[Food] Restaurant 2025

Normally have my Mum over for Sunday dinner, but thought we would go out today and she fancied Chinese, so we went to Goldstone cafe on the Old Shoreham Road opposite the old ground. Absolutely superb. Salt and chilli squid and prawn toast was the best I've had in years (possibly ever) and the Acrobatic duck was juicy and tender and not burnt to buggery.

Danny, the owner is the same one who originally set up Danny's in Portland Road and then sold it 10 years ago. Had a nice long chat about the old chinese restaurants around Brighton including Cheungs, Gars and Choys where he was born and bought up, going right back to the old Nan King in Market Street which he told me was only the third ever chinese restaurant in Britain.

It's not fine dining, but it is very good quality chinese

WATFORD zero said:

Normally have my Mum over for Sunday dinner, but thought we would go out today and she fancied Chinese, so we went to Goldstone cafe on the Old Shoreham Road opposite the old ground. Absolutely superb. Salt and chilli squid and prawn toast was the best I've had in years (possibly ever) and the Acrobatic duck was juicy and tender and not burnt to buggery.

Danny, the owner is the same one who originally set up Danny's in Portland Road and then sold it 10 years ago. Had a nice long chat about the old chinese restaurants around Brighton including Cheungs, Gars and Choys where he was born and bought up, going right back to the old Nan King in Market Street which he told me was only the third ever chinese restaurant in Britain.

It's not fine dining, but it is very good quality chinese

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Hopefully it didn’t make your stomach do somersaults?

Little shout out to Shoreline Cafe by Hove Lagoon. The shop is brilliant, loads of fab bits and focus on local produce. The peanut crispy chilli thing I got is incredible.

The cafe is decent, nice food and interesting menu. Nice cakes as well. It’s a bit Dryrobe / Yoga mum but decent spot

Mrs WS has wanted to try Burnt Orange for ages but I've been resistant because so many dishes contain chillies or spices. Their winter menu had quite a number of dishes without so I relented and we went last night.

As it's small plates we tend just to order loads of dishes for us both to share. First two up were Crispy Fried Artichokes and Lamb Cigars. The lamb was very pleasant with a nice yoghurt dressing. The artichokes though were blow your head off spicy. Even Mrs WS - who likes heat - said it was too much and that you couldn't even tell it was artichoke you were eating due to the spice.

Next up Flamed Sea Bream with a mango dressing, Grey Mullet with a crab curry, BBQ Chicken thighs with pickles and a Sumac ranch sauce. Along with side of skillet baked potatoes and skillet leeks with 'Ufra'.

Firstly, 15 minutes after ordering we're told the Grey Mullet is sold out - we decide not to replace it and order more dishes later if need be. The chicken was nice but nothing to write home about. The leeks tasted like a bowl of citrus fruit and you wouldn't even know there were leeks in the dish. Potatoes had far too much dressing. The Sea Bream didn't turn up until we chased it and it was admitted it had been forgotten. It turned up 15 minutes later. Sea Bream was cooked well but the mango sauce was awful - didn't taste anything like mango.

We declined the opportunity to extend the torture with desserts.

Overall - despite having the Sea Bream and a bottle of wine removed from the bill - it was highly disappointing. "Emperor's new clothes" as Mrs WS put it. The portions are minute - yes, I know, it's small plates, but the cost is well over the top for the portions. Fourth & Church or The Flint House do the same style at much better quality and much better value for money. I suspect Burnt Orange are trading on their association with the Coal Shed and the Salt Room. 2/10 ( and one of those points is for the bread and butter pudding cocktail that Mrs WS loved ).

WATFORD zero said:

Normally have my Mum over for Sunday dinner, but thought we would go out today and she fancied Chinese, so we went to Goldstone cafe on the Old Shoreham Road opposite the old ground. Absolutely superb. Salt and chilli squid and prawn toast was the best I've had in years (possibly ever) and the Acrobatic duck was juicy and tender and not burnt to buggery.

Danny, the owner is the same one who originally set up Danny's in Portland Road and then sold it 10 years ago. Had a nice long chat about the old chinese restaurants around Brighton including Cheungs, Gars and Choys where he was born and bought up, going right back to the old Nan King in Market Street which he told me was only the third ever chinese restaurant in Britain.

It's not fine dining, but it is very good quality chinese

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OMG Cheungs.

Never to be equalled let alone beaten.

Kindling

Finally made it down at the weekend.

Very nice steak, better priced than e.g. LatinoAmerica (which is great) & Coalshed (which is a rip off IMO) but all just a bit uninspired considering the initial vision of the place which wasn't just about dead cow and was more about a wider range of wood fired chow. I guess they've had to follow the ,arket, but do we really need another 'just steak' place? Anyway it was nice.

Has anyone done No No Please yet? I'm intrigued but don't know anyone who has tried it.

CHAPPERS said:

Has anyone done No No Please yet? I'm intrigued but don't know anyone who has tried it.

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On our list to do soon - definitely looks different! The resurgence of Preston Street continues...