Park Crescent

Good local. Badger beer on tap.

When I was a student living on the Lewes Road with all it’s «delightful» choices of pubs, this was without a doubt my favourite. Minutes away from my door and yet hidden from view, discovering the Park Crescent was like being let in on a wonderful local secret.
Tucked away from the main road it encompasses all that I adore about Brighton, laid back, cool and trendy without any pretentiousness. There is a quality selection of on tap lagers and ales that shy away from the typical Stella variety. If you are looking for a cosy first date or Friday Night drinks then it’s great for all, with none of the cringe that can come from straying too close to West Street.
All in all, I recommend all students in the Hanover area make it their local!

The Park Crescent is a corner pub close to ‘the Level’ park, with a predominantly studenty clientele, real ales and Thai food.
The pub has a single large U-​shaped room, wrapped around the bar area. There’s also a garden with a smoking area out the back. The décor is fairly standard for the area; part panelled walls, wooden floors and second-​hand wooden furniture, and lots of candles, making a decent first impression.
They serve Badger ales, which included Hopping Hare, Badger Best Bitter and Tanglefoot on our visit. Or, rather, they didn’t because during the course of the evening both Tanglefoot and Hopping Hare went off during the course of the evening, and the young bar staff, though pleasant and helpful, weren’t able to change the barrels. Not a particularly good start.
We tried the Thai food, but were a bit disappointed: the quality was variable, and, compared with other Thai eateries in Brighton, delivered smallish portions; a Pad Thai noodle dish was reasonable enough, but portions sizes of a chicken curry and particularly a stir-​fry were disappointing (just three pieces of pork in the pork stir fry, in a glutinous pink goo). Service was friendly, though, and some of the mixed starters others were having looked more generous, so I suspect it depends what you have.
What really put me off, though, were the Gents’ toilets, which were simply disgusting (score: 1 out of 10): a smelly, blocked WC with a malfunctioning flush and no lid on the water tank, and urine soaked floors. Not conducive to enjoying your subsequent meal…

My second favourite pub in all the world. This is without doubt the best bar in Brighton. Whenever I am asked what my local pub is, this place is my response. Even when I’m not living in England.
The Park Crescent has been through three changes of management since I first discovered it, but thankfully each landlord understood what makes this pub unique. Unquestionably the staff are always very cool and very friendly — certainly the best I’ve ever had the privilege to order beer from.
The beers on selection include Hofbrau, which in my view is the finest lager ever produced. The selection of West Country ales are superb, with the added bonus of coming from a brewery few have heard of — ideal to introduce to your ale-​orientated friends. The selection of spirits is also brilliant, with a wide selection of quality liquors from around the world. The wine menu appears to have changed since I last tried it, so I’m afraid I cannot comment on that.
The ambiance of this pub in the evening is perfect. Lots of blocky wooden tables illuminated half by candlelight and half by the ambient lighting throughout the venue. This is a very good place for a date.
What possibly makes the Crescent stand out is it’s tucked away location. Tens of thousands of people live within 5 minutes walk, but so few seem to be aware of it’s existence. As a result it has developed a large core of committed drinkers among the locals and the nearby student population. The really nice thing here is that it’s always the best place for whatever you have planned in the evening. Whether you want to turn up for a quiet drink, or for more boisterous shenanigans, you will be able to do so without being disturbed yourself, or disturbing others. Perfect.
This pub is a diamond in the rough coal seam of pubs in the area. You must try it at least once.

The Park Crescent is a nice pub tucked around the back of the crescent, just off Lewes Road. It has a laid back vibe and will usually be a lively place without being hectic or in your face. There is a very nice garden out back combining benches, decking, patio heaters and palms. Being walled off, it’s a nice summertime retreat from the hectic atmosphere of the city centre.
The staff are very chilled and always up for a chat. This is one of those pubs I could enter on my own and happily while away an evening sitting at the bar on my tod.
The food isn’t bad either and the kitchen is open for lunch time and then from 6 until 9pm. There are regular specials written on a chalk board and well worth trying out. There are enough tables, but as the place is popular with local residents and student types (they offer happy hour and student deals to boost the wet sales), you may want to arrive earlier on a weekend to claim a table.
A nice little joint close enough to the centre of town, but also just far enough away to avoid drunken idiots.

One of three pubs taken over by a group of entrepreneurial young Brightonians that are making it seem rather pointless to bother venturing into town at all (see also The Reservoir and The Hannover). A proper stately boozer, with enough character not to fit right in on the well heeled backroad of Park Crescent Terrace. Shelves heave with dusty tomes, with plenty of other aged quirks to keep the solitary amused. Real ale-​lovers are spoilt for choice on taps, and smokers won’t mind the beer garden — it’s that a pub ‘garden’ like this actually has greenery. With several large open rooms, The Park Crescent is a great stop-​off for a late midweek pint, where ample tables and friendly service is a given. Such is the popularity of the Sunday roast these days, many Hannover pubs have run out come mid-​afternoon, but the Crescent seems a safe bet for a later lunch, owing to its tucked away location.

A pub has stood on this site just off the Lewes Road since the crescent was laid out by Brighton architect Amon Henry Wilds in the mid 19^th century.
Now operated under the auspices of the Indigo Leisure group, with enthusiastic entrepreneurs Ali Charlesworth and Bob Clark at the helm, this is a local pub with a cosmopolitan feel.
There’s a nice range of ales Badger, Tanglefoot and Pickled Partidge plus Leffe. Double shots of Stoli, JD and Bacardi cost £3.80 a pop and if you can still see straight after that you can play chess, dominoes, backgammon and Jenga.
The music is eclectic, meaning you are as likely to find yourself tapping your toes to Paul Simon as shaking your groove thang to local rockers The Go Team. No food at the moment, but Ali promises mouth-​watering Thai delicacies in the near future. I’ll keep you posted.
THIS JUST IN:
The Park Crescent has announced a new Thai Kitchen. The menu includes Green Curry (£5.95); Mixed Seafood (£6.95); Mair Kim’s Vegetarian Feast (suitable for two/£9.95) and Pad Thai (£5.50). The pub also serves Sunday roasts.

As soon as I walked in my eyes met with the barman and the obligatory nod and smile followed but it went further than this. The ultra friendly barkeep made me think we did actually know each other or perhaps it was some mutual respect for each others knitwear. Turns out he’s just taken over the place and is generally a nice guy. Being my local (unless you can’t The Martha Gunn… which I don’t) I often take advantage of the happy hour deals, £2.85 for a pint of Stowford Press from 3pm-​7pm. Aside from that it’s just a nice cosy pub with lots of candlelit side tables and choice ales including Badger and Pickled Partridge.

I used to live around the corner from this place, and it is a lovely little local pub, a really good mix of young and funky and traditional.
It’s a decent size without feeling too big, with lots of dark wood and little tables tucked away in cosy corners. The bar staff are generally friendly and chatty, as long as it’s not too busy.
There is a small garden outside, although the high walls and the fact it’s north facing seem to mean it never gets any sun.
The food here is good — nice roasts and a quality weekday menu too.

The Park Crescent pub is tucked away between the Lewes road and the top of the Level. Though not in the centre of Town, the pubs always seems to be pretty busy and on a weekend can get really crowded and lively.
The locals consist of a mix between students who populate the Lewes road area as well as well as a usually pretty trendy mix of ³⁰⁄₄₀ somethings, which gives the pub a chilled vibe; more noisy from friendly chatter than pissed nonsense.
The seating is tightly packed in around thick, rustic wooden tables and is likely to get a bit cosy when the pub starts to fill up, but this is all part of the fun and can be a good way to get chatting to your new next door neighbour. To aid this new friendship, theres a decent selection of imported lagers and a few ales all of which are not of the standard strongbow or stella variety. Leffe is sold on tap, which if you’ve never had it is a bit like mix between a hoegaarden and a lager (i think) and tastes like God has brewed it with the tears of angels. However the price of a pint reflects this and at around a Fiver you may want to stick with something else. If making friends with the person next door is not your thing, there’s an intimate beer garden outside where you can retire with your crew too.
Pub quiz every week is well worth it, although the crowd here, you can just tell come back week in week out and seem to be a pretty cerebral lot, so don’t expect to win unless you bring some talent.
Not the cheapest place in the world, but a cool pub and one where you’re likely to want to sit down for more than one once your settled.

The Park Crescent is a lovely little pub tucked away on a quiet residential street near the Level. Probably one of my favourite pubs in town, it has loads of character and charm. It is one of few pubs that successfully blends contemporary and old styles. The interior is largely wooden and the walls are covered with interesting memorabilia and old photos of Brighton, giving the pub a really cosy, ‘steeped in history’ kind of feel. The small round tables and candlelight make the pub feel quite traditional, whilst the cool, pastel paint-​job and slick bar area, provide a modern twist. Drink prices are average and there’s a good selection of ciders and beers. I also had a delicious Bloody Mary here once.
The menu is really interesting… yummy sweet potato risotto, delicious fish cakes and chunky chips are among many delights on offer. The Sunday roast is also really good and the portions are huge!
This pub is great year-​round– it’s cosy in the winter months but also has a really lovely little garden for warmer weather. A handful of picnic tables are nestled amongst palms, aloe vera plants and vines, which makes for a really pretty little drinking spot! In the evening the fairy lights and tea lights come out, making it feel like a magical little fairytale garden. Definitely one of my favourite places to drink a cider on a summer’s eve! Oooh and they do cash-​back, which is always handy, or dangerous, depending on how you look at it…

Nice laid-​back local on a quiet street behind Park Crescent. It is quite roomy with high ceilings and clusters of little round tables and stools — basically a good place for a catch-​up with a friend. There is a heated and covered patio garden at the back for the smokers. The food is good value: hearty homemade basic pub fare, and they welcome kids to one half of the pub up until 7:30. My only complaint is that the music can occasionally be too loud (but I think that is true for almost every pub and restaurant in the country!)