The Kings Arms, Horsham

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This pleasant, two-room boozer just outside of the town centre, gives the impression of being a gastro pub on approach but, once inside, feels like a proper traditional pub. The exterior is worth taking a second or two to admire, with its hanging-tile façade liberally covered with colourful hanging baskets and planters that make the pub easy to spot from some distance away. You enter into an opened-out porch area with the main bar to the right and a dining room to the left. The bar has a quarry stone floor, whilst the servery runs along most of the back wall with its dark wood counter and traditional bar back. Seating appears mostly along the front wall and to the far right of the room, in the form of various benches and chairs. The walls are lined with traditional framed paintings and a few old black and white photos which are all in keeping with the pub’s overall feel. The dining room has dark wood floorboards that match the main bar and a couple of rows of standard table and chair seating. One wall has a small fireplace with an attractive mantle flanked by twig arrangements that look like they would make ideal kindling, whilst above there are no less than three plain mirrors. A nice old lantern has been suspended above the entrance and the walls are decorated with a mixture of landscape paintings and animal portraits. There appeared to be a third seating area behind the main bar area, but I couldn’t figure out how to access it, if indeed it was even there at all, and the usual Covid rules meant that wandering around trying to discover non-existent rooms was severely frowned upon. A cheesy soundtrack played in the background throughout my stay and a decent sized crowd by current standards, meant there was a decent atmosphere on a late afternoon Saturday visit.
Just two of the handpulls were in use, offering two beers – Fyrd’s Gold and Conquest – from the local Battle Brewery. I tried the Conquest, which was in good nick although perhaps not the most memorable pint of the day. The staff were nice and friendly and were quick and efficient in sorting out all the Covid protocol before serving me.
This was another very pleasant pub visited during my afternoon in Horsham and certainly the one with the liveliest atmosphere. Despite all the menus listing fancy sounding dishes, I didn’t find this too food-orientated and was very happy sat in here enjoying a well-kept pint of ale. A good addition to any pub crawl around town.

On 6^th October 2020 - rating: 7
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