If living in Brighton sometimes seems like living in a fishbowl with everyone appearing to know your business even before you do, this is a great pub to drink your woes away.

The Venue
Just a short walk from the seafront, nestling on the side of The Lanes and a few doors down from Brighton's most famous vegetarian restaurant, Terre a Terre you'll find The Fishbowl.

Outdoor tables line up along the side of the pub with its striking brick and turquoise-painted facade seating, a few metres from Pool Valley. The internal walls are also painted turquoise and feature an eyecatching fresco of a curvy topless Indian female dancer. In keeping with its name, the upstairs bar houses two fish tanks, one of which actually forms part of the bar.

The People
Students head here in their droves from late afternoon to early evening when the happy hour is in full swing. During the day, local workers take over the bar to refuel on food which ranges from light snacks to large platters.

The Food and Drink
There's Guinness, Kronenbourg and Strongbow on draught but the happy hour is the event that really puts a smile on the punters' faces with beer deals and offers on a bottle of house wine. As for the food, the menu is divided into 'fairly hungry', 'hungry' and 'very hungry' and offers bread and olives, chorizo and chickpea stew and white beer-battered cod in those respective categories: all at very good prices.

The Last Word
The Fishbowl is a Brighton institution. Chances are that you'll start drinking here when you're a student and years later still agree that you're on to a good thing.