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The Black Jug, Horsham
Horsham
RH12 1RJ
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Bucking Fastard left this review about The Black Jug
A good looking pub both from the outside and inside,it's on the way from the station to the town and is an obvious place to pop into for a beer.The interior has a great parquet floor,an island bar and rustic furniture with a side section in a library style,a rear dining room and decent wood panelling everywhere.This pub was called The Hurst Arms when the Sun Alliance HQ was next door,it's now more food orientated than back in the day and now operated by Brunning & Price.
In the 2023 GBG ,the four handpumps were ,on my trip, drawing Harvey's Sussex Best (regular),Robinson's Dizzy Blonde (NBSS 3.5),Firebird Parody and Three Acres IPA .When the last two were ordered they both stated to splutter out and were reversed,leaving a meagre choice.The barman said they were busy the previous evening but does no one check conditioning before opening at noon ? We were in at 12.15pm on a Friday which might indicate a careless attitude to their real ale.Switching to new barrels was also going to be a protracted process,so we drifted off after the one.Decent pub,not a great pub experience.
On 12th March 2023
- rating: 7
[User has posted 2727 recommendations about 2727 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Danny O'Revey left this review about The Black Jug
Nice comfortable L-shaped room with chunky reustic furniture.
On 27th May 2019
- rating: 7
[User has posted 1456 recommendations about 1434 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Black Jug
The Black Jug is the first pub you encounter when making your way from the train station towards the centre of town and the double gabled building is quite striking on approach. The pub has an opened out interior which runs around what is now an island servery. The decor is a mix between gastro-pub and gentrified boozer and I was immediately put in mind of the Brunning and Price chain, who I later found out are the owners of this place. The front and right hand side of the pub seem to be the best spots for drinkers to congregate, although seating here is notably more limited than in the larger left hand dining area or the bright rear space that was full of families on this late Sunday afternoon visit. There was the usual mishmash of paintings, maps, drawings, photos, certificates and the like that B&P seem to specialise in across the walls and a collection of board games was available in the rear room.
We stopped off here for a bite to eat after a long walk around the surrounding countryside and the food was of a high standard whilst portion sizes were more than enough to satisfy the appetite we’d worked up. There were around five or six ales available and the one I sampled was in pretty good shape. Several other customers were trying the ales, so throughput looks to be pretty good, certainly by food-led pub standards.
This is a pleasant enough pub with a decent enough ale range to merit a look, and it felt like one of Brunning and Price’s more ‘pubby’ outlets, although I did leave thinking that the place probably worked better for us because we happened to be eating here.
On 21st August 2017
- rating: 7
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Black Jug
The Black Jug can be found on North Street midway between Horsham Railway Station and the Town Centre. I tried to gain access just after 11:00 on a recent Saturday morning, but alas the doors were firmly shut. I decided to adjust my pub crawl of the area so that I could return later in the day. I have since learned that this pub is open from 11:30 until 23:00 Monday to Saturday and 12:00 until 22:30 on Sundays.
My return visit to the Black Jug was at 17:00 when it was half full with a mixed crowd mainly consisting of twenty-somethings. The front of the pub is a U shaped bar area with pictures and prints on the walls. Seating stretches around the exterior walls and there are a few stools against the bar. I counted six hand pumps that were drawing Caledonian Brewery’s Deuchars, Brains’ Bread of Heaven, Harvey’s Best, Theakston’s Vanilla Stout, Castle Rock’s Harvest Pale and Westons’ Rosie’s Pig cider. A keg range of Fosters, Kronenburg, Birra Moretti, Caledonian Three Top, Aspalls’ Cider, Stowford Press cider and Guinness were also available. I’m not usually that observant of the back bar, but the massive spirit range in here was difficult to miss.
At the rear of the pub is a conservatory full of seating, some of which was reserved for diners. Food is available from 12:00 until 22:00 Monday to Saturday and 12:00 until 21:30 on Sundays. The mains are priced between £11 for sausage and mash to £18 for 10oz rump steak.
Out the back is a paved beer garden complete with seating, some of which is covered. There are also a couple of tables on the path under some hanging baskets at the front of the pub. There is no car park, but parking is available in the road opposite. Children are welcome until 17:00 and well behaved dogs on leashes are also welcomed. A ramp is available for the front step for those with mobility issues, but there is no disabled toilet.
I found the service to be polite and I managed to find a comfortable spot to have a relaxing pint. I would have no problem with returning in the future.
On 21st March 2016
- rating: 8
[User has posted 5251 recommendations about 5219 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Malden man left this review about The Black Jug
A fairly upmarket pub, as you would expect from a member of the Brunning & Price stable, but welcoming and friendly too as I have generally found to my experience. There is an island bar, a polished wooden floor with the odd rug here and there, to the rear is a large open vaulted conservatory which seemed to be the preferred spot for diners or maybe it is a designated area. Food is quite big here and the menu is not typical pub grub, braised ox cheek, horseradish mash, roasted carrots and shallots £16.95, charcuterie board £18.95, sandwiches a bit more in line with the usual £5.25-£7.50. The walls are literally festooned with all manner of artefacts, objects and framed things, something I always enjoy in a pub, so much more interesting than these minimalist places. All kinds of photos, drawings, cases of clay pipes, beer taps, old advertisements, a signed indenture, school photographs, even a letter from the PM's secretary from 1974 thanking someone for a letter. There is a splendid Guinness mirror, a high shelf runs around the walls carrying scores of old beer bottles, stone jars, jugs and so forth, bookshelves, there is even an old freestanding factory clocking-in machine. Add in the large exposed brick fireplace and a good number of potted plants and you have a very pleasant and interesting spot indeed.
Seating was, apart from bar stools, at recycled but well polished old domestic dining tables of different sizes, outdoor options too to the rear beyond the conservatory but not on a very wet Bank Holiday with incessant rain.
B&P pubs are not solely food centric, they also serve good and varied beer. I have seen better choices within the chain but here they had Brains SA Gold, Holt's Two Hoots (£4.00), Hydes "Retired", Theakston Old Peculiar and Deucher's IPA. Real cider represented by Farmer's Pride. Interesting for this Manchester ex-pat to see two of the home city's breweries represented this far south.
Probably the best pub of my afternoon in rainy Horsham, the beer range shading it against Ye Olde Stout House, Brunning & Price certainly seem to know what they are doing in providing pubs with a high quality environment, good food and decent ales even if the prices are at the upper end of the scale.
I did remark in my review of The Mute Swan, in Hampton Court, that it was possibly B&P's most southerly outpost. Clearly not now and good to see this excellent chain is expanding in the south.
On 29th May 2014
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1708 recommendations about 1681 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
paulof horsham left this review about The Black Jug
Busy town pub, big on food, good wine list, 5/6 ales all in pretty good nick. There's an outside courtyard, too, which is a pleasant place to sit (weather permitting).
On 22nd June 2009
- rating: 8
[User has posted 453 recommendations about 425 pubs]