[Food] Restaurant 2024 thread

[Perry Milkins]

I guess it’s a long way for a burger if you live in Peacehaven.

I don't.

But it's still a long way....

 

[dwayne]

View attachment 172407View attachment 172408

Whats going on with the bun ?! Is it a muffin?

 

[smudge]

Went to Tern on Worthing Pier just before Christmas, (yes I know last year). Enjoyed it, bit pricey, but that's the way things are these days.
Not a wine buff at all, but enjoyed a different one with each of the 5 courses, all English & mostly Sussex made.

If you want decent value, good food, large portions in Worthing. Indigo by Steyne Gardens.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Whats going on with the bun ?! Is it a muffin?

It’s a kind of sour dough ciabatta type muffin shaped thing. It’s quite firm and thin bread with biggish air holes.

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

I just found out another cafe I love has closed. Mogg, a cafe/deli housed in the lovely old red brick former Jewish girl’s school on Auguststrasse closed its doors at the end of last year. Gutted. Their Reuben was the best and could be ordered hungover from my bed with the press of a few buttons on my phone….too many times. I’m guessing the issue was their lease and/or rent as they said they hope to be back in the future somewhere else.

This is on top of the other 3 restaurants I have mentioned. Boooooo.

One of the other 3 is re-opening as a seafood bar though. It was a Michelin starred restaurant before but ditched this and will become a more causal place.

Tough times.

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

To provide some seemingly positive news, Efes opened a second restaurant in Worthing before Christmas. Mrs DCH fancied popping out for an early dinner tonight but both restaurants are full from around 5:30pm through to 8pm. We also couldn’t get into either for NYE as they were booked up well in advance.

Not good for us but encouraging that a local restaurant seems to be busy at what is always a challenging time for restaurants.

 

[Beach Hut]

To provide some seemingly positive news, Efes opened a second restaurant in Worthing before Christmas. Mrs DCH fancied popping out for an early dinner tonight but both restaurants are full from around 5:30pm through to 8pm. We also couldn’t get into either for NYE as they were booked up well in advance.

Not good for us but encouraging that a local restaurant seems to be busy at what is always a challenging time for restaurants.

Is it exactly the same as the other one?

Have been twice to the other one and pretty decent restaurant.

 

[Half Time Pies]

Unless you have a shed load off disposable income I would imagine dinning out has become prohibitively expensive for most people with the prices that restaurants are charging.

We went to Cin Cin in Hove before xmas and a meal for 4 came to £385! A couple of weeks ago a trip to the bottom floor of Rockwater came to £170 for 2 adults and 2 children and no starters!

I suspect with ever rising staffing costs, rents and costs of ingredients it must be incredibly difficult to balance charging enough to make a profit and not too much that it turns people away, however when OK (not amazing) restaurants are charging those sorts of prices its not surprising that some are closing.

 

[thedonkeycentrehalf]

Is it exactly the same as the other one?

Have been twice to the other one and pretty decent restaurant.

Not managed to get into the new one yet but the menu is pretty similar and I’ve heard that the staff have been split between the two sites.

Unless you have a shed load off disposable income I would imagine dinning out has become prohibitively expensive for most people with the prices that restaurants are charging.

We went to Cin Cin in Hove before xmas and a meal for 4 came to £385! A couple of weeks ago a trip to the bottom floor of Rockwater came to £170 for 2 adults and 2 children and no starters!

I suspect with ever rising staffing costs, rents and costs of ingredients it must be incredibly difficult to balance charging enough to make a profit and not too much that it turns people away, however when OK (not amazing) restaurants are charging those sorts of prices its not surprising that some are closing.

I guess it depends what you are looking for. The aforementioned Efes is good food at reasonable prices. Portions are big so Mrs DCH and I often have just a main and a drink and it usually comes in at under £50 for us.

 

[Beach Hut]

Unless you have a shed load off disposable income I would imagine dinning out has become prohibitively expensive for most people with the prices that restaurants are charging.

We went to Cin Cin in Hove before xmas and a meal for 4 came to £385! A couple of weeks ago a trip to the bottom floor of Rockwater came to £170 for 2 adults and 2 children and no starters!

I suspect with ever rising staffing costs, rents and costs of ingredients it must be incredibly difficult to balance charging enough to make a profit and not too much that it turns people away, however when OK (not amazing) restaurants are charging those sorts of prices its not surprising that some are closing.

Restaurants are becoming far more expensive, at least £20 more for us as a couple with starter, main and bottle of wine. Also I have noticed much less varied menus and smaller portions however it is a choice.

 

[Weststander]

Unless you have a shed load off disposable income I would imagine dinning out has become prohibitively expensive for most people with the prices that restaurants are charging.

We went to Cin Cin in Hove before xmas and a meal for 4 came to £385! A couple of weeks ago a trip to the bottom floor of Rockwater came to £170 for 2 adults and 2 children and no starters!

I suspect with ever rising staffing costs, rents and costs of ingredients it must be incredibly difficult to balance charging enough to make a profit and not too much that it turns people away, however when OK (not amazing) restaurants are charging those sorts of prices its not surprising that some are closing.

They’re not all struggling, for example the little Gingerman chain of 6 restaurants makes a £1.45m bottom line annual profit (on Companies House). Not surprised, we’ve been going since their beginning 25 years ago. Our bills has risen ever steeper for it seems minute quantities.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Unless you have a shed load off disposable income I would imagine dinning out has become prohibitively expensive for most people with the prices that restaurants are charging.

We went to Cin Cin in Hove before xmas and a meal for 4 came to £385! A couple of weeks ago a trip to the bottom floor of Rockwater came to £170 for 2 adults and 2 children and no starters!

I suspect with ever rising staffing costs, rents and costs of ingredients it must be incredibly difficult to balance charging enough to make a profit and not too much that it turns people away, however when OK (not amazing) restaurants are charging those sorts of prices its not surprising that some are closing.

Depends where you go. I was going to put a review of Fanoos on Station Rd, Portslade on here anyway and this seems a good time to post it.

Went last night. It's owned by a Muslim family so they don't want to have an alcohol sales licence but they are happy for you to BYO and there is no corkage!

Great meal last night, their amazing hummus and a garlic aubergine dip with lovely crisp flatbreads and then large portions of chicken and / or lamb, spiced and marinated with huge portions of chips.

We could barely eat it all and the bill was £80 for four, twenty quid a head. Tremendous value. Add to that a £10 bottle of red from Tesco for me, the girls having a bottle of fizz left over from New Year and my mate having one bottle of Corona and water as he was driving.

How do they do it? I imagine they operate at low margin with turnover being key, they use very young front of house staff learning the trade and they have a menu that never changes. In return you get delicious Persian food and huge portions.

It's these sorts of places that will survive in the short term. I can't afford to eat high end at the moment (not even the reduced offers I mentioned earlier on the thread) and keep the kids and dog going while going to Brighton games.

There will be a short term trend of good places closing and others shortening menus, simplifying service and generally dumbing down. Once things even out a bit there will be a gradual return to quality rising.

Hard time to be a top quality chef or patron.

 

[Half Time Pies]

Depends where you go. I was going to put a review of Fanoos on Station Rd, Portslade on here anyway and this seems a good time to post it.

Went last night. It's owned by a Muslim family so they don't want to have an alcohol sales licence but they are happy for you to BYO and there is no corkage!

Great meal last night, their amazing hummus and a garlic aubergine dip with lovely crisp flatbreads and then large portions of chicken and / or lamb, spiced and marinated with huge portions of chips.

We could barely eat it all and the bill was £80 for four, twenty quid a head. Tremendous value. Add to that a £10 bottle of red from Tesco for me, the girls having a bottle of fizz left over from New Year and my mate having one bottle of Corona and water as he was driving.

How do they do it? I imagine they operate at low margin with turnover being key, they use very young front of house staff learning the trade and they have a menu that never changes. In return you get delicious Persian food and huge portions.

It's these sorts of places that will survive in the short term. I can't afford to eat high end at the moment (not even the reduced offers I mentioned earlier on the thread) and keep the kids and dog going while going to Brighton games.

There will be a short term trend of good places closing and others shortening menus, simplifying service and generally dumbing down. Once things even out a bit there will be a gradual return to quality rising.

Hard time to be a top quality chef or patron.

I have had a takeaway in the past from Fanoos and there is another similar restaurant up the road Mediterra Kitchen which is good as well and reasonable.

Like you I cant afford to eat at the top end anymore and particularly if we, or the people we are with, don't pay attention to what they are ordering! Many restaurants these days seem to inflate the bills with hidden extras like side dishes that would normally come with the meal, and by charging extortionate amounts for alcohol. Getting that £385 bill at Cin Cin was a complete shock and ruined the night for me!

 

[Guinness Boy]

The good news is that if you’re an absolute charlatan, you can still sell your product to people with more money than sense.

 

[GrossTurn]

The Bird Prenzlauer Berg | Best Burger in Berlin | The Bird in Berlin

The Bird in Berlin | Best burgers in berlin & fresh grilled steaks. A New York style bar and steakhouse, serving undoubtedly Berlins best steaks and burgers as well as some other stuff.

thebirdinberlin.com

Been to the same but in Hamburg - assume they’re part of the same group?

 

[ROSM]

They’re not all struggling, for example the little Gingerman chain of 6 restaurants makes a £1.45m bottom line annual profit (on Companies House). Not surprised, we’ve been going since their beginning 25 years ago. Our bills has risen ever steeper for it seems minute quantities.

Had a very poor experience at Gingerman before xmas 2022. The vegetarian tasting menu had poor matched wines and one course was parsnip in a semi cooked ducks egg where the white had barely emulsified. It was apparently (i was told) cooked at 65 degrees. I struggled if that was celsius or Fahrenheit.

To top it off the bill needed 4 attempts to get right and even then it wasnt but we paid and went.

 

[Weststander]

Had a very poor experience at Gingerman before xmas 2022. The vegetarian tasting menu had poor matched wines and one course was parsnip in a semi cooked ducks egg where the white had barely emulsified. It was apparently (i was told) cooked at 65 degrees. I struggled if that was celsius or Fahrenheit.

To top it off the bill needed 4 attempts to get right and even then it wasnt but we paid and went.

The last time for us was meant to be a special lunch in October 2021. Tiny quantities in a purported three course meal, we left hungry. Just three of us, one beer, one glass of wine and a couple of soft drinks, I still tipped, the total the best part of £200. Reminded me of 1980’s nouvelle cuisine, a minuscule quantities p-take. We didn’t have any expensive fish dishes, it was a set menu, the 300% food mark up didn’t stack up.

 

[Machiavelli]

Unless you have a shed load off disposable income I would imagine dinning out has become prohibitively expensive for most people with the prices that restaurants are charging.

We went to Cin Cin in Hove before xmas and a meal for 4 came to £385! A couple of weeks ago a trip to the bottom floor of Rockwater came to £170 for 2 adults and 2 children and no starters!

I suspect with ever rising staffing costs, rents and costs of ingredients it must be incredibly difficult to balance charging enough to make a profit and not too much that it turns people away, however when OK (not amazing) restaurants are charging those sorts of prices its not surprising that some are closing.

I like Cin Cin, and they do a decently priced set menu. Also have a well selected and not outrageously priced wine list, so I can understand how you got that high a bill. It'd take a lot to persuade me to go to Rockwater.
Can I refer you back to my OP on this thread, and recommend a lunch at Fourth & Church over the next few weeks to restore your faith?

 

[Weststander]

I like Cin Cin, and they do a decently priced set menu. Also have a well selected and not outrageously priced wine list, so I can understand how you got that high a bill. It'd take a lot to persuade me to go to Rockwater.
Can I refer you back to my OP on this thread, and recommend a lunch at Fourth & Church over the next few weeks to restore your faith?

The desserts look to die for .

https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...02406948357/Dessert+6_12_23+-+Google+Docs.pdf

 

[amexer]

They’re not all struggling, for example the little Gingerman chain of 6 restaurants makes a £1.45m bottom line annual profit (on Companies House). Not surprised, we’ve been going since their beginning 25 years ago. Our bills has risen ever steeper for it seems minute quantities.

As you mention the Ginger group, I was given a £100 voucher for birthday and taok my wife midweek begining of December. Food was ok with starters and sweet very basic and we just had 1 glass of wine between us. Astounded voucher did not cover as bill was £110.
Unless it is organised or a celebrations at those prices will be a long time before we return or eat out on spur of moment.