Hove Restaurant Guide

2024 Review: Eat “surrounded by bottles in this friendly and informal bistro”, which also doubles as a wine bar and shop. Reporters love the “inventive small-plates food and excellent wine list” – especially the set menu, which is “full of more adventurous things you might not normally order à la carte”.

This “amazing neighbourhood restaurant will have you coming back for more” of its “brilliant modern British cooking in a relaxed bistro setting”. Founded five years ago by a trio of local hospitality veterans, Rob Maynard and James & Faye Thompson, it is “very much in tune with modern Hove, but in a very unprepossessing location” – and with “very sensible prices”, including a £22 per person set menu that runs alongside the à la carte. Many diners recommend the wines here (“one of the rare restaurants which do not force you to ‘kill’ red wine too young, offering good mature reds for fair prices”).

It’s “unexpected for a local, suburban boozer sitting next to a school”, but “Brighton’s seafood gastropub” marches to the beat of its own drum, turning out “exceptional” dishes (“emphasis on shellfish”) plus craft beer “brewed in the premises” downstairs, “which adds to the fun”. Taking into account the “upscale” setting, too, you’ve got all “the ingredients for a Perfect Sunday!” (when the idiosyncratic venue pays tribute to paella).

“The attention to detail is amazing, with top-notch food and wine pairings” say fans of this “favourite destination restaurant” – Stephen Edwards’s conversion of a former bank arguably “feels like a converted pub”, but “is so unexpected and elevated it fits well with the vibe of Hove”. Choose from either a five-course menu for £50 per person, or a seven-course menu for £75 per person: “flavours are fun and refreshing, from seasonal and playful tasting plates” – “truly spectacular cooking and would be three times the price in a central London restaurant”. Many local diners report their gastronomic highlight of the year here. Top Menu Tip – “the marmite bread is to die for (if only the whole meal could’ve been made of that!)”

“A dependable favourite ever since it opened” – this “elevated pub” near Hove seafront is part of a hugely popular four-strong local chain; with its “upmarket take on sausages and mash with kale or a lovely slow-cooked beef pie”, it’s “more akin to a restaurant (with a nice bar attached)” than a boozer, and a “buzzy atmosphere” is guaranteed. Top Tip – stay over in their “quirky rooms” (in either the main building or self-catering mews houses); one reporter who did so “could not think of eating anywhere else” after the first night (resulting in “six meals, including terrific breakfasts, in three days!”).

“Duncan Ray delivers a top seafood menu from a tiny kitchen” at this “wonderful and intimate spot tucked away behind a busy Brighton street”, where just 20 guests enjoy an “unbelievable menu in a single sitting per night”. Even a reporter who felt “the food didn’t quite live up to some sublime experiences in the past” still felt that “there were some great dishes, we love what LFM does, and it’s well worth a visit”.

Chef Ben and his wife Pamela McKellar’s flagship restaurant (est. 1998) is a “cosy side-street gem” that has “maintained its high standards through all its years, and against a rising tide of local competition”. In fact, some think it has “upped its game again on quality and imagination, although that has come at a (literal) price”. Top Menu Tips – “the bread and the soufflés remain things that cannot be passed over”.

2023 Review: “If you are happy with a food hall for your meal, then this is a good (but very popular) option” – this year-old venue has a “great location” on the seafront and features seven street-food concepts at a time. In her July 2022 visit, The Guardian’s Grace Dent was also wowed: “The food, with each delivery by a chipper server, continued to be far better than a food hall ever tends to be… we left Shelter Hall jubilant, £60 down for lunch for three people with drinks”.

This “longstanding and reliable choice” with views of the sea has been going strong for over four decades thanks to its “really authentic Chinese dim sum” – the highlight of a “typically extensive” Cantonese menu. Come to the “busy” outfit for lunch and “marvel at seeing so many Chinese people who have sought it out!” (just don’t forget to book or they’ll beat you to it).

“Looks and feels like a proper yakitori place”, and the food is “sooo good” at this 10-year-old “Asian gem” that is “clearly no longer hidden from locals” – so the small space is often packed. Founder David Miney spent three years as a chef in Tokyo developing the expertise he now deploys in “authentic dishes at very reasonable prices” – “sit at the bar and watch the chefs in action”. “The sake selection is also on point and not outrageously expensive, like it is at other locations in this country”.

Once the home of Europe’s richest woman, Harriet Mellon, widow of the banker Thomas Coutts, this seafront pile was converted into a restaurant in the 1930s, making it one of Brighton’s oldest. Even those who believe it’s “becoming rather complacent” as it enters its tenth decade grudgingly amid that it still offers “Brighton’s best fish ’n’ chips” (available on a menu that also takes in fried fishy stuff, shellfish platters and lobster feasts).

“A bustling destination, with a nice view of rolling sea and big horizon” – this “very buzzy seafront room” sits within sight of the skeletal remains of the West Pier and remains one of the most popular dining options in the city. On the downside, there is a view that “the best aspect are the vistas over the water, with food that’s reliable rather than sensational and too expensive”. Most of the many reports, though, are more positive, saying, “if you particularly enjoyfFresh, beautifully cooked fish, this is the place”.

Opened in 2011 by restaurateur Razak Helalat, this “brilliant” steakhouse (with London spin-off) was the first venture for the ever-expanding Black Rock group, whose latest siblings include Italian restaurant Tutto and boundary-blurring bar/restaurant Burnt Orange (see also). In September 2024, it made a bold and long-planned move into a swish (and big for Brighton) 142-cover location in a (“deservedly”) prominent Lanes setting. In addition to an expanded bar-operation, the NY steakhouse-style venue will morph its cooking-over-fire philosophy into a less meat-heavy approach, with somewhat more emphasis on fish and veg. Ratings have been maintained from the old location, but this could be a major step-up for the business.