The Hobgoblin - York Place - Brighton
Sometimes this pub reviewing lark is not all it’s cracked-up to be, reviewing the ‘Hob’ was definitely one of these times! I’ve been in this particular establishment a number of times, busy Saturday evenings and quiet Sunday afternoons result in the same feelings. The Hob has a reputation as a “dirty rockers” kind of pub. How true is this? That’s what I’m going to find out, lets RAAAWK!
Dirty rocker pub? No, just DIRTY! The Hobgoblin has a number of issues, ones which are by no means insurmountable, if the brewery put the time, money and effort in.
The Beer
It’s a bit of a running gag in Brighton; but the draught beer is probably the worst you’ll ever taste, personally I wouldn’t risk tasting it. Anything that’s been pumped through pipes as decrepit as the ones in this place should not be ingested, by humans, at any rate.The service was fine, the staff are probably the best aspect of this pub.OK so i choose to drink something that has been hermetically sealed since leaving the brewery; A bottle of Newcastle Brown is purchased and consumed. It would have been nice except that the beer was warm and so was that of my fellow reviewers – it seems that the fridges were not functioning.
Toilets
I don’t know if I can even bring myself to relate the state of the toilets! The closest simile would be an explosion in a shit factory – there was no soap, tiles were hanging off walls and there were feculent yellow pools covering the floor, that needed to be hopped over before making a hasty exit.
The funny thing about this place is that anyone would choose to drink in this pub – the beer is crap, the toilets are horrendous and the atmosphere is only provided by smell emanating from the bogs. There is a pool table at the back of the pub though, a case of too little too late I think.
Avoid, unless you like warm beer and filth.