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[Food] Restaurant 2020 Thread



Springal

Well-known member
Feb 12, 2005
24,779
GOSBTS
CinCin in Hove tomorrow.... looking forward to that as big fan of the Brighton one
 




Westdene Seagull

aka Cap'n Carl Firecrotch
NSC Patron
Oct 27, 2003
21,526
The arse end of Hangleton
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 !
 


MattBackHome

Well-known member
Jul 7, 2003
11,873
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.
 


Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
62,682
The Fatherland
CinCin in Hove tomorrow.... looking forward to that as big fan of the Brighton one

I’m a big fan of CinCin as well. Be interested to read your review!
 


Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
62,682
The Fatherland
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.
 




MattBackHome

Well-known member
Jul 7, 2003
11,873
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
 
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Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
62,682
The Fatherland
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

I reckon it must be around the 30 year mark.... at least.
 


CHAPPERS

DISCO SPENG
Jul 5, 2003
45,090
I remember Bombay Aloo as far back as 25 years which I was but a teen. Probably haven't been in since then though to be honest.
 




Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
62,682
The Fatherland
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 !

Crikey. How close to the harbour were you?
 


thedonkeycentrehalf

Moved back to wear the gloves (again)
Jul 7, 2003
9,340
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.

I've been to Pitch a couple of times and found that the service has been very good - unfortunately it looks like you just got unlucky.

With both Tito's and Picasso's closed in Worthing, I'm trying De Lavante in Chichester tomorrow night for meal out.

Today I had lunch in The Real Greek at West Quay Southampton. Their lunch deal for £7.95 is quite good value and quality for these type of chain restaurants
 


keaton

Big heart, hot blood and balls. Big balls
Nov 18, 2004
9,972
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 !

I've been to Rick Stein's in Winchester a couple of times and I thought it was excellent
 




thedonkeycentrehalf

Moved back to wear the gloves (again)
Jul 7, 2003
9,340
Quick double review for you all.

De Levante - Chichester

Family dinner on Saturday evening so we headed West to Chichester to try out this place which had good reviews. Friendly welcome on arrival with one way system around the restaurant and middle tables out of use.

As usual with tapas we over ordered. The restaurant describes itself as Mediterranean Tapas so not only Spanish dishes but a few from other parts of the Med including Turkey. With one exception, all of the dishes went down well - the only miss was a chicken and chorizo dish with peppers where the sauce wasn't quite right. Good value for money and we will definitely go back.

Bailiffscourt - Climping

Went for afternoon tea although at the moment they are only doing the cream tea. It was a bit disorganised on arrival but we put that down to the sharp shower which meant people who had been dining outside had to be switched inside. We then sat in one of the lounges but were asked to swap seats as some people with dogs in another lounge had dogs which didn't get on. When we got to the next lounge, the seating was not great so we asked to move to the main restaurant.

Service was fairly slow but the cream tea itself was very good - nice warm scones, a homemade jam which was very thick and fruity. All beautifully presented.

However, we had also ordered homemade biscuits with the tea which never turned up but they tried to charge us for them when we finally managed to get someone's attention.

For a place which is supposed to be one of the premium hotels in the county, the level of service was really disappointing.
 


Springal

Well-known member
Feb 12, 2005
24,779
GOSBTS
George at Burpham again, FIL was paying so why not...

Pretty decent all round, the vegetable pakora starter I had was banging. Sadly the main of lamb tagine was a bit of a joke, the portion was embarrassingly small - probably 4-5 spoonfuls of couscous and 2 or 3 spoonfuls of lamb. I tried to eat it as slowly as I could but still finished 10 mins before everyone I was with. The missus had steak again and the triple cooked chips no longer appear to be triple cooked, still decent quality 'home made' chips but not as a good as a few weeks back.

The place was rammed and we got turfed out after 2h15m because the next seating was waiting, even though they'd literally just bought out dessert + coffees. No delay on our side in terms of ordering or anything and was promised a table outside but got out there and there was none.

Still the others food was good and I'd go back but clearly cut some orders for EOTHO and maybe needed to accommodate for timings of back to back seatings
 


Guinness Boy

Tofu eating wokerati
Helpful Moderator
NSC Patron
Jul 23, 2003
37,338
Up and Coming Sunny Portslade
Eat Out to Help Out

A few days off have coincided with this scheme running Monday to Wednesday and we took full advantage. Instead of trying anywhere posh or destination we made the decision that we'd go very local and try to give business to the restaurants on our doorstep that we don't want to disappear. However, on a trip out with the kids further afield, for golf and climbing, we also got a cheaper than expected on site meal. Bonus! So, in no particular order.....

Cafe An An

This Japanese lunch cafe and coffee shop used to be literally a two minute walk away. The old venue had a couple of tables inside but mainly did takeaway and that was a regular Friday staple when working from home pre Covid.

Just as the virus hit they exchanged on a new place on the north side of Portslade Station that had been the coffee shop on the corner of Hallyburton Road and as lockdown bit they suddenly had a bigger premises that they weren't allowed to open. If anyone needed our help.....

Well, it turned out that at half price half of Portslade wanted to help. We arrived at 12.30 and got the last outside table and already a queue was building up to order. There are three ladies running the cafe who do everything between them, no dedicated server or kitchen porter and it was quickly evident that they'd gone from 0-100 in a few days and were struggling to cope. The old fast food takeaway that they'd been had gone and the sheer weight of people wanting to eat cheaply saw a big queue for tables that didn't really reduce. That said, they immediately apologised to us that there would be a "long wait" as they needed to prep more chicken. Despite that our drinks came quickly and we were glad we'd ordered starters. Some crispy ebi fry prawns and delicious gyoza dumplings kept hunger at bay while the main event was prepared. Exactly half and hour later - which was exactly what they said it would take - a huge plate of crispy katsu chicken, stir fried yakisoba and pickled ginger arrived. My teenage son who is currently eating for England but can be a bit picky, practically inhaled his.

This is very authentic, back street Tokyo cafe fare and all the better for it. However, whereas at the old place you could order takeaway at any point over lunch time and get it within ten to fifteen minutes, eat out to help out has ensured the ladies have had to adapt to their new premises a bit too quickly. Arrive early.

Blue Anchor

The Blue Anchor serves the same sort of purpose as the Trafalgar and the Vic. A good old fashioned working class boozer with sport and a pool table. Then, right next door to everyone off the site having a beer and game of pool is a spaced out, socially distanced Thai restaurant room with authentic food made by the lovely Apple. This makes for a slightly strange atmosphere at times but the food is out of this world. Again, it's a take away regular but we went to sit down and get the government's discount. I had squid in "blow your head off" style spicy sauce (accompanying pint of cider very much needed) and a much calmer but huge and flavourful Pad Thai. Our kids both had a crispy duck main (not your Chinese style, these are sweet crunchy pieces of duck in a stir fry) and the Mrs had a red curry she said was excellent. Again, none of this is news to us but if you're passing and like Thai food then it's well worth going in.

Colesseo

This is the new Seasons. We couldn't quite work out if the new owners are the old owners, are related to the old owners or are new but trying to so a similar thing. The menu has been slimmed down (a good thing) and one or two old favourites have gone. However, they've added a few new ones. We took the kids to Seasons loads when they were growing up and they absolutely love the pizzas and pastas. However, in our opinion, the food in the new place is better than Seasons ever was. Mrs GB had a prawn dish that undoubtedly had very fresh prawns and a quality, flavour packed sauce. I had a new dish, the Prosciutto Saltimbocca which was amazing and went nicely with the basic but palatable house red. This was our biggest extravagance, two courses each for all of us plus dessert (still bought in) for the kids but that just meant the saving was bigger. This is Seasons atmosphere and decor but with better food. Ace.

Out of Bounds Angmering

An odd one this. We took the kids for adventure golf before my daughter went climbing and me and my son played footgolf. We had to fit in lunch in between the activities. The food itself was your standard box meal stuff - burgers, pizza, sandwiches and ok-ish. The point of including it was that it was very cheap (normally on a day like that we'd take a packed lunch) thanks to the deal, but very busy thanks to the deal. With only a few tables and only table service there was a total bun fight for sit down spots and we only just got the food in time for the next activity. This is going to be a real issue with the new reality if schemes such as EOtHO carry on. Here, as at An An, demand outstripped supply leading to higher stress levels than I'd like over a meal. We may find, until a vaccine arrives, that booking tables even at back street cafes and kids' activity centres becomes the new normal.
 
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CHAPPERS

DISCO SPENG
Jul 5, 2003
45,090
Yo. Last night we finally got round to trying the Little Fish & Chip Shop on Upper Hollingdean Road. Started up by the guy from Baby Bao at the Pond it offers up regular chippy stuff with some amazing sounding specials. Being our first visit we went straight up cod and chips with some salt and pepper squid. It was all really good and decent value at 30 quid all in which included a completely unnecessary portions of chips (1 large is plenty for three people) and a pot of some of the best tartare sauce I’ve ever had, but I still felt a bit flat about it. I think fish and chips really needs to be eaten straight away and not have to travel at all. Anyway, I will visit again for the specials which included southern friend tofu, slaw and chips and loaded chips with crab. Also available proper jumbo sausages and a fiendish sounding deep fried frankfurter with cheese. I give it 8/10 as it was definitely high quality gear but if you want proper fish and chips just go to Wolfies innit as they are unbeatable. Will review again as I think the specials good tip them up to an 8.5.

Bye now.
 


Springal

Well-known member
Feb 12, 2005
24,779
GOSBTS
Kricket, London (Soho)

Been wanting to go here for ages but COVID struck. Made it to London today which is super eerily quiet and still big working bits boarded up and like ghost town.

Anyway Soho - usual small plates, sharing fare. I think the story is some English guys that spent a few years in India so I’d say it’s Indian spiced ingredients rather than proper Indian food. Fascinated by being sat by the tandoor chef, enjoyed a bone marrow & anchovy bread, tandoori cooked lamb neck & a brilliant sea bream dish. Had a couple of veggie dishes which Probably weren’t quite at the same level but were super tasty.

£106 for 6 dishes, carafe of wine which seemed about right.
 


TheJasperCo

Well-known member
Jan 20, 2012
4,612
Exeter
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.
 


PeterOut

Well-known member
Aug 16, 2016
1,244
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)
 






monty uk

Well-known member
Sep 25, 2018
641
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.

Richmond Arms, West Ashling. But check that it is open again.
 


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