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Pearly Cow

I came across Pearly Cow searching for steak restaurants in Brighton; it’s right near the Salt Room in the old Smokey’s BBQ building. It’s lush. Fantastic fit out with a lovely relaxed, cosy vibe, with exceptional friendly service. Great menu too; beautiful bread, one of the best steaks I’ve had (although they cook a tier up on the medium rare than you might want; adjust accordingly) with great fries. Small plates equally if not more excellent, a trio of tacos a highlight (beef fillet, smoked trout, goat’s curd, all amazing). The downside is you do have to pay quite a lot for all of that, and I’ll have to think about whether it’s quite worth it. But an easy recommendation for a celebration type meal.

Verdict: Awesome

Location: 123 Kings Road

https://pearlycow.co.uk/pearly-cow-brighton/

Roti King

Been meaning to come in here since we walked past huge queues on opening! And – it’s pretty ok? Nice people, but a very fast food type space (ie not nice to have a leisurely meal in), pretty decent pricing I guess. Foodwise nice to try but not compelling to bring us back in, basically not bad but not great. Nice fried chicken.

Verdict: Ok

Location: 57 Ship Street

https://rotiking.com/location/brighton/

Mekan

One of those places we’ve seen forever but only just gotten around to going to – and more fool us really, because it’s great. First, it’s physically a really nice resto – huge, massively high ceilinged dining room. And the charcoal grill where you can watch them cook everything up is cool. Simply delicious food – lamb chops a particular highlight – for less money than most similar places nowadays. Easy recommend.

Verdict: Awesome

Location: 64 Western Road

http://mekan.co.uk/

Star & Garter

Another venture from the Pond and Easy Tiger people, both of which we like a lot. Easy Tiger is more a resto that happens to be a pub, the Pond a fancy pub with a specialty menu. The Star & Garter is more of a boozer with a specialty menu; it’s rather close and loud in there with any amount of people. But really went there for the “Detroit style” pizza, deep dish stuff. Worth a try, and I thought the toppings were delicious, but it does get rather bready. Loaded fries not so much my bag but my companion enjoyed. Overall, something different but I wouldn’t go again.

Verdict: Ok

Location: Kings Road, BN1 1NE

https://www.starandgarterbrighton.com/

Nostos

A tough call this. Been meaning to go for ages, and had a lovely table outside. On a Wednesday they have a package street food deal for £21 which has spreads/pitta, starters, and meat/chips. It’s bonkers value and pretty tasty. But when we went the wait was insane, we were warned that there was 30 minutes on food but an hour later we had to ask for our food to be boxed up.

Verdict: Ok

Location: 63a Holland Road

https://www.nostos-hove.co.uk/

Seven Stars

Having passed this many times but never gone in, I had a glass of wine in here and it’s so nice! Way more substantial than you would expect, with a massive vaulted skylight ceiling in the back. Food menu looks ok but can confirm a charming place.

Verdict: Awesome

Location: 27 Ship Street

https://seven-stars.pub/

Rudy’s

A new branch of a chain I’d never heard of, in the massive space that used to house the Chilli Pickle. Napoletana Pizza – boldly right next to a big ol’ Pizza Express. Was fortunate enough to enjoy a pizza each on the house for their opening, and had a great fennel sausage pizza. Really great crust, and quite large, although we felt they cheaped out a bit on how much they spread out the toppings (as in toppings more suitable for a smaller pizza). Still excellent, and they were such lovely staff, and it’s a great airy space. But, you know, there’s a lot of pizza about already, so good luck to them.

Verdict: Awesome

Location: 17 Jubilee Street

https://www.rudyspizza.co.uk/location/brighton/

The Gin Tub

Have wanted to go here for YEARS since the conceit is they have retro phones on each table which you use to order your drinks. Just went in for one on a Friday night, they will make you share a table if there’s just two of you and it gets busy, but that’s fair enough. Nice cosy vibe, bustling but you can hear each other pretty well. And had an amazing jaffa cake gin!

Verdict: Awesome

Location: 16 Church Road

https://www.thegintub.co.uk/

Topolino

Stopped in on a quiet night, very nice service, a nice spot! The pasta I would say was above average, really delicious carbonara sauce in particular, but a very average side salad. Overall had a nice time, but unfortunately for Topolino the competition for Italian is VERY strong and for quality/price I can’t give it top marks.

Verdict: Ok

Location: 97 Church Road

https://www.topolino.uk/