Terre á Terre

Terre á Terre continues to offer the highest standard of vegetarian dining available anywhere in Brighton and, as far as I can tell, any where in the U.K. apart perhaps from David Bann in Edinburgh. The menu is imaginative and changes at least twice a year. Highlights have included Yabba Jabba Beefy Tea, Cucumber bavarois and Himmel und Erde. More lyrical dishes have also appeared on the menu such as Tiger Brick and rain vodka cherry cioccolata churros. More recent examples are exemplified by Kibbi Our Soles and Takka D'Otta, the latter of which is described as ... Rassam rammed Froo Froos and aloo tikki stuffed with green tomato and fat date chatni, served with tamarind and capsicum sas vermicelli, mango taza salad of fried usal finished with nariyal hot toddy,ginger joos ice and amchoor naan filled with cashew and sultana maraba.... I won't say anything more about the adjective adiction of the menu, ultimately, it doesn't matter as anything you choose will be fantastic. The wine list makes interesting reading as well, populated with vegetarian, vegan and bio-dynamic wines which are in many cases far superior to their chemically enhanced neighbours. Whatever you go for, try the hoisin tofu along with your starter, it's the best tofu ever and for me sums up the entire Terre á Terre experience : Unique Excellence.

Menu : Over elaborately described unique vegetarian and vegan with very serious dessert creations.

Terre á Terre was winner of Homer's Golden Doughnut Award 2002.

Food 10/10
Service 9/10
Atmo 9/10
Vege 10/10
Alco 8/10
Total 92%

Due South

A highly organic, locally sourced, fresh out of the ground, brilliantly set, perfectly executed, imaginatively designed, well presented, top quality eatery in a fairly unlikely seafront location. I could go on but it wasn't just the fact they gave us the best table in the place (see above) or that all the staff were as friendly as you like, or just that the zapping fresh flavours in every item right down to the just-picked salad leaves made each dish a treat. Or even that the wine list was just the right price, range and length, or even yet that there's a 30 yr old cognac on the menu. It was all of the above and more.

Menu : Local organic meats with locally caught fish and the freshest possible veg and leaf. Puddings are english with a slightly fruity twist.

Due South well deserves the title of Best Newcomer and in fact has won the golden doughnut for 2004.

Food 9/10
Service 10/10
Atmo 10/10
Vege 8/10
Alco 9/10
Total 96%

mei ped ped ped

The new king of Brighton Thai food is now mei ped ped ped (not hot / hot hot). It's a small, simple, ordinary place to look at but all the dishes on the menu are stunning. Look out for the chef's special sauce, it's amazing. Everything you ever liked about Thai food but given an extra dimension by the careful balance of strong but never fierce flavours. The upside-down pad thai noodles here are by far the best example of this classic dish that I've seen.

I could go on but there's no need. The reputation of this newcomer to the lanes is going to spread very quickly so book now.

Menu : Special family recepies stand out from the Thai standards.

Mai Ped ped ped is the winner of Homer's golden doughnut 2003

Food 8/10
Service 7/10
Atmo 7/10
Vege 7/10
Alco 6/10
Total 70%

The Gingerman

Another member of Brighton's fine dining club, The Gingerman offers a classical gourmet's delight. The menu is short but special and changes every 6 weeks. The service is friendly, the venue is small but well arranged and both the food and the wine list are serious.
The greatest achievement though is the smooth and unflustered delivery. A perfect example of the swan effect. I assume it's frantic in the kitchen but you'd never know, in the front of house, everything is calm efficiency as if it's no real effort to serve up 3 courses of classic cuisine to 30 covers at a time.

Menu : Classic french style, whatever's on this week's menu.

Food 8/10
Service 9/10
Atmo 8/10
Vege 5/10
Alco 8/10
Total 76%

Blanche House

A relative newcommer to the higher slopes of the Brighton restaurant landscape and it's straight in to the top 5 due to its inviting menu and ultra-high food quality. The dining room sits at the back of the bar and hotel which make up the rest of this anonymous section of the terrace tucked away off St George's Road in Kemptown. The building's interior is designed in such stunning contrast to its street face that you are instantly transported from the B&B sector of the Brighton seaside into a '90s Islington haunt for champagne socialists. The menu we sampled included two vegetarian starters and mains along side five or six dishes for omnivores. Whatever the ingredients though, all our selections were both designed and executed with the upmost professionalism resulting in seriously fine dining. This is fusion/brit-med/nouvelle (choose your own ridiculous pigeon hole) at its best, no need for pretention when the food really is this good.

Menu : ultra moden fashionista style rabbit risotto

Food 9/10
Service 8/10
Atmo 7/10
Vege 6/10
Alco 9/10
Total 78%

Hotel du Vin

It is instantly apparent that some serious pounds have been spent on turning this site into a very posh and very contemporary boutique hotel. Perhaps the plan is to recover the costs via the menu in the in-house french bistro. So, is it all worth it ? I'd say yes for the interior design of the hotel, bar and restaurant. Yes for the wine and bar lists which are truly extensive. Yes for the quality of the food. A definite maybe for the menu itself which sticks a little too rigidly to the bistro rule book. And unfortunately, No for the service but only because it didn't quite deliver where it matters.

If you want to give your wallet a workout then why not spend it on a trip through the Hotel du Vin wine list with steak/salmon/risotto/a.n.other bistro clasic followed by a 60 quid shot of cognac.

Menu : Standard French Bistro fare, with the best drinks list ever.

Food 9/10
Service 6/10
Atmo 7/10
Vege 7/10
Alco 10/10
Total 78%

Agra

Smokey Tarka Dahl + ( Best Naan & tandori roti ) = Best Balti House in Brighton

Food 9/10
Service 8/10
Atmo 7/10
Vege 8/10
Alco 6/10
Total 76%