Drove Brewers Fayre — Restaurant in Lewes

The most appalling Brewers Fayre I have ever eaten in ! I booked breakfast to go with my accommodation at Premier Inn at the Waterfront in Leith. This was two weekends following each other. The night of our arrival, tired and hungry, we went to Brewers Fayre for an evening meal (Friday night). It was basic, bland and very average but we just ate it and went to bed. The next day we had paid for breakfast … what a nightmare. Only a third of breakfast items available to plate up and had to request a poached egg which took 10 minutes. Same happened the next morning The second weekend we stayed at Premier inn, we went for an evening meal at Brewers Fayre. Apart from screaming kids everywhere, cigarette butts all over the front of the premises, drunks mouthing off, we stayed as ordered food to save going anywhere else. I ordered fish and chips - I couldn’t eat it it was awful! The batter was soggy and uncooked. The fish inside was dry and grey looking. The chips were dry and hard and tasteless. Even the mayonnaise was tasteless. I sent it. BAck with the lovely waitress who agreed it looked terrible. She returned to say the manager sent her apologies. No apology from the manager herself directly to me no refund offered. I was ordering a pudding worth a third of the price and they didn’t charge me for it. I wanted hot chocolate. The machine was broken and when my husband went to make one manually he was shouted at by the Chiense lady who worked there. My husbands food was a curry which was tasteless and the popadom was like rubber.

We went for our booked and paid for breakfast the next day and it was horrendous! Only two item of the breakfast buffet available. I asked for a poached egg to which I got a sigh and told would be 5-8 minutes and to put my breakfast back and wait. I went back after 10 minutes. Again there was only a third of food available and when I asked where my poached egg was the girl (long dark hair, short in height, wearing black) said I forgot. I said this is t acceptable. She said yeh well me and the chef are doing our best but I forgot to order stuff ready. We got what we could and sat down to eat. 10 minutes later she slammed a plate down on my table with 2 poached eggs which were hard as rock and said sorry for your wait as she walked away. We cancelled the breakfast for the next day and asked for the refund for it. We saw the chefs that night all sat on crates smoking cigarettes outside. Avoid...

Breakfast at the Drove is very good. The food is nice and the fact that kids up to 16 can eat for free (2 per adult) makes it great value. Unfortunately food at other times is often not as good. We haven't had the Sunday carvery for a long time so can't comment on that. I have ordered vegetarian sausages twice fairly recently on Sunday afternoons, the first time they were hard, dry and burnt on one end. They were difficult to cut and tasted awful, it seemed like they had been cooked in a microwave and left in too long. I spoke to the waitress who was nice and she took them back the replacement was fine but my husband had almost finished his meal by then. The second time that I ordered the vegetarian sausages they came out looking raw, they were white and seemed like they had been defrosted and heated in a microwave but not actually cooked. Again a waitress took them back and they were replaced but I cannot understand how any kitchen could send out food that looked so awful. How could any chef not know how to cook a simple thing and care so little about what he serves. The vegetarian options are quite limited and I think could be improved. The thing that really lets the place down though is how little care is taken of the actual restaurant. The tables are always unpleasantly sticky and the chairs are dreadful. I understand that people spill things and with lots of young families chairs are going to get messy. What I find unacceptable is the fact that chairs are not cleaned properly (or àt all) and they disgusting. Why have nice chairs in a place and then not take care of them. Stain proofing is simply and makes it easy to keep clean. I don't know why they think it's OK to have dried spilt food on chairs and expect diners to use them. We have often swapped chairs around but it's hard find one that looks clean. Also some walls are in need of a good clean to remove food stains and splashes. What the place really needs is to close for a short period and have a really good deep clean and some redecorating. This could be a really good restaurant there are some good points and some nice staff but at the moment I think they are letting themselves down hence...

Arrived at the neighbouring Premier Inn late afternoon on Friday 6 October, and booked a 7pm table at the Drove Brewers Fayre when asked by Rowan at Check-In/Reception.

Walked into the Drove Brewers Fayre at 7pm and had to wait a few minutes for someone to acknowledge us and take us to our table. We were asked if we had any allergies and were given a large green folder when we said that we had a food intolerance; then we were shown to our table. We chose a table by the window.

The restaurant wasn't busy, about a third of the tables had diners and the décor was pleasant enough. Didn't notice any cleanliness issues.

After I'd consulted the large green folder for non-dairy items, Hubby went to the bar to place our food & drinks order, giving our table number 45. Drinks, beer (2x Doom Bar Ale @£4.30) for him was served to the table, mint tea (unlimited refills £3.19) for me had to be self-served at the Hot Drinks station.

We both had the Crispy Chicken Goujons @£5.49, Served with smoky BBQ sauce as a Starter. The 3 or 4 large goujons arrived hot and juicy, not dry at all. Very yummy.

Mains: Hubby had the Beef & Ale Pie Served with skin-on chips, peas and a jug of gravy (£11.79) which he enjoyed and said it was on par with other Beef & Ale pies he's had before. I had the 30-day-aged British & Irish beef 8oz Rump Steak (cooked medium), served with skin-on chips, grilled tomato, beer-battered onion rings and peas (£13.19). It was probably the best steak I've eaten. It was soft, juicy and tasty. I couldn't fault it.

Didn't have a 'Pudding/Sweet' as we were both full.

The meal was a great start to our weekend away. The serving staff were great, the atmosphere was relaxed and by the time we'd finished our meals the restaurant had filled out and there were celebrations at a couple of nearby tables.

Total cost of meal including 2 beers = £47.75. We could have saved a bit of money if we'd dined before 6pm and taken advantage of the 2 Mains £11.49 Value Menu + Add A Starter for £2.99.

Docked 1 star for the lack of...