Restaurant 2016

[CHAPPERS]

This review proved quite difficult to write, as I had high expectations for the tasting menu at the Brighton institution that is...

The Gingerman

The menu with my thoughts is as follows:

Bread was excellent and unfortunately my favourite part of the meal came with this in their butter with truffle and honey which I could eat all day long.

We started the meal proper with some veloute with parmasan and summat else which was very pleasant indeed thank you but unfortunately was the second best thing on the menu

Smoked Mackerel

Cuttlefish, Beetroot, Apple, Horseradish Cream - this was the best part of the main courses, excellent dish. Really light and pretty damn elegant thanks very much.

Pig Cheek

Scratching, Truffle Polenta, Ravigote, Leek Purée - this was alright I guess but quite heavy and really didn't play a welcome part on the meal considering the next course.



Lamb

Rump, Sweetbread, Tomato compote, Dauphinoise, Burnt Onion - too heavy by far and actaully a rather unpleasant eat if I'm honest. The lamb and tomato jarred against each other and the burnt onion lingered unwelcome on the tongue. Dauphinoise was lst unfortunately as it was great.


To Finish

Dark Chocolate & Sesame

Mango & Passion Fruit Salad, Sesame Tuille, Passion Fruit Sorbet - Sweet, sweet, sweet. Overload, especially as they subjet you to some really tooth shattering desert wine. Poor.

Wine flight was decent but it should be for the price (30 quid each).

Really quite annoyed with this as we were only there as the Little Fish Market is currently closed for renovations. Will not hurry back, certainly not for the tasting menu. You can get three courses for 37 quid which seems like the more sensible thing to do as you can vavoid that awful lamb dish.

5/10

 

[KingKev]

Spookiest post EVER! Also on the recommendation of a friend, I have just booked at The Jetty for Mrs P's birthday in a couple of weeks, and thought I'd go to the last page on this thread and ask if anyone has been there. Lo and behold, first post on the last page was.....

.

Snap!
Mrs KK's annual celebration will be at The Jetty this year - mainly because I want to try popcorn clams and the tuna tartare...selfless hubby that I'm not

 

[Guinness Boy]

Lamb

Rump, Sweetbread, Tomato compote, Dauphinoise, Burnt Onion - too heavy by far and actaully a rather unpleasant eat if I'm honest. The lamb and tomato jarred against each other and the burnt onion lingered unwelcome on the tongue. Dauphinoise was lst unfortunately as it was great.

Blimey. How disappointing is that? I've loved the Gingerman since we used to live round the corner from it 15 years or so ago. And I love cooking lamb rump. Almost impossible to f*** up. And a good sweetbread is a thing of beauty. But, yeah, over tomato that and you're gonna kill it and I hate this modern fad for burning stuff. Just make a nice foam or spherify something FFS.

 

[Bozza]

I just noticed this and thought I'd flag it up, in case it appeals to anyone.

"To break the year up as we countdown to another Brighton’s Best restaurant awards, we’re proud to announce OctoberBest, a new festival will highlight Brighton's exciting restaurant scene this autumn.

From the 17th to 30th October 2016, the first ever OctoberBEST will see the city's top 20 restaurants offer special £20 menus and deals to all diners."

http://www.brightonsbestrestaurants.com/octoberbest/

 

[Springal]

I just noticed this and thought I'd flag it up, in case it appeals to anyone.

"To break the year up as we countdown to another Brighton’s Best restaurant awards, we’re proud to announce OctoberBest, a new festival will highlight Brighton's exciting restaurant scene this autumn.

From the 17th to 30th October 2016, the first ever OctoberBEST will see the city's top 20 restaurants offer special £20 menus and deals to all diners."

http://www.brightonsbestrestaurants.com/octoberbest/

Some good offers there. Chilli Pickle one looks very tempting..

'The Chilli Pickle
Crispy Pork Knuckle Vindaloo
Served with family naan, vindaloo gravy, red onion & apple cachumber, jeera aloo & riatta
With a bottle of HackerSchorr or Dunkel Paulaner Oktoberfest Beer (500ml)
2 person sharing £20 a head'

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Crispy Pork Knuckle Vindaloo

My word. The post-modern culinary response to multi-cultural Deutschland. On a personal level this combines two of my favourite foods. I'm in!

 

[Herr Tubthumper]

Some good offers there. Chilli Pickle one looks very tempting..

'The Chilli Pickle
Crispy Pork Knuckle Vindaloo
Served with family naan, vindaloo gravy, red onion & apple cachumber, jeera aloo & riatta
With a bottle of HackerSchorr or Dunkel Paulaner Oktoberfest Beer (500ml)
2 person sharing £20 a head'

I wouldn't serve Paulaner dunkel though, too sweet. You need a crisp Pilsner of a BRLO German pale ale in my humble opinion. Need a hop backed bitterness to balance this out.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Blimey. How disappointing is that? I've loved the Gingerman since we used to live round the corner from it 15 years or so ago. And I love cooking lamb rump. Almost impossible to f*** up. And a good sweetbread is a thing of beauty. But, yeah, over tomato that and you're gonna kill it and I hate this modern fad for burning stuff. Just make a nice foam or spherify something FFS.

Believe me I walked out of there really quite let down by it all!

 

[Foodie Eshe]

I just noticed this and thought I'd flag it up, in case it appeals to anyone.

"To break the year up as we countdown to another Brighton’s Best restaurant awards, we’re proud to announce OctoberBest, a new festival will highlight Brighton's exciting restaurant scene this autumn.

From the 17th to 30th October 2016, the first ever OctoberBEST will see the city's top 20 restaurants offer special £20 menus and deals to all diners."

http://www.brightonsbestrestaurants.com/octoberbest/

Such great opporunity to try out some of the best restaurants in the city, although with all the PR of it I imagine seats will get booked up quick! Might be easier at lunchtimes...

The guys behind OctoberBEST invited me on a "grub crawl" of 3 of the restaurants involved (Bincho, The Set and the Salt Room), here's a bit of info around what to expect on my blog, remember to call/email to book and mention the offer.

I'm looking forward to trying Little Fish Market and Semolina.

http://foodieeshe.com/news-octoberbest-brighton-restaurant-festival/

 

[CHAPPERS]

Such great opporunity to try out some of the best restaurants in the city, although with all the PR of it I imagine seats will get booked up quick! Might be easier at lunchtimes...

The guys behind OctoberBEST invited me on a "grub crawl" of 3 of the restaurants involved (Bincho, The Set and the Salt Room), here's a bit of info around what to expect on my blog, remember to call/email to book and mention the offer.

I'm looking forward to trying Little Fish Market and Semolina.

http://foodieeshe.com/news-octoberbest-brighton-restaurant-festival/

Duncan is the best cook in town.

 

[Cowfold Seagull]

Blimey. How disappointing is that? I've loved the Gingerman since we used to live round the corner from it 15 years or so ago. And I love cooking lamb rump. Almost impossible to f*** up. And a good sweetbread is a thing of beauty. But, yeah, over tomato that and you're gonna kill it and I hate this modern fad for burning stuff. Just make a nice foam or spherify something FFS.

You hate this modern fad for burning stuff. Well I hate this modern fad for making foam!

 

[pishhead]

Lunch today in The Salt Room. My girlfriend works with the girlfriend of one of the Chefs so we got a few unexpected freebies thrown in. Overall very good uncomplicated cooking showcasing the ingredients at their absolute best. 2 courses plus 2 rounds of drinks £70.00 service excellent 9/10.

 

[Machiavelli]

I had the tasting menu for lunch at The Sportsman in Seasalter last Friday. It is staggeringly good, and just my style of cooking, sourcing and service. We had 13 courses, over five hours, and it cost £65 which in my view is a bargain for this quality and attention to detail (but I understand those that view it as an indulgence or even ridiculous).

Given that there were so many courses, I'll just focus on one:

A tart, made from the thinnest, finest pastry, that was described as mushroom and celeriac. The filling was a very dense, autumnal mushroom and it was topped with a celeriac foam or cream -- I'm not entirely sure whether this is the right terminology, as it was without bubbles and also was not dairy-heavy, but the topping made it look not unlike that on a lemon meringue pie, although it had a softer texture and a pure celeriac taste. Hiding underneath that topping was an egg yolk that spilled over the tart once you had got stuck into it. It was a thing of beauty.

One other thing, we sat by the bar and the chef, Stephen Harris, came out to make a cup of tea towards the beginning. We got chatting and I asked if he could recommend a red from the list. Once we'd established that Pinot Noir is our favourite grape, he said that he had something in his private cellar that was great and we could have for £40. It was an absolutely stunning bottle, a Hautes Cotes de Beaune from Naudin-Ferrand, really ethereal, pure Pinot fruit. It retails for about £30, so we got away with a steal to get it in a restaurant at that price. I wonder if [MENTION=27447]Goldstone1976[/MENTION] is familiar with the producer?

 

[Goldstone1976]

a Hautes Cotes de Beaune from Naudin-Ferrand, really ethereal, pure Pinot fruit. It retails for about £30, so we got away with a steal to get it in a restaurant at that price. I wonder if Goldstone1976 is familiar with the producer?

I'm not, no. Thanks for the tip. Sounds a bit like an Oregon Pinot in style? I'll get a bottle - which vintage did you have?

 

[Machiavelli]

I'm not, no. Thanks for the tip. Sounds a bit like an Oregon Pinot in style? I'll get a bottle - which vintage did you have?

Pretty sure it was 2012. What I don't know is which of the different HCdBs it was. See:

http://www.bbr.com/producer-3022-domaine-naudin-ferrand

I'd expect all their wines to be interesting, given the quality of that wine. Stylistically, it had a really expressive nose, and silky voluptuous palate. It was, if anything, light- to medium-bodied, but I'm there indicating its elegance more than anything else with that comment. Really pure fruit on the palate, and with complexity for the appellation. I'm exploring what, when and from where I'm going to buy their wines at present.

 

[Springal]

Alright chaps. Any pubs near Brighton station any good for a roast these days? Reckon I'll be in town by 3 with an hour to kill before a train. Don't want to venture too far

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Decided yesterday that the Westdene family wanted a decent roast dinner out yesterday. Tried to book loads of places but the short notice made it very difficult. In the end decided to try The Connaught and we managed to get in.

Plates came out completely loaded which is a good sign ..... unfortunately the signs didn't represent the reality.

The pork belly was mostly under cooked fat - Mrs W took hers back and got it replaced with chicken. Surprisingly the chicken was a leg and thigh joint rather than breast which you would expect to get for a £14 dish.

My lamb was overcooked yet somehow the fat remained chewy. Too many sweet veg rather than a balance and the 'roast' potatoes were soggy. Spinach had enough pepper in it to blow your head off. Yorkshire puds were the worst I've EVER had and I include supermarket budget ones in that. Plain, unseasoned, dry and no puff.

The only saving grace was the cauli cheese which was great but for which we had to pay extra for.

One of the worst roasts any of the four of us had ever had. 2/10

 

[CHAPPERS]

Decided yesterday that the Westdene family wanted a decent roast dinner out yesterday. Tried to book loads of places but the short notice made it very difficult. In the end decided to try The Connaught and we managed to get in.

Plates came out completely loaded which is a good sign ..... unfortunately the signs didn't represent the reality.

The pork belly was mostly under cooked fat - Mrs W took hers back and got it replaced with chicken. Surprisingly the chicken was a leg and thigh joint rather than breast which you would expect to get for a £14 dish.

My lamb was overcooked yet somehow the fat remained chewy. Too many sweet veg rather than a balance and the 'roast' potatoes were soggy. Spinach had enough pepper in it to blow your head off. Yorkshire puds were the worst I've EVER had and I include supermarket budget ones in that. Plain, unseasoned, dry and no puff.

The only saving grace was the cauli cheese which was great but for which we had to pay extra for.

One of the worst roasts any of the four of us had ever had. 2/10

Which is why I never go out for roasts. Always overpriced and impossible to cook in huge numbers at a decent standard.

On the subject of pub food I'm struggling for a decent pub or drinking friendly venue for Thursday evening around the North Laine. I might head to Solera for tapas or go somewhere completely different and go to Senor Buddha for their take on tapas, as have heard good things.

 

[Westdene Seagull]

Which is why I never go out for roasts. Always overpriced and impossible to cook in huge numbers at a decent standard.

On the subject of pub food I'm struggling for a decent pub or drinking friendly venue for Thursday evening around the North Laine. I might head to Solera for tapas or go somewhere completely different and go to Senor Buddha for their take on tapas, as have heard good things.

I know, foolish - just couldn't be bothered to cook and wanted a roast. The Neville does a cracking roast but was full.

Highly recommend Solera for tapas though.

 

[Machiavelli]

Which is why I never go out for roasts. Always overpriced and impossible to cook in huge numbers at a decent standard.

On the subject of pub food I'm struggling for a decent pub or drinking friendly venue for Thursday evening around the North Laine. I might head to Solera for tapas or go somewhere completely different and go to Senor Buddha for their take on tapas, as have heard good things.

I never go out for roasts either, but clearly many do as just about every pub serves it on a Sunday. And in far too many restaurants, it's the only thing you can get on a Sunday lunch.
RE pub food: Little Blue Smokehouse at the Seven Stars?

And in return a question for you: I've got three friends down next Tuesday, we're going to a wine tasting early evening, but want to eat afterwards, when we'll be already on the way. So, no 'fine' dining (ruling out, e.g., Gingerman, Set, 64 Degrees, etc), but as high quality as possible. I was going to go to Flank at The Cow, but they're about to move, and I suspect will be gone by next Tuesday. Other things I'm considering are the Seven Stars, Bincho Yakitori (which I haven't been to yet) and Fourth & Church. Any thoughts?