The Duke Of Wellington — Restaurant in England

In an age where we are losing some of the sense of community in everyday life, the Duke of Wellington is more than just a pub, it is a great community hub where people from different backgrounds and walks of life can come together and put the world to rights and let their hair down.

I have used the pub for the past 20 years and although there have been some cosmetic changes to the pub during that time and a change of ownership, the Duke's great strength is that it has always stayed true to itself and has never had any pretensions to be something that it is not. If you are looking for a gastro-friendly, arthouse pub where parents can mingle over a frothy coffee in a sanitised atmosphere, then there are other places on the manor that will cater for your tastes. For people who want to go and have some drinks in a traditional backstreet pub, however, the Duke ticks all the boxes. It is a pub that reaches far beyond the sum of its parts.

Although the Duke continues to cater for its traditional clientele by being a sports orientated pub with a number of screens, including one in its courtyard and also has a pool table, fruit machine and dartboard, it has also tried to cater for other customers in recent years, particularly as a result of its partnership with Sweet who now put on live comedy and cabaret shows throughout the year, not just during the Brighton Fringe Festival which work well in its intimate upstairs venue.

In addition, although its food offering is restricted due to small kitchen space, it has started to offer a range of traditional pub grub comfort food options in recent years prepared by its resident cook, Dale. Its pie menu is extensive and I can vouch that the pies are very tasty.

The courtyard is a really good space in the summertime where you can just chill out and watch time go by. Although the courtyard offers no particularly attractive views as it is bounded at the back by houses, it nonetheless is a good place to be on a summer's day.

Once a month on the last Sunday of the month, the Duke runs a pub quiz which has grown in popularity in the last couple of years and tends to be a lively and enjoyable evening. As well as the main part of the quiz, there is also a Snowball competition that anyone in the pub can take part in. The pub also has a range of board games that people can play and has a newspaper rack where a range of the day's newspapers are available to read.

If you are new to the pub and are going there for the first time and you happen to stumble in at a time when there is a live sporting event taking place on television or before a Brighton & Hove Albion match, I can understand how you might find that intimidating.

However, my main advice would be to persevere because in truth the Duke is a really welcoming place that is free of aggro where you can make new friends in no time at all. The landlord Bertie and his wife Victoria and all the bar staff are all down to earth and friendly and the way the pub is laid out, it is almost akin to having a drink in your...

Loved it! The long vodkas were exceptionally good supposedly the guy hadn't made them before but they were actually perfect.

The chips and cheese were expertly made with cheese layered between the chips. Sometimes it's easy to get stuff wrong but this place gets all the important things 100% correct.

We were walking about the area and couldn't give our money away! We were turned away from 3 different places because it was 4pm (2hrs before anywhere local would serve food) and the other pubs were unwelcoming and unhelpful by comparison to this place.

Anyway the guy gave us a free snack to feed us til the kitchen opened. Very welcoming and helpful unlike the areas nearby (which I have to say didnt have anyone in them). The people in nearby bars made us feel as welcome as a fart in a space suit.

We must have spent well over 100 quid in this place and had other people drinking shots etc. By making the sensible decision to give us a wee snack and be friendly and make drinks they have made life-long, well-paying customers.

The folk at the bar could give lessons to the other local areas in how to serve customers and how to make newcomers feel welcome. Away and by far the best pub in the area. Other places may pretent they want customers with their pristine looking exteriors and advertising boards but once you get inside it's obvious the staff dont want to be there and dont want customers, the staff would rather have an easy, quiet day. Probably because it's not their business.

This place wants customers, wants to serve people, wants to get the basics right and wants to make money. Which they did. Dont waste your time or money on the other places. Going elsewhere is stupid. This place is where you want to be if you're...

Walked in cold stone sober as a judge, excited for Karaoke, having been previously and had a nice time. Unfortunately, upon my next visit, again sober as a judge, the landlady/manager was present; I was told I wasn’t compus mentis enough and asked to leave in the most humiliating way; I was fully with it. I wouldn’t wish this upon my worst enemy as I was humiliated in front of all my in laws when I came back in. What an awful pub. There was barely any punters and they still told me to go away and no one singing; surely they could really have done with selling some pints and a little bit of Karaoke participation at least. They won’t stay in business long. I was so disappointed as I was so excited to sing. Cheers for absolutely nothing. If they treat their patrons like that, they’ll switch hands quick. -1/10. This pub has...