Tiny reviews of Brighton food and drink
New little Japanese cafe in the ashes of Tiger Eats Carrot. When we entered, they said that everything is prepared fresh that day, and you could really notice it. Beautiful avocado tempura with home made chilli mayo, great katsu donburi bowl with home made sauce again…really good quality, takes a while as a result but worth it. Only open for lunch or very early tea (closes 5:30).
Verdict: Awesome
Location: 81 London Road
Can’t find a website
One of the well known vegetarian and vegan restos of Brighton and surprised it’s taken me this long to get there. Big event with family so tried many dishes; lots of really cool stuff like crispy tofu and celeriac Wellington. Unfortunately my main was probably the weakest, hasselback roast squash which was…just some squash, with too much roasted red pepper. Still, I rate the place overall.
Verdict: Awesome
Location: 17-18 Prince Albert Street
Passed by many times and have had a conventional drink in here once, but this time went for cocktails. And they were super amazing, proper showman style stuff and well worth a go – nice table service too. Keen to try the resto now!
Verdict: Awesome
Location: 54-55 Meeting House Lane
Little Bangladeshi place in the Open Market, real cosy family type feel – like you’re in someone’s house. And really beautiful food – had a spicy omelette with fresh chapatti and dhal, lovely biryani and amazing samosa, all at a pretty decent price.
Verdict: Awesome
Location: The Open Market
A difficult one this as a lot to love. First, if Mowgli was a cocktail bar it would be top of my Brighton list straight away – genuinely some of the top cocktails I’ve ever had (mango chilli margarita amazing) at good prices. Service is lovely and the space itself is too – we had swing seats which was fun. And some tasty dishes – Himalayan cheese on toast and chats especially. The downside is much of the food was just too sweet. Sticky chicken claimed to be crunchy was not, and just cloyingly sweet, similarly with the tamarind fries. Paneer curry too sweet also; if you go, check what is a curry and what isn’t, as we expected a potato dish to be potatoes rather than curry – it was actually one of the better dishes but we needed some rice.
Verdict: Ok
Location: 12-14 Dukes Lane
I really enjoyed the small plates at Palmito; the fried squash with sage and honey a particular highlight, great service, and I think very reasonably priced. That’s probably factoring in the fact that it is, as advertised, tiny, and you’re squeezed in very close to other people. For me that holds it back from greatness as it takes away from what would otherwise be a chilled experience.
Verdict: Awesome
Location: 16 Western Road
Had takeaway here but keen to try it in person, really tasty and good value Turkish.
Verdict: Awesome
Location: 47 Preston Street
A really good small plate resto from the Salt Room team. Fantastic calamari, delicious burrata with fig jam…actually the thing that impressed me the most was the skillet fried potatoes, which came in said skillet with a delicious sauce and sheep’s cheese grated over the top; a dish easy to phone in done deliciously. It was all good. Only thing I could say against it was that the space is pretty small; was quite glad being at the counter where more room to breathe.
Verdict: Awesome
Location: 59 Middle Street
Gosh, what a revelation! Can’t recommend highly enough – easily the best tempura I’ve had, beautiful sushi made in front of you, with some great creative options; and lovely cocktails and sake. And at much cheaper prices than you’ll see anywhere for Japanese!
Verdict: Awesome
Location: Unit 1, 1 The Drive
I like the regular Ivy well enough, but it’s classic style over substance. Ivy Asia asks: what if you took the same stylish idea, amped it up with an Asia theme, and extended it to the food presentation – and also the food was really, really good? It’s amazing. We had sushi rolls with dry ice pouring out of a bowl below, and an amazing “Samurai” chocolate dessert that was done up to look like a samurai’s face. Totally worth it.
Verdict: Awesome
Location: 51 Ship Street