please note - reviews on this site are purely the opinion of site visitors, so don't take them too seriously.
Went to the Monday night jazz recently. Terrible experience. Long wait and cold food at the end of it. Hopeless student staff giving very poor service. The jazz was annoyingly loud for the size of the venue. Second time I've had awful food here. Too many good alternatives like the Pelham and Kings Head to waste my time and money going to the Snowy again. Real shame. Used to be a good pub.
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A late Friday afternoon visit to the Snowdrop and well worth it. Friendly staff and locals with a great range of beers. A decorative interior with a 'canal boat' painted theme. Dark Star (American Pale Ale, Hophead, Rye & Juniper and Black Coffee Pilsner) and Harveys (1859 Porter and Best) dominated the Real Ales along with Hepworths Conqueror Stout noticed on the Fonts. The Porter, APA and Black Coffee Pilsner were on top form. Missed out on the Rye & Juniper which was replaced with a Dorking Brewery Ale. Nice people and great ale - happy days.
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Came here a few months ago for the Beer Expo, amazing! A great pub (freehold) which whenever I am down in Sussex I try to reach via a slight detour. Dom and Tony are possibly Sussex's best pub entrepreneurs. The Beer Expo wasn't just a beer festival, it featured Pete Brown the Beer Writer, comparing beer to literature, a scotch egg off, and much more. It may not sound too 'non cardigan' but I assure you it was inspiring. Just goes to show other publicans what is achievable if you are not 'tied'
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Wow. Beautiful, characterful pub on outskirts of Lewes. On a lovely, sunny autumn day pints of Harveys Old Ale and Dark Star American Pale Ale went down well. Fantastic food with the scotch egg magnificent.
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Excellent pub full of character and characters. Food was good and pretty cheap; wide choice or ales and the place just oozes atmosphere.
Well worth a visit or ten.
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Hard to beat it - excellent food, excellent beer and excellent friendly service!
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My Wife and i always try to make a point of stopping here on our way back from Eastbourne. There is always an excellent choice of real ales. I had the Dark Star Winter Meltdown which was superb. They are always kept well too. The food looks good though i haven't eaten here yet. Definitely one of the best pubs in East Sussex.
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Excellent food and a good range of well kept ales - worth the detour.
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Can't add much to previous reviews...my favourite pub in the Lewes/Seaford area. Great, easy going atmosphere. Food is excellent, cooked by a chef with real enthusiasim for his food, and the range of ales is superb. 4-5 always on tap with always something new to try. Good range of Dark Star brews always well kept. Staff friendly and bright and a real family-friendly feel. I wish I lived nearer as I would never be out of it...only wish it were a little easier to get to as access and parking are not easy- but well worth the effort.
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Taken over a few months back by the people from the Hop Poles in Brighton. Well kept ales with a wide selection, good range of pub food including a fair few vegetarian dishes, efficient friendly staff and a good atmosphere.
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Went there for the first time last week and had a really good roast dinner with vegetables that tasted of the countryside - really really good. I counted 9 different veg on the plate, maybe too many but what flavour. Loads of meat but a bit light on the spuds.
Great selection of ales and ciders.
The second visit was very soon after and it is now very much on the list of top pubs.
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Not long since I was here last but have to say again the beer selection excellent Hophead, American Pale Ale, Mai Bock (?) and Jaipur (6.1%). All tasted lovely, what a line up of light beers alone! The food again second to none and the staff really helpful!
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Promised myself I'd come back and try out the food here having only discovered the Snowdrop at the end of my last visit to Lewes. Still a good choice of ales with Dark Star beers (Hophead and American Pale) still on and a good selection of other beers and guest ales. The food was well worth the wait and as good as anything I've had in some time. Next visit will try and catch some live music?
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With a group of friends, I've been cycling from Brighton to Lewes or Glynde most summer Thursday nights for about 12 years. For many years the Trevor was our destination, but last year we changed to the Snowdrop. It has a fantastic range of well kept ales including Harveys and Dark Star and excellent reasonably priced food. My most recent visit saved my annual Saturday trip to Lewes (the smuggest, most twee town in Christendom) depressing me as much as it normally does. The owners have now taken over the Trevor Arms in Glynde - deep joy.
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Back again, and the place seems to keep on improving. Ate this time (pheasant casserole-- yum!) and the Dark Star was a very good accompaniment. Highly recommended. (I saw a sign that this was one of Jamie Oliver's 100 recommended best English pubs-- but don't let that put you off.) 8/10
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Clearly a change of heart and I assume a change of hands at the Snowdrop, about which the grapevine (possibly that should be the grain-vine) had yielded an appealing rumour that it has been much-improved in recent months. Having not been for at least 5 years, I and various other ale and 'arty friends of mine fetched up on Saturday, and happily found the rumour to be perfectly true. Gone is the inverted-snobbery and pseudo-studenty flim-flam which had slowly but surely taken over, and in its place was a smart, yet still essentially traditional local pub which cannily combines the best of the food and beer worlds under one happy and efficient roof.
There were about 5 ales on during our extensive stop-by, reducing to 4 as we worked hard to keep pace with our own appetites. Various Dark Star nuggets of gold were available, plus a Hog's Back Ripsnorter which was an unusual choice for these parts. All were found in splendid form. Other imported beers are on tap for those who opt for them, and all were served by a motley, but friendly bunch of youngters. One of them looked vaguely like Nick Beggs out of Kajagoogoo, but then what goes around comes around and for all I know he could be right on trend (certainly in off-beat Lewes this look isn't unfavourable!).
To our relief, food was served all day, and not only was the menu extensive with a broad choice of starters and mains, but the pricing was remarkably reasonable too. Gastro-pub with air-brushed contemporary decor and faux London sophistication this is not. It is a solid, capable pub that does not insult its clientele by charging £15 for lamb shanks. Here, one can pick up roasted sea bass and crushed garlic spuds for £8.50 - in fact I don't recall any main dish being much over this mark - and on receipt of our various choices, which included liver and bacon and some sort of rabbit ballotine (can't remember the exact billing as it wasn't mine!), nobody in our group was disappointed with the quality. It even took our minds off the primary issue of ale consumption for a while.
I would now heartily recommend the Snowdrop, which is a schlep from the main Cliffe drag but worth the detour especially as an escape from the town's hustle and bustle, and I have upgraded my old score accordingly.
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What a great pub! The food is fantastic, the bar maid was phenomenal, the range of cider and ale superb. They even have a range of snacks for dogs!! I would have given it a 10 but for the 10-year old boys screeching around in the gravel in the beer garden...
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Just ambled into this pub - almost by accident. Quite stunned by the magnificent choice of beers - for all tastes! From other peoples comments this place has obviously had a good change of fortune. The food looks worth coming back for - I'd made the mistake of eating in the John Harvey Tavern (not recommended on this occasion?). I had to have a couple of beers here as I was spoilt for choice even though I'd promised I'd only stop for one? Star choices: Dark Star American Pale Ale and draft Bruge Zot (Signature, Copperhead, Hophead .....)
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A bit off the beaten track but well worth the visit.
Excellant beer and food. Tried and enjoyed the Ox Cheek which was very tasty with a few pints of Dark Star to wash it down. Very good value.
Great staff and one of the owners took the time to came over and chat to us and gave us some cooking tips.
Shall definately visit again on my next visit to Lewes.
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Vastly improved from my last visit a couple of years ago. Excellent varied menu with most dishes around the £8 mark and 4 or 5 ales. Beer garden is a real sun trap and nicely done out. Not much to fault really, will be back regularly
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Hurrah that the Snowdrop is back on form after a dismal period. It's been taken over by the people from the Hop Poles in Brighton (but - thankfully - it's not a Greene King!) and it's been cleaned up but not to the point of being unrecognisable, with a new menu and a good selection of well-kept ales.
On my visit they had Harvey's Best and Old, Dark Star Sussex stout, Crouch Vale Snowdrop, Rectory Ales Light Relief, as well as Meantime Helles, Koelner and Zot on tap.
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Following a re-visit to the Snowdrop, I've changed my mind. The music is now at a much better level and both Dark Star Pale Ale and Hophead were on fine form. Add to this decent food, some rather god live music (again at a sensible volume), very good frindly staff to boot and the Snowdrop is actually rather good.
Well worth the short walk to the end of South Street, I will be going back soon!
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Heaps of praise to the current landlords for turning this from a very so-so pub in recent times to one of the finest Lewes now has to offer. Great range of beers - Dark Star American Pale Ale and draft Bruges Zot were both fantastic last night - and a reasonably priced but imaginative menu. The live jazz was excellent too. I hope Lewes drinkers will reward the fantastic efforts that are being made with this pub.
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Went to this pub Saturday about midday. Basically agree with brightonbrawler although when it got busy around 1pm didn't see the standard of service drop. The menu looked very interesting and not over expensive and the food looked good although I didn't partake. Beer is as described and very well kept. Tables all full in the very atmospheric all-round bar downstairs so people were going upstairs to the more stark music area.
To me this pub is excellent and well worth that little extra walk from the town. Definitely needs upgrading.
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I can only agree with the latest reviews. This place has come on by leaps and bounds since the new people took over. It's a bit out of the way but well worth the effort to get there.
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I visited this pub at around midday on a Saturday. A stunning selection of real ales on offer including Dark Star American Pale Ale and Hophead and Harveys Old. They even had Brugse Zot Blond on draught! The food was your average pub fare at fairly reasonable prices. Also very dog friendly offering a menu for dogs including chews and pigs ears etc. which we liked very much. I have one criticism in that the bar staf, although incredibly pleasant, seemed to have no sense of urgency with regard to customer service and I felt a bit abandoned at the bar! We had to wait over half an hour for food menus which were not released until around 1 pm by which time we were incredibly hungry! Overall though despite the slight hiccup on the service a top pub and I would definitely visit again.
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Wow! This is pub utopia - very good beer (including Dark Star Hophead), pleasant surroundings (narrowboat style to reflect the history), good food and very friendly bar staff / owners.
They often have live music on a Saterday evening, which unfortunately has become something of a rarity in Lewes.
Great place
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I've been there a few times now. Each time it has seemed a very good, friendly place, with good beers (well kept) and some out-of-the-way lagers too (if you like that sort of thing). The food has been extremely good (not exclusively veggie any more). One evening, a man played piano through the evening, apparently a fairly regular thing. I like the place. 8/10
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I first went into the refurbished Snowdrop a couple of weeks ago and to say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. They have done a wonderful job on the decor, very homely and great attention to detail with the hand-painted narrow boat theme. But most importantly the beer was superb. The had Harveys Best and Old and Darkstar's Hop Head. I did,'t try the Hop Head but both the Harveys were kept extremely well. I enoyed the beer so much I stayed for some food and once again I wasn't disappointed. I had a wonderful Game casserole which had my mouth watering.
I live in Brighton and wouldn't usually leave the city just for a pint but this place has done it for me. I returned the other day to find added to their list of ales 'Bonfire Toffee' from Rectory Ales. A real winter warmer and a winner.
Can't sing the place's praises nough. Fantastic beer, great food, freindly staff, cosy surroundings. I'll see you in there.
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The Snowdrop has just reopened after a major refurbishment. The interior is very well done in a ‘narrow boat’ style reflecting the building’s original use as a bargeman’s house. Harveys and Dark Star Hophead were on of which the latter was superbly kept.
The landlord seemed a pretty decent chap, but the whole thing was spoilt by the same old loud music problem – I don’t want to listen to your I-pod so loudly I can’t have a conversation, so I finished my pint and left – a real shame as I would have liked another. I wish the Snowdrop well, but until I can have a quiet pint there, I won’t be going back.
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I came here of a morning to research the record avalanche the pub was named after. I was still locked and I set off back down the road. I passed a bloke carrying a pack of paper towels, I asked him if he knew when the pub would be open, and he said
"When I open it!"
He let me in and I waited until he set things out and pulled the beer through. A really nice bloke and very good beer. He does pizzas and will be trying other food and bands, but is clearly having to work hard to stand still.
This is a gem of a boozer, with good beer, character and a goldfish pond outside. I would urge people to give it a go, especially those who've not been for an age.
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The Snowdrop did go down hill a lot after the Mays sold it. However, it was still a very good pub but it was the Smoking Ban that killed it dead (before even the credit crunch), which is ironic seening as it was the first pub in Lewes to have a non-smoking section ( early ninties). It did get an impressive amount of out of town visits but it's large circle of locals was it's back bone and they would ten to be smokers. I could see it becoming a smoke free restraunt but as a Pub it won't recover. I used to go to that pub almost every night for about 15 years. A lot of happy memories.
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Currently for sale through Fleurets. £475,000 for the freehold sounds a bit steep in the current climate but it could be revived to its flourishing state five years ago. Still a 7.
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I last went to The Snowdrop 8 years ago when I lived in the S.E., but it was great then, and if they 'only' serve veggie food now, then great! - If you want to go through the 'Golden Arches' for a 'Big Mac' that's your choice ...
Hooray for The Snowdrop!!!
;) Chris.
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Veggie food does not have to be unsatisfying. It makes a pleasant change to go meatless, provided it is good. I have not eaten here recently, but what I saw being served to other customers looked very good. I was there for the beer and the Harvey's Best and Adnam's Broadside were both fine. The atmosphere in this pub is always good and, as others have said, it's a bit different even for Lewes, and that's not such a bad thing.
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What a shame this pub is now veggie only. A group of us have just got back to the office after having lunch there and all of us have just been out to get a sandwich or snack including a vegtarian amongst us. The food was wholey unsatisfying and I shall not be returning there again.
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The Snowdrop is open for business as usual.
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This pub is currently closed and seeming awaiting a refurbishment
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Decent end of the road pub. Harveys well kept. Good pub grub. Little yard at the side for watching the empty road.
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I agree completley with the last comment. Nuff said!
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Very friendly pub that can sometimes get very busy. Excellent, ever-changing food and well-kept beers. Lewes has plenty of good pbs but in many ways this is the most interesting and certainly the most eclectic.
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good atmosphere on a Sunday pm. Fine Beer & Cider. Didn't have any food, but the diners seemed happy & the food looked good. 2 beer gardens, friendly staff & well kept real ale.
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Overpriced, but quite friendly.
Pub quiz is good on Sundays!
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Don't understand some of these comments about the Snowdrop. Have these people got the wrong pub?! Seems fine to me, good atmosphere, good mix of people, and the staff are a laugh -- informal certainly, but friendly and never offhand. As for food, the menu is large and varied, the portions are HUGE, and generally it's very good value. There's a very popular quiz night on Sundays.
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Popped in last night and enjoyed an excellent couple of pints of Harveys, good music and great atmosphere, mainly younger clietelle but all well behaved and enjoying themselves
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I went in this pub in October with a few friends to try some real ale with good vegan food. What we got was indifferent staff, hardly any ale and a menu that did not reflect the food being served. The staff especially seemed to be put out by customers meaning that either the pub makes so much money that it just relies on staff drinking there - if so good luck because I will be in the Lewes Arms in the future!
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I agree with Robin's comment of Jul 2004. This pub has lost its way as is more interested in cramming the customers in, than maintaining standards of quality. The serving times for food are rather odd and when it does arrive, it's overpriced, small in portion-sized, and underwhelming in taste.
Lucy - 19 Oct 2004 16:53 |
I dropped in recently with a small group of visiting friends for lunch. However, because the pub was filthy, the menu woefully inadequate and the service dismissive, disinterested and rude, we decided to eat elsewhere.
James Patterson - 7 Oct 2004 11:03 |
It's a pity about the Snowdrop. I'm just thankful I was able to visit it back in it's hayday. :)
Guy - 6 Aug 2004 13:24 |
Was served two pints of undrinkable Harveys on my last visit. When I complained, they were replaced by Summer Ligtning, although I was asked to pay the price difference. Speaking of price... If two pints of Summer Lightning costs £5.00 then how much is a pint and a half? Bet you guessed £3.75. Wrong! £3.85. It seems they charge an extra 10p for a half. Leaving this rip-off aside, it's not got the friendly atmosphere and good beer it used to. If you want good Harveys and a lovely traditional pub atmosphere, try the Lewes Arms.
Gordon - 28 Jul 2004 11:27 |
A curious real ale pub on the outskirts of Lewes. Once a mecca for ramblers, students, vegetarians and real ale drinkers, the interior was a mass of obscure paraphernalia - there was even a canoe on the ceiling! In April 2003 the pub changed hands and was purchased by the Punch Group. It lost it's cosmopolitan atmosphere, it's quirky interior and exclusive vegetarian/vegan menu (and gained Sky TV!). Some veggie dishes are still on offer, but lack the imagination and flair of old. You're more likely to find fish & chips or lasagne on the menu. Sadly, items such as lentils, pumpkin or sunflower seeds and couscous are no longer in evidence. It's one redeeming feature is that it still serves up a nice pint of Harvey's!
Robin - 8 Jul 2004 07:43 |
got there to sample famous food only to be told not doing food. not a good way to maintain a reputation
jb - 17 Apr 2004 10:12 |
I think they're in the process of de-crustying the place. Popped in for a couple last Friday.
The local yout' were having a party upstairs and were strutting about in their finery. It was alright but I was expecting something a more interesting. The food was pretty good, there were still a couple of vegie options there.
scott - 10 Feb 2004 12:55 |
The outside has now been painted a revolting yellow colour and the food is now not all-vegetarian. This follows the sale of this once fine landmark pub to new owners.
Dave Kemp - 23 Oct 2003 08:07 |
Mad painted outside. Fantastic all-vegetarian food.
Claire - 9 Jul 2003 14:05 |
