The Jolly Sportsman — Restaurant in Lewes

Pretentious? Moi? My wife and I eat out quite a bit and whilst not particularly picky or over critical, when eating at a gastro type pub charging those type prices both of us expect enjoy good well prepared food cooked to a reasonable standard. We went to ‘The Jolly Sportsman’ on a Saturday evening in late January - Despite having booked well in advance we didn’t seem to be expected, but after some confusion and a short slightly awkward wait we were seated. After a couple of very nice cocktails accompanied by some delicious olives, we started off with the oysters for my wife which were fine. However, my starter of a ‘devilled duck hearts on bone marrow brioche toast with fried duck egg’ was foul (no pun intended). The fashion is to have offal lightly cooked - but served slightly browned and still raw and cold in the middle it had all the charm and palatability of chewing on an old piece of tough cold raw liver – top that with a greasy rather plasticised and ‘flat’ egg (which left me feeling it was not as fresh as it should be) this whole ensemble was then served on a piece of brioche toast which was soggy and tepid with grease and cold blood, it reminded me of some very poor greasy spoon fry-up and left me feeling quite queasy and bilious - actually that could be an insult to some greasy spoon type establishments who probably serve up tastier things cooked to a better standard without charging as much. We both had the lamb for the main which was ok if not particularly memorable, for desert my good lady opted for the chocolate pudding while I went for the cheeseboard – the chocolate pudding was dreadful, very dry and tasteless – it was sent back to be quickly replaced a scant minute later with a further cloned offering – no doubt also direct from the freezer via the microwave – again it was equally bad and sent straight back. The cheese selection was good but minimalist – I wasn’t too sure of the accompanying biscuits which consisted of what looked like a Ryvita and a couple of other oddments – while I wasn’t expecting a brace of Jacobs cream crackers, a few more ‘normal’ (dare I say traditional) good quality types would have gone down well, the huge accompanying dollop of chutney on the side was tasty but far too large for the small amount of cheese it accompanied, but I’m sure it made the plate look fuller. The wine selection was excellent and a very decent bottle of Burgundy went well with the main course and good quality port rounded things off before the coffee. The service was good on the whole with the staff friendly and helpful, although with several different people serving our table it was difficult to know who was looking after us – It was not easy attract anyone’s attention when we had the issue with the desert which meant several minutes delay in getting things sorted before we could resume our meal. In all a bit of a mixed bag really – Nice venue and always has been, but the set-up is now a tad pretentious – Overall some bits were good, but enough less so to make it memorable for the wrong reasons, I have eaten there before and things had been much better – (maybe it was the chefs night off!) but including service charge it still attracted a bill of about £150 for us both. I appreciate it’s not fine dining, but if you charge higher end restaurant / gastro pub prices then customers should expect to get good quality food and most importantly with the elements which actually require cooking, to be cooked well with some skill - which means not cutting corners by serving up frozen microwaveable fare or allowing the standard of cooking you would expect from a café to make if...

How to begin this review, I am not here to complain it is a wonderful place to relax away from modern day. The staff on my visits in the past and recently were as always over worked but still polite and engaging. The food however is and was another story, many times i have had to ask for doggie bags to take away the food as there is just too much too eat, the plates are full and it can be daunting to eat it. Ensure you are really hungry before you go to this place as like me over indulgence is guaranteed. I chose what i thought was a small meal this Sunday 18th May 2025 but i struggled, even my wife son and mother-in-law also struggled with the largest Yorkshire puddings i have ever seen. Next time we visit i must ask for a children's menu ( I had to ask for a spare plate to pile the Yorkshire's on ), at this point i have to apologise for leaving our doggie bags ( boxes ) behind as we waddled off to our cars before realising. My son was enthralled by his steak and adored the gravy that was presented alongside. I do believe however that my father-in-law was not overly thrilled by his choice of fish as there were a lot of bones piled upon the plate. My fish and chip meal was very nice but maybe just a tad on the over battered side of things, my wife however struggles to eat her food having the capacity of a mouse. At this point I have to say again portion sizes are extremely generous and for people of modest appetites you will struggle to finish your starters and main meal, so plan ahead. Coffee's and after meal desserts need to be calculated into the whole experience so that unlike myself you don't struggle...

Third time here and just amazing. Simply one of the best meals I've ever had and great to have somewhere I can really recommend.

Staff, ambience, food, drinks and facilities all brilliant.

Having seen previous reviews that knocked the fish and chips and the pork belly, we decided to risk it and see for ourselves and we couldn't disagree more. The Pork belly meal was flawless and the fish and chips were lovely. Some of the best chips we've ever had and the fish definitely wasn't all batter. It's debatable over how good the fish is but that's the personal preference, but it was very good.

The Chicken Milanese was brilliant and we love the Jolly Ginger mocktails.

Dessert wise, again, we thought they were excellent. I must say however the crumble isn't quite to my liking due to the cluster type of crumble, but again this is more personal preference, but definitely had enough filling inside though it is very hot, so I do recommend leaving it to cool down a bit first.

We will definitely be back and so far everything has been very consistent and I would definitely recommend going and seeing for yourself.and if things aren't to your liking, mention it at the time as I can assure you the food is very good and you may have just...