The Station Hotel, Brighton
It was one of those days in England – hot and cloudless. As the sun finally began to sink behind the yard arm, I could think of few places where I’d rather be than sharing a settle with my beloved beneath a mirror advertising the products of “Harvey and Sons”. Especially once a chilled white wine for her had been delivered to our table, along with a pint of Sussex Best for me.
Harvey’s is one of those complex bitters. Once you’ve acquired a taste for it, the “Best” is to be savoured with some relish. It seemed appropriate that one of the sepia photographs of old Brighton hanging on the Farrow and Ball-ish walls was of the Lewes Road. After all, the Harvey family has been brewing in Lewes since the 1790s.
Should we feel disposed, we could take a train there later. Or rather two trains, as the Station stands directly above the platforms of Preston Park, one stop out of Brighton on the incoming London line.
We could hear occasional trains chugging past through the open door that lay beyond steps descending from dark and well-polished floor boards. Through another door we could see out to an intriguing garden area with plants dangling from a steep bank above seating arranged like railway compartments.
Heading out there on our visit, after assiduous application of hand sanitiser, was Brighton’s head of environmental health. Or so licensee Steve Platel confided before going on to tell us that the pub had only recently reopened after a prolonged lockdown. The menu had been somewhat pared back.
I broke the habit of a lifetime by ordering a beef burger. Beef minced and bun made on the premises, I was assured. So were the chips, cooked to perfection and tasting even better when dipped into a subtly curried mayonnaise. My wife raved about the chips that came with her Harvey’s beerbattered Sussex fish. She liked the fish, too. And the home-made tartare sauce, which is quite a compliment, believe me. No wonder this pub has hundreds of five-star reviews on TripAdvisor.
Time for more wine, perhaps. And another Sussex Best. Lewes could wait.
The Station Hotel, 1 Hampstead Road, Brighton, BN1 5NG; 01273 009589