GastropubGloucester Road

The Pond

North Laine pub famed for bao buns and craft beer

8.3/10

Local score

No. 25 of 212 pubs & bars on r/brighton, from 73 locals across 69 threads.

94% would send a mate. Some say it’s gone downhill lately.

Widely recommended for its Baby Bao residency serving Taiwanese street food — bao buns are the standout, sometimes £5 on weekday lunch deals — alongside a good local craft beer selection. Called reasonably priced and reliably good, though it gets busy and walk-in tables can be hard to find.

Go for
Bao buns and local craft beer
Heads up
Gets busy, hard to grab a walk-in table

What locals say

Budget: Abyssinia Medium Budget: The Pond Medium: Chilli Pickle High Budget: The Set Too much money but OMG: Etch. (This one is imo 'the best') Also a fan of Market, Cin Cin, 64 Degrees, Murmur, Chard, Little Fish Market, Semolina, Bincho Yakatori, and Riddle & Finns.
u/SwiftAtticus, 202025 upvotes“What is, in your opinion, the best restaurant in Brighton / Hove?”
…At \* \- Petit Pois (French) \*\* \- Wild Flor \*\* Pubs/Bars \- The Joker (Wings) \*\* \- Meat Liquor (Burgers) \*\* \- The Urchin (Burgers) \* \- The Bath Arms (British) \*\* \- The Gladstone (Burgers) \*\* \- The Geese (Sausage+mash / Roast) \*\* \- The Pond (Bao Buns) \*\*\* \- The Hampton (Curry) \*\* \- The Urchin (Fish) \*\*\* Restaurants \- Riddle and Finns (Seafood) \*\*\* \- La Choza (Mexican) \*\* \- The Chilli Pickle (Indian) \*\*\* \- The Bok Shop (Chicken) \* \- Yefsis (Greek) \*\* \- Patty and Bun (Burger) \* \- Market (Tapas)…
u/Ovidius-Bacchus, 202112 upvotes“Best places to Eat in Brighton”
The hole in the wall is a nice pub. Golden Pineapple is always a good spot earlier in the evening. The Pond, although does get busy. Valentinos is great early evening. Plotting Parlour has Hove and Brighton sites now.
u/suicidesewage, 202411 upvotes“Decent pub/bar for a date on Saturday”
UPDATE! Tried The Pond for lunch - "we don't have a chef and no idea when one will turn up" Walked to The Pond for Thai, no one came to the bar for 5ish mins Opted for Sushi Garden v good! Brighton on a Tues in January eh haha.
u/SAGGYCUNT, 20261 upvotes“Restaurant Deals Megathread”

Ranked from 21,200 r/brighton comments. Summaries are written by AI from what locals said; quotes are word for word. Not affiliated with Reddit. Back to the guide