The Mash Tun

It is worth going more because of the location in the heart of Brighton than for the drinking options.

Bumping house party vibes at The Mash Tun.
Fri and sat nights mixed crowds but the music is always right.
Staff work so hard, and the bar is a bit little but you never have to wait too long for a drink.
Dancing can and will happen and past 1 there is always people on the tables loving life.
midweek is a bit more chilled so random conversations with randoms happens and I always leave having met someone interesting and fresh.

I went here on a Saturday night, quite late.
My experience wasn’t great, I stayed outside most of the time because the music was so bad, the floor and bar was sticky and I thought the drinks prices did not reflect the place — really expensive for a run down, sticky pub.
So my experience was mostly of the outdoor area, which was fine.
If you’ve had a few bevs, fancy a dance with strangers and you like sticky floors, go for it.

Lovely place right in the centre so it’s easily accessible. Maybe a bit expensive but the atmosphere is worth it.

A night out in Brighton isn’t complete without a cheeky pint or two at the Mash Tun.
Yes it’s always busy, it smells pretty funky and you’ll never be able to get a seat, but it’s one of those places in Brighton that everyone just loves!
It’s always buzzing at the weekend, with DJ’s playing various tunes from cheesy pop to 90’s RnB.
I have yet to try the Burger Kult Burgers at the Mash, but I have heard nothing but amazing things. I will have to have one soon and update this review!

Us Brightonians love the Mash Tun!
On a Fr/​Sat night its heaving inside with a DJ playing every song you ever wanted to hear (plus those ones from your childhood your embarassed to know all the words to!).
It’s just a pub but you’ll find people heading there to dance the night away and often on the tables! In the summer the outside benches are a well sought after so get there early to chill in the sun and stake your claim on a table!
It’s based on New Street which is an ideal people watching spot and there are regularly musicians playing music outside to keep you entertained and happy.
A definate must if youre only in Brighton for the weekend.

In the heart of Brighton right near the North Laines, this place has a GREAT outdoor seating space. A very nice sun spot to watch people passing by or listen to a busker.
It’s one of those places where people tend to pre-​drink but end up staying there because the fact it has such a good outdoor seating place.
Negatives … The bar staff (I find) are a little rude. It’s a very personalised service. I don’t expect them to go out and ask how my day is, but human interaction is always nice.
I also fine some of the people that go there are a little pretentious, maybe it’s because I’m getting a little older, but I do feel that sometimes there will be a crowd of idiots, who are annoyingly loud, or think they are too cool for school.

After searching Brighton High and low for the best burger, I have come to the conclusion that the Mash Tun is home to the king.
Burger Kult are based here and the burgers are amazing. Decent price, great quality and great chips.
The pub itself is pretty decent for late nights too. I love the celebrity death board twist as well. All in all one of my favourite establishments in town.

A night out in Brighton must include a drink at The Mash Tun, it’s not quiet, you’ll have to fight for a seat and you cannot be trusted with an actual glass. So when they hand me my plastic pint I fully embrace the Rugby Club atmosphere, it’s packed, sweaty, the toilets are obmissmal and everyone’s welcome!
You will certainly leave with new friends and a desire to return.

Oh dear god what is up with the gents toilets!!!
I hadn’t realised that I should have brought SCUBA GEAR with me to swim through the door to the urinals! As you walk through the gents door you get a whopping great big slap in the face with a dominating stench of piss before needing to don your Jesus wig and walk on water (piss actually) to reach the urinal.
Okay that’s my rant over. The actual pub itself is actually quite nice and seemed to have a nice crowd of people as well as friendly staff. It’s quite small downstairs and got cosy quickly but there’s ample space outside if it’s all sunny and stuff.
I’d recommend paying this place a visit if you do not intend on using the toilet. Unless of course you’re into that kind of thing, you freak.

This is a really cool little boozer with absolutely tons of space to sit outside when the weathers good. They have some great lagers on tap and a few ales but could probably do with a couple more.
The staff are always really welcoming and chatty and seem to cope even when the place is heaving. As its right next to the Dome, it can get really busy with people going in or coming out of gigs so do beware!
If you can get it, there’s a nice big table right infront of the bar thats ideal if your in a big group.

The Mash Tun is a great place to go for a drink… if there is no one else there. It’s tiny, with far too many cumbersome tables for so small a space, the practical upshot of which is that standing room is reduced to an area approximately that of a postage stamp. It’s alright if the weather’s nice enough to sit outside, although in the summer months this formula should be entirely reversed. Good on the Mash Tun, it’s Brighton’s most popular pub: that doesn’t necessarily make it the best place in Brighton to drink.
The prices are, as always, a little high, and with little space to stand, let alone sit, the point of being here eludes me slightly in the evening. As a late afternoon, or late morning drinking spot (yes, some days), it is a nice little spot. The food’s quite good too, actually, although you’ll never order it in the evening as there is not even enough space to put a plate down.
The Mash Tun is the ultimate proof that popularity is not and should never be confused with quality or suitability: simply put, it’s nice, but everybody else is there already and thinks so too. This spoils the experience somewhat.

The Mash Tun was one of my favourite pubs as a student, partly due to its great location and partly due to its quirkiness (in particular their celebrity ‘Wall of Death’ sweepstake). It’s not the trendiest, lightest, brightest or most pleasant place to enjoy a drink, but it’s definitely got something.
Inside it might be fairly dark, but it has an atmosphere so typical of Brighton about it that I love it. They also have a nice little (slightly lighter) upstairs area and great outdoor seating on New Road, one of the best sun traps in the city centre. Their toilets however, are quite scary — think bright orange panic room.
The Mash Tun attracts a great, laid-​back crowd, particularly in the summer months when everyone lounges on the outdoor benches in floaty fabrics and over-​sized sunglasses. The only drawback is that you have to drink from plastic cups if you’re sitting outside. I know, it’s a ‘health ‘n’ safety’ thing, but I’m the kind of girl that prefers a proper wine glass…

One of the very few things that was good during my Brighton rite of passage (working at Telegen. Sigh) was the multiple pub visits throughout work on Fridays. Being less than a two minute jog away, The Mash Tun was where you would find most of the people you had just left in the office. It’s not a particularly great pub and it’s always going to be busy, you’d be extremely lucky to get seated outside over the weekend on a nice day. It’s a proper boozer, right down to the sticky floors. I do still like to sit around that area though when the sun shines but I haven’t been in lately, especially as Fitzherbert’s is just next door.

The Mash Tun is a perennial Brighton favourite, particularly with students. It’s always busy, and has two floors as well as an outdoor seating area for summer people watching.
The crampedness seems to add to the atmosphere somehow, and even when very busy (such as just before a show at the Dome!), it rarely seems like too much.
I can’t really put my finger on why I like this place — there’s nothing particularly unusual about it — but they seem to have managed to create a certain kind of welcoming vibe here. They also seem to have started doing a sausage and mash menu a la Shakespeare’s Head in 7 dials. Being a Shakies loyalist, I’ve yet to try this, but it’s on my to do list.

It sounds petty I know but I can’t envisage becoming a regular at any pub where I don’t llove the music. I know that the music at Fitzherberts next door can be spectacularly great or spectacularly bad — I was once subjected to ten painful minutes of speed metal!- but the fact it’s usually the former wins me over.
In comparison, the music at Mash Tuns tends to be too middle of the road. Think coffee table pop, rock and acoustic music. The atmosphere is nothing special either with big groups of friends dominating the bar and outside tables most nights and weekends. In short, I’d rather drink next door or failing that, in my own lounge with Tom Waits on the stereo!

Housed in a bright turquoise building on the corner of New England Rd, the Mash Tun is an unfeasibly popular pub in the centre of Brighton. It is part of what I like to refer to as ‘pub row’, which also comprises the Waggon and Horses and Fitzherberts. The Mash Tun is by far the more popular of the three, which is quite a mystery to me. Yes the Waggon and Horses lacks a certain charm, but Fitzherberts has charm in spades and much more character than the Mash Tun. To the pub’s credit, it is spacious and the downstairs area is actually quite nice, if only there were less people trying to squeeze in. On a weekend evening it can be a real struggle to get to the bar, never mind actually getting served! The upstairs overflow seating is fine, but the room lacks atmosphere… it is literally like sitting in a room in someone’s house.
During the week the Mash Tun is a nice place to have a few drinks, but even then, I would suggest an early arrival if you’re interested in securing a table. The summer is definitely the best time to visit this pub, as the amount of outside seating and the busy central location make for really pleasant al fresco drinking. They also do a good jug of Pimms with all the trimmings!

The Mash Tun is a really busy pub on the edge of the North Lanes right next to the Brighton Dome and Pavilion. Its really popular with after work drinkers and the outside seating is rammed whatever the season.
Inside is decidedly small and the stairs are very cramped but What it lacks in space it makes up for in atmosphere. Its great at the weekend but be prepared for extreme busyness, you can still get a drink relatively quickly and the friendly crowd make it rammed in a good way. Its situated in a strip of 2 other equally busy pubs, the Wagon & Horse & Fitzherberts which make for a proper party vibe at in the summer evenings.

Great pub, stopped off on the way back from eating dinner. It’s mostly open plan with seating dotted through out and benches on the corners.
It’s not very light, not that it matters when you’re starring at your drink.
Sailor Jerry’s was a reasonable price and slipped down my friends necks rather too easily.
They had food and other specials on drink on the boards.
Got served quickly and the music was good and added to the atmosphere. We went on a Sunday night and it wasn’t too busy but still enough people to no feel like a ghost town,

This is a great pub full of interesting people. It is always lively and on weekends is overflowing with people. It’s the kind of place where you can go out on your own and it’s really easy to start chatting with people.
Drinks are fairly priced (compared to other pubs in Brighton) and it’s on a newly renovated pedistrian street just down from the Theatre Royal.
Any time spent in Brighton will only be enhanced with time spent at the Mashtun.