The Swan in Lewes

Great place for a Sunday roast. Definitely need to book 2 weeks in advance.

Massive steak pie, excellent value, staff amazing

Great pub with big tasty roasts and an excellent friendly relaxed vibe

Had a lovely meal with friends. Highly recommend.

Such a friendly pub, and great beer.

Typical pub lunch. Good service, friendly staff

I wondered when John , (the landlord of the Swan 🦢 who was there from the early 1970s ) past away what would become of this classic Lewes watering hole. Suffice to say the pub is younger, and a little bit brasher , but still a wonderful place for a pint and some food.

A nice spot to come to and a good portion size of all menu items and drinks as well, wise to book in advance as can be busy sometimes.

Our first time visit. Really welcoming interior. Relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Food excellent. Will definitely return.

Always a lovely atmosphere, friendly staff and great food.

Great Lewes traditional pub - Food was good and landlady was friendly - Garden looked great too

Nice pub garden , we only had a sandwich but it was very nice . Definitely worth a visit ☺️

Amazingly good food, hot smoked salmon was to die for!! Great country pub food and atmosphere, and tunes from a real record deck.

We finish our hikes at the Swan Inn. Lovely bar with good selection of beers. They’re always playing good music. The servers are kind and welcoming. Food is on the spenny side

Excellent first course and dessert, plus a good menu choice. Staff were really helpful and pleasant. We sat outside in a covered area , ideal as we had lively children with us. Pub itself was very full

Lovely Sunday lunch and very friendly staff

Another lovely visit to the swan Nice quiet wednesday afternoon Staff are lovely Izzie Zara and Erica so good Food yummy

Best pub garden ever, lovely food & drinks

Really nice pub, decent food, the garden is lovely. A highlight in Lewes

Great pub in a great town - quite a cozy feel inside and add on a VERY popular area out the back on a summer's evening and you're onto a winner. Perfect few pints of Harvey's Best (although always expect a Harvey's pub to keep it in tip top condition). Staff and locals friendly and welcoming - didn't eat but food I saw confirmed I plan to return (and eat)!

Four of us visited pub for lunch good for my wife who is a vegetarian,drinks and food came very quickly even though the pub was very busy,good choice of drinks staff were excellent.Sat in the garden in the sun excellent. Well worth a visit.

We sat in the garden beautiful setting lovely relaxed atmosphere..very popular

Good sized roasts and a fair price. Pint of Pepsi was poured from a bottle, tasted flat and not fresh.

Very tasty Sunday roast, decent prices!

Lovely little pub with a good selection of beer, amazing burgers and a beautiful garden.

Lovely pub, very pleasant staff, and very quick service with food.

Lovely garden dining and very friendly staff. A beautiful place to stop for a bite on a sunny day in Lewes.

Atmosphere is lovely, service is good. However, do not go there for the food. We ordered a vegetarian burger and a chicken burger and both were dry and cremated almost to an inch of their life. No one checked back on the food to make sure it was okay. Also the chips were end of the barrel and we're hollow and crispy. It wasn't even busy in there - so highly unrecommend going when it's busy on a Friday or Saturday evening. If I could give the food -5 I would.

Popped in for some food after a walk near by in Barcombe. The pub itself was lovely small and quaint but had a good atmosphere. Ordered two burgers, a vegetarian and chicken option, which both sounded gorgeous from the description. Unfortunately we had to wait quiet a while for the food to arrive, and when it did both burgers were very dry. Would definitely recommend popping in for a drink or two but would not go again for food. Hoping it was a one off 🤞

Atmosphere is lovely, service is good. However, do not go there for the food. We ordered a vegetarian burger and a chicken burger and both were dry and cremated almost to an inch of their life. No one checked back on the food to make sure it was okay. Also the chips were end of the barrel and we're hollow and crispy. It wasn't even busy in there - so highly unrecommend going when it's busy on a Friday or Saturday evening. If I could give the food -5 I would.

Popped in here for a couple of drinks and bite to eat. Was surprised they have a lively beer garden at the back and decided to sit outsides. Ordered a chicken and chorizo salad with green beans and new pots. Was really lovely.

I reckon you can tell a lot by how good the fries/chips are in any eating establishment and the fries here were excellent! The staff were kind enough to serve us food even though we got there a couple of minutes after the kitchen had officially closed. My burger was okay, my niece's was pretty good - seeing as they went out of their way to sort us some food I'll call that a win! There was a pub quiz nearly halfway through when we got there which was excellent fun to witness (some excellent "in-quiz" bonus rounds which were strategically placed in the second half to ensure everyone not involved had a good giggle. Turns out a few drinks really impedes some people's ability to understand double negatives!). The prize pot was decent and got bigger for next time as the winning team gambled and lost! I may well assemble a crack quiz team & get there for the next one. The staff were brilliant and could not have been more smiley & lovely. Will definitely be back!

Amazing roast, great for all including veggies (three options) and, vegans (they can make the accompaniments vegan). Fantastic venue, amazing beer garden with lots of tables, very pretty. Really well priced. Easily 5/5!

If Carlsburg made pubs, it would even come close to this one. The food is amazing. Great choices for veggies, kids and big blokes! Eaten here twice over the weekend, fair to say this very well run pub is run by foodies! The friendly staff and locals combined make this a home from home atmosphere. The garden is well kitted out with sun traps, shelter and heaters. Proper pub!

Super Sunday lunch in the beautiful garden. Friendly professional staff, prompt service and lots of original veggie options. What a find!

Brilliant evening, lovely staff, and great music by excellent female DJs! We will definitely be returning very soon, thank you for a lovely time!

Lovely place with a good atmosphere. Both inside and outside are lovely. I especially liked the outside. Did not try out the food this time.

Humiliated poor man in a wheelchair on Sunday. Like other services, pubs and restaurants have an obligation to make reasonable adjustments for you to access them. This can include modifying premises, providing a portable ramp to clear steps, ensuring that there is an accessible toilet and that you can use it, or providing other adjustments. Businesses that offer food and beverages and have an area of 250 square metres or more must have a disabled toilet. Failure to make reasonable adjustments, particularly when you ask for them, is a form of discrimination. Speaking to or writing to the owner or manager of a service is often the best way to ensure your access needs will be met. There are many forms of disability, and the House of Lords has called for pubs that don’t offer disabled toilets to be closed down, encouraging local authorities to refuse to grant or renew licenses to premises that aren’t providing accessible washrooms. https://www.hospitalitylaw.co.uk/equal-access-disabled-pubs-spotlight/

Brilliant roast dinner with plenty of gravy. Service was fast and prices were reasonable. Wasn't going to have dessert but I'm very glad I did as it was delicious! Car park is very small and hard to get out of but there are more spaces on the weekends and evenings due to it being shared during work hours. We arrived at 12 and were able to park 3 cars. It was over full when we left at around 3.

A good place to spend time with friends

Had a really disappointing experience at the Swan - mainly around the customer service we received. For context, we were a large booking of 14, made several weeks in advance. - We were asked to choose menu options ahead of time and pay £140 deposit which we did. We sent these a week before our booking took place, but never received any confirmation or acknowledgment. - I tried emailing again and calling three times but never got hold of anyone. - When we arrived, we were put on two separate tables with no explanation or apology. When I questioned it, the lady behind the bar was very blunt. "This is how it is." Not ideal for a birthday celebration. They could at least give a warning. - One of the party dropped out due to illness. I informed them as soon as we arrived and was told we would lose £10 of our deposit for a burger and chips as they needed 24 hours notice. For a burger! We went back and forth about this and when I finally said I had called three times, they finally agreed to wave the £10. However, instead we were charged the full £14 when I later looked at the receipt! - When we came to pay, as a large group we were splitting between 4 of us. I asked for the deposit to be fully refunded so we could work out the bill easily. I was told no. That is not our policy. I then had to ask they at least take the deposit off the bill! They said we do that with a calculator when you pay. They were again really unhelpful and unfriendly and one of our party ended up paying for more just to get out of there than they should. - Despite booking in advance, the menu we choose our items from was very limited and basic. On the day, they had much nicer options on offer which we weren't allowed access to. Feels extremely odd to punish large groups in this way. All in all, we felt very unwelcome and had a pretty terrible experience for a birthday celebration. We wouldn't go back due to how were treated. Some of the ladies behind the bar were frankly just rude.

Food not great potatoes burnt some just black unedible, when reported was asked if I enjoyed the rest!

Disappointingly, the pub messed up our reservation so I cannot comment on the food - only the poor service and organisation. We were travelling to Lewes from over an hour away with a one year old to celebrate my husband’s birthday, so a lot of time had gone into researching somewhere suitable. We reserved a table a week in advance for a Sunday roast and phoned to confirm our booking the day before (thank goodness we did!). We were told that we would now be sitting outside, in cold temperatures, with a one year old. We were told that another member of staff had overwritten our booking and they couldn’t change it as they didn’t know who had taken our table so that was that! I was shocked that there was no attempt to fix the problem and no compromise to offer an alternative time. We were offered free drinks but we were travelling for a family meal to celebrate a birthday - travelling over an hour with a one year old for a free drink and no warmth indoors for any of us doesn’t sound very celebratory so we declined. Perhaps it would have been a lovely meal but I would recommend calling before to check your reservation - particularly if you are travelling a long distance.

A lovely pub with nice beer, great food, and friendly staff.

We had a table in their lovely garden sitting with overhead warmer. Food was well presented and good. The leek and potato soup was delicious. Service was very welcoming and sufficiently fast. Will definitely return on the next visit to Lewes.

On the whole food ok. One of us had smoked salmon which turned out to be far too salty. It was very noisy. Four of us could hardly hear across the table. Sitting by the ladies, door not closing and every time the hand dryer was in operation we had to stop talking. A great pity. You are just up the road for us.

Friendly service, good food, nice garden seating - perfect combination!

Superb pub - Harvey’s beer, great atmosphere, friendly staff and tasty food. Sunday roast was delicious. Very friendly towards little ones and baby changing available too.

Just a superb pub in every way. Great pub food, Harvey's Ales, brilliant staff, cosy interior with friendly buzzy atmosphere and lovely garden with covered area.

A pleasant evening in the Swan - first time there in at least twenty years, if not a little longer.

Lovely pub with really generous roast dinners Food is always lovely and fresh and served hot and even in a big group you'll all be served together Staff are friendly and welcoming

Really nice pub, great customer service, Food was good. Well worth a visit

Hadn't booked (forgot it was half term, but we found a table, had a super lunch, (main course and dessert). We'd walked from Brighton in pretty bad weather, so it is a welcoming sight at the end of the trek. Started with a couple of BMs, added the spices ourselves (always a great touch) then Sussex pork sausages with bubble and squeak, lovely chocolate brownie, chocolate mousse with pistachios - to finish. Good wine selection here too.

As always, fantastic food and great service with friendly bar staff. Thank you x

Nice atmosphere and tasy food great for a lunchtime break.

Have always loved this pub but not impressed today . Was seated in a draughty outside area with chairs which are not high enough to be seated to eat comfortably at the table. This area could also do with smartening up with suitable chairs and cushions, blankets provided for the comfort of customers. More disappointing though was the standard of the food today. The lamb was tough and overcooked and the vegetables were too mushy and swamped with gravy. The staff were cheerful and helpful and this pub seems to be as popular as ever but has maybe taken its eye off the ball…

Tuesday lunchtime and was looking for somewhere to have lunch whilst travelling. Checked out Lewis and chose The Swan Inn based on the feedback recieved on the Google Maps App. They have a small pub car park but at midday I had my choice of parking bays. Went into the busy bar packed with diners and made my way to the bar where I was warmly greeted. They have a good selection of beers and ales - I went for a pint of Harvey's Sussex which is well kept and was served with a friendly smile by the lady running the bar. Looked at the lunch menu and untypically for me decided on a sweet potato dhansak vegitable curry - big portions (I couldn't eat it all) with plenty of flavour. Delicious ! Prices were good £5 for the pint of beer and £15 for the curry - it is no wonder this pub is rated so highly. Recommended.

Visited for lunch with family. Excellent food and plenty for veggies and vegans. I had a delicious vegan bean soup.

Always one of the nice places to visit in Lewes. Food is excellent. Suggest you book as fills up really quickly. Good choice of real ales aswell.

Popular local pub. Best to book

Great pub for a Sunday Roast! Reasonably priced and a decent sized portion with loadsa gravy, how they used to do roasts "back in the good ol'days!" The menu also offers 3 veggie roast options! Quick service and beautiful decor. Will definitely be returning and recommending!

Lovely pub, nice staff, good drinks, cosy

Really great veggie roast. Nut Roast and Mushroom Wellington. Big plates of food and utterly delicious. Highly recommended.

Excellent pub for food & beer. Very friendly bar staff. Very dog friendly. Harveys Old was better than Harvey's own pub in town. We visit Seaford once a year to meet family & friends. This is the pub we head to. Back in May to celebrate my 75th over several evenings with family & friends.

Visited with my cousin here for lunch, as he lives in Lewes. It was lovely, quite quirky decor, which i liked - first time I've ever taken a photo of toilet wallpaper! Staff were all really friendly and helpful. 2 of us had chilli, husband had burger - all good. The men had sticky toffee pudding, and it was a huge portion, and delicious. And the wine went down a treat. A really comfortable place to while away a few hours. If i were local Id be here all the time!

Nice friendly pub with great food

Lovely little pub! Cosy, spirited atmosphere, particularly in the winter. Very friendly and also welcoming to dogs. Had a very delicious roast (beef) and sticky toffee pudding here.

Great food great people great beer

I came here for the first time on my work Christmas do. It was possibly the best pub meal I've ever had, with lots of good veggie options. The roast and sticky toffee pudding were insanely delicious, but the staff made everything extra special. They were friendly and attentive, and we loved that they'd done a quiz for us to play at the table. Can't wait to go back next time I'm in Lewes!

Nice pub and parking in Lewes would definitely recommend.

Great service, good food at a decent price. Had to sit outside because it was busy but they offered us tables inside multiple times. We were happy where we were but nice atmosphere and lovely staff. Would recommend!

Great space, when restrictions was up, the staff was well prepared, the pub was setled in accordance with distancing needs. Food is good, local IPA is great and service is outstanding. What more can you ask for

Lovely pub ! Often go with my girlfriends, and last visited a few months ago with some gal pals who were visiting Lewes. Will be making an xmas visit before the end of the year, as I have heard along the grapevine that the fire is now on. Cannot wait to get cosy by the fire. Almost everyone who works there is charming, friendly and lovely. When we were there was a few members of staff flitting about; one very lovely, smiley girl with curly hair who is often there. She made us feel very welcome and we had a nice little chat about her illustrations. There was another woman who was in her late 20s at a guess who has black hair and clearly the manager, and a very good one at that ! She is great and the pub is in good hands with her. The other member of staff was another woman, with short hair and she was a bit older. She didn't greet us well, and we observed she did very little work. Brought the atmosphere down slightly, but the other two more than made up for this. Always love it in here, and always love the great selection of our local Harveys.

Sarah and Izzy are the best ever!

Really lovely place, nice atmosphere, good service and amazing food. Thoroughly enjoyed it, recommended.

Our first choice for Sunday lunch was full and the waitress directed us here. We hadnt seen this pub before, and what a find! Luckily, we were given a small table with stools. It's quite a roomy pub but advisable to book a table for Sunday lunch. Many, many people walked in just after us and were only offered outside seating, with heaters. I had the beef option and my partner choose the lamb. The food portions were huge! It was all delicious, and even came with a portion of cauliflower cheese, which I didn't expect and thoroughly enjoyed. I was planning to gave the sticky toffee pudding, but was too full to move. It's a very traditional, clean and welcoming pub, and clean too.

Delicious roast chicken! Great portions and reasonable price!

Popped in at short notice for lunch, for first ever visit. Managed to get table which wasn’t reserved. Had a wonderful pint of Harvey’s Bonfire, then tucked into great veggie sweet potato Wellington. Partner had very good chicken dhansak. Seemed to be a great atmosphere with varied clientele. My only gripe was that the place was chilly initially as we weren’t near the open fire.

Best pub in Lewes! Really good cheesey chips, the sticky toffee pudding is a must! Staff always friendly, good range of alcohol, cosy atmosphere, really lovely pub garden.

Great food cosy autumnal atmosphere always worth a visit Great roast dinner Izzy is the best at keeping things in order

Really lovely pub, cosy, friendly, and great food.

Very nice food, just delicious! Staff friendly and nice, had a really good time!

Amazing food, lovely beer. Great staff, especially Ollie -she’s fab!

Beautiful food, very hot, lovely atmosphere, very welcoming.

Good food, excellent garden. Only downside for me is I don't like Harveys, but worth it.

Friendly staff, nice atmosphere, great food.

Always a pleasure to eat at the Swan. We didn't book so ended up sitting just outside the back door. Not the best spot hence the atmosphere rating.

We booked the Swan for our wedding reception as it's within walking distance of the Registry Office, but also has a car park, From the start the staff could not have been more accommodating and helpful. The buffet was excellent and the staff helped us to decorate the discrete area of the pub set aside for ourselves and our guests, The best way to describe how the reception went would be faultless and I would highly recommend it.

Really great food & fantastic range from this small pub Meat eaters, pescatarians, veggies & vegans all catered for with equally delicious meals Busy pub, but good service

Great place to have a weekend meal, nice and relaxed atmosphere for all! Beautiful garden area. The food is exquisitely prepared and delicious! Good selection of draft beers and ciders

Went for dinner after a school visit. We ordered burgers which wass fine.... as you would expect. I had a small problem with the meal, which i discretely mentioned to the bar staff. Within minutes the manager was over to us, and very professionally sorted out the problem with no fuss and offered us a refund and a free drink. She was friendly, apologetic and incredibly professional. We have been before and will definitely return. The food is average i'd say, but the service and the garden are well worth a visit.

Nice old pub with friendly staff and busy atmosphere. Very difficult to get a table so recommend that you book in advance. Food was okay but nothing special (I had a special but it was rather bland and probably mashed up leftovers from the day before). I would go back but only if booked and with lowered expectations 🥰

Very rude and incompetent bar staff, completely unapologetic. With other great pubs in Lewes I would suggest a you avoid the swan.

I ordered “wholetails scampi” from the menu. Whatever I was served it was not while tail scampi, there was nothing recognisably scampi/langoustine or prawn within the crumb coating. I emailed to ask what I had been served (didn’t want to upset fellow guests at the time) but they have not answered my request.

Really good roast dinner and plenty of it Nice atmosphere Great staff Lovley outside space and garden

I gather from my friend and luncheon-companion that this pub has a high reputation among Lewes residents; I can see why. We enjoyed a good lunch among the flowers in the pub garden under a cloudless blue sky. My dish - a Thai-style curry made with tofu - was one which I shouldn't normally have chosen; it had been prepared with care and thought, and proved tasty. 60s jazz was on the turntable, the cover propped on the bar, a detail which took me back forty years. The members of staff were charming and put up with my unfamiliarity with the lay-out and procedure for ordering (choose a table first, remember the number and order at the bar). If I return to Lewes, I'll make a bee-line for The Swan.

We decided to stop in the Swan for a lunch on a sunny Friday at 12:10; something we have done dozens of time. We have always had a polite reception with great food, friendly staff making for an excellent pub experience. However, on the past three occasions; 3 month old baby in tow, upon entering the pub garden our reception was that of an old gardener informing us the whole side of the garden with the shade was unavailable in a rude and abrupt manner without a please/thank you. We were told to “sit over there!”. On the first occasion; we let this go despite the noise of hammering in stakes, trailing hose, shouting to his colleague across the garden as we thought this was a one off occurrence. On the second occasion the experience was much the same. On this third occasion we have had the same experience including being told where to sit despite explaining a shaded area is required for our baby. The gardener’s response being “this is the only time I can come”. We left feedback with the chef that we were leaving because of our experience with their rude gardener; he apologised and explained he can only come on a Friday at that time. He also stated he would only be half a hour more but we have seen him still there after 1:30 still working and monopolising the garden making for a less than enjoyable experience. The Swan is open for business from 12 and I don’t think it’s unreasonable for the gardener to be finished in the same way the pub has been cleaned before the patrons arrive. The fact that everyone seems aware that this gardener is immovable on his working hours sends the message of the Swan’s lack of consideration for their customers and their experience. How difficult would it be to get him to move his working time or find another gardener? We do not appreciate being spoken to like an infant as soon as we arrive by someone who does not own or is part of the staff of the Swan and will not be returning. This has left a bad taste.

Called here for Sunday lunch. Food was good and the staff were amazing. Despite being very busy, the staff were super hard working and efficient, yet friendly, helpful and accommodating. Highly recommended. First class service.

We visited twice this week while our relatives form The States were on holiday here. Once at their request as they had enjoyed it when they visited on previous years. The second time when we were let down by another venue as it had run out of most of its food by 5.30pm on a Saturday even though the pub was less than half full, with most people appearing to be drinking!!! As always The Swan came up trumps. We sat inside on both occasions as outside was heaving because of the weather but this didn't detract from the experience. Great atmosphere happy, helpful staff. On our first visit it was mid-week and later in the evening about 7.30pm. they still had enough of a choice of food for us to enjoy. The second time was on Saturday at 6.30pm.only one or two dishes, this didn't effect our choice. Good vegetarian and vegan options. As an omnivore and having tried these options in the past I could recommend these as well as very tasty. Can't wat for my next visit whenever we go it is always busy there is such a nice atmosphere. With music night and other events, it is a good place to go to if you want drink, food or just a good evening out. Easy parking, child and pet friendly.

Very easy to book and very efficient service. Nice traditional pub with a good choice of ales, lagers and cider. Thought the food was exceptional with a varied choice of smaller lunch snacks and a good offering of larger meals. Very wide range of vegetarian specials on our visit as well which was noted. Could not fault on our visit