Freemasons

I sometimes wonder how this place stays in business. I have tried it out for lunch on several occiasions and it is consistently poor. Everytime we try and give the place 'one last chance' it fails to deliver. The portions are tiny, making the pricing over-priced. Staff are largely indifferent, even when a complaint is made and the flies! Don't get me started on those! The Freemasons is probably a good place in the evening if you want to get drunk but avoid it for food. It needs to decide whether it's a bar or restaurant - it can't survive as both.
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Mr B
Thursday, January 24, 2008

I am not one to write reviews on my favourite haunts, but I was so impressed by the Freemasons last week that I wanted to give it some credit! The new cocktail bar Lodge is a fine addition to the pub and the service is always very frendly and incredibly attentive. I took a few friends who were down from London last week and they loved the cocktails and ambience.

The food seems to have got better and better over the last few months and I would even go as far to say that I prefer it to any of the restaurant food that is on offer on Western Road. Really pleased that my local is going from strength to strength especially after he smoking ban.
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Thursday, August 23, 2007

Myself and a friend only stumbled across this pub, what a little gem we found! The staff were well trained and friendly, especially in the cocktail bar, lodge, upstairs!!! Our bartender for the night was a tall, dark handsom figure willing to make all our cocktail fantasies come true... If your looking for a menu to excite, then go to the freemasons, i had the belly of pork and my friend had the seabass, both of which looked and tasted absolutely beautiful. Although priced higher than expected in a pub, it's worth the extra pound or two!!! Will definately be making a return!!
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rach
Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Too noisy at the weekends for my liking. Best time to go is on a weekday lunchtime - when it is a nice bar serving good value food and a good place to sit, read the papers and watch the world go by.
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Lolo Pawson
Tuesday, June 26, 2007

As a regular at the Freemasons, I am very happy to report it has got even better! LODGE, their new non smoking cocktail bar is a fine addition to the downsatirs bar and makes a refreshing change to smoky atmospheres. The new food menu is leaps and bounds above anything else offered on Western Road. I went with a couple of collegues for a working lunch and had the duck confit, followed by basil infused creme brule. Both absolutely delicious. As always, lovely attentive staff. A great local.
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Jo
Wednesday, May 30, 2007

The Freemasons has got what most pubs in Brighton now lack a sense of fun and an identity. These guys keep reinventing themselves and setting the pace. The new no smoking cocktail bar upstairs looks really different from the identikit zel barracuda makeovers we've become used to. The food has also been taken up a serious notch. True the prices have increased a little too but the quality gives the nias, gingermans and tin drums more than a run for their money and in an atmosphere that still is a pub, NOT a restaurant calling itself a 'gastropub'
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mike safo
Tuesday, May 29, 2007

Lovely place, good vibes, very friendly bar staff, who serve one of the best bl**dy mary's I've ever tasted. However, when we ordered Sunday roast for the second visit we'd made there and knowing that the vegetables weren't cooked enough for our taste we asked them and they agreed to serve them well-cooked. They arrived so al dente they had the texture of raw vegetables "because that's the way we do them" . They supplied a second bowl which was slightly more cooked but still underdone. I was served roasted chicken breast that was raw in the middle. When we drew this to their attention, someone stood and argued with me that it was "just a broken blood vessel", I suppose if I'd eaten it I would have "just got salmonella". They finally acknowledged that it was indeed dangerously undercooked and refunded the cost of the meal. We will definitely keep visiting but for drinks only.
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Anne Bond
Wednesday, February 21, 2007

The Freemasons is, in my mind the only bar in Hove that I can pop in for a spot of lunch on weekdays, dress up for in the evenings to enjoy a cocktail, enjoy a friend's birthday party in the gorgeous cocktail bar, and finish the week with a Freemasons Medley Roast (lamb and beef) whilst listening to a Live Band. Staff gorgeous and knowledgeable and music fab!This is actually Hove!!
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Sam
Thursday, February 01, 2007

Very good atmosphere and friendy bar staff. Their Sunday roast is particuarly good. The evenings are lively ith good music.
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Karen
Monday, January 08, 2007

The Freemasons just gets better and better. The service is friendly and the atmosphere is always livlier than anywhere else in the area. They've started live music upstairs with your roast on a Sunday which is just what you need for Winter. Keep it up Freemasons.
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stevie
Monday, December 04, 2006