[Food] Restaurant thread 2023

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Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
62,682
The Fatherland
Got a couple of turbot fishing trips booked later in the summer…….😄
I’ll bring the 3 bottles of Bordeaux and 125g of butter!
 




Springal

Well-known member
Feb 12, 2005
24,779
GOSBTS
Bookings now being taken for a "Preview Month" from 6th July.

The site has now been updated with an £85 7-course tasting menu. It will be interesting to see if that is their only offering - I'm not convinced Worthing is ready for that just yet.
Soft launch last night got great reviews that I saw - but of course it would do for a freebie / reduced price I guess
 






Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
62,682
The Fatherland
Oh nooooo . . . the return of the burger!

I don't know why, but l just can't take burgers seriously, not when it comes to eating out at a proper restaurant anyway.
Fair enough. What’s the reason you don’t like eating them in a restaurant?
 




Cowfold Seagull

Fan of the 17 bus
Apr 22, 2009
22,114
Cowfold
Fair enough. What’s the reason you don’t like eating them in a restaurant?
I can only associate them with fast food really, a.k.a. a snack at halftime at the Amex perhaps, (if l can get to the front of the queue in time), or maybe at a Maccy D's or Burger King or the like, once in a while.

If l am going out to a nice restaurant for a meal in the evening, l will be looking for something far more upmarket than cheeseburger and chips.

Funnily enough l feel much the same about pizza.
 


Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
62,682
The Fatherland
I can only associate them with fast food really, a.k.a. a snack at halftime at the Amex perhaps, (if l can get to the front of the queue in time), or maybe at a Maccy D's or Burger King or the like, once in a while.

If l am going out to a nice restaurant for a meal in the evening, l will be looking for something far more upmarket than cheeseburger and chips.

Funnily enough l feel much the same about pizza.
Fair enough. The burger I had is a lot more than a Burger King though, and when you add wings to start, and a few beers and pickle backs along the way, it is a substantial meal which typically takes us a couple of hours to consume.
 


Biffer

Active member
Jul 13, 2003
670
Bajan Jerk Box @ Lost+Found

Lost+Found taproom at Fiveways (Village) have ‘street food’ (food) vans outside for the summer. It’s good. Bajan Jerk Box do various events and cater weddings, which would go down brilliantly on this evidence. They’d run out of jerk chicken by the time I’d got there but the goat curry was excellent, made my face sweat in all the right places. Excellent plantain too. 12.50 for goat curry is good value considering I was stuffed last night and am enjoying it for breakfast as I type.

8.8/10
Good to hear. Thanks for coming.
 




Guinness Boy

Tofu eating wokerati
Helpful Moderator
NSC Patron
Jul 23, 2003
37,338
Up and Coming Sunny Portslade
A Tale of Two Curries

Dishoom Kensington / Indian Summer Brighton


Last week a couple of colleagues came here from the States, including one who is vegan and originally from India. We were working in West London on Monday and Tuesday and then down here. This meant us Brits entertaining them.

Halfway through our Monday afternoon session my vegan colleague opined "I haven't had good Indian food in forever" which settled me on trying to find a good local Indian. He'd already worked out, however, that we were in walking distance of a Dishoom. "Can we go there? It says we don't need a reservation...".

And you don't. The reasons for this, for anyone who hasn't been, would become clear.

We had a healthy 20 minute walk through some of London's better bits and found the side street that it was located on, This was obvious by the huge queue outside. A part of me hoped there was a cinema or trendy nightclub that opened at 7pm next door but no. People were queuing for a curry house forever on a Monday night.

The queue is expertly stage managed. Just when you're thinking of leaving someone comes along the queue with an iPad, tells you that you'll get a table in one hour, takes your name and says you can have a drink in the bar. Just as you're about to leave again you reach the door where the doorman (yes, that's a job there) engages you in witty banter and you finally get access to the hallowed entrance and pick up a pager that will tell you when there's a table. Just as you get fed up with waiting in the hallowed entrance a space will become free at the bar. And just as you're about to order a reluctant second round, off goes the pager, You have a table. In all, between arriving at the gaff and sitting down at a food table an hour and forty minutes had elapsed. On a Monday.

So, the food must be outstanding right? Wrong. A real mixed bag, We ordered some vegan starters. The fried Okra was great. Really great. Crisp, flavoursome and with an insane dipping sauce. The samosas we all suspected were ex-frozen. Me and the other meat eater shared some main dishes. The lamb chop was burned on the outside and chewy in the middle, the wraps similar to what I make at home when the kids want "fajitas". The house biryani, however, was one of the best things I've ever eaten, lamb shank delicately spiced and heaped with fragrant rice and baked under a pastry lid. It was subtle, it melted in your mouth, it was good in all the right places. Our vegan friend decided he was vegetarian for the night and ordered black dhal and gunpowder potatoes. We tried the dhal which was incredible, but all in all it felt like two things you'd order as side dishes rather than a meal.

None of it was good enough to wait the length of a football match for. Frankly, I blame Instagram.

So, a couple of days later, and we moved en masse down here. I'd checked there was space and reserved a table at Indian Summer. The confirmation email warned of dire consequences if we were late and that we'd have to give back the table after the length of time we were queueing at Dishoom for. None of these things happened. Instead they happily increased our table by one when another colleague arrived in town earlier than we thought. They were friendly and polite. We got to sit immediately and had beers and cocktails delivered within 15 mins of arriving at the gaff. Those of us eating meat had the house special Thali and our vegan had a vegan Thali. Both were incredible. Little pots bursting with flavour, roti that was perfect flavour and texture wise, those little rolled, spiced poppadums. We ate till we nearly burst and still had time for a walk on the seafront afterwards.

Many of you will know IS. If you don't, try it now. If you do, then add me to the group on here that will tell anyone it's the best curry place in Brighton. And better than many in London, including those where you film yourself in a queue.
 


TheDuke

Well-known member
Oct 28, 2011
1,223
Arundel
We’re going to lunch at The Fig Tree Hurstpierpoint… looks so expensive… but do the brilliant reviews justify the cost
 


amexer

Well-known member
Aug 8, 2011
6,829
We’re going to lunch at The Fig Tree Hurstpierpoint… looks so expensive… but do the brilliant reviews justify the cost
Used to be a regular . Was expensive but very good. However dont go anymore because it is another restaurant that now only offers a tasting menu
 






Herr Tubthumper

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
62,682
The Fatherland
We’re going to lunch at The Fig Tree Hurstpierpoint… looks so expensive… but do the brilliant reviews justify the cost
How was it?
 








Guinness Boy

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




monty uk

Well-known member
Sep 25, 2018
641
Being on the 'wrong' side of Brighton; Hampshire rather than East Sussex/Kent, and unfamiliar with the more refined towns that way, could anybody recommend a lunch location in Eastbourne please?

Quick Google search threw up Cru Wine Bar - which looks good but, alas, only open in the latter part of the week. Which is a recommendation in itself.

Any experiences there, or better suggestions? Not too meat-oriented.
 




Lurchy

Well-known member
Jul 2, 2014
2,422
Being on the 'wrong' side of Brighton; Hampshire rather than East Sussex/Kent, and unfamiliar with the more refined towns that way, could anybody recommend a lunch location in Eastbourne please?

Quick Google search threw up Cru Wine Bar - which looks good but, alas, only open in the latter part of the week. Which is a recommendation in itself.

Any experiences there, or better suggestions? Not too meat-oriented.

Skylark in Grove Road is very good.
 


Machiavelli

Well-known member
Oct 11, 2013
17,770
Fiveways
Anyone been to Dilsk yet? Looks promising:

 


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