Great Eastern

The great is a brilliant little pub tucked away nicely. Always got interesting ales, lots of tables and some outdoor seating with the smokers amount us. Can be quite popular during the weekends and last time I visited people were gathering outside. I really enjoy a beer here.

I like this pub, it’s friendly and has a jolly atmosphere. And a great selection of beer. :)
£5 minimum charge is really irritating though. There’s no need it’s just money grabbing. Please be cool and get rid of it.

Nice quaint pub that serves nice beer, hence not a lot of room at times to drink in reasonable comfort. look past the disgusting toilets and the occasional odour that drifts down and you should enjoy your pint !

Long bar room is best way to describe layout. Lots of wood, and displays of bar clips. I am a bit surprised they only had four pulls on and not an innovative selection but very well kept. Quite like the place. Quite good for meeting for a chat.

The most cosy place in Brighton to have a nice drink — white Russians are just perfect!
Well, pretty much always busy, so might be really hard to get seated there. But always worth trying.
The atmosphere is so homie, if you’re keen on spending longer time there instead of just grabbing a drink, there are some board games at the back!

Really like this pub. It feels like a proper boozer. It also has a massive selection of whiskys — mainly Bourbons.
Good ale selection and decent well priced food.
Drinks are well priced too

Popped into here for a lunch as my wife has family very near. A very nice surprise as we hadn’t been here before. Excellent food and even better beer. good job we were on the bus!!. Only problem we had was that we felt we could have lingered awhile!

If you like Whiskey, this is the spot. Over 60 varieties, freaking amazing. Try the Elmer T… so smooth.
Staff is pretty friendly, cool locals type of feel. Book shelves full of books, and board games available to play too, if you’re bored. :)
Cool front door too, lol, and some outdoor benches if you fancy a fag.
But for me, it’s all about the whiskey here.

The Great Eastern is one of my favourite pubs in the city. I love the mass of random books stacked up about the place. The seating is a mix of tables and benches and alcoves and everything has a cozy feel to it. The staff are exceedingly friendly and they have a well stocked bar with a good ale selection.
The real gem however, is the crazy range of whiskey’s they have available. They have a monthly tasting night and any lover of the noble spirit will be more than satisfied with the blends they have.
They serve a decent range of pub food from the kitchen upstairs and the food is delivered by a dumb waiter. Nice touch! The food is standard pub fare, but more than an acceptable accompaniment to the drinks.
There is a small outdoor area outback for smoking, but you can just as easily duck out down the side of the pub for a ciggy also.
A great place to start a night out in Brighton at and close enough to the station for a pre travelling drink.

A great pub isn’t necessarily about its location. It isn’t even about the drinks or the service or the people inside. It’s about the sense of place, a space for thinkers, drinkers and escapists. Brighton is full of such magical Tardises, and The Great Eastern is one of them.
Period America is the theme and it is carried off with aplomb: white oak barrels, vintage signage, period photos and a real bourbon selection full of traditional and rye whiskies, so authentic you can taste the Kentucky straw and oak. The bar is narrow, dark and cosy, and as the name suggests, has enough train paraphernalia to make you feel like you’re on some fantastical journey, where it’s not the travelling, but the destination that really counts.

I used to love The Great Eastern: it used to be one of my favourite pubs in town. However, since then it’s gone from quiet, pleasant pub with huge Scotch selection to a busy pub with a poor selection of drinks, focusing around a selection of Bourbons: the cheaper, less intricate whiskeys. Still, I know that’s just my opinion, but I wouldn’t recommend it anymore: what was once a well-​kept secret has now become an over-​used, poor imitation of the amazing pub it used to be.
The lay-​out is still much the same as it was before: a crazy selection of tables and chairs, in a hodge-​podge order with a tiny smoking garden, more like a smoking square of concrete than anything else, but a pleasant attempt nonetheless. However, it doesn’t quite make up for the loss of the Scotches; and such an impressive Scotch selection it was. All 12 – 15 years old, a mixture of Islays, all the various Glens, a really fantastic place to drink and try out new ones. Now they’re all various different forms of Bourbons: which all look and taste exactly the same to me.
If that sounds great to you (and if you can tell one Bourbon from the other), give it a go, but it has lost a lot of its charm in the last couple years. A shame, really.

I love this pub so much. It has some hidden little recessed areas to hide away in and chat with a friend or good few tables crow-​barred into what is one of Brighton’s smaller pubs. There’s plenty of space to sit outside though when the weathers nice and warm.
The staff are pretty young for what feels like an old man’s boozer and they are all really friendly and happy to chat away if you’re sitting at the bar. There’s old books and novels strewn around the place which adds to the nice ambience and obviously beats having massive flat-​screens on every wall.
The Sunday roasts here are pretty impressive but you have to get there early as they can run out of space and food.

Once you’ve squeezed yourself through the door, you’ll then be squeezing through all the people to get to the bar and eventually, but often unsuccessfully, squeezing into one of few available seats.
Apologies already if this sounds like too much of a trial to enjoy your pint, but it’s not that bad and completely worth it.
Small and poky but charming and cosy– testament to its popularity.

This is probably my favourite pub in Brighton. I had a memorable pint there when I first moved here and I sat outside waiting for someone, marvelling at the freaky people who were passing by. Little did I know that these people would later become my friends!
The pub is pretty small and poky, which usually I would react against. Further, one of the entrances (not the one on the corner) has a doorknob which turns the wrong way and it took me a mortifyingly long time to work that out. However, despite these problems, I have grown to love this quirky place. It has its own character I suppose. The bar staff are pretty odd. There tends to be at least one tasty ale (or even a stout) on tap. They do excellent Sunday roasts (veggie or otherwise).
They seem to be big on whisky, which I don’t drink, and they also sometimes have live music, playing in the background. Most importantly, there is normally a seat to be found. Thinking about it, I tend to sit either at the bar or next to it.

One of a number of Pleisure run pubs in Brighton, this place is a cosy litte gem full of quirkiness and warmth.
The pub is fairly small, so can feel very busy at times, but this contributes to the atmosphere. There are plenty of bar stools to prop yourself up at while you’re waiting for a table to come free. There is also a small garden.
This is a very ‘pubby’ pub, wih wood tables and candles. There are also some unusual things on the walls to discuss over your pint, including an old railway departure board.

If you’re in the mood for a bit of americana, pull on your cowboy boots and head down to the Great Eastern.
A gem of a pub at the bottom of the North Laines, it seems to play a constant rotation of awesome counry and western singers. We’re talking vintage Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, Emmylou Harris and Nashville Skyline era Bob Dylan. I once heard them play Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra too but again, I think all the records they made together have a strong hint of classic country.
The music alone is enough to make it a great place to hang out but they also serve a fine selection of bourbons, whiskeys, spirits, beers and ales. I usually drink Maker’s Mark with ginger ale and I never have to ask for the slice of lime. The bar staff are friendly and the atmosphere is cosy.
If I was more of a drinker, I’d probably be in here every night!

I absolutely love the Great Eastern. Its rustic décor and friendly staff make Friday night mayhem or Sunday hair of the dog equally enjoyable. The interior is reminiscent of an early 19^th century inn with lots of dark woods, warn books and candles
The outside space is small but cosy and can fit up to 25 chatty smokers at once. The prepped jugs of Bloody Mary at the weekend are a nice touch and the bar is stocked full of gorgeous shots & scrummy ciders.
The music played is varied but always good, everything from 60s R&B to current acoustic artists. I’ve even spotted a celeb or two enjoying the ambience, Superhands anyone?

Stopped in here while visiting Brighton recently. The interior is cozy, with a dark old library style going on. The candles on the old wooden tables add a romantic touch. They have quite a whiskey selection, the usual amount of beers on tap and cocktails. It was a warm day so I opted for a Bloody. Spiciness was good, although I am used to more alcohol in my Bloodies. Given the ratio, it was a nice drink.
There is some limited outside seating, as well as a poster on the wall advertising for a rocker named Johnny Green that plays country blues and rock once a month. Didn’t get a chance to check out Johny, but I’m sure he’d go well with a shot of bourbon. I would love to go back to this pub next time I’m in town.

This pub has a feel of age. The regulars are a mixed crowd. There is young & old. The music is country & western. It makes the place feel like an old style pub. The staff are not always attentive but what venue is now.
There is a small outside cubby hole for smokers. The staff decorate it with candles. There is seating outside that feels if one is sitting in the road.
There is live music on a regular basis.

The Great Eastern is a lovely, small pub down Trafalgar Street from Brighton station (this is the road that actually runs under the station forecourt — you need to emerge on the right hand side of the station to see it).
Named after the ill-​fated ocean-​going steam-​ship built by Brunel, the narrow wood-​panelled interior features pictures and prints of the ship and its builder. Way ahead of its time in size and concept, it was designed to carry enough coal to take 1,000 passengers on the voyage to Australia. Alas, it was not commercially viable, but made history by laying the first Transatlantic telepgraph cable.
Back to the pub. It has a good selection of real ales, although on our visit they were down to Harvey’s Sussex Bitter and Sumer Lightning, after a busy Bank Holiday. It has a delightful small rear beer-​garden, attractively lit by candles when it gets dark.
It serves well-​regarded pub grub, including a Sunday roast, although I’ve not eaten here. But, overall, a pleasant and comfortable watering hole.