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Disappointment of the week with Mobyduck
on the Pub Forum
Image posted by Moby Duck
Submitted on Saturday, 10th August 2019
With picture contributions to 1045 other pubs
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Detail Pages
The Urchin, Hove
Hove
BN3 3YS
Served areas
Reviews of The Urchin (Average Rating: 7½ of 10) see review guidelines
paulof horsham left this review about The Urchin
Despite having a desire to be seen as more gastro than pub, there's no problem turning up just for an ale, with the busy bar and garden both doing well on my recent visit. In addition, they brew their own Larrikin beers. The 2 handpumps offered up Long Man Best and the house Earl Grey IPA, while the 4 mainstream keg beers were fortunately supplemented by a full half-dozen from the Larrikin range - the hazy pale I opted for being a fine example of the style.
With prices more competitive than The Stirling round the corner, I'd happily return for one or two.
On 20th March 2024
- rating: 7
[User has posted 453 recommendations about 425 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Urchin
Hidden away in an implausible backstreet of Hove, this is a quite fancy looking gastro-pub with an emphasis on seafood, and also the home of the Larrikin Brewery. Having already abandoned one visit here earlier in the day due to a large queue, I returned later on to find a similar number of people waiting outside, but this time I persevered and managed to get a table after ten minutes or so. A corner entrance takes you into a fairly uninspiring main bar, set out in an L-shape due to the positioning of the servery to the rear right. There are extremely scuffed floorboards, gastro-grey walls and limited seating in the form of high tables and stools around the perimeter, all of which is a little underwhelming but perhaps the norm for this sort of gastro pub. The bar has a timber fronted counter held together by rows of heavy-duty bolts, plus what appeared to be a pewter top, a simple bar back and a metal cage gantry. A second room to the right looked much nicer, with bright lighting, blue walls and some proper tables and chairs, although the ‘don’t leave your table’ rule meant I couldn’t manage more than a cursory glance. The majority of customers were seated outside in a beer garden to the left of the pub which seemed to have plenty of picnic benches positioned in semi-secluded spots between bright floral displays, some under shelters, others catching the last rays of sun of the day. Almost everyone was eating – I was the only drinker I could spot – and the queue never really died down at any point during my stay.
Sadly, there was just the one cask ale available – Long Man Best Bitter – although a row of handpulls suggests that this might not always be the case. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a great pint, tasting a bit musty and past its best, so I was left rueing the decision to ignore the keg taps which included at least on Larrikin brew. Staff here were pretty overworked and struggled with finding time to seat new arrivals on top of dealing with endless food and drink orders, although they remained calm and polite throughout.
I found this one difficult to assess, as I was unsure if my visit was being unduly influenced by the Covid restrictions the pub has had to implement. The bar area was certainly not a space I enjoyed spending time in, with both the other room and the garden looking like better spots. Meanwhile, the beer wasn’t up to much, but this could be due to lower throughput since reopening, so it’s difficult to say whether I would’ve enjoyed this more in other circumstances. Ultimately though, this was probably the pub I enjoyed the least on my Portslade and Hove crawl and I think I would only consider returning if I intended to have some food.
On 28th August 2020
- rating: 6
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Moby Duck left this review about The Urchin
The pub is now a Craft beer and seafood gastro pub, stripped out inside, light and airy. Ten keg taps, five craft and five for the more normal stuff,there are also three handpumps drawing one Cider (Silly Moo) Longman Best Bitter and Dark Star APA which unfortunately went as my pint was being poured, It was however replaced with Tiny Rebel Super Sharp Shooter, very nice,the pub is now also brewing its own beer one of which was among the craft keg selections. Bottles and cans are also available. I decided to eat here , the Salt and Pepper Squid was excellent , so more beer was called for both keg,Double Barreled Peach Berliner Weisse and Cloudwater Hoppy Lager, both complimenting the seafood. Nice place, the business seems to be thriving.
On 10th August 2019
- rating: 8
[User has posted 1871 recommendations about 1844 pubs]
View more reviews of The Urchin (5)
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Pub Details
Pub details supplied by members of this site to the best of their knowledge. Please check with pub directly before making a special trip.
- Accommodation : No last updated 09 June 2017 by ROB Camra
- Bar Billiards : No last updated 28 August 2020 by Pub SignMan
- Beer Festivals : No last updated 09 June 2017 by ROB Camra
- Beer Garden : Yes last updated 09 June 2017 by ROB Camra
- CAMRA Discount : No - Discount withdrawn - last updated 09 June 2017 by ROB Camra
- Car Park : No last updated 09 June 2017 by ROB Camra
- Child Friendly : Yes last updated 28 August 2020 by Pub SignMan
- Darts : No last updated 28 August 2020 by Pub SignMan
- Dog Friendly : Yes last updated 06 March 2024 by paulof horsham
- Hot Food : Yes last updated 09 June 2017 by ROB Camra
- Jukebox : No last updated 28 August 2020 by Pub SignMan
- Karaoke : No last updated 28 August 2020 by Pub SignMan
- Live Music : No last updated 09 June 2017 by ROB Camra
- Live TV Sports : Yes last updated 09 June 2017 by ROB Camra
- Micropub : No last updated 09 June 2017 by ROB Camra
- Pinball : No last updated 28 August 2020 by Pub SignMan
- Pool Table : No last updated 28 August 2020 by Pub SignMan
- Real Ale : Yes last updated 09 June 2017 by ROB Camra
- Real Cider : No last updated 09 June 2017 by ROB Camra
- Wheelchair Access : Yes last updated 09 June 2017 by ROB Camra
- WiFi : Yes last updated 09 June 2017 by ROB Camra
