The Rainbow in Eastbourne

Well done, you achieved something. You filled me up and couldn't finish a meal. Sunday roast.

SOS from this lovely - please save me ! How very sad that you can sit in this beautiful pub with so much character and be served food that the chef and the owner should be thoroughly ashamed of. You think - who can go wrong with a sandwich - surely not …….. Out comes stale nasty bread - a sandwich which bore absolutely no resemblance to the menu description, cheap and a pile of cheap nasty chips thrown on the plate. Been here for business meetings, the last time they were having a staff meeting in the pub - whoops we thought are we in your way, no one could muster up a thank you and goodbye - it was lunchtime and we were the only customers in the pub. However it’s always dead, the staff and the chef today are so bored with doing nothing they hung round the bar chatting and laughing, shame not one of them could be bothered to fill the almost empty dirty vinegar bottle. The menus are put away from the customers on the bar we can only assume no one wants you to order because…well even they know you are going to be disappointed with this dire offering. The Christmas decorations are lovely, the pub is lovely and feels special but sadly it’s a total let down particularly with such poor food that looks and tastes cheap. Honesty they could get decent bread, olives, ready made soup, cheeses, ready meals from Waitrose or say Tescos Finest Range and serve it up - because the truth is their food is so bad and they really cant be this bothered, it’s so tragic. Its all so very sad as you sit there you can imagine what a lovely business this could be and clearly was, a gift with the footfall from Waitrose who could so easily be encouraged through the door with a decent menu and some competence in cooking. Sadly no it’s a lost business opportunity laid on for bored staff to hang around. This place is indeed crying out for some one to seriously love and respect it because at the moment it’s tragic, and please realise your faux fur throws (a great idea) are crying out for a wash

Lovely pub , quality fresh pint of Guiness. Got given a bottle of wine with a cork still in it and im very surprised how a pub selling a good Brandy like Hennessy has no Brandy glasses in the place i think for the money the drinks are they shoyld be served in correct glasses.

I'm only writing a review in the hope that the owner will read it and make changes. Sadly, they obviously don't as The Rainbow has had awful reviews for ages, and I'm afraid it hasn't changed. Unless charging £9.80 for a large glass of red wine is new... It's sad because pubs like this actually make such a good job of presenting the property itself but ruin it with bad service high prices and lousy food. Why do this? Why not do it properly? We'd intended to go to The Lamb nearby but it was booked up and all tables were reserved. The Rainbow was almost empty. On a Friday night. There's a clue here. I hope the owner of the Rainbow goes and looks at that nearby pub restaurant. Before going out of business. You can't give indifferent service and poor food and expect to survive. So little effort was given to our recent visit here I don't feel I should give any effort to writing a review. I guess we need to just 'let it go'. But as one reviewer said 'Eastbourne deserves better'. We all do. Such a waste. I just wish we'd looked at the one star reviews here before going ourselves. They all apply to our brief visit there. No point repeating them. We left after a poor meal at The Rainbow feeling strangely angry and cheated. So disappointed on leaving that we won't even go to the owner's new enterprise The Glass House as if they can't be bothered with one why would they with the other. A wasted opportunity.

I went with my daughter to the Rainbow waiting for my other daughter and grandson for lunch, at 1 pm we were the only people there, reasons soon became clear! No staff seen and had to call out, a girl who wasn’t pleased at being called came and I asked for the menus and wine list. I was surprised to see that the cheapest bottle of a very mediocre wine was £27., even in this day and age excessive, the food menu for quite basic lunch time items was again extremely expensive. I remarked that this didn’t represent a fair choice and prices and that in the old days prior to change of ownership things and prices were much better, this was a mistake! The staff member then said perhaps if you object to the prices etc you are in the wrong place, no customer service there! I said you are obviously right, I am, I then gave her the menus back and left with the comment that with that attitude you are working in the wrong place!. I shall not return , speaking to others about this experience it seems that they now have a reputation for being extremely expensive with very poor customer service. All in all a very disappointing but enlightening experience. Eastbourne deserves better than this.

The Sunday roast was incredible!!! Must be a new chef/ menu. Lots of gluten free options (apart from no gf puddings which is a shame) & friendly service. Will definitely be back!

Outstanding food, great wine and, best of all, a really relaxing atmosphere by the fire. Friendly and adaptable service. The building is full of history and character.

An extremely warm welcome given. Visiting the area so enquired initially and very friendly, so we decided to go for an evening meal. Dog friendly which was a bonus. Only one local ale from from I could see but that was very nice (Harvey's Sussex Best?). Food was very very tasty and extremely reasonably priced. Would recommend.

Really tasty Sunday roast, vegetarian option was lovely, will definately return!

Nice place to visit and socialise with friends Food not very good and expensive 😕 Putting a service charge on 10% without asking 😑 annoying dinner for 3 couple of drinks and small cheesecake £99 Guess I'll get over it 🤷

Such a great place. It's fairly expensive though.

Disappointed, the pizzas order were very dry! Staff disorganised, they didn’t know their left to their right.. and drinks very expensive.

A group of 8 of us went for dinner having previously had a good experience. This time, however, it seemed they had left the kids in charge. They table location we had booked weeks earlier wasn't available, the menu was very limited, service was slow, food was poor, and they completely forgot to ask about desserts. We prompted them and we're told "the kitchen is closed". We won't go back. This was all very disappointing because it had formerly been a great place to eat and drink.

Lovely place. We'll worth a visit

Great pub, lovely outdoor area with children's play section. The food can be a little hit and miss, but not bad.

Have always loved coming to this pub. But sadly on a recent visit there was a very limited menu. we weren't told this would be the case. only the garden menu was available with very few choices and the food definitely wasn't up to their usual standard.

sam was our waiter and he gave us great service. we had our drinks within 5 minutes every time we ordered and the atmosphere was lovely. would 100% recommend :)

Food was really good, best roast beef I've had at a pub.

Used to frequent this place in the '90s and loved coming back after a long absence 👌

Nice atmosphere, great atmosphere

We called for a light lunch and elected to sit outside. I counted no more than 7 or 8 other customers. I ordered a shandy for my wife and one for myself to accompany a ploughman’s and a haloumi wrap. We waited over 45 mins for our meals to arrive. (Just how long does it take to make a ploughman’s? ) Was the wait worth it? Certainly not. The ploughman’s was an unimaginative display of pieces of cheddar, hastily chopped lettuce, halved boiled eggs and some pickle. The bread was stale which was wholly unacceptable considering that Waitrose is located over the road with a fine selection of crusty bread. My wife’s wrap was tasteless and almost inedible. Incredibly we were charged £12 for the ploughman’s and £13 for the wrap. Extortionate! As we were by now running very late, I didn’t have time to complain. On the plus side the beer shandy was OK. I won’t be returning in a hurry

I went with a group of 4 and unfortunately we didn’t have a great experience. First of all, we were told someone was going to come to our table to take our order, however no one approached us for 20min. We had to ask a couple of times to get our order taken. The food then took 50 minutes to come out. The first meal was given after 50 min, then there was a 10 - 15min wait between each meal. The last person at my table got their meal 40 min after the first meal was delivered. We had to remind the staff 3 times on what the rest of the table ordered. It wasn’t too busy the night we went either. I ordered the beef burger which was £15 and only had a patty, sauce and lettuce in it. Nothing else. Not worth the £15. My friend ordered a pizza which was burnt. Another person ordered a chicken skewer which came out cold. Unfortunately wouldn’t come again. Food not worth the price.

Food is not good. Don’t think you could call these ‘cheesy’ chips looks like they couldn’t be bothered to add cheese. Priced at 6.50 which is a lot for what you get.

Really disappointed been here loads time always excellent but last night the food was awful with cheap quality products and generally poor service we wondered if it changed hands as not what we are used to.

Great pub wirh nice big garden. Also next to a supermarket. Friendly staff Good place to watch Olympics and the Golf €

Food was utterly terrible!! Had an Asian stir fry. I think they used Uncle Ben's rice, and added very over cooked strips of beef. I make a much better stir fry, as I'm sure most people could compared to the rubbish I paid about £18 for. The waiter was rude, he told one of my friend to shut up when he wanted to order a drink. I will never eat there again.

The mini play area enabled us grown ups to enjoy adult time ....keeping an eye on grandchildren enjoying them selves ..food and service VERY GOOD .

Some confusion over where we could sit but soon rectified. Had to ask twice for the drinks to be sent. The food was of poor quality and the batter on my fish was over cooked and it tasted like the oil should have been changed days ago. I actually feel a bit sick 3 hours later. Service wasn’t great either. We had to ask for the bill twice and when we got it the 12.5% service charge had been added automatically. We didn’t feel that it was justified so we asked for it to be removed. Overall a very disappointing experience

Complicated seating arrangements, had to ask twice for drinks to be sent. The food was poor. I had haddock and the batter was hard and tasted like the oil should have been changed days ago. 12.5% service charge automatically added to the bill which we had to ask twice for. We also asked for the service charge to be removed as we didn’t think it was appropriate

Update, many years later: avoid. Way too expensive now. Very nicely done up since transitioning from the Counting House. No much bad to say about this place. The serving staff are friendly if a little lacking in experience.

A lovely pub, dog friendly, good speedy service.

Great football came from la for holiday

What’s happened??? I have eaten at The Rainbow for years but never been more disappointed. £16 for a chicken burger & fries with the smallest pot of coleslaw!! The burger looked impressive until it came to the taste … the chicken was rubbery & tasteless … very cheap, more like a weatherspoons offering. It was totally overpowered being drenched with THE hottest garlic mayo i’ve ever tasted (which unfortunately i’m still tasting this morning!) The fries were not just the best bit but the only bit that was nice! £21 for 2 G&T’s And since when do pubs close at 10pm! (It does say this on the website)

Very disappointed with our meals. I had the haddock and chips. The fish was dry and tasteless and very unappertising. The chips were sprawled all over the plate. My husband had the burger with home made slaw which was a mass of liquid spilling over his plate. The dishes were not cheap at £17.00 each. The other people in our party were also disappointed with their food apart from one. Very over priced for poor quality food. We won't be going back.

I have frequented this establishment many times and loved it …today I could not be more disappointed. My friend &I went for Sunday lunch. Firstly the wine was more expensive than I paid in Covent Garden this week! Secondly, we both chose Sunday roast beef. After a short while it arrived, the entire meal was cold and served up in a bowl ! We told them that the meal was cold, the yorkshires were undercooked and very unpleasant. They replaced both meals. This time the beef was thick, tough and not pink as requested. Again we both left the beef and much of the meal. We calmly explained that we were unhappy, they apologized and offered a complimentary dessert. We refused on the basis if the main is that bad. I am sorry I will not be returning for a long time.

The food is so so bad. I'd only go here for drinks.

What a lovely little pub. The food is fab and the gerden is lovely. P

Fish and chips was pretty terrible. Tasted weird, doubt it was cod. For the price paid, I'm disappointed.

Good place to go for a nice bite. Clearly to be recommended. Easy parking as well.

Original post 2023: Lunch for two. Really loved the menu but the vegan options were fabulous and so different from the usual veggie burger/felafel/chickpea or lentil curry. We had the Portobello mushroom Kievs, with asparagus, purple new potatoes and a gorgeous dairy free Bechamel sauce. I had the fresh fruit tacos for dessert which came with chocolate sauce, vanilla' cream' and caramelised nuts. Oh wow!!! My colleague had the Biscoff cheesecake which she said was the best cheesecake she'd ever had! I will be back and will bring my husband for sure! Totally recommended. Note: very limited onsite parking. Edit. Back today (May 2024) and sadly won't be back again after poor quality overpriced food, a huffy, unapologetic waiter and lacklustre menu. This wasn't the experience we had previously.

Lovely food, service was a little slow but the food seemed to be cooked from scratch. Must check out the toilets - very posh!!

Booked lunch, 1st time here, waiter was exceptionally friendly and helpful. My colleague had 'Cow' burger, enjoyed, I ordered Chicken option, sadly chicken was not cooked, sent it back. By the time it came back, we had to leave so had waiter pack it for take out. I felt sorry for the waiter, . When I opened food later this evening, yet again chicken was not cooked! Sadly will not be returning, shame as it's a beautiful pub and the waiter tidsy spent his time apologising

Staffed by youngsters who dont recognise a bad pint when they serve one. Over priced food desperate to appear bistro chic but failing catastrophically. Shared plate consists of half a dozen falafel balls, tortilla chips, 2 slices of cold slimey aubergine, a small bowl of "homemade" hummus and "mislaid" vegan cheese all served on wooden board for £14, never again. Made the mistake of chancing a drink here hoping for a decent pint of Harvey's Best only to be served with yet another cloudy pint, I endured a second "fresh" pint for the princely sum of £5.40! needless to say I should trusted my instincts and gone elsewhere, my stomach was doing somersaults the rest of the evening and was not feeling too well the next day, and that was just a pint and a half, imagine if it was a proper session!? A waste of money, and not the pub to visit if you enjoy a pint of bitter as opposed the usual fizzy water pretending to be lager. Avoid.

Really helpful staff, two real ales on tap.Was here for a wedding reception ,and the food was superb,the squid starter was cooked perfectly, and the steak and king prawn main was the same, almost too big but I managed to finish.....Just

Lovely decor throughout this cosy pub. Nice outside area and great burger, best I've had in a while

Quiet Tuesday, grumpy rude male bar staff , on his own , his attitude brought the whole atmosphere down , this guy normally works the garden and is often rude , such a shame , hope the owners listen and learn

Very sad to leave this review as eating out is a treat and this experience was anything but. Roast lunch x2: Meals brought out by member of the kitchen staff…no sauces, salt or pepper offered Both plates of food were almost cold Missing one cauliflower cheese portion Nut roast (which I have had before and loved) was a non descriptive lentil stew. . I went and found the lovely member of staff who had taken our order. She apologized and rectified the temperature, missing cauliflower cheese portion, sauce, salt and pepper issues. I didn’t expect a remedy for the bland lentil stew masquerading as a nut roast merely told her it was not a good day for the Rainbow kitchen. The overall taste of the food was poor, the new cauliflower portion had a white sauce but no cheese, seasoning or oven cooking was evident, wonder if they had run out and made a quick batch? Having walked across the downs I was really hungry and ate every last mouthful but I did not enjoy the experience one bit. The food and drink had been paid for in advance due to recent episodes of customers doing a runner so I did not ask for a discount. Poor value for money.

I had a large, tasty plate of roast lamb, full of very well cooked vegetables. Only downfall - it seems like potatoes, at some stage, were deep-fried. Of this, I am almost certain. Decent sticky toffee pudding, however, served with watery sauce, nothing like proper sauce should be.

Amazing service, food was very tasty, the chips are lovely. Will definitely be going back.

Amazing service, beautiful pub and the cleanest pub I have ever seen!

The food was very good and good portions on everything and service was amazing and we didn't have to wait for long

Ribs were too chewy, my pasta was coated in parsley. We didn't stay for dessert, the menu was quite poor. Do not think they have a professional cook/chef behind the wheels...

I was expecting some light bites options for lunch, but we went for 2 courses menu instead, as better value than choice of mains. (I initially only wanted a light bite 🫣.)

Steak was not hot and chewy. Service was great though

Great Sunday roast, dog friendly.

I have never felt so uncomfortable taking children into a pub, the food was substandard roast potatoes had definitely been microwaved. The children's meal said it came with mash and beans, came with roast potatoes which our baby really struggled with and we had to ask for the beans. One of the meals didn't even come even though the server repeated our order to us. Didn't even finish my drink we ate and left because of everyone staring at us as if we weren't meant to be there will not be returning way too expensive for what it is

Booked for my Boyfriends 30th and was extremely disappointed , the staff seemed shocked when we arrived then gave us a sheet with around 4 meals on plus the unavailable fish & chips , no mention of Sunday roast even though it was advertised , no atmosphere at all , very pricey for basic meals , we then left to find a better pub

We had our wedding reception in the great room and it was perfect! The team were very accommodating, storing cakes the night before, setting up the table with place names and decorations the morning of. We also had great communication before hand. The pub is cosy and beautiful and the food was brilliant. Service on the day was also exceptional for such a big group. Thank you for such a wonderful day.

Lovely little pub tucked behind Waitrose in Old Town. Not a huge amount of parking. The staff were really lovely and the food was okay, if a bit experimental. We had the wontons, which were very sweet but fairly good.

The roast dinners are rubbish; 2 people sent them back and everyone else agreed it was woeful.

OH MY GOSH THE FOOD!! It's amazing! I was truly blown away; we did not expect it to be so good whatsoever. Kudos to the chefs. We had the vegan platter and some other vegan bits - outstanding. The outside and inside are lovely - could sit in there very happily for hours. Staff were fabulous - super friendly, professional, knowledgable, could tell they actually care about their job unlike a lot of places nowadays. Without a doubt, will be returning!! They even have a children's play area outside which just makes this place even greater. Dog friendly. Baby changing cubicle is well designed. Parking was easy. Well done guys; you've got an amazing place here!

Excellent service and very welcoming. Bit pricey but very good selection on menus.

Excellent Sunday lunch!!! You will definitely not be disappointed! Really friendly and happy to help staff. Recommend booking ... 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Lovely pub, great selection of beers. A little pricey but the setting was great. Beer garden top tier

Excellent Sunday roast after completing the South Downs Way. Potatoes and veg were excellent, very well cooked. Beef was a little tough but tasty. I'll definitely be back here for a roast if I'm in Eastbourne again.

Great food really enjoyed it pork belly was amazing and crackling perfect

Nice venue, nice drinks, shame the guy serving us looked like he wanted to stab us

Super tasty food, amazing chips, maybe invest in some hairnets cause there was a hair in my food 😭 didnt bother me though i just didnt eat that part. Apart from that, flawless

Had an amazing meal here with family - great food and service was amazing

Nice place in old town eastbourne, inside is so cozy and warm. Garden is beautiful on a sunny day. We went there for an early dinner and it's a beautiful sunny day. Enjoyed some drinks and lovely weather.

Popped in for a drink while we were visiting friends in the area. Lovely friendly service and a welcoming atmosphere. The manager (I think!) was especially kind to my two children, chatting to them and giving them biscuits :) they have a climbing frame with a slide which my two enjoyed playing on. Will definitely return when we come back to Eastbourne.

Very disappointing experience. I ordered the Chicken Supreme, which upon cutting into the chicken was raw in the middle. I gave this back to the kitchen, only to receive the same dish back with the chicken re-cooked. This made the chicken tough and in all honestly had put me off, so I left most of it and just ate the potatoes and sauce. Upon paying the bill, I asked if any discount could be applied for the chicken dish (which was £18), only to receive a very, very poor response from whom I assume was the manager. He just stared at me for awhile (it was very weird) and then said we don't do discounts. He then went out back and when he came back out front did something on the till and printed the bill and put it in front of us - saying nothing. Extremely poor customer service! That said, the lady who served us was very nice and the cocktails were really good. It was just a shame about the food & 'so called' manager.

Great little pub with always very friendly service and great inside and outside seating.

Food was solid (sunday roast and i had the medium roast beef), staff amazing and generally did everything to make sure we were comfortable (group of 11).... would definitely recommend!

Excellent. The staff were amazing . Table service was slick. Fantastic food.

Absolutely loved it here! Super friendly staff and lovely food!

Best Sunday roast I've ever had, perfect meat, sensational trimmings. Great selection of beers and other drinks, loads of space inside and out. Friendly for children too which is always nice on a Sunday. Will certainly be making this one of my locals.

Love the Rainbow. Great service with fabulous food. Plenty of seating indoors and outdoors. I highly recommend it.

Wir waren ganz spontan da. Sie hatten Platz waren sehr freundlich und speziell der Burger war extrem gut. Auch die Desserts sahen super aus.

Just down from church and waitrose. Lovely place. Roast Beef on Mothering Sunday.

Unfortunately a poor experience. Me and my partner both ordered what we thought was a roast in a big Yorkshire pudding when the food came out we questioned it to be told they didn't have any left but no one told us before hand. A small portion of food in the middle of the plate charged at £18 a go! How they can charge this for a small roast I'll never know. The vegetables were hard and undercooked and inedible. Very disappointed

Disappointed, over priced for what you get on their Sunday roasts and veg under cooked. Will not return, you learn I guess

Fine enough smarter more foodie pub, impressive garden

Beautiful service tonight! Our server "Ems" was particularly delightful! Couldn't do enough for us.

Came to the Rainbow for an evening planning meeting. A few parking spaces at the side of the pub. Lots of outdoor seating, some with heaters too. Had a banoffee pie dessert which was really good. Would be a great place to spend a lazy afternoon enjoying the sun and a few drinks!

Never had any food so can't rate that tho always smelt and talked amazing

How have we only just come across this pub! It was lovely. We had a lovely lunch time meal! The man behind the bar was so friendly, nothing was to much trouble and food was lovely!

Really lovely pub with gorgeous outdoor seating! Service was great when you could get gold of someone! Delicious food, tapas was yum! Will be going back.

Waited 15 mins by the bar to order a drink...I gave up and forgot I was thirsty 🙃

Josh D was an absolute gentleman and a fantastic server, full of charisma, character and charm! A true asset to the rainbow!

Sat in the garden during a warm afternoon, after shopping. Very nice place and I love the history.

One of the best pubs in Eastbourne

Very disappointed 3 tapas dishes - 1 chicken skewer, rubbery prawns and cold potatoes. Overcharged by £6.50. I pointed this out to the bar staff, no apology at all. Was then told that it would take several days to by refunded into my account. Unhelpful, uninterested staff, I would avoid !!!!

Great place to gather and meet friends 😀

Dog friendly and really good service for us humans too.

Good beer selection, great garden and nicely done up inside. Came for a Sunday roast, which was way too expensive for a pretty average lunch. Would happily go again for a drink but I'd look elsewhere for a Sunday feed.

Lovely local pub, great feel, good beer. Nice gardens with heaters for the seating areas

Lovely pub garden and excellent service

My family and I celebrated my birthday at the Rainbow. The food and ambience were lovely. Everyone was catered for. Would recommend them as staff where delightful

Good gastro pub with great food. Friendly staff. Dog friendly.