The Lewes Road Inn — Restaurant in England

People who remember this pub as the Franklin will be quite surprised at the way the re-vamped Lewes Road Inn looks and feels now. The interior has a warmth of colour, and there is a covered front balcony and also an enclosed garden at the back.

Mondays are the 2-for-1 Pizza offer, and I picked two of the four vegetarian pizzas on offer, a side salad, and a bottle of Pinot which was just over £20. After the wine was delivered to our table, another server came up with the card reader and asked us to pay for the drinks and food now. In this Covid19 era, I didn’t have the wit to say “hold on, we expect to taste the food first”, and was promptly debited £48. Seafront prices, as they had forgotten their 2-for-1 offer. This overcharge was rectified only when I queried it.

The pizzas came quickly enough and you are supplied with a pizza wheel to cut them up with, which is a nice trick if you can do it on a pottery lipped plate on a slippery table. I would think it easier to cut a pizza on a wooden board before serving it.

The mushroom pizza “Pretty Fly For A Funghi” [sic] is an example of what pizza should be like. Bursting with flavour and texture, this pizza is totally authentic, and I will return and eat that again, frequently.

The aubergine pizza “‘Gine Genie” [sic] ... not so much. The aubergine meatballs, although interesting on their own, are bland, and as they are coated in breadcrumb and deep fried, they are also very fatty. I tried mashing them to spread them over the slice, and added rocket leaf salad to try and boost the flavour, but it simply does not work. As my chef partner on the night said: “Don’t try and be fancy with pizzas; stick to the basics, basics which have been tried and tested over generations”.

During our stay there was a jazz band playing, their sound rattling around even the back rooms, as apart from a few rugs there are no soft furnishings to dampen the noise. Whenever the drummer got going it became difficult to communicate with the staff. The management need to decide if they are a music venue, or just wanted some background Trad Jazz while people eat, and then the band can “let rip” after service.

All that being said, all can be forgiven when tasting the mushroom pizza, and marvelling at the transformation from the old Franklin. And, with real beer (eg. Harvey’s) flowing from the pumps, I’ll...

today i had the pleasure of trying a few menu items from the lewes inn road.

the vvvvegwroni pizza was the first one, i’ve tried multiple vegan pizzas before and this definitely is on my top 3. i find most places struggle to find a decent vegan cheese especially mozzarella but this place definitely is my favourite. Upon first sight I did not realise that it was vegan! I found that the vegan pepperoni was extremely flavourful especially paired with the hot agave syrup!

next we tried the matador, which was a delicious pizza filled with veggies, chorizo and aioli. i found the textures of the crispy chorizo with the flavours of the pepper and red onion really made the pizza for me. As an aioli lover, I throughly enjoyed it on the pizza!

we shared the hallo we miso you burger afterwards, i found the flavours of the garlic mushroom and the chilli butter really enhanced the taste of the halloumi. my favourite part of the burger was definitely the tomato chutney.

my second favourite dish was the the return of the mac burger. which was my two favourite dishes combined, mac and cheese and cheese burgers!! i have not seen a pub do this before and was absolutely astounded by it. a breaded deep fried mac and cheese patty smothered in marinara sauce and mozzarella, definitely not for those who are lactose intolerant!

my fiances favourite dish was the dirty schnitzel. which was a chicken burger with bacon, bbq sauce and aioli. Also paired with the traditional toppings from a chicken burger! the chicken burger was so juicy and tasty.

finally we tried the herbivore burger which was a vegan alternative. my partner absolutely loved this burger, as someone who loves high volume meat dishes this was surprising to me. we did not know it was vegan until he’d finished it! i absolutely loved the sweet chilli mayonnaise...

Amended on 14/10/2024 I wanted to experience the same time I had one week ago ie good food and ecellentlent service however upon my repeat experience i experienced a nightmare. My time this time was caused by very poor front of house ie they seaved my food so late that i had to leave before i had a time to eat,What a shame as the kitchen was excellent. I booked my table for 1630 but my food was not served by 1700 so I cancelled and left , i feel for this establishments as wanted to bring my family to eat here

I should like to add to this old review... I revisited the pub on 13/10/2024 and upon waiting at the bar (which was EXTREAMLY busy, the bar was rammed with OAP's and their tradesmen famliesdogs.students.tradesmen with their young families and buggies ALL of which all were smiling) I was given a polite courteous professional welcome by one of the bar staff who served me a delicious pint. The difference in contrast to my previous visit was immediately apparent and such an improvement... all was forgiven. As i have mentioned the front of house staff had a heavy work load yet on the surface all appeared calm and professional. I ordered my food and was met with nothing but courtesy and professionalism, and boy was it good. the newish chef certainly knew his onions ... and his carrots, broccally, roast beef ect... well done chef it was sensational. All in all a very pleasant experience, a perfect sojourn on a Sunday afternoon. Thank you...