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Disappointment of the week with Mobyduck
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Reviews (Current Rating Average: 6 of 10) see review guidelines
Steve of N21 left this review about Albion
We really enjoyed this pub as well. Very friendly service from behind the bar and some very well-kept ales and a very enticing pie menu. Plus, some interesting pub features that you do not see every day. The Albion stands on the site of Whitby House, which was built in 1689 and licensed in 1730. Whitby House was demolished and rebuilt in 1831 and reopened in 1832 as the Albion Hotel, a coaching inn on the then fashionable Marine Parade. It went through turbulent times as a hotel until the 1930s when it was tied to Younger’s Brewery of Edinburgh and was their most southerly pub. This link with Scotland explains the bagpipes behind the bar and the tartan designs set into the wall panels in the dining room known as the Scottish Bar.
For our visit the door onto George Street from the Scottish bar was open but with a rope across meaning you had to walk around to the front and enter the Marine bar from Marine parade. This makes practical sense as you then enter into the bar with the ale pumps. Four of the six pumps were in operation and alongside the ubiquitous Harvey’s Sussex Best were three ales from smaller East Sussex breweries in the shape of Mighty Mosaic Pale and Citra APA from Three Acre Brewery and Sabro from the Three Legs Brewery. We went for the two Three Acre brews, and they were both very good. There were also five real ciders available from polypins behind the bar as well.
The Marine bar initially appears quite plain when you first enter, but there is some nice period features once you get your eye in. Then the dining room does come across as a tad dark with all that wood panelling, dark floor and dark furniture when you first enter but it’s a very comfortable room to sit and enjoy a beer with one of their wonderful pies. The corner section of this room also has a slightly elevated stage area and live music features at the weekend.
Another positive of this one is that its Marine Parade location allows it to have several bench seats to the front of the pub and these are a nice spot when the sun is out.
On 1st September 2023
- rating: 8
[User has posted 2110 recommendations about 1992 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Real Ale Ray left this review about The Albion
We really enjoyed this pub and thought the staff were excellent, along with the well kept ales. There is a very interesting description of the pub's history below on the Camra Pub Heritage link. Four ales on handpump, Harveys Old Ale, Harveys Sussex Bitter, Three Legs English IPA and Bedlam Phoenix. We went for the Three Legs and the Bedlam.
On 6th November 2019
- rating: 8
[User has posted 3382 recommendations about 3381 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Albion
A pub of two parts (and two entrances), and subject of a careful refurbishment in recent years. The beachfront public bar (accessed from marine Parade) initially appears quite basic, with limited furniture and decor dominated by a high-level frieze above the counter, but there are a few heritage features if you look carefully. The impressive dark Wm Younger & Co wood-panelling featuring various tartans makes the perpendicular lounge (with its own door off George Street) rather gloomy, but this is a more relaxing place to sit. Pie-based menu. Regular live music advertised. A total of seven handpumps is divided between the two counters, offering Hophead (£3.90), two from Three Legs - Dark Pale and English IPA - and the inevitable Harvey's when I visited. Overall, a considerable improvement from its previous incarnation as the Royal Albion.
On 1st July 2018
- rating: 7
[User has posted 8117 recommendations about 8117 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Royal Albion
I popped into here on Monday evening last week and I was the only customer apart from a guy sitting at the bar who I think was the barmaids mate. She was nice enough, but the Guinness was off so I went for the Landlord which was a decent enough pint. There are another two hand pumps, but they were both drawing Bass which is a bit lazy. I think that there is a TV hidden away in a wooden case on the wall in a corner of the pub and a piano is present that is used for a sing-a-long session every Sunday from 15:00. It’s probably a little livelier on Friday and Saturday nights when the karaoke is in town, if that’s your bag. The seating is made up of conventional tables and chairs and there are a couple of fireplaces that were both unused during my visit. There is a jukebox, but this was switched off and the team of Arrow FM were on hand to delight me with their Simply Red tracks and advertisements for local businesses. There is an entrance off the pedestrianised George Street and from the Marine Parade opposite where five outside picnic tables are situated. There is a separate restaurant that was closed during my visit and the toilets are located downstairs.
I think that this place is a bit tired and living off of its location. I will walk past when next in the area.
On 24th February 2011
- rating: 4
[User has posted 5249 recommendations about 5217 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Manky Badger left this review about The Royal Albion
Six months ago I said I wouldn't be going back. Well, I did. What is it with this place?
It could be good - it's got half way decent decor, and three ales on. But when I'm playing tourist in Hastings in the mid afternoon there is never anyone in this place. That's not "not many people", that's no one at all. Not a single soul.
12 March 2007
It was grim when I was a teenager in Hastings, and now twenty five years later, it's worse. I visited it out of a sense of nostalgia, but won't be going back.
On 17th November 2007
- rating: 3
[User has posted 155 recommendations about 154 pubs]