Restaurants in Brighton and Hove
A few streets back from the pebbles, dinky little restaurants are regularly seducing Brightonians with inventive modern British cooking. The best are located in the quieter stretches of Kemp Town and Hove, or on the perimeters of the city’s famous Lanes. But even the pubs have got wise to the lure of good food, with many managing to avoid predictable “gastropub” grub in favour of imaginative, affordable menus.
To this new range of smarter eateries, add the scrubbed pine, café-casual lunch spots around North Laine – fabulous for locally sourced fodder. Make sure, too, not to miss the new Friday lunchtime "Street Diner" in Brighthelm Gardens – a squiggle of excellent open air foodie stalls spanning Sultan Delights' delicious Turkish treats, to posh lamb burgers, Indian tapas, homemade Scotch eggs, burritos, Caribbean jerk chicken, to excellent cakes and pies.
Whatever you do, avoid “restaurant row” – the string of grim, tourist-touting establishments that flank Preston Street, just up from the ruined West Pier. And make sure to save room for tea. Brighton has a surprising number of characterfully oddball tea shops serving delicious home-made cakes.
For local catch, forego standard recommendation The Regency in favour of The Little Fish Market, a cash-only former fishmonger serving just 20 covers a night (cooked by Duncan Ray, ex of Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck). Opened in 2011, it’s one of the best seafood restaurants in the city, though it’s recently met with stiff new competition.
At Hilton Metropole’s new restaurant The Salt Room, sister to acclaimed grill house The Coal Shed, you can order whole fish, by the weight, grilled over charcoal. If it’s curry you’re after, the brilliant new Curry Leaf Café serves South Indian street food and craft beer in casual split-level premises in the Laines.
Well off the beaten track is Mediterraneo, where on Fridays and Saturday nights a Sicillian husband and wife serve authentic arancini, Parmigiana di Melanzane and limoncello cake in a space too small to be their sitting room. You’ll also need to book well in advance to secure a stool at the pass at 64 Degrees, where intricate precision cuisine is assembled under your nose.
Dinner really is a performance at Brighton’s quirkiest restaurant Bom Banes, run by musicians Jane Bom-Bane and Nick Pynn. The filling Belgian food is served at mechanical tables (including one with a working model of the pier).
Terre à Terre, Brighton's iconic acclaimed restaurant where vegetarianism is more about indulgence than abstinence. Situated in the historic lanes, Terre à Terre has been feeding its loyal customers and international visitors for over 21 years. Eating with them will stimulate your mind as well as your taste buds and they believe it will change the way you view vegetarian cuisine forever.
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Food for Friends is Brighton’s award-winning vegetarian restaurant in the historic South Lanes. Their ethos is tasty, affordable and honest cooking using the freshest produce, totally homemade, whilst supporting local suppliers where possible. Cooking without meat relies more on flavour and unusual combinations, which is why Food for Friends is so popular with all lovers of fabulous food.
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The Gingerman Restaurant in Norfolk Square, Brighton is the flagship and original Gingerman site which opened in 1998. A small, intimate restaurant close to Brighton’s seafront, our philosophy is to create uncomplicated, full-flavoured food, made from the freshest, highest quality seasonal produce.