The Hartington

Full of mouthy blokes and the Staropramen is flat. Lovely looking place but that’s about it. Gutted.

Not great. A shame was a great pub with pride of service in food and drink. Unfortunately gone the same as other pubs in the area bar staff that are half arsed to even acknowledge your presence, serve you cold food from a wet dirty bar surface. Very poor level of service. Will no longer be a local for many people in the area

Having trekked up the never ending Hartington Road, only to still be lost, I eventually discovered this pub lurking over the horizon.
From the outside, the red paint and large windows are enough to convince you the Hartington might be OK. When you step inside however, you discover where the feel attraction lies.
The walls are decked with paintings and a collection of other trinkets. Running alongside the various paintings were still fairy lights, which helped to create a very relaxed room.
The drink prices are a bit of a confusing one; a small house wine is £2.40, but my pint of Staropramen was £3.75?! I wasn’t delighted by the price, but then Brighton has never been known for discount alcohol.
I also decided to branch out and try the food menu; I had a spicy lamb cutlet dish, served with mash and roasted vegetables. While initially unsure of what I might be served, I ended being really quite impressed.

This pub is in between being traditional and being new age Brighton but it does work in the sense that you are curious about things on the walls etc. when you enter. I agree that the food here is very good and that the price you pay although not cheap does reflect the good quality. For the best roasts get in there before 3 on a Sunday.
A good atmosphere for pubs is essential and I believe this pub does have that but to me it always feels a little bit like it can’t make its mind up in the end. As I am a big fan of pub games such as pool and darts which are facilitated, you’d have to argue it ticks most of the boxes.
This pub often fills up around 9 oclock in the evening which is quite normal but before then it tends to be far too quiet for my liking.

The Hartington’s a fine place to go with friends when your not really feeling like journeying into town but want to make a bit of a night of it. This is especially true if you’re an Elm Grover because one of the down sides of this place is, if walking from town that your gonna have to work your thighs up some pretty steep roads.
The atmosphere here is pretty boho and arty for such a tucked away residential pub, but not over the top or out of place and the large bar and seating area can get cosy on a Friday and Saturday night. If conversation dries up, or even if you conversations in full flight and you just happen to love board games, the Hartington has a stack of different ones to make everyone happy.
The food here is really good pub stuff, though a little pricey for some; a Roast being £9. Harveys best on tap is kept well and tastes Niiiccceee (Borat style), though if largers your thing there’s also a large selection including Hoegaarden and Leffe on tap which is ridiculously pricey, as well as being ridiculously nice.

My old local, and one of my favourite places to drink. A pub that doesn’t particularly try to be anything, but succeeds in being many things. The crowd is extremely mixed. Whilst almost exclusively locals, the age range is from 0 – 80, as families, OAP’s and everything in between frequent this place. Whilst that may not sound like a good thing to a lot of people, it really works and only adds to the extremely friendly and relaxed feel of the place. No Sky Sports, no fruit machines, no loud music, but good people and good atmosphere. The food tends to range from excellent to poor. Eaten in there many times, and it can be a lucky dip, but I know they’re always working to improve on this.