The Argyle Arms Brighton

The Argyle Arms Brighton is a little off most people’s radars, but since the new landlord couple took over and opened the doors in April 2021, it seems like people have come flocking.

Before you enter you’ll notice the many benches out front which are a really popular spot, and if you pass on a sunny day there is always a conglomeration of people from the local businesses and residences relaxing and taking in the the afternoon sunshine.

In the first room there’s a decent sized front room with a small bar to the left, fireplace to the right complete with comfy sofa and a scattering of low round tables. It’s modest, but has a really relaxed, light and fresh feel in here, and don’t be surprised to find the landlords’ massive black puppy milling around making friends, (it should therefore go without saying that this a very dog friendly pub.)

There’s a back room which is a larger main space with lots of low seated tables and chairs, some of which are long enough to get a group of 6 or more round. The bar continues into this room so that if normal bar service resumes, there are 2 bar areas to be served from. There’s a more diverse mix of people here these days and it feels far more family friendly. The owners have been showing some terrestrial TV sport, but the Argyle is far from the the bloke-zone sports pub it used to be.

The new landlord couple excavated a long forgotten yard in the back, and while you can’t get to the space through the pub, a short walk round the outside and you enter a little gem of a courtyard space, colourful and kitted out with little speakers playing a mix of pop, soul and indie at decent volume. An open mic has also just started up first Thursday of each month.

Adventurous beer fans will find options limited. There’s Harveys on cask, but the pub is tied into Heineken, so Beavertown Neck Oil and Campden Hells Pale are the big brands on offer when it comes to ‘craft’ beer. You also have Heineken, Amstel and Birra Moretti on the taps as well as cider and Guiness. We are told the pub will be focussing their attention on bespoke wine options going forward, add that to an ambitious menu of cocktails (with Monday-Wednesday happy our discounts before 6.30pm) and you get the feeling the pub is certainly being pulled in an upmarket direction.

At time of writing the pub offers a selection of hot snack style food; nachos, some amazing sounding loaded fries, wings and cheesey chips. This may sound a little basic, but trust us, the couple used to be caterers and have an eye for the details – for instance expect your cheesey chips and nachos to only ever come with cheese layered all the way through – once you’ve tried it this way, it’s the only way.