Sussex — Restaurant in Great Britain

A mixed group of 7 of us called off at the Sussex Arms for drinks before we moved on to a restaurant at 18.30 on Saturday evening. The visit was what we expected except for the rude, insolent and over the top behaviour of the manager. We positioned ourselves around a table outside, this table was already in position. Halfway through our second round of drinks the manager appears out of a door at the side of the pub obviously taking some rubbish to the bin. As he descends the steps he barks at us that we must move the table as the door is a fire escape and that we will be crushed should there be a rush of people out of the door, no please, no thank you, no stopping on his journey to the bin to explain this great danger. As our party consisted of a senior fire service officer and an architect we took it upon ourselves to explain that the door could not be designated as an emergency exit route door, due to the construction of the door, the fact that it opened inwards and the steps that need to be traversed once out of the door are not constructed in such a manner that they will meet building regulations. To which, said bar manager told us he doesn’t care and we can all ‘Fu** Off’, he then duly disappeared behind his non-fire, fire-door. What is heartening about this experience were the two other customers that witnessed this event who were concerned that we may not be from Brighton and that we may draw a conclusion that what we had just witnessed was representative of the City. Thank you to those two people for taking the time and being committed to promoting the city. However, all 7 off us do live in Brighton, I am guessing the 2 rounds of drink cost between £60 and £70 and we have all been there before drinking and eating, even in the depths of winter. I can assure you none of us will ever spend any of our hard earned salary at this establishment again, there are plenty more places in Brighton to do this. I am sure the Sussex Arms will not go bankrupt but all 7 us will tell many people of our experience, leave reviews whenever we can and I predict a recession (soon!), how many more customers are you losing employing this person. My suggestion to the owner of this establishment is to dismiss this individual, he is not doing your business any favour's, or at least send him on an anger management course and introduce him to customer care. I would like to add that the bar staff who served us were spot on,...

I was told that there was a gluten free sandwich and chips option so was over the moon, however after ordering and waiting over 45 minutes (which I was uninformed about regarding the long wait; furthermore, as a type one diabetic who had given insulin for my meal after ordering and then proceeded to have to stop their insulin and closely monitor their blood glucose levels as over-dosing on insulin, especially when not eating/waiting for over 15 minutes for food can be extremely dangerous ), I was told that I would have to wait even longer as the chips were being cooked separately and the kitchen/chef needed time to clean it for gluten allergens. (I’ve worked as a chef for over 2 years and must say that if it takes you over 5 minutes to disinfect your kitchen for allergies then there’s huge issues in your general cleanliness and allergen system). Then, after waiting 45 minutes, received a terribly dry, sand papered textured piece of chicken with one singular, three day old piece of bacon, alongside a measly bowl of raw, inedible chips tasting of chemicals. The only good thing about this meal, was the baby gem lettuce in the sandwich, even the tomatoes were hacked at by an extremely blunt knife. I’m aware that Greene King pubs are more budget friendly, but having to wait 45 minutes for my £16 meal, to receive something practically inedible is frankly appalling. However, ending on a brighter note, the staff were lovely and did apologise profusely. For future reference they should inform customers of the wait time for their food, and the chef immediately when receiving a ticket with an allergen to start his strenuous routine of cleaning...

I stopped here with my friend last Saturday for a much needed hair of the dog. A good selection of ales was on offer, along with some rather fabulous pink cider which was appreciatively recommended by the guy behind the bar, who I assume, was the landlord. My partner and son met us in there and we all ordered lunch. We chose a selection of dishes from the menu, all of which were delicious along with the various accompaniments of salad, coleslaw and fries. I had the falafels and my friend had the pulled pork in a bun - both of which were superb! My partner had the catch of the day battered fish in a sandwich which was also very good. My son just had some chips, which thankfully lived up to his high standards (look, I made him eat fruit when I got home, I'm not a bad mother, honestly). Really, this was good honest food and at a good honest price, fabulous beer and the lovely couple behind the bar made us feel welcome. The pub had that feeling of being run by someone who actually cares about the pub and it's customers, a feeling which is sadly lacking in so many pubs these days. We shall certainly...