Pub du Vin, 7 Ship Street, Brighton BN1 1AD

Pub du Vin has great homely touches, such as tea towels for napkins

Pub du Vin is the slightly less polished little sister of the neighbouring Hotel du Vin. It’s location is ideal for a bracing walk along the seafront, which is what we needed to perk ourselves up from our night at Merkaba at myhotel where we had the mosr fantastic stay – read all about it here

Brighton beach is packed with birds…

A very unassuming entrance, but inside we were immediately stuck by the friendliness of the staff, especially our waiter/barman/manager. The bar runs the stretch of the room with glasses and beer tankers hanging above. It’s a real Sunday pub, with a couple of dogs and a new fresh baby to complete the Sunday vibe.

Bread that doesn’t cost a lot of dough…

The never-ending breaded whitebait…

Our nicely situated table in the bay window table gave us the perfect vantage point to have a good look at the passer bys… the old hand-in-hand couples, the multi-pierced students and the trendy families. We weren’t overly hungry as we’d eaten so much during the weekend. I decided to opt out of a starter, Ade had the huge serving of Breaded whitebait & tartar sauce £4.95 whilst I nibbled some sourdough bread.

A proper ale in a proper tankard

Our waiter was very knowledgable about the extensive beer menu, tastings were offered, he helped me chose an appropriate ale for my first ever tankard. I was beyond excited about drinking out of one. it’s been on my list of things to do for quite some time. Some more girly girls on a nearby table looked at me suspiciously as I sipped my Flying Dog Pale Ale £5.00. I discovered the tankard is useful as well as cool, it helped keep my ale nice and crisp and cold, without the usual warm frothy bit at the bottom.

Coq au vin a la Pub du Vin

For my main I chose Coq au vin £12.50 from the specials board. With chips. Yes, I know… The reason being that it was meant to be accompanied by buttery mash, as I am not keen on butter, chips seemed the most obvious replacement. Ade’s Woodland’s Farm sausage and mash with onion gravy £13.50 proved this wasn’t a necessary change as the mash wasn’t too buttery at all. I was happy with my twice, possibly thrice cooked chips, although they did absorb a bit too much of the sauce, which was already lacking slightly. The chicken was juicy and tender and the sauce warming and comforting.

It’s all gravy…

Ade’s sausage and mash was exactly what the hangover doctor ordered. The three pork sausages were course and meaty – just like proper sausages should be! While the mash was creamy, perfectly seasoned and not too buttery (see above). The onion gravy was thick (but not lumpy), a spot on balance between stock and onion… Yum!

If we could only eat one dessert for the rest of our lives, it would have to be this one.

We were worried there wouldn’t be enough room in our bellies for dessert, we were so full and Ade’s allergic reaction from letting the dog on the next table lick his hand was in full swing. You would’ve thought he’d have learnt by now but he can’t resist a cute doggy. We shared a couple of desserts – the Crème brûlée and the Vanilla panna cotta with berry compote both £5. Oh. My. God. The Crème brûlée was truly amazing, that crunch of the spoon cracking the caramel is so satisfying. Ade carefully divided it in half so there’d be no arguments. It was the best I’ve ever had, and so big, if only I’d known, I would’ve had it to myself.

You’ve panna-gotta try this too!

Excuse the toilet photo, we thought it was cool, and what a name for a toilet!

The panna cotta was brilliant also, but nothing can compete with that crunchy, caramely, burnt goodness of the Crème brûlée. We strolled back up through the lanes to collect our car from myhotel and head back home to Kent. Full of happy memories and fantastic food. What more could you ask for?

Pub du Vin
7 Ship Street, Brighton BN1 1AD
Telephone: 01273 718588 Fax: 01273 718599

Monday – Saturday – 11.00 am – 11.00 pm
Sunday – 12 noon – 10.30 pm
The Dome has a license until 2.00 am