Gavin Mensah-Coker's Page

The Lion And Lobster, Brighton

09-12-2008

2 Review(s)     

The Lion and Lobster has turned into some kind of superpub. The upstairs used to be a hotel but in the last couple of weeks this has been opened up to the public - and it looks pretty good. There are three rooms upstairs, one with a bar, one for dining and another that I think would do well as a recital room. But the real treasure is the semi-secret outside space. Surrounded by the high walls of other buildings, there are whitewashed seats on the lower deck, benches and tables on the upper. Not that keen on the large murals that adorn the walls. But I have the feeling this is going to be somewhere special come next summer. The main pub is generally much the same, usually busy, good music, if a bit hit-and-miss in the friendly stakes.

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The Hove Centre, Brighton

09-12-2008

1 Review(s)     

This is an surprising place to hold gigs – and I’m not altogether sure it’s very successful one at that. Hove Centre is situated in Hove town hall, a concrete explosion of unpleasantness that is best walked briskly by. I saw well-regarded Brighton band, 12 Stone Toddler, here recently, and was looking forward to another of their upbeat circus-flavoured performances. They did their best with the audience but the truth is it’s just too bland and, well, local-authority designed to encourage even a full audience to let go. This is a venue that can’t create any energy, and whovever thinks it can host live music needs to have a word with themselves. Hove town hall’s entertainment rooms should stick to housing craft fairs.

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The Rat & Trumpet, Brighton

05-12-2008

1 Review(s)     

This place is a real let down. It spent along time being revamped but since its opening its come to resemble a desert. Perhaps its the unimaginative name change. Perhaps its just in the wrong spot. Either way it always seeems to be empty – there’s more punters smoking a fag outside than at the bar inside. I’ve no idea how it makes any money at all. It does have a huge wall-sized TV screen showing premiership football, but when I stopped in to watch a game the only cheers I could hear was my voice echoing inside my head. Still if you want to get served quickly then this is the place to be. Can’t see the point myself, you’re better off at home with a six-pack and MOTD. On second thoughts I do think its the name – Rat and Trumpet – I thought Brighton had gotten over its penchant for naming pubs after one animal and one inaminate object. Wrong.

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Xuma, Brighton

05-12-2008

2 Review(s)     

This bar appears to be finding its feet again after two years in which the Brighton publicans, Zel, managed to turn a quirky, colourful, independent art gallery/bar into a sometimes deserted, rudderless shell – an anti-vibe. But now it’s got a lighter, happier and busier verve about it. There’s djs at the weekend, a wuiz during the week. But the artwork still feels like an afterthought and as a former bank - they don’t make enough of the architecture. However the decor inside it sumptous, velvet upholstered chairs and a mosaic floor. The other bonus is its open on the weekend until about 2am.

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The Eddy, Brighton

03-12-2008

2 Review(s)     

The Eddy has nice beer on tap, I always have a pint of amstel here. It also shows the football although the screens are a bit small for my liking. It has a nice cosy feel to the place, you can settle down here for a couple of hours quite happily. The food’s nothing special, although I know plenty of others disagree. My main complaint is with the decor, specifically the poor quality seating. They have long benches, which I’m sure were comfy in the Middle Ages, but seem to be spewing out foam and stuffing, its just really poor. And the gents! The locks are invariably broken, fixtures and wires hanging from the ceiling. They just need to spend a couple of grand and the place would be fine and dandy. I still go there fairly often.

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