"People take a step in and can’t work out if they are in the right bar!”

That is how big the difference is between the old Blue Lagoon Bar and sisters Tania and Gemma Kane’s newly refurbished version, which opened last month and now incorporates a familyfriendly Mediterranean restaurant and a sports bar.

“It used to be a real back-street boozer,” says Tania. “Now we have redecorated it with contemporary natural, neutral colours, comfortable leather chairs, a wooden floor and dining tables.”

But the old regulars haven’t been forgotten. Having seen bookings for the bar’s downstairs function room fall off, the sisters decided to turn it into a sports bar.

“They have got their normal pub,” says Tania. “But now they also have a nice place to take the missus for a meal.”

The bar overlooks Hove Lagoon and has an outside summer patio leading off from the sports bar to incorporate the new smoking laws.

As well as the look of the place, the menu has changed too.

“We have gone from gammon, egg and chips to starters such as cod goujons, toasted ciabattas and Thai king prawn skewers,” says Tania.

“We have gone fresh and local, we use the fish market, which is literally two minutes away from us, for all our fish. “I stick to the theory of if I want to go out, I want to get something I can’t do at home, otherwise I might as well stay at home!”

The bar is now encouraging new customers with a karaoke on Saturday, a DJ on Fridays playing Motown and Seventies and Eighties hits, and two quizzes.

“On Wednesdays in the top bar we have a family fun quiz, while on Thursday there is a sports quiz in the downstairs bar,” says Tania.

“Having two bars means we can theme things around each other.”

Review by Xenia Gregoriadis

If you are interested in restaurants in Brighton, Hove and Sussex, visit www.theargusfoodguide.co.uk