s menu, a gluten/wheat free menu and a New Year’s Eve menu. At the end of the bar is a rotisserie oven that is always full of chicken which is the speciality of this pub. A standard and premium keg range is available from the bar that also supports seven hand pumps. During my visit on Friday afternoon the cask ale options were pedigree (x2), Old Empire IPA, Ringwood’s Boon Doggie and Bank’s Bitter. The final two hand pumps were badged with Wychwood’s Hobgoblin but were both off. There are various small seating areas around the exterior of the pub and there is a children’s play area. This is fenced off with a sprung gate due to the pub’s close proximity to the busy Ridge. As this is a food led pub it was not surprising to see a large car park. As a pub I found it quite boring in here, but the chicken looked very tasty. Probably one to leave to diners in future.