The Ark in Lewes

Great food, great people will be back, the views of the river are excellent, free parking, dog friendly, what else do you need

Booked for 7pm ,at 7 we were told to order food as kitchen closes at 7 ! Ordered fish of the day which turned out to be Fish and chips , we wanted a dessert and unbelievably to they didn’t do desserts ! Disappointed isn’t strong enough , it was a birthday choice as been there any times with excellent food , won’t be going back !!

Amazing pub very enjoyable right next to the river friendly staff very welcoming dog friendly and kids welcomed beautiful sun trap rear garden

Both myself and my friend were at first reluctant to go in as it wasn't busy but decided to chance it wish we hadn't, we both ordered steaks at £20 each , when it arrived it looked crap really small plates my steak was overcooked and cold the mushrooms were cold I didn't touch the salad it was bad my friend put the steaks in a doggy bag , the waitress asked if we enjoyed the meal and I told her it wasn't good to which she shrugged her shoulders and walked off ,used to be a good pub now it'seems it's struggling and it's not difficult to see why please don't eat the food here

Highly recommend for any cyclists taking the Newhaven to Dieppe ferry. We arrived soaking wet after a 3 hour ride (London-Paris). The staff and locals couldn’t have been more welcoming and helpful. They made us wonderful food (even though the kitchen was shut), gave us bin bags to sit on and keep us warm, and didn’t mind us drying some of our clothes under the toilet hand dryers. They even sponsored the charity we were riding for. Lovely lovely people and a perfect stop off. Thank you. Ps we made it to Paris!

Went down just over a month ago, food was awful but staff were all very nice. Decided to go back as had heard they had a new chef and wanted to give it another try. This visit was much better food was amazing and stuff were welcoming and very nice especially Lexi.

Went to visit as used to be a regular. First visit ok food was really good, second visit rude staff awful Food. Over heard staff talking about Chef that had walked due to poor treatment not surprised if they treat customer badly God knows how they treat staff.

The Ark is on the quayside and modern inside with one large bar. Prior to visiting, having seen photos on this site, we had planned to dine there but the atm,oshere was cold. The room was too "open" not cosy and the foul mouthed locals very loud. Disappointed we left after a quick refresher.

Popped into this fine establishment this evening after stumbling upon it after visiting another pub up the river , Met a charming young man up at the bar who goes by the name Dick Turpin , (must of been a nickname) , any how he told me all about the history of the port and all the pubs that have been and gone , I had a lump in my throat after , and was unsure if he had a lump in his trousers or just a battle scar from the war , anyhow the ale was just amazing

The Ark used to be a wonderful riverside pub, with delicious food, and a great place for Newhaveners. But under new ownership, it is a pale shadow of its former self. While the girls who serve behind the bar are very nice, the previously wonderful menu of innovative locally sourced foods and quirky decor which drew customers from far and wide, has now been replaced with a more downmarket drinking and rave club, and a standard boring menu of mostly fry-ups. Once a month or so they have rave events, in a built up residential area, which are so noisy it can be heard 5 blocks away and the sound felt through rattling windows and through the floorboards in nearby houses. Sadly, the Ark no longer adds to the otherwise lovely ambience of the quayside, one of Newhaven`s remaining attractive amenities.

Ok, but nothing to write home about. My 'locally caught' catch of the day was a chunk of cod that seems to have been previously frozen and certainly wasn't caught in the channel. Having said that it was tasty enough and came with a portion of chips that even my 145 kg frame couldn't manage. Our other dish was a beef burger that looked nice enough, juicy and my wife seemed to enjoy it. Again with a pile of chips that would have served two. Straightforward pub food, no-frills nothing exotic.

We gave these guys 20 minutes notice for a booking of 20 people, we were let down by another local buisness for my sisters 40th I can not believe how accommodating they were with such short notice. The staff on tonight’s shift deserve a round of applause and more! They could not have been more friendly, more helpful! The drinks and food were delicious! This team clearly work well under pressure and also with a huge smile We can not thank you all enough for all of your help tonight, I will be recommending you to everyone!!! Sincerely greatful to you all Thank you

Very disappointing food. Huge portions which were barely edible and clearly straight out of the freezer. Won’t be back

This restaurant is very conveniently placed adjacent to Newhaven ferry port. If you’re early for your ferry, it’ll do - at best. There is a fairly well stocked menu and reasonably priced (certainly cheaper than on the ferry). The portions are huge. We had a simple cheese pizza that came as large as a large dominos, was nice and thick and, again, cheaper than an actual dominos. The burgers are average. Again, large portions but the burger patty itself reminded me very much of a street side vendor, cheap but eatable. The bun was literally just a large bun and not toasted but now I’m being picky. Good amount of mayo and dressing improved the burger quite significantly and although it was a long way from a gourmet burger it was alright. However, positioned right on the estuary, the aroma in the air is very much that of a harbour and not particularly pleasant when eating outside. Adding to this atmosphere is the overwhelming stench of cigarette smoke, which dominates the outdoor seating area in the front. I’m not a smoker so this is fairly subjective but if this is your thing then you won’t have an issue. This certainly is more of a pub than a restaurant. If you’re after a meal before your cross-channel ferry there is perhaps one closer to the port that is more restaurant like, however that place was rammed when we went. Shout out to the pub though for ‘there’s a long wait for food’ which turned out to be 20 minutes at the most so I’d have to say service is very quick, which is great if your short on time.

Full of old and middle aged dead beats, they play unnecessarily loud bad music, bad food and bad service. It’s a shame the river doesn’t swallow it up and do everyone a favour

Came here for lunch and we’re very impressed with the quality of service (friendly staffs) and the food ( I had fish and chips and my partner had steak and onion sandwich). The best fish and chips I’ve ever tried in the Uk.

I have never eaten out and totally regretted it - the fish and chips was completely tasteless apart from rancid fat. Fluffy, pale, thick and greasy batter and thin McDonald's style chips - everything about it was wrong, including the school dinner style salad. A...

Poor customer service. Not welcoming at all felt like we were inconveniencing the staff being there. Lots of regulars sat at the bar turned to stare at us when we walked in. No one said hello or asked if they could help. Food was mediocre...

I ordered a Dry Cured Ham sandwich, salad and chips costing around £7.95. Sandwich was shop brough sliced bread, it wasn't dry cured, more or a reformed ham, the salad was a slice of tomato, cucumber and lettuce leak and the chip were undercooked. Not...

Me and my friend cycled from Dover to Brighton and we had the pleasure of stumbling across this lovely pub, with some of the most friendly staff I have ever met. Amazing food and all of the staff was very accommodating. Was definitely our favourite...

I love Thai food but Mr doesn't so I only get to eat it out. The Ark are offering a small selection of Thai dishes on Wednesday and Thursday each week all at reasonable prices. I opted for prawn stir fry with peppers and rice....

This is my return visit to The Ark. It has been some years, but wow what a disappointment. I'm sure it's not run by the same people. The menu was minimal and lacking inspiration. Beautiful day on the harbour and was hoping for food to...

We had drinks and lunch outside by the river. On Wednesdays and Thursdays they have Asian foods as well as the normal pub menu. The food was excellent and not expensive. As we like spicy we asked for extra chillies in our dishes which the...

Drinks expensive…£7.80 for glass of wine and £5.60 a print. Wondered why it was so quiet on a Friday night!!

Adhered to the Table service rule because of covid but took ages to get any service. Saw other guests having the same issue who went inside to order and came out carrying their drinks. It wasn’t even busy we were just being forgotten about or...

We came out for a drink and decided to stay for fish and chips ... unfortunately for us no tables but my partner joked we would stay sitting on the settees and have our food on trays .That's exactly what the lovely Laurence and Nick...

Delicious fish and chips with fish from the “off the boat” fishmonger next door. Excellent service, really friendly manager. Highly recommend and will definitely go back

Ordered a good variety of Tapas plus other side orders, have been in lockdown in UK from Spain, when restaurants open, I was told this was tasty & authentic for real Spanish Tapas, NONO! the chef needs to cook, sorry mate, this was more than f***** terrible had to put this on here, adios The Ark, return??? 100% no,

This was a great find. We had a lot of time to kill in Newhaven and the two pubs that we found said they didn't do food but suggested the Ark. We ate outside and the tables are huge so it's easy to social distance....

What an amazing transformation from the bad manners and ignorance I experienced on my last visit which was in January. Properly and professionally managed with a great range of beers and a fantastic chef. Well done guys.

Great staff, great food and great location - def give it a go. The fish tasted really fresh and the prawn sandwich was lovely!

I visited after the partial lifting of lockdown at a lunchtime with my husband and two teenage sons. The menu is understandably limited and takeaway only at the moment. We all had cheeseburgers and chips. The food was excellent, good portion size and excellent value...

I visited this pub from Liverpool on a trip to Brighton. My daughter used to manage it a few years ago so I was interested to see how it had changed.My friend and I were greeted by the new managers who took time to explain how the pub will be tastefully refurbished. They were so professional and friendly. I am sure they will be very successful in their new venture. We had drinks which were perfectly served and a rainbow appeared over the river. Look forward to visiting again in the summer and spending time in the garden.

Recently paid a visit to this pub, now under new management. Just wanted to say the food was first class, and the new owners were great hosts.

Visited the Ark today and at last they have a new landlord who has many years experience.He’s accommodating and very professional and is able to communicate which is an amazing change to what we experienced during our last visit about a month ago.I wish you every success for the future.Great experience thank you.

We had lunch today for 5 at The Ark which has been under new management for only 7 days. Whilst the menu is currently limited but the food was great and staff were very friendly and engaging. Well done, hope it goes well going forward.....

Best fish and chips I've had in a very long time the fillet of fish was nearly 2" thick !!! crunchy fluffy chips. Polite staff. Really enjoyed ourselves

I have frequented The Ark for many years and latterly within the last couple of months and most certainly in the last 4 weeks – the attitude of the Bar Staff (Sundays) is totally unacceptable – Never have I met such an arrogant barperson (handlebar mustache) when words like – good afternoon, hello, please and thank you – are obviously not in his vocabulary or education. I have felt so unwelcome in a Public House that is clearly dependent on their local clientele to exist. So until the bar staff concerned are removed – I will not be frequenting The Ark and have relocated to other local Newhaven pubs that serve Beer with a smile!!

This used to be a very good pub with excellent food served but lately appears to have been under new ownership. The barman's greeting today was "Yes!!" At no point did he engage or say "please" or "thank you". A totally arrogant and ignorant attitude. After many years using this pub I won't be going back!!

So, I realise the power of reviews so am always very careful to write a fair review and generally unless truly appalling I try not to be negative. I will describe my experience yesterday and leave the reader to make up their own mind. So my son and I spent the day hiking along Beachy Head. Being hungry - truly hungry we eventually came across the Ark. when we walked in I saw several uncleared tables with plates that had plenty of food left on them. This should have flagged a warning but our hungar ignored the warning sign. Outside the pub promised on a large board 'Log Fire'. We looked around and there was no lit fire despite it being freezing outside. We ordered two glasses of chin blank and to be fair they were delicious, cold and very drinkable. This is the reason the Ark gets two stars instead of one. My son asked what the vegan burger contained. The barman went into the kitchen and then when coming out said 'mixed vegetables'. When the burger came it was simply sandwiched between two buns with very little else. My son ate it but said it was nearly the worst vegan burger he'd eaten. There was one other place where he said it was even worse. When my fish and chips came the batter was over cooked and the fish was cold in the middle. Again my hungar over rode the warning signal and I ate the lot. It was a refuelling exercise and not enjoyment in it. The chips were ok, looked homemade and tasted good. Today - I have the worst tummy since an ill fated visit to a Foreign holiday destination 31 years ago. I will leave you to make up your own mind but suffice it to say - we regret spending every penny of that £50 For that meal and will never go near the place again.

A good welcome on arrival and nice atmosphere inside. We both had great food of vegetarian platter and fish stew. Both lovely and good portions. Will come back.

5 adults and 4 kids. We were looking for somewhere to have dinner and luckily for us we found the Ark. Really friendly attentive service! Nothing was too much trouble including changing an order for one of the children in the group!

I came here for dinner with family the food got to us late by 2 hours when I complained to the owner she was rude and abusive to me and my family then when we received our food it was cold and digusting and and insulin I received intolerant language and had my refund refused.

Clientèle jeune avec enfants qui vient prendre une bière. ou manger un morceau

We have eaten here well several times before, but on Saturday we took friends who were staying., having booked a table for 6 since it would be busy later we knew.

Visited for the first time after a recommendation from a review online. We went on a Tuesday lunch time and there was plenty of places to sit. The tapas was mainly £6 ish for one bowl so in order to try a few it did cost a bit of money. Would be a good idea for them to do a lunch time deal or something like other tapas places do?

Nous sommes tombés par hasard sur ce restaurant alors que nous cherchions un Fish and chips.

An old friend took me here and we had a great evening chatting and eating. Food was great, not pricey and the bar staff attentive and humorous- the place had a good vibe about it - I enjoyed it

I have always enjoyed the food, the atmosphere and the casual service. But at my recent visit for lunch with a friend the service was a disaster. It took 35 minutes to get a drink and place an order for food. They claimed short of chef and other staff. Such a shame, because I loved going there with friends. Not anymore it was embarrassing, and charmless.

Popped in here twice recently, once with my partner and once with family and had a great meal both times. Service was quick and friendly and the food was great. The portions are huge and very tasty. I could recommend the fish platter and the chicken burger as both tasted very fresh and I couldn’t fault them one bit. An easy walk up from the marina where we were moored, will definitely visit again next time we are in Newhaven.

We had a few hours to kill before getting the ferry to Dieppe, I had looked the Ark up. on the website which had very good reviews, it didn't disappoint.

Bad tasting Sunday dinner of overpriced tapas. 'BBQ Belly of pork' inedible soft fat in sickly sweet sauce. Not authentic. Miss local fish on the menu. Only redeeming feature - nice service.

We reckon this pub is worth a 20min bus ride and 2x10 min walks, even though we have great pubs in Rottingdean! A lovely modern patio terrace overlooking the estuary of the River Ouse, and a comfy, quirky, sea-themed bar inside the bi-fold doors. In winter there is even a log fire. Service at the long bar is professional and friendly, with a full range of wines, spirits and ales, including Harvey’s Sussex Bitter.

We had pre booked a table, but not ready on arrival and it went downhill from there.

Lovely position on Quay, quirky enjoyable decor, great gins and enjoy Tapas, highly recommend this friendly place

Nice place to sit outside on a sunny day and watch the river flow to the sea. Above average pub food nicely fried food and usual sandwiches. Sunday roast on offer too but didn't see any takers. Fish and chips with a choice of mushy or garden peas at £12.75 were good. Drinks were over £15 for 2 & 1/2 pints

Away for the weekend in seaford for hubbys birthday and found The Ark, lovely pub, friendly staff and great food.

5 of us visited for some food in May around 5pm.

Went to the ark for dinner with a friend to be greeted by a unhappy looking young lad who looked tired and fed up to then be told it was more than £5 for any pint, we ordered the fish platter to share to then be sat waiting for more than half an hour to find out that the young man behind the bar was the only person working doing everything himself. When our food arrived we found the white bait was still frozen in the middle, we decided to leave at this point as their was a queue to get to the bar to make a complaint and decided to call in instead, the next day I spoke to the landlady penny who was discutingly rude to myself telling me that I was lying about the food and wasn’t interested in our complaint and to not bother coming back, absolutely disgusted by everything and maybe they need to hire some more staff and work on their attitude.

I ordered a gluten free meal. It was obvious from the results afterwards that the meal contained gluten. I was sick afterwards and the symptoms that had gone while on my diet returned and I was not totally recovered for a few days. If you need a gluten free diet or any other dietary restrictions do not go to this restaurant.

Popped into the Ark after work. Decided on tapas. We had 7 dishes - all were cooked to perfection; King prawns, chicken, eggs with Spanish black pudding, but the best was the chilli pork, fantastic! Friendly staff, clean and tidy.

We found this place to be absolutely lovely. We sat outside at the front, the sun was shining, lovely views, friendly staff. We both ordered fish and the meals were really good. And well Presented. Worth a visit.

Fish and chips from a harbour town shouldn’t be difficult especially when the restaurant is next door to a fresh fish shop. £12.95 for extremely small portions, peas served in a butter dish and cooked in fat that needed changing, and I’m not convinced it wasn’t frozen. Very disappointed as the venue looks great now, but understaffed so barman extremely stressed. They are trying to portray a gourmet food venue with attention to detail lacking in many areas- dirty sauce lids and dirty glasses. Also serving cheap ketchup in Heinz bottles- surely that a trading standards issue????? Won’t return and won’t recommend.

Second time I have been to this Pub. First time was very average and we chose the Arc because of the plentiful parking. We were quickly told there was no table service, which in practice means you have to pay upfront for your meal before delivery to the table and collect your wine from the bar !! It took 20 minutes to deliver nibbles. My order for Fish Curry had no discernible fish in it just six mussels, one inexplicably cold? The order for Turbot in caper butter sauce came without sauce, just dry capers. One of theTapas side dishes came without honey sauce. The pub was less than quarter full so I am struggling to find something good to say. However the location is excellent.

Visited yesterday for lunch and we were so happy! The restaurant area is amazing with gorgeous decor and a real funky vibe. Excellent service too.

What a lovely pub. Defo had the Wow factor. Inside was lovely & so different. So much to look at. It was a lovely sunny day so sat in garden. Lovely sun trap. Ordered the mixed seafood plata to share. Quality of fish was great. It said it included calamari but we did not get any. The mackerel pâté was fantastic. Great tapas menu but also main menu with fresh seafood. Would 100% return.

Disappointing compared with previous visits. There was no draught bitter. Chicken pie came with chips when special menu shows it with herb potatoes. Pie was dry so I asked for brown sauce, “No brown sauce only BBQ sauce” as if they were the same thing; they are not. None of these shortcomings came with an apology; the menu was checked to see if my complaint was legit; it was. The only reply was “I’ll tell the chef”. I am not encouraged to return.

Au détour d'une promenade vers Newhaven fort, nous sommes tombés sur ce pub.

Raised platform gives a view of ferry and down the river to the harbour. Fabulous to sit here in the sun or evening. I love the outdoor furniture and the olive trees. On Sunday lunchtime there is flamenco!

We decided to treat ourselves to a date night and found ourselves at the ark. We had previously enjoyed a few drinks here a few weeks before and thought we would try the food.

I really like this pub. Fantastic food. Top quality. Tapas is a must. The Ark certainly does the best food in a pub in Newhaven. Very friendly staff. The Ark had a very good selection of beer and spirits.

In a few words, well overpriced! Nearly £15 for a glass of wine, a pint and a hot chocolate in Newhaven ? I don't think so! Not sure how they justify these prices... yes the place is on the river, nice location..the wine was nice but £3.20 for a hit chocolate?! Better off going to Luna Rossa at the marina!

No. It doesn't. Once again I've stupidly come here expecting some improvement on being ignored by staff. That's about enough for me, I won't be coming back. One word... shambles

Visited with hubby.clearly were understaffed,however did not rush the food or service .they were still very tentative and apologetic which they had no need to be because they did not allow this staffing issue hinder the food quality in any way.

Called for a meal before Ferry tonight based on earlier reviews, ordered and paid for the costly burger (plain unless you paid £2 extra for bacon and cheese!!) and fish platter and waited, and waited, and asked where it was, and waited. 55 mins later it eventually turned up!! Variety of excuses, one being that the chef was stressed

Recently visited with the Family and can honestly say this has to be the most expensive place for nachos on the planet. £9 for a tiny bowl and it didn't even come with any toppings. To top it off, they were even burnt in places. Never again would I eat there again. If you thinking about food with the family, AVOID! or rob a bank first..

Came with my grandparents for a meal out, seeing as we'd been here in the past thought we would come again. Completely dissatisfied with everything that came from the kitchen.

Next door to the best fishmarket in Sussex the Ark had no mussels despite this being on the menu. However they more than compensated for this by a superb fishplatter . Also the plain fish and chips was one of the best, with a light tempura batter and fish splendidly fresh and beautifully cooked. The Ark is a new discovery to us, we shall certainly go again when in Newhaven,

Myself and my boyfriend recently visited, theres was only 2 members of staff on the bar and serving food on a busy Saturday night, one clearly didn't know what he was doing either, we ordered around 8 dishes from the tapas menu, all were very flavourless especially the pork belly,all food lacked flavour and wasnt traditional tapas at all

We took mum out for a Sunday lunch today for mother's day and just had the most delicious gorgeous roast dinner. We had a lamb and a beef and both were incredibly good with the roast potatoes done to perfection, and really lovely staff...

Me and my family asked for a table just for drinks and they made us wait for 10 minutes without saying yes or no !! It looked like they were racist because we are not English. Very rude! So with no answer we just left and will never go again...

Arriving in Newhaven a few hours early to catch the ferry to DIEPPE we were looking for somewhere to have a drink and meal. We were lucky enough to come across The Ark.

The nibbles we purchased were good but downhill from there. Tables and loos grubby, fish not fresh (frozen and triangular) yet it says fresh fish behind the bar. Some of the Tapas was passable but the Chorizo Croquettes were liquid inside, where was the potato?

Great food, great hosting, quirky, fun ambiance. Affordable. Delicious Sunday Roast and fresh fish. Wish we lived closer. Thank you Team Ark.

At £4.50 for sweet potato fries and around £14 for fish and chips we went elsewhere. Nice pints of lager though

Went for a beautiful walk in the sunshine and thought we'd pop in for a drink. Wished we hadn't bothered..

What a superb bit of grub had the fish sharer I cant praise the ark enough I highly recommend this place, I’m so surprised that others have given this place one star!!

Excellent service with such a friendly manner. Served quickly and the food was to die for. Would definately come again and would recommenend to anyone visiting the area

Enjoying meal (Thank you Liam and Sam) and good service by Jack and Chloe. We couldn't decide what to have for desert so the sharing platter was suggested which was very good. Nice atmosphere.,

Visited The Ark for a family lunch, service of staff was great and very welcoming, food was served well at a reasonable price, location is nice and pub well decorated. Will recommend this place

I was expecting this to be a nice little pub overlooking the harbour but was surprised when I walked in. Not much to drink on offer, no staff behind the bar and was more of a cafe than a pub so we left.

The decor is unusual but less to our liking, lots of IKEA imitation flowers, imitation grass on the back of door, at the side of the estuary with no real view of the boats (in the summer you could sit on the veranda which was in the process of being updated and looks as if it could be quite special) the food we had was fish and chips, the fish really good and chips ok but unfortunately let down with cold mushy peas and on another plate cold peas. The beer was fine as was the wine. All in all a satisfactory meal but we we had read a review which led us to believe it would be really special.....

Lovely place to go, they have bands playing there, open mic on a Friday, sea view, lovely food. Cozy.

Great food and great service from Chloe! Lovely meal with family. We’re be back, thank you very much.

Went there for a birthday meal with friends, all booked in advance we were seated and told a third of the menu was not available (weekday) The menu has been downsized over the last year or so, so I personally didn't see much choice, however we have all picked from whatever was left over available in the menu that evening. We have waited good 45mins maybe even longer, and the place wasn't even packed. The waitress has served everyone's food in stages, some of us ordered nachos, we were served those with no dips, had to ask for them, then we were told that not all dips were available, on top of it the waitress had turned to me and said: "sorry but your food is not available, we have run out, and you have to order something else..." Obviously I asked why is she telling me that only now? So basically we all are at different times, and it was not even nice to taste either. I had a few meals there and in my opinion there is nothing special about their food. Feels like bog standard Booker part ready food that just need heating from frozen. It's a ashame as place has a lovely decor and has a great potential, but it's just slowly going downhill...like the kitchen staff just have no heart in the place..

Worth a visit just for the interior. If you get off the train in Newhaven, this is a stones throw away and well worth finding. In the summer, there’s a decking area with a view of the river channel and the boats. Inside, the incredibly kitsch interior shouldn’t work but it does. Huge overhead frame with fake ivy and glass ornaments, the front of a VW camper van, headlamps lit, on the wall above the fire, astroturf covering the frame of the bar, etc etc. It’s great. The food is a little on the expensive side but worth it. A beautifully rich seafood stew, crisp halloumi sticks, mushroom croquets, goats cheese beetroot and pear.

un filet de bœuf excellent et toujours aussi bien on y retourne tous les ans avec un grand plaisir

Popped in with a pal for a few beers, greeted by a wonderful guy on the bar. Attractive setting, quite on our Saturday evening visit. Will be heading back.

I visited the Ark today with my mother. We had the fish platter for two, with extra chips and bread but we really didn’t need the extras as we couldn’t eat it all.

We ended up at The Ark having luckily missed the food times for The Hope Inn (which we do not recommend at all). The Ark is a lovely environment, clean and modern.