The Smugglers Rest Reviews Summary

Location & Views

Pros:

• "The views from outside are beautiful."
• "Fantastic location, easy parking, dog friendly, great views from the decking in winter or summer."
• "Wonderful cliff top location with ample parking."
• "A large venue overlooking the sea, you receive a warm welcome on arrival."
• "The Smugglers Rest is all about the location and sitting outside on a beautiful sunny day."
• "Stunning views of the English Channel & the smell of the sea enhances the location in Tescombe just 4 miles east of Brighton."
• "Lovely atmospheric pub with outdoor seating area overlooking the sea on top of the cliffs."

Cons:

• "It was a very high price to pay for a lovely sea view."
• "Being next to the main road was a drawback for me, although the sea view was partial compensation."
• "Overall the fact the place was in such a mess spoiled the atmosphere as everyone was on the edge waiting for food or drinks."

Service

Pros:

• "Politeness and service from staff was excellent and the pub itself and location is good."
• "Betty was our very attentive and pleasant waitress, who even remembered our dog's name."
• "The young waitress who served us was very professional and apologetic."
• "Our server was Liv who was cheerful, friendly and attentive."
• "The service was brilliant, I fully expected long waits for food as there were many of us, but it flowed beautifully."
• "Service was excellent we were looked after very well by Liv who was friendly and attentive."
• "The staff are extremely friendly and welcoming we had the pleasure of being served by Chloe and Liv."

Cons:

• "It was poor, one meal missing and unpleasant."
• "Worst experience I've ever had here, especially disappointing as it was for Mothers Birthday treat."
• "We were waiting for food and drinks more than hour, while the place was almost empty."
• "The staff were less than friendly."
• "Food quite nice, but let down by one of our waiters. The chap was extremely miserable and unhelpful, whereby the gal was very friendly and accommodating."
• "Really bad and a total rip off. Just under £30 for two meals and my daughters went in the bin as it was pork fat with one mouthful of pork."
• "The most disappointing thing was the food."

Food Quality

Pros:

• "Food was great as always and I highly recommend the French Martini (pictured) if you’re like me and love a sweet cocktail to go along with your meal."
• "Food was generally very good and it's only docked one star because the roasts could have been hotter."
• "The food was great and the service was excellent."
• "The pizza was a good size and was tasty (I was told), the burger was enjoyable."
• "Steak was excellent."
• "All the food served was very good and all came at the same time."
• "Had a delicious Sunday roast dinner with all the trimmings."

Cons:

• "The food itself was underwhelming at best."
• "Starters good but went downhill from there. Steak poor. Mashed potato and sprouts awful on another meal."
• "Some items of food were burnt (pigs in blankets and parsnips)."
• "Lamb overcooked, prawn linguine very lack lustre, sea bass not good."
• "The food terrible and wildly overpriced."
• "Really disappointing food, awful prawn cocktail slimy prawns and avocado lukewarm soup overcooked fish and really greasy chips."
• "Dried up lump of beef, rock hard parsnip and carrots."