Brighton Beer Blog review Seven Stars Brighton
A descriptive, beer-by-beer account of our visit…
Date: 15th Nov
Beers:
Staropramen, Joosy Pale, Guinness
Considering our new-born had slept through our last pub outing (though this has it’s merits, believe me) we decided to show her more of the world and took her for a first trip to the beach. Seven Stars was in perfect position for our wander back to provide us a place to warm up and eat.
Now I’m going to dive right in and firstly bang-on about looks in this review, because I don’t think it’s unfair to begin by highlighting the complete image disorder that the Seven Stars has had over the past few years. The last time I was here it had just re-opened after a transformative refurb and rejig that had left it looking a bit like Robot Wars set in a theatre. The bar was against the right wall, there was grafiti (yes faked grafiti) on the walls, they had installed Brewdog-esque caged booths in the back, it was dark and oppressive and all the period charms of the pub ceiling had been painted in such light-averse colours that they were basically invisible. I could forgive the design team if they were purposefully making Seven Stars into a rock club, but it was still supposed to be the same old pub, it had just now had a skate-park makeover.
I remember thinking at the time that it was a tragic waste of a city-centre building and the style seemed completely out of place in here. I mean with all the blank canvas options, seafront arches or basement bars available to Indigo, as well as their money’s-no-object budgets, why buy a prominent historic looking high street pub just to turn it into a Brewdog wannabe? This was the last time I went there in for about 3 years, and thankfully someone at Indigo must have felt similarly to me as this look hasn’t lasted.
In it’s current iteration the pub chain have worked with, rather than fought, the period features of the building. The result is a brooding, dusky, art-deco space with touches of flare, utilising eye catching geometric fanned mirror walls, snazzy and sumptuous wallpaper, velvety bench seating and a tropical-feeling, Victorian conservatory styled space at the back.
There’s certainly a feminine touch running through the design, evident in the wallpapers and feathery frills on the low hanging lights, yet it’s not excessive enough that it could scare off blokes trekking through town on a night out. If anything this might be a good location to peruse for single ladies.
Seating room is ample and comes in various heights and types, zoned into different sections by wallpapers and furniture changes. These cater for all group sizes while the little tables lend themselves to intimate couple date scenarios, in fact it would make a great date location for pre or post meal drinks in town.
The bar is in the centre of the space, whether or not this is an original feature it just looks right here and adds to the period feel. The elaborate features of the ceiling have been picked out in gold paint and reflect the glitter of the hanging metal and glass parts of the central bar.
It’s like stepping into a Poirot novel, in fact I was really surprised not to see a cocktail menu. I think they’ve really missed an opportunity to give the bar a stand-out bit of character there, but the liquor shelf is well stacked with gins and bourbon.
The bar is also really well stocked for keg ale and lagers. Madri, Pravha, Sharps Atlantic Pale, Staropramen, Blue Moon and Gamma Ray from Beavertown, an Unbarred option and Brewdog’s Hazy Jane, plus a cider from Aspalls are on offer. Sure, to artisan craft beer enthusiasts they are all mass market options, but it’s still impressive variety of choice.
The menu is pretty snacky rather than meat and 2 veg options, and so we ordered a couple of burgers and drinks. I’ve become quite partial to Staropramen recently, it’s on of the few mass market largers on British bars that has some character, whereas my wife outshone me in the craft stakes by opting for a half of Unbarred‘s Joosy Pale. I’ve been seeing a lot of Unbarred on the taps in Indigo bars this year, and personally I just can’t get over paying the pub mark-up considering you can drink it fresh in the brewery just behind London Road. But then, as my friends all attest, I’m both thrifty and a beer snob.
The atmosphere was a little lacking today, and because the space is so massive when it’s empty it can feel a little cold. But in total fairness, we were visiting on a weekday lunchtime. There was music playing and the barmaids were friendly and courteous and didn’t raise any eyebrows when our little one woke up and her disgruntled wails echoed off the walls for a couple of minutes.
Our burgers arrived and they were spot on. My wife and I noted how tasty the thick meat patty was, plus there was a good slaw, gherkins and enough salad going on to make it a meal. When a burger comes with fries in the price you always wonder if you are going to get a generous or budget sized portion and I think we were just in the lower half of the chip generosity spectrum here.
All in all Seven Stars Brighton is finally looking the part and showing off those lovely features. It’s no longer somewhere I shudder as I walk past and given it’s good beer options and striking décor, I wouldn’t hesitate to add it to a centre of town pub crawl for any visiting, non beer-snob friends.
Considering our new-born had slept through our last outing (though this has it’s merits, believe me) we decided to show her more of the world and took her for a first trip to the beach. Seven Stars was in perfect position for our wander back to provide us a place to warm up and eat.
Now I’m going to dive right in and firstly bang-on about looks in this review, because I don’t think it’s unfair to begin by highlighting the complete image disorder that the Seven Stars has had over the past few years. The last time I was here it had just re-opened after a transformative refurb and rejig that had left it looking a bit like Robot Wars set in a theatre. The bar was against the right wall, there was grafiti (yes faked grafiti) on the walls, they had installed Brewdog-esque caged booths in the back, it was dark and oppressive and all the period charms of the pub ceiling had been painted in such light-averse colours that they were basically invisible. I could forgive the design team if they were purposefully making Seven Stars into a rock club, but it was still supposed to be the same old pub, it had just now had a skate-park makeover.
I remember thinking at the time that it was a tragic waste of a city-centre building and the style seemed completely out of place in here. I mean with all the blank canvas options, seafront arches or basement bars available to Indigo, as well as their money’s-no-object budgets, why buy a prominent historic looking high street pub just to turn it into a Brewdog wannabe? This was the last time I went there in for about 3 years, and thankfully someone at Indigo must have felt similarly to me as this look hasn’t lasted.
In it’s current iteration the pub chain have worked with, rather than fought, the period features of the building. The result is a brooding, dusky, art-deco space with touches of flare, utilising eye catching geometric fanned mirror walls, snazzy and sumptuous wallpaper, velvety bench seating and a tropical-feeling, Victorian conservatory styled space at the back.
There’s certainly a feminine touch running through the design, evident in the wallpapers and feathery frills on the low hanging lights, yet it’s not excessive enough that it could scare off blokes trekking through town on a night out. If anything this might be a good location to peruse for single ladies.
Seating room is ample and comes in various heights and types, zoned into different sections by wallpapers and furniture changes. These cater for all group sizes while the little tables lend themselves to intimate couple date scenarios, in fact it would make a great date location for pre or post meal drinks in town.
The bar is now in the centre of the space, whether or not this is an original feature it just looks right here and adds to the period feel. The elaborate features of the ceiling have been picked out in gold paint and reflect the glitter of the hanging metal and glass parts of the central bar.
It’s like stepping into a Poirot novel, in fact I was really surprised not to see a cocktail menu. I think they’ve really missed an opportunity to give the bar a stand-out bit of character there, but the liquor shelf is well stacked with gins and bourbon.
The bar is also really well stocked for keg ale and lagers. Madri, Pravha, Sharps Atlantic Pale, Staropramen, Blue Moon and Gamma Ray from Beavertown, an Unbarred option and Brewdog’s Hazy Jane, plus a cider from Aspalls are on offer. Sure, to artisan craft beer enthusiasts they are all mass market options, but it’s still impressive variety of choice.
The menu is pretty snacky rather than meat and 2 veg options, and so we ordered a couple of burgers and drinks. I’ve become quite partial to Staropramen recently, it’s on of the few mass market largers on British bars that has some character, whereas my wife outshone me in the craft stakes by opting for a half of Unbarred‘s Joosy Pale. I’ve been seeing a lot of Unbarred on the taps in Indigo bars this year, and personally I just can’t get over paying the pub mark-up considering you can drink it fresh in the brewery just behind London Road. But then, as my friends all attest, I’m both thrifty and a beer snob.
The atmosphere was a little lacking today, and because the space is so massive when it’s empty it can feel a little cold. But in total fairness, we were visiting on a weekday lunchtime. There was music playing and the barmaids were friendly and courteous and didn’t raise any eyebrows when our little one woke up and her disgruntled wails echoed off the walls for a couple of minutes.
Our burgers arrived and they were spot on. My wife and I noted how tasty the thick meat patty was, plus there was a good slaw, gherkins and enough salad going on to make it a meal. When a burger comes with fries in the price you always wonder if you are going to get a generous or budget sized portion and I think we were just in the lower half of the chip generosity spectrum here.
All in all Seven Stars Brighton is finally looking the part and showing off those lovely features. It’s no longer somewhere I shudder as I walk past and given it’s good beer options and striking décor, I wouldn’t hesitate to add it to a centre of town pub crawl for any visiting, non beer-snob friends.
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