Where: The Seafield, 150 Church Road, Hove
I paid: £7 for a pint of Fosters and pint of Harveys
I must admit to a few misgivings before tackling The Seafield, having received poor feedback from mates as well as reading a few less than complimentary comments about it online. Furthermore, the pub itself doesn't look particularly inviting from the outside, being rather small and drab. I also find the frosted glass windows a bit off-putting as you're never quite sure what you're getting yourself into before crossing the threshold. On the plus side, once inside this means that any passing acquaintances on the street can't look in and see that you're sad enough to be drinking in The Seafield on a Friday night....This is the kind of ammunition that can be used against you for weeks at Royal Mail.
At least if I was spotted I wouldn't be labelled a sad solo boozer having roped in my mate Caroline to assist me with the review. Blessed with a keener sense of observation than myself and with a particular talent for spotting 'looky likies' she wasted no time in assessing the handful of fellow bar flies and pointing out that we were sharing a pub with, "him who's just died off of Bargain Hunt" and "a fat, old, Simon Cowell". So erm, Simon Cowell basically. We probably halved the average age of the punters just by walking in but received a warm welcome from the barmaid, indeed the bar staff remained cheerful throughout our visit, even exchanging high fives with some of the more privileged regulars (obviously as first time visitors we hadn't yet earned one).
The interior of the pub can probably be at best charitably described as 'cosy'. Despite the size, they've managed to squeeze in a couple of comfortable leather sofas with a somewhat superfluous chest of drawers wedged in the corner of the room (they had probably been snapped up for a song by dead Bargain Hunt dude). There's no less than four flatscreen TV's mounted on the walls which is definitely overkill considering even on a Friday evening there was less than a dozen people in the place. Only one of them was being utilised during our visit however, permanently tuned in to a race meeting. Indeed, there's a strong horse racing theme throughout the pub, with the walls adorned with various framed pictures of racehorses and a couple of the punters sat slumped on the sofa with the glazed expressions of someone who's going to have to go home and explain to the wife that the weeks wages might be a bit light due to a poor run of results that afternoon at Kempton. In amongst all the racing paraphernalia there was a lone picture of last years royal wedding and whilst at the bar I was reliably informed by 'Simon Cowell' that Kate Middleton was "worth a shag". So in the unlikely event that the lady who's wed to our future king should ever read this review and then at some point in the future find herself in Hove....she'll know exactly where to come for a bit of action.
So The Seafield isn't nearly as bad as I been led to believe. I can't say that I would feel like spending my whole evening there but to pop in for a pint or two it's fine. Even Caroline said it's the kind of place she could comfortably come on her own without fear of being leched over by the old guys at the bar (fortunately she bears no resemblance to Kate Middleton). Yeah I would come back and who knows, next time I might even have earned that high five.
Dog Friendly: Yes Food: No menu, but a chalkboard was offering a pizza for £5.00
Outside areas: Small smoking area at the rear or else smoke out on Church Road under the disapproving gaze of the grannies at the bus stop.
Quiz: None advertised. Decor: Wood panelling, scruffy carpet, leather sofas.
Entertainment: 4 flatscreen televisions, quiz machine, touchscreen jukebox largely ignored except for the barmaid with a penchant for 90's Britpop. No dartboard or pool table. A handful of crime books to read.
Miscellaneous: A free bowl of mints on the bar was a nice touch, particularly if you're lucky enough to score with 'Simon Cowell'.
OVERALL SCORE: 5.5........It loses .5 of a mark because Caroline didn't like the ceiling, for reasons that escape me now.
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