Category: Restaurant

Taste of Sahara

Interesting place of pros and cons. It’s a cosy place, with the owner very visible. It’s big benefit is BYO, but I think this must lead to trouble often, as the owner was quick to judge/condescend, which is something I’ve not written before (“It’s written on the door!”, he says – as I leave, I find out it is not), and the houmous was honestly awful. However, when I said it was rough, quickly replaced by halloumi bread, which is amazing. And all the other food was amazing and when you’re not buying booze – incredibly reasonable. So all up, a winner.

Verdict: Awesome

Location: 103 Western Road

https://www.atasteofsahara.com/

Red Snapper

We’d heard about this outfit for a long time, and ultimately a bit disappointing. Yes, good amount of protein in the curries for sure. But starters very weak, and mains – one pretty good, the other so-so. Better available.

Edit: This review was for a takeaway during lockdown. Have just been to dine in, and it was really good. Usual Thai options, but then the option of “crispy” chicken, prawns etc on your curry – floured and fried, and amazing. Starter type salad spicy and tasty too, so revising verdict up.

Verdict: Awesome

Location: 90 Dyke Road

https://www.redsnapperbrighton.co.uk/

Kindling

I really wanted to like this place – it’s a lovely space, and some of the best service ever, for sure. But I can’t bring myself to mark it awesome, because the menu is very small, but more importantly I don’t think it’s worth what they charge. For example, pork loin – pretty nice, but a very small piece of pork with some carrots and such for £18 needs to be AMAZING (particularly since you’ll need to add on sides). As happens often in Brighton, Kindling suffers less because it’s got problems but more because of how many awesome places are nearby.

Verdict: Ok

Location: 69 East Street

https://www.kindlingrestaurant.com/

Rockwater

The long awaited beachside venue. Went along week of hospo reopening and…well. The staff can’t be faulted (they brought Ryan a cupcake when he got sad for spilling his juice) but they are absolutely not geared up for families on the menu. And the space is disappointing; it’s a cacophony that you can’t hear over, and the windows were so fogged/dirty you can’t see the sea which is half of why you’re there. Keen to try the outside sometime.

Verdict: Don’t go

Location: Western Esplanade

https://rockwater.uk/

Hixon Green

Tough one this. Pros: the space is light and airy, the food was generally very tasty (especially calamari). Cons: kitchen screwed up the order so there was a big delay (always hard to decide how to rate that!) and more importantly, it’s like they don’t know what they want to be. Meaning there’s a trendy cocktail bar thing in the middle and they play loud music; not cool enough to be a bar and not relaxed enough to be a restaurant.

Verdict: Ok

Location: 124 Church Road

https://www.hixongreen.co.uk/

Kogi Korean Cuisine

Had a Deliveroo of this and really struggled to give a verdict, so might get another go. Fried seaweed rolls really nice, spicy rice cakes nice but not what I expected, and soy sauce fried chicken sweet and delicious. But kimchi udon pretty bland. Edit 2025: Had another visit, enjoyed the fried chicken again but can’t make up my mind on the dumplings, so verdict stays the same.

Verdict: Ok

Location: 30 York Place

http://kogiuk.com/