Symposium in Lewes

The wine was nice. But customer relations leave a lot to be desired. Lesson one: take your eyes off the screen when your customers speak with you.

What a great find ! Walked past this small wine bar and decided to pop in. What a superb place , small intimate , lovely atmosphere excellent wine choices and very enjoyable snacks. The service was very friendly and the prices reasonable. Highly recommended.

Really lovely wine bar/shop. AMAZING choice, with lovely staff. Really relaxed, and cosy atmosphere. Highly recommend.

Such a wealth of experience from staff and delicious wines! Definitely a must visit! You can even take your wine to the delicious Erawan Thai restaurant next door. They also do spirits as well!

relaxed fine wines no sales pitch just dialogue had to be helped down steps no railing council planning listed conservation

Go there and give it a go. Amazing wines and great platters. Highly recommended a must for Lewes, will definitely be going again.

Just popped for an amazing mixed cheese and meat platter Was very nice and tasty Had an amazing colour changing gin and tonic If your ever in ir near lewes go in for a blue gin and tonic!!

Perfection. On and off sales of wines, beers and gin. The ‘top wine’ by the glass is a lovely opportunity to try something different - both the white and red were excellent on this visit and we left with 2 bottles of the red. Looking forward muchly to returning for a wine tasting. Henry is a fine host and serves a fine meat and cheese platter. This place is worthy of a specific trip. Who’s doling out the Michelin stars?

I wanted to bring a bottle of wine to a work function and the staff were very helpful in aiding me in making a selection at a reasonable price.

Definitely visit here if you enjoy nice wine, cheese and charcuterie. The owner knows A LOT about wine and we went for his recommendation and loved it. A great atmosphere too. We went on A friday evening about 6pm and very lucky to get a table. Most were booked and I would recommend this to avoid being turned away. The mixed meat and cheese platter was great at £11. Delicious bread, oil too.

It never seems packed, like wine bars used to be. And that's good. It gives you the chance to chat to the proprietors, who are happy to dispense from their vast knowledge as well as their very wide range of wines, that they know very well. Additionally, they have examples of gins, whiskies and some incredible sakes.

Great local business in the centre of Lewes. It offers an impressive selection of very reasonably priced wines, as well as spirits and beers. You can also enjoy tapas style platters while samplig the wines. The owner, Rob, is very knowledgeable and provided some good recommendations for wines we wouldn’t normally have. Also caters for daytime coffee and delicious cakes. Definitely worth a visit.

Great drinks and food. Large and varied selection of drinks. A handful of reds and whites available by the glass (£3-£6), include some you won't have heard of (a good thing) and staff are more than happy to help out with flavour notes. Also a fine selection of craft beers (£3-£6, cans and bottles, plenty of local stuff) and plenty of interesting gin (national and local). A very well made gin and tonic (other cocktails available I think) was around £7. To eat, the two of us shared a vegetarian platter between two (also available: a cheese platter and a meat platter). The food was fresh, tasty and generous, excellent value at £12.50. Thick crusty slices of Flint Owl bread, good dipping oils, delicious olives and some vegetarian (seaweed?) rolls. The one downside for us on this Saturday evening was that the place was very quiet. Only us and one or two other tables at any one time and not much of a buzz unfortunately. We felt this despite really liking the music playing, turn up the volume a tad perhaps?! Would highly recommend for a romantic night out or for a small group drinking after work/before dinner.

We popped in here to meet an ild uni friend before catching the Glyndebourne shuttle. An enthusiastic and knowledgeable host guided to a really delicious Italian Rose made with Nebiollo. Fruity, light with gentle acidity and a hint of tannin on the finish. Absolutely perfect on a hot summers day and a beautifully presented meat platter to accompany

Lovely atmosphere. We went for a special occasion and I went in earlier to ask the advice of the proprietor about which wine to open later in the evening. He was extremely knowledgeable and chose a wonderful champagne which we really enjoyed. We had a couple of platters to accompany the wine and they were good too. There is a lovely ambience - different to a pub, really nice for couples.

If your a fan of good wine, this is the place for you. The selection is extensive and if you're not sure, the staff have the patience of saints and they'll find you the perfect bottle or glass. Even if you're not a wine buff, you will be after sampling some of the delicious wines on offer. And the gin and tonics are a revelation. Sharing a bottle good friends, plate of superb local cheese in the relaxed and convivial atmosphere of the Symposium is indeed one of life's little pleasures. It doesn't get much better.

What a lovely little find, fine wine with a lovely mixed meat and cheese platter..... what a great little place for those that like good wine or Gin ;) and a little something to eat, I would highly recommend.

Bien he revisado este lugar cuando lo abrieron por primera vez hace unos años (era yo quien lo puso en tripadvisor). Desde entonces ha re-catogorised lejos de un restaurante (era #1 por un tiempo) y ahora es un restaurante nuevo, aunque notablemente inferior hacia abajo de la lista (sólo con 20 comentarios en el momento de escribir). Así que no estoy seguro de lo que ha sucedido aquí. . . tripadvisor, puede que desee investigar. . .

Nos tomamos una copa aquí antes de ir a la magnífica puerta sin licencia restaurante tailandés al lado. Estaba vacía cuando fuimos porque había un evento privado. Aunque sólo tenía s bebida tienen la selección más extensa de vinos y artesanías de cervezas. Sólo tienes que pagar el precio de venta además de servir licor. El personal era muy servicial y amable, las recomendaciones apropiadas. Bandejas de comida también sirven para alrededor de £11 que tendremos que probar otra vez, pero nos han dicho que son muy buenos también.

Great wine selection, really helpful friendly staff who are hugely passionate about wine and really know their stuff. Prices to suit everyone's budget.

A timely & well located drinking (& food) hole that neighbours our favourite Thai restaurant. Great selection of all things nice, very chilled, definetly worth visiting for a drink & light bite.

What a great place for the last drink of a very good wine selection and a cheese or meat board.the helpful staff Ian gave us advice.its clean friendly and you can buy wine to take home.its been 3 years since last visit but will be back next month

Great place / smashing people. Needs more atmosphere - the balance between shop & bar - needs tweaking - but wine excellent / prices excellent / friendly people - well worth a visit - we went back for take out pudding!

Llegamos a un buen ambiente. Tenía una copa de Prosecco, el mejor que he probado jamás. Estaba conduciendo así sólo tenía el vidrio. El resto del grupo 4 diferentes vinos que disfrutamos fueron descritos muy sinceramente por el propietario. Relación calidad-precio si estás en un grupo.

Debo admitir que esta no es la primera vez que he visitado.

Popped in after work for a glass of wine. Tried something new beginning with v - a reminder would be helpful as intend to pop in and buy a bottle. Friendly atmosphere. Will return.

Great wine choice, but sometimes felt like we were not welcome to stay! Corkage charge can become high especially if your in a group having more than one bottle.

We spent a really enjoyable evening with friends at this cosy and relaxed wine bar. We started with an English sparkling wine and then Henry gave us an informative tasting session on some of their favourite wines before settling on a white Tokaji and NZ Pinot Noir. To accompany our gorgeous wines we went for the locally sourced mixed cheese and meat platter. Fabulous, fabulous , fabulous !

second visit, just brilliant. Lovely staff who know their stuff, huge choice of delicious wines, very scary selection but they'll guide you. Gorgeous platters of fish/ meat / cheese and beautiful bread basket. Must book.

Came here in January with some friends for nibbles and wine. As usual - service was attentive, informative and helpful. It was a busy night - all the tables were full (luckily we booked) but it didn't lose its cosy vibe.Wines are still great/varied/unusual. Highly recommend

Just popped in for a glass of wine before eating elsewhere on this occasion.The Malbec on offer was delicious with typical strong fruity flavours. The staff were pleasant and informative. The decor relaxing and interesting . My friend regularly buys wine from here and indeed there were a steady stream of people dropping in to buy a bottle or two, whilst we were there. Planning to return and savour a glass of wine with a meal. The platters on offer look interesting.

Had a marvelous time with friends this week chatting and sampling local sparkly- Court Garden from outside Ditchling if you're wondering. Symposium doesn't normally open on a Monday but took pity and opened in the evening just for us! Great nibbles with local cheeses and Charcuterie from Lewes Market and amazing Flint Owl Bread. Rob and Henry take great care of their guests and we always get one little recommendation that we would have never thought of before- Lighting is always flattering too which we women love...

We came across Symposium, which is situated just round the corner from the station, during a day trip to Lewes. A warm welcome was received from the proprietor who was very knowledgeable about the many wines on offer and those that we tried were very good. Platters of food were available: cheese, meat, fish or vegetarian. We opted for the cheese and vegetarian which were delicious as were the olives and the rosemary bread. We purchased 3 bottles of wine which will not be in our drinks cabinet for long!! A pleasant couple of hours was spent in very comfortable surroundings. Highly recommend this establishment and will definitely return when we are next in the area.

Was taken here by friends on my trip to Lewes. Very friendly wine bar, lovely staff. I am not really a wine buff like my friends but thought the atmosphere, location and staff were lovely. Great place to end the day before returning home on the train.

Lovely little place nr the train station in lewes. Very peaceful relaxing atmosphere, friendly helpful staff and good wine.

Very friendly staff and good prices on wine that you can also buy to take away. Good range of wines and deli plates

Symposium hosted our end of term party for some of us wine students from Plumpton College's Wine department. They had a great selection of wines which we managed to work our way through (although we didn't quite reach the end of their selection!) and served us up some great cheese and meat platters to soak up some of the alcohol. They have some very interesting wines and are very knowledgeable about those they sell. Great atmosphere, convivial staff and handy for the train home.

Friendly and knowledgeable staff, welcomed us in to this bright and contemporary wine bar. Tapas style food served - great locally sourced meats, cheeses and bread, and loads of choice for drinks. We loved it.