Viva Brighton Issue #76 June 2019

BITS AND PUBS
...............................
PUB: THE MONTPELIER INN
“Yeah, sure, where do you
want to sit?”
The manager of the Montpelier
Inn, who I later learn is
called ‘Ash’, is moving chairs
and tables around for my wife
and I so we can have a good
place to eat and watch the
football – the second leg of the
Champions League semi-final
between Liverpool and Barcelona
– at the same time.
It’s not the sort of gracious
welcome I’d expected. The last
time I came here, a few years
back, I felt I had to be careful
not to accidentally bump into
anyone or look people directly
in the eye. Good news: The
Monty isn’t ‘rough’ any more.
That’s good news for sports
fans – the place is full of
screens so you can watch
the cricket or the football
from any of its nooks. And
good news, it turns out, for
anyone who likes Indian food.
Chicken biryani is on the
menu today, and it turns out to
be very decent.
There’s no hand-pump bitter,
so after spluttering through a
pint of lager I move onto the
Guinness: I don’t even need to
get up and go to the bar, as Ash
keeps an eye out for our glasses
emptying and brings a fresh
round when we need one.
The match turns out to be
one of the best I’ve ever seen,
with Liverpool overcoming
50/1 odds to win 4-0 on the
night, and 4-3 on aggregate.
Too bad the ‘Brighton Kop’
weren’t here, as they had been
the week before: The Monty
is on the roster of pubs visited
by Liverpool’s South Coast fan
club, all red shirts and You’ll
Never Walk Alone choruses.
Still, the atmosphere is electric.
The place goes mental
when Liverpool’s goals go in.
I have a chat with Ash after
the game. He’s bought us a
complimentary round, without
knowing the ulterior, journalistic,
motive for our visit. He
tells us The Monty – which
has been trading under the
same name since 1854 – used
to inhabit only half the current
site; the Western half of the
elegant bay-windowed building
used to be a bakery, and
if you go to the toilets you can
see the old oven, which he has
lit up behind a glass panel.
It’s that sort of attention to
detail that shows that the place
is run with the sort of care that
counts. With the cricket World
Cup coming up this summer,
I’m sure to be back.
Alex Leith
7-8 Montpelier Place, Hove
Illustration by Jay Collins
....23....