A quality makeover, this, a few bus stops north of the spaghetti junction of bars around the Angel.
It’s a big place to keep busy with return custom, with the huge interior supplemented by an umbrella-festooned front terrace (‘The Deck’), but the owners succeed thanks to excellent food, decent ales (Harveys Sussex Best plus a guest, such as Hook Norton’s Old Hooky or Cotleigh’s 25) and a pub-like atmosphere with nods to modern manners.
Lending itself to peaceful newspaper perusal at lunchtimes, ideally in the big armchair by the open fire, the Lord Clyde also suits the pre-party crowd, with music at conversational level, San Miguel, Amstel and Aspall Cyder on draught, and superior, own-made bar snacks (sausage rolls, scotch eggs). Lunchtime meze, Harveys-battered haddock and chips, and Sunday roasts (served until 7pm) provide further sustenance.