Harvester Sovereign Harbour Eastbourne in Eastbourne

Lovely meal and Freddie who served us deserves the five stars

Three of us had a really nice lunch today with great service from Freddie

I was looking forward to coming after the refurb but was so disappointed. Harvester used to have plenty of options for veggie/vegans, but the variety now is really not that great (Especially as half of it is only served until 5pm?). We waited well over an hour to be served our meals which coincidentally appeared shortly after we had to chase. We were very close to paying for our drinks and leaving. Unfortunately this is our second visit with ridiculously long wait times so both my partner and I agreed we would never be going back.

Had a great meal but what stood out most was the service provided by our waiter Freddie. Polite and efficient he really helped to make the evening a pleasant experience.

Food was good Freddie was literally the best waiter ever (and I have eaten in lots of restaurants) Be careful because someone will snap him up. He could be serving at the Ritz. I’m going to tell all my friends about Freddie for the rest of March.

Freddie was a great server, very good at taking allergen requests and was polite.

Great service, friendly staff , food was delicious & salad cart was great . Thankyou harvester for a great meal out! 👍

Freddie was very helpful and friendly great service will come back again

Popped in again tonight after leaving a positive 5* review last time but it was SOOOOOO COLD in there… you have the luxury USP of having multiple open fires yet don’t turn them on & people were eating in coats & jackets - sort it out & make it appealing for people to keep coming back for a great experience - you’ve just spent a fortune on updating everything yet it’s freezing, not welcoming & people don’t want to stay too long… there’s plenty of competition in the Marina so you should utilise everything you have to offer to beat the competition !!!!

Overall a very pleasant eating experience

Called for lunch whilst out walking. Service on the slow side, but Emma our waitress was excellent. I had a pasta dish which was very tasty but some bits of pasta were rather hard at one end of the plate. This was the only problem and in fact a small one, most of the pasta was fine (hence a 4 rather than 5 rating) Another positive is that Emma spoke clearly and audibly. I am a little deaf and not everyone in the hospitality industry speaks clearly. Emma spoke audibly without me having to ask. Well done Emma. We will be back!

Lovely friendly service from Emma. It was busy and she was polite and attentive . We are not as keen on the new menu but this is one of our favourite Harvesters due to the lovely harbour setting.

We had a lovely evening. Food was nice and Freddie looked after us very well

Thanks to Freddie, Great service again. We will be coming back 👌🏼

Our server, Freddie was amazing. Very professional, very efficient without being too pushy. A great ambassador for Harvester and we shall definitely be coming back.

Freddie our waiter gave us excellent service.

My party of ten had a warm welcome on arrival. We was served quickly. Freddie was very professional in his service.

Good service by Freddie quick and efficient

Lovely place good prices fantastic service from Freddie highly recommend

Very good service from Freddie very pleasant the food was delicious

We were served by Freddie, who gave us a good table, gave clear advice on the menu and look after us in a wonderful way. The food was more than ample and of fair quality. We’ll be back !

They were very busy so service was a little slower but it was no problem as all our table were happy to wait and our server Jeorgia was so lovely and kind and really went above and beyond to help out with kids and dietary requirements. Much appreciated and highly recommend for families

Very slow service and alot of items not available. Food was OK, but not good quality for the price. We were there for two hours and only had a main meal, didn't bother with dessert as it was getting to late for children. Then server wanted a tip?. Maybe give a better dinner experience and be honest about wait times.

Do not go here for breakfast as you will never get the full order. They are always missing basic items for the breakfast. This includes beans, scrambled egss (even though they had eggs that can be poached or fried) and hash browns for exmaple. They last 3 times we have gone they have had items unavailable. This time we rang up ahead of booking to check they had all the ultimate breakfast' items available. They said they did and when we went to order they had no beans. This time no substitutes were offered, they forgot our mushrooms and we had to repeat ourselves for drinks. We have now given up wanting to return as it is just dissapointing everytime.

Returned today as I heard they had a refurb. Which is lovely. I must say the breakfast we had was definitely the best I've had in a long time, staff were all lovely, especially the assistant manager Mason on the bar, very friendly and helpful.

I took my 89 year old mother and 5 year old grandson to the Harvester on 17 February. I had booked a table on line and when I arrived was told may be up to a 45 minute wait for food. I agreed this would be ok. After waiting 90 minutes I told waitress I had still not received my food and could she check. She returned and was apologetic and embarrassed to have to tell me we would have to wait a lot longer and suggested we may want to go elsewhere. I asked her the reason for the delay and was advised the head office would only allow them 4 members of waiting staff for 6 Sections. We left and went to Pablos which was a much better choice.

A lovely relaxed evening with great food and superb service.

The food took 55 minutes to arrive and that was only after chasing! The meal was overpriced for what it was.

I don’t normally leave many reviews unless something is very good or very bad. In this case it was very bad. The recent changeover of the new menu is quite poor. It’s mostly chips and meat now. The food that we were served was abysmal :( things forgotten, things not cooked correctly, pink chicken meat, poor accommodation to when seating a disabled man with limited walking abilities. Re: the photo added, where’s the “kebab” the pepper squares are smaller than my thumb nail 😂 2/4 chicken not cooked right. Missing the coleslaw side. Pitta rock solid. The salad bar I look forward to but that also wasn’t great anymore with limited options and poorly tasting to usual. The harvester has gone down hill deeply. It’s a shame as we came a lot for Sunday lunch. Won’t be coming again.

Terrible food and way overpriced. Table staff do an ok job but whoever is cooking the food needs sacking. Family came to visit for the day, I live locally so they wanted to do this newly refurbished harvester. I was sceptical as have experienced bad food from here before but went along with what everyone else fancied doing. The prices have gone up and for what I got I could have gone to any other restaurant in the harbour and got much better. How hard can it be to get a burger and a few chips right! I will not be returning anytime soon which is a shame as it’s in a handy location as I live on the harbour.

Food was only luke warm!!! We placed our order and still after waiting nearly 35 minutes we hadn't been given our salad bowls or our glasses for our refillable drinks!! The place was absolutely rammed if they can't handle the amount of customers they shouldn't keep booking people in, the service was terrible

Just been in for a meal there from 2:45-4pm today. We eat in the bar area . 2 servers were cleaning our table but walked off with it very dirty , we had to ask for someone to come back after maybe 5 mins & be cleaned. The hoity, toity guy came back , stared at us no smile , no hello , said ‘ can you move your stuff so I can clean’ the food was AWFUL. Ordered 2 dirty chicken burgers , airfryed frozen southern fillets in stale rolls . For £18 each ! The lettuce was old in the burger, the chips were old & tasted bland . There was zero taste to this meal . Just the same old awful crap food it’s always been . We keep hoping will get better . It never does .

I have severe anxiety and find it very hard to ask for stuff but this one server jeorgia was very nice and made me feel very comfortable.

Lovely calm experience, I loved my pancakes would go again

Great food and lovely service from Emma ☺️

Emma was our server and she was fab. Our granddaughter has allergies and she was very thorough explaining how to order safe foods for her. Lovely experience. Thanks Emma 😁

Great atmosphere, polite and attentive staff. Salad bar was fresh and constantly stocked. Christmas decorations were very homely. Food was of a good standard and portion size.

The server was amazing and friend Shannon should get a promotion to manger

Freddie was great, very helpful

Freddie was fantastic and attentive to our needs. Would come again and recommend

Went to have lunch with my Nan, and we were served by a lovely young chap called Freddie. He met all our requirements with a smile and everything came in good time. Food was super tasty too! Will defo be coming back.

Emma was great and very helpful with our little boy

Love this place,food amazing,excellent service by our sever Freddie.Will eat here again.

Freddie served us tonight for a great meal thanks to my amazing husband. What a guy!

We went for dinner tonight here and were greeted by a member of staff and promptly sat at our table. The table was small but the atmosphere around it made up for it 100%! We were soon approached by a jolly Jeorgia who was able to recommend an alternative to one of the ciders. She stayed with us through to the end, passing by occasionally to ask how the meal was going. The food was amazing.. a massive step up from the days of the previous management, which really makes you appreciate it even more. Me and my partner spent £90 on the both of us which may sound quite good but you need to try the food first because after eating it feels like a bargain! As for the drinks, my partner had a “Raspberry Woo Woo” which was nice and sweet. I myself had a Strongbow Cider, which was nice, a Passionfruit Martini which was really smooth and tasty, and to finish it off a Havana Cuban Rum with Coke, which helped me end the night on a strong finish. I think aside from just the great food, the experience was superior to their neighbours in Polegate because of Jeorgia. She managed to make the evening really stand out for us! 10/10

Food was good, loved the new decor following on from a refurbishment.! Our server Freddie was very attentive throughout our time at the restaurant. Great overall experience

Service is average in terms of speed, although it's usually pretty friendly. Food is very poor considering and overpriced, and with lots of independent cafés and restaurants next door in the harbour who offer far better food at lower prices, you should really consider them instead. For example the set menu at the nearby Thai restaurant is cheaper than most mains at Harvester, and you can get a proper wood fired pizza at one of the Italian places for less than a microwaved Harvester main course.

We waited an hour and our food hadn’t arrived so we asked what’s going on. We were told that they could see we’d paid but the order hadn’t gone through to the kitchen, apparently “this has never happened before”and they’ll look into it. Then we were told what my partner had ordered sold out 20 minutes ago so she had to choose a different one. The pasta was supposed to be served with Garlic Bread but it was naan bread. My scampi was acceptable as were the chips. I own a business, things can go wrong, often beyond our control but I do everything possible to make it right. We were not offered a complimentary drink or a partial refund. This meal was to see if this place had improved after a not so great experience years ago, this was worse! We live locally and really wanted a place to visit with our dogs in the evening………. The search continues

I had the mixed grill, which was okay. The steak was very thin and, therefore, consequently cold. The rest of the grill was alright, though. However, the onion rings were rock hard. The salad was nice and fresh 🥗 👍🏻

Service slow....orange juice was disgusting...they said a lot of people had said the same...why serve it ??? Food was cold and not very special at special prices Not planning to return

We took the kids here for breakfast with santa and it was great. The food was amazing, the server was very informative in regards to a food allergy, and the premises were clean and inviting. Santa engaged well with my children and they left happy

Regularly visit with my 3 year old for breakfast, attentive staff and food always of a good quality

Very poor food. Limited vegan and vegetarian choices. I sent the jacket potato back twice as hard and uncooked. Very disappointing.

Visit A) 9 of us booked in for breakfast at 10am, no one else dining as we entered. We wrote our orders down for the server for ease, despite that- the orders came out wrong. People with the wrong eggs, beans with foreign body in it, missing toast, too many drinks. My beans and mushroom were freezing cold. Got the bill and they over charged us too! Had to get it amended twice. New staff that use to work at Treacle mine served us, clearly use to how it worked there where people pay just a set price and collect their own drinks. Don’t have the skills to manage proper ordering etc. Very poor attention to detail. No wonder the place is dead with situations like this. I won’t rush back. Visit B) Returned for new years for festive menu specifically as per my booking and only when arrive told it isn’t available as they deliberately run down the stock. Ruined our plans as only booked for the special set menu. Sauces all low, so much missing food items, festive menu not sold. I’m so sick of this place, it’s rubbish every time

My daughters gammon needed to be cooked more very under cooked had to wait over 10 mins and ask for the meal I had the camembert and tomato tart I unfortunately found it a bit sickly my husband had a lovely meal dirty combo I think about 3burgers and ribs our son had the chicken burger meal he enjoyed that too

Price of food has increased alot and quality has gone down. Staff and venue are still very good but the food isnt sadly I had ribs and a burger. The burger i would rate a 5/10, was pretty generic, nothing to scream about. They forgot the cheese on the cheese burger. Wouldnt recomend tbh. the ribs i would give a 2/10, they genuinly tasted like the frozen ones that come in a bag from frozen isle in lidl, they didnt have much flavour and the bbq sauce wasnt a glaze, so it ended up tasting very bland and artificial / rubbery/ watery. When inspecting they were not cooked on a grill and seemed to have been boiled (no sear marks from being cooked on a grill or in a pan), my guess is they come in a plastic bag, boiled and then sauce added at the end. Very depressing as they used to be my favorite item and they seem to have been swapped for a cheap alternative. Overall the meals were the same price as what i would pay in london but for below average quality frankly. I am not sure who this venue is for now, it used to be a place my parents would bring us as childen as was affordable and tasted nice, i dont see how familys could afford to eat here anymore when meals are ranging between £18-£30 per person, not including drinks or sides.

Had a great time. Food was tasty although portions small. Service was excellent by our server Kane

Great service, Thank you Freddie!!

Had a lovely family meal this evening and was assisted by Freddie who was super friendly and really helpful! Would like to thank him for his amazing service, we will definitely be returning!

Fantastic service, smelt clean and there was no rush. The staff were brilliant. One small thing, my plate was cold so my steak became cold quickly!! Had a good time though!

Lovely evening with friends. Food and service was really good. Our server Freddie was fab! Thank you!

First things first. Tomatoes are cut too big for the salad. Ridiculously big. No one wants to bite into half a tomato in their salad bowl. Next. You served me Birds Eye southern fried chicken for £20 you cheeky Charlie. Absolutely horrendous. Third. Chips were nearly frozen. I’d rather them be double cooked then under cooked. Don’t know what people you’re hiring in the kitchen but they’re all completely off with their timings. 2/10

Christmas lunch not enough staff to longi a wait between courses, ordered drinks that never arrived would not use again

Excellent service by Freddy, very passionate and friendly. Overall, the food was good and quick.

This is a great restaurant! Food and atmosphere was amazing, it’s been our tradition for a while to come here every Christmas Eve and I love it every year. Freddie was a great server, very friendly and helpful! 10/10

Freddie at the Eastbourne harbour was a great server. Made our evening enjoyable and was very attentive

Freddie's service was top notch, food was enjoyable.

Freddie was fabulous. Very friendly and attentive, 10 stars!!! 🌟

A lovely meal all round and our waiter Freddie was very attentive and looked after us really well.

Had a great meal, with a very attentive server, Freddie. Busy and noisy on the Sunday before Xmas, but to be expected.

Are server Freddy was fast, hard working and amiable.

Great food, great service, especially waiter Freddie. Thankyou!!

Freddy was a great server and very polite and ran back and forth to give us napkins

Freddy was very attentive. Very friendly and helpful

After a long morning on Christmas shopping duties, we stopped by Harvester to grab some lunch before heading home. At first, we felt we were waiting for ages until someone decided to turn up to take our order. Then we were greeted, looked after, and served by Freddy, who was a super friendly and attentive chap. When places are busy like it was today, you don't expect much from the stuff as they're running around in panic mode. He, however, made us feel super welcome, and he was regularly checking on how we were getting on with the food of if we needed a drink top up, hence why it is worth a mention. So thanks, Freddy!

Unlimited salad for £6.99 is well worth it. Peroni costs £6.60. Struggled and gave up with the online order system but I'm sure it's usually good!

I guess you get what you get at a Harvester. We stopped by for brunch. Even though it was much quieter than on our previous visit, the food was poorly cooked. Our server did her best but a series of slip ups and “oh sorry you didn’t get that because we haven’t got it” (why not say up front?) left a sad taste in my mouth. They weren’t even prepared to replace the spilt (albeit by me) espresso. What would that have cost in goodwill given that they’d already let me down on the breakfast? 40p maybe to refill an espresso cup. No obligation of course, it was my mistake, but they missed a chance to distract me from the burnt sausages and missing guacamole. On the upside there’s a nice view of the Marina

Thank you Harvester for your message. I am sorry I was unable to leave 5 stars, but unfortunately it wasn't the best on this day. Scrambled eggs were cold, sausages were really hard to cut and eat. We had 2 different people serving us, one lady was friendly but the other not so much unfortunately. I managed a quarter of the breakfast, I wasn't asked how my meal was. I did mention it wasn't great, and was told sorry to hear that. Hopefully it was just a one off, I am prepared to come back and try again at some point.

Clean great view of the harbour good food

Booked to Breakfast with Santa as treat for my Grandchildren. Get a phone call on a Saturday evening to cancel for the Sunday morning. No matter what reason , absolutely poor service. Attitude was we could not get someone else is OK. Letting down children who bring the smiles and happiness at this time off the year is OK. With all the advertising and promises this company shouts about. Absolutely disgraceful. Yet honestly believe, they do not care.

I had dinner here recently and they have really up'd their game! The quality of the food was much better. My ribeye steak was was very good and my girlfriends ribs were very tender. The service was much better than before too. Good Job.

Every time I come there you guys are excellent and always on time with the food

Visited here recently as it is my local Harvester, the meal was ok but NO CORN ON THE COBS anymore!!!! So I get corn bread instead which is nowhere near as nice! What a disappointment plus the prices have risen. So no cobs no return!!

Lovely food. My server kane brought to my table the most tastiest rotisserie chicken I've ever had 5/5 will be back again for a bucket bargain 😀

Welcome was great, easy to order. Our host Kane was great‼️‼️

Popped in for breakfast, Emma was very attentive in serving us.

Awful! Service - waitress asked on the way past if meal was ok, I shook my head no, and she continued walking! Roast potatoes were frozen variety and hard! They almost went of the plate when I tried to cut them. Meal overcooked and cold! Waited an hour almost for desserts. Only scored 2 because the free salad was good, and the desserts … when they finally arrived! Back to service - blue light discount refused, then was made to feel like a liar when I spoke to the manager about my experience! He went and spoke to the waitress who denied it! £70 for two people is not cheap! Suffice to say we’ll not be returning! AVOID!!

Everything changed, the online menu is not the same as the paper menu

Good selection of restaurants and a nice walk around the harbour after, UPDATE AS OF 15/11/2024 menu changed since our last visit to harvester and the food was really good, we was given a couple of vouchers which we had some trouble scanning but the manager soon sorted that out for us. Staff were really helpful and even though it was busy there wasn't a long wait.

We had a lovely family breakfast Sunday morning. Our waitress& food were spot on . Thank you

Waitress didn't put our order through waited 1hour for food , manager took price of our meals off and apologised, we were then sitting waiting to pay the bill , we did ask to pay but still had to wait a while restaurant wasn't busy , food was delicious when it came but had to rush eat to go pick up kids .

Half term... mayhem with children. [Forgot that bit 😳] But staff were amazing. Even though it was extra busy, the quality and standards did not drop. Well done 👏

Had day out in Eastbourne .dropped into sovereign harbour for lunch. Stopped at harvester service good food good 🍺 OK but my wife and I were seated near the entrance door. People were constantly leaving the door open witch left us sitting in cold 🥶 draft .my wife had to put her coat back on I got up from my dinner at least three times to shut the door 🚪 😒. You need automatic closing doors

It's a Harvester. Much more expensive these days but, isn't everything. No complaints.

Good food, great prices and friendly staff. Best salads ever!

We had a great experience here, the food was good, and I always love the salad bar. Sam was amazing and attentive. She was very helpful, thank you so much for serving us. We will be back!

O really love their breakfast. I had the vegan option, and it’s really good. Within a week i visited two times because of taste and quality. Highly recommended

Staff were really helpful especially as I am gluten-free and had everything explained what I could have to eat It was half term and although very busy the service was prompt

On arrival we were told that they had run out of rotisserie chicken, which I was absolutely gutted about. I asked for the option of having a chicken breast instead of the quarter chicken on the main, which couldn't be done. I then requested for a side of ribs without BBQ glaze and the new hot honey, again it wasn't an option. At the end of our evening, after ordering the hot drink and small desert, we were told the hot machine was off. HOWEVER, with just the few negative points.. the service was absolutely amazing this evening and with every annoying request that I made, our waitress went ABOVE and BEYOND. She was apologetic with the requests that couldn't be done, but managed to fulfil every request even after saying it wasn't possible! Down to the hot drink, our waitress managed to source the hot drink! The manager on this evening - I believe his name was Chris, was brilliant after my moan. The guys who were also working this evening, kane? and 1 other guy, were brilliant too. What could have been a disappointing evening out, turned into a really good evening and we had a great laugh. So thank you!

After a very long wait for food last year, we decided to give the restaurant another chance today but unfortunately our experience was just as bad, waiting over an hour after ordering food. The quality of my bbq chicken stack was poor with very dry chicken, overcooked chicken strips and no rainbow coleslaw (as stated on the menu) The gravy on another chicken meal was bland and watery and broccoli cooked to a pulp. As part of the children's meals, we ordered lollies when paying at the bar but were told there weren't any by the time it came to having them. Sad to say I won't be giving the place another chance which is a shame as the location is great right on the harbour.