CinCin in Hove tomorrow.... looking forward to that as big fan of the Brighton one
Just seen Bombay Aloo on Ship Street is reopening as something else (it looks chicken-y).
Sad day for everyone who is a fan of huge urns full of suspiciously lukewarm cheap veggie curry.
That was a bit of a Brighton institution. Anyone know how long it had been there? Served me well in my younger days. Shame.
We were discussing precisely that in the office. Maybe 30+ yrs? I went in sometime over the winter for the first time in ages for a fantastic solo lunch; pint of cobra and a huge bellyful of mixed veg curry and dahl. Genuinely I'm sad to see it go.
Actually it was a bottle of Cobra I think
Rick Stein's - Sandbanks
Normally I'm a bit wary of 'names' and this time had to be persuaded by Mrs WS to go here but boy am I glad we did.
Almost casual dining, loads of families ( thankfully with very well behaved children ). We were seated upstairs with a fantastic view over the habour. Mrs WS started with a class of champers and I had a local beer.
Water came to the table straight away which I always see as a good sign - we didn't even ask for it.
To start with I had Grilled mackerel salad with sun-dried tomatoes, fennel seeds and a sherry vinegar dressing - the mackerel was so fresh that I almost looked out the window to try and find the person catching it to order. Mrs WS has salt and pepper prawns and decided they were some of the best she'd ever had.
Main for me was Hake alla Carlina. A Venetian recipe of a pan-fried hake fillet with a sauce of tomatoes and capers which came with minted buttered new potatoes - I also ordered a side of French peas. Hake was the best I'd ever had. Meaty yet flakey and a decent portion. Mrs WS has Lobster Thermidor - she was lucky it was on special ! Very decent chips and a very good salad.
Dessert was shared - one lemon tart with orange sorbet and a creme brulee with rhubarb. Both devine.
Throw in a decent bottle of wine and a dessert wine for Mrs WS and we were very happy. Even with a service charge it only came to £150.
Service was impeccable - attentive yet not over bearing. Scenery stunning. Jumps straight into my top three of which the other two are Little Fish Market and The Sportsman ( Whistable not Withdean ! ). I'll not question a name again ! 9.5/10 - half a point lost because there really isn't a lot else at Sandbanks and it's a bit of a pig to get to by taxi. Didn't see Harry either !
Pitch in Worthing.
I think I'm the last person in Worthing to get to Masterchef winner Kenny Tutts restaurant.
Had always planned to go 'this week' for my partners birthday but EOTHO changed the dynamic of it. Absolutely rammed from 5pm-close apparently.
We had a very young waiter who I think was new, his knowledge of wine wasn't great and he didn't know what anything in a cocktail was (inc creme de cassis) which was not a great start for a restaurant positioning it certainly at the upper end of the scale for restaurant pricing in Worthing.
Shared the 'legendary' chorizo & machego doughnuts which were decent, apparently the goats cheese ones are a lot better but other half doesn't like goats cheese. Also had crab cake which was really nice, all crab meat too rather than filled with potato or whatever.
Unfortunately it went a bit wrong with the mains, despite a 30 minute wait (which is fine) my partners main (confit bbq chicken) actually came out as the hake. It all got a bit awkward as they said it would take 20mins to sort the correct dish and with my main there and a couple of sides it seemed a waste to send it all back. The manager quickly stepped in and I think they diverted the right main from another order after about 5 mins. That little mistake at least got a bottle of wine waived from the bill. I had the pork cutlet with bacon cassoulet which was decent and perfectly cooked piece of pork.
Dessert order was taken - chocolate 'orange bar' and the cereal milk panna cotta. Disaster again when my partners chocolate orange bar became the lemon curd tart. It all got rather embarrassing that the young lad serving us again had put through the wrong dish for my missus. Got to keep it and the correct one came out very swiftly. All 3 desserts were decent, really enjoyed the panna cotta. The manager came back to check everything was OK and noted the 3 desserts but to save any more embarrassment to the waiter we just laughed it off as couldn't make our minds up.
So service pretty poor but quickly rectified - I notice a lot of places now rely on staff 'remembering' orders and if the lad was clearly quite young and new to the job especially thrown into a fully booked restaurant with EOTHO then they need to look at this. It certainly cost them an expensive bottle of wine and a dessert and who knows what happened to the wrong Hake dish afterwards.
Still as a treat place I'd go back, I think it is well priced that is not 'stupidly' high end but certainly a fairly expensive meal. Great addition to Worthing which has lacked something like this.
Rick Stein's - Sandbanks
Normally I'm a bit wary of 'names' and this time had to be persuaded by Mrs WS to go here but boy am I glad we did.
Almost casual dining, loads of families ( thankfully with very well behaved children ). We were seated upstairs with a fantastic view over the habour. Mrs WS started with a class of champers and I had a local beer.
Water came to the table straight away which I always see as a good sign - we didn't even ask for it.
To start with I had Grilled mackerel salad with sun-dried tomatoes, fennel seeds and a sherry vinegar dressing - the mackerel was so fresh that I almost looked out the window to try and find the person catching it to order. Mrs WS has salt and pepper prawns and decided they were some of the best she'd ever had.
Main for me was Hake alla Carlina. A Venetian recipe of a pan-fried hake fillet with a sauce of tomatoes and capers which came with minted buttered new potatoes - I also ordered a side of French peas. Hake was the best I'd ever had. Meaty yet flakey and a decent portion. Mrs WS has Lobster Thermidor - she was lucky it was on special ! Very decent chips and a very good salad.
Dessert was shared - one lemon tart with orange sorbet and a creme brulee with rhubarb. Both devine.
Throw in a decent bottle of wine and a dessert wine for Mrs WS and we were very happy. Even with a service charge it only came to £150.
Service was impeccable - attentive yet not over bearing. Scenery stunning. Jumps straight into my top three of which the other two are Little Fish Market and The Sportsman ( Whistable not Withdean ! ). I'll not question a name again ! 9.5/10 - half a point lost because there really isn't a lot else at Sandbanks and it's a bit of a pig to get to by taxi. Didn't see Harry either !
Can anybody provide a recommendation for a good-value pub/restaurant for a quick spot of brunch: just off the A27 or M27, eastbound between Southampton and Brighton? We don't want this to break the bank, but for the food to be of decent quality.
Visting Brighton for a couple of days with a friend, we're driving and looking for a better alternative to your average service stations en-route.
Try the Black Rabbit at Arundel, as long as not travelling on a sunny weekend (it gets very busy)
Can anybody provide a recommendation for a good-value pub/restaurant for a quick spot of brunch: just off the A27 or M27, eastbound between Southampton and Brighton? We don't want this to break the bank, but for the food to be of decent quality.
Visting Brighton for a couple of days with a friend, we're driving and looking for a better alternative to your average service stations en-route.