The Pilot Boat, Lyme Regis

Covered in scaffold on this visit - so not the easiest to spot. Long internal bar, with some patio door leading to an outside terrace. GBG 2023 Palmers house. Last night, I was told that no locals drank in Palmers because of the price. As a solo drinker, I can tell you that the 200 was in fine shape and £6. The Rock Point Inn over the road and with a sea view had Proper Job IPA at £4.50. The locals know, you know.

Official site of The Pilot Boat - thepilotboat.co.uk

Official site of The Pilot Boat - thepilotboat.co.uk

Well described below, this was the final visit on a day-long crawl, and we found it a very pleasant way to end the day, although it was one of the more expensive pubs we visited. It’s owned by Palmer’s which could explain the high prices. Palmer’s beers aren’t everyone’s favourite, but I found my pint of Gold most agreeable, well kept and in good condition though other beers were only in average condition. Strangely, the front bar was overflowing, while there was no-one in the back bar, so we migrated into there. The staff were helpful and the atmosphere was convivial. I’d be happy to come back any time.

A fair sized pub right in the heart of Lyme Regis, this was surprisingly quiet on a recent midweek evening in July, when I would have thought there would be plenty of tourists around. Besides a few locals propping up the bar, we were pretty much the only people in there. The main bar is carpeted throughout, has natural wood beams on the ceiling and a mixture of cream and maroon paintwork on the walls, with wood panelling lower down, but somehow doesn’t actually feel that pubby, perhaps due to the seating which was high backed upright leather chocolate coloured chairs like you might get in a trendy restaurant along with light wood tables. There were several photographs on the wall, many of the local coastguard helicopter and some water colours of local scenes that were for sale. We didn’t eat, although the food menu looked to be a fairly typical pub grub affair and was divided in to sections such as jacket potatoes, sandwiches, platters, etc., as well as a few meat and fish dishes with most of the mains being around the £9 mark. Ciders were all from Palmer’s, with their 200, Best and Copper Ale. The solitary cider was Thatcher’s Gold. Overall I was a bit disappointed with this pub, feeling it lacked much in the way of any atmosphere and preferred some of the other nearby options.

The Pilot Boat is a decent looking pub that is quite close to the sea front. once inside this pub most of the seating available was for diners only and the pub also had a modern look to it which i thought was a bit out of place in Lyme Regis. This pub is a Palmers tied house and there were three real ales on the bar i had a drink of Palmers best bitter which was very nice the other beers were Palmers 200 and Dorset Gold. I might have enjoyed this pub more if it was less full and i could have got a seat.