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The Sackville Bistro, Bexhill-On-Sea
Bexhill-On-Sea
TN40 1LS
Reviews (Current Rating Average: 4½ of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Sackville Bistro
This is a compact bar and restaurant located on the ground floor of a former seafront hotel. Opened in 1890 for the De La Warr family, the hotel gained a degree of fame in 1902, when the Da La Warr’s organised the UK’s first ever motor car race from the hotel, taking place in May that year along the seafront opposite. Nowadays, the hotel has been converted into luxury apartments, but a bistro and bar has been retained and is available for the public to visit. You enter through the old hotel lobby, which has a couple of motor racing themed bits on display, turning left to pass into the bar and dining area. Both spaces are fairly small and similarly decorated, with nice carpet, plain painted walls, smart high backed chairs serving pre-set tables and a compact servery on the left hand wall of the front room. It’s a bit light on decor, with a large TV screen, unused on this visit, dominating one wall, but not too much else to catch the eye. On what might well have been the last warm day of the year, we took a seat out on the large split-level front patio which is amply furnished with faux-wicker chairs and glass-topped tables. Despite not really being able to see that much of the seafront from here - the beach is a fair distance across the road - this was still a nice spot and we were joined out there by many other punters who seemingly agreed.
Sadly, there's no cask ale available here - just a few mainstream brands plus Brooklyn IPA on keg, the latter of which went down surprisingly well. We came here mainly for a bite to eat, and having seen some of the plates of our fellow diners, I ended up going for the carvery, which was excellent, with endless replenishment allowed. The staff were also very friendly, making for a good dining experience all round.
I really enjoyed my visit here, but that was mainly because of the tasty food, excellent service and pleasant front patio area. From a pub-goer’s perspective, it falls some way sort, with its lack of cask, limited keg range and general food-led approach, but if you’re content to just have a pint of lager (or Brooklyn IPA) on the seafront, then you probably need look no further.
On 20th December 2022
- rating: 5
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about Coast
Another name change means that the Sackville is now known as Coast that advertises itself as a bar and grill. Out the front are some picnic tables within a good sized paved beer garden with views of a lawn and the sea beyond.
The front automatic sliding door leads to the Sackville salon to the right and the bar to the left. Unfortunately the distinctive smell that all hairdressers have is present in the bar area which I found a bit off-putting. The small bar is stocked with standard draught and supports two hand pumps. One of these was unused leaving Harvey’s Best as the lone ale option. The rear wall is mirrored and Tung and Groove flooring stretches from a rear seating area through the bar to the front conservatory. The conservatory has a its own coffee serving area and seemed to be more for dining during my recent Friday afternoon visit.
A sign in the window states that the bar opens at 10:30 except for Mondays when it is shut all day. It closes at 22:00 Tuesday to Thursday, 22:30 Fridays and Saturdays and at 20:00 on Sundays.
I’m not really sure what this place is trying to be. Whatever it is I wasn’t very impressed and do not plan to return.
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16th October 2011
Previously known as the Mermaid Bar and Mistral Bar this place is now under the moniker Sackville, which is the name of the hotel and apartments that also occupy this large building. I swung by on Friday night at 21:45 and found an empty bar. I noticed in the door that the closing times are 22:00 so I decided to venture elsewhere.
On 10th June 2015
- rating: 3
[User has posted 5228 recommendations about 5196 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Philip Carter left this review about Mistral Bar
Sorry the picture looks crooked, must have had one too many Guinnessesssss, HIC! I remember asking the bar man if the place was haunted, because there was a stain on the carpet that looked like a dog. Or maybe it was the Guinness again.
On 3rd December 2007
- rating: 6
[User has posted 757 recommendations about 720 pubs]