A new series looking at the best dining options within walking distance (1 mile) of city landmarks worldwide. Here we offer our 7 IDEAL restaurants close to the Brighton Pier.
A stroll along Brighton seafront, skimming pebbles and checking out cheesy souvenir shops, tub of pickled cockles in one hand, plastic pint of flat lager in the other and sand between the teeth; if there’s a more quintessential British day out, we haven’t found it.
Neither have we looked very hard, as a day out at Brighton beach is too perfect to merit further exploration inland. This day of clichés should culminate in Brighton Pier, maybe on a fairground ride, maybe with a go on the teddy picker in the arcade.
We wouldn’t however, want this glorious day to be tainted by an overpriced hamburger, eaten on the hoof, or a meal of rock and candy floss, just for the sake of the memories. Nostalgic seasoning can only get you so far, for it is food confined to cliché for a reason.
But with Brighton now carving out its own food identity and staking a claim as one of South England’s finest dining destinations, there are restaurant options aplenty; varied, unique and, most importantly, downright delicious. Here are our 7 IDEAL restaurants close to Brighton Pier.
TERRE A TERRE (0.2 miles)
If the idea of fish’n’chips on the beach lacks the sophistication and lightness of touch you’re after, Terre a Terre may just be the place for you. This vegetarian restaurant, a Brighton institution which has been standing in the same spot for the best part of a quarter century, and the cooking has remained consistently fantastic for all of that time.
Inspiration is drawn from all corners of the globe – there’s plenty of need for google (or a helpful, knowledgeable waiter) when perusing a menu utilising this many unheard of ingredients – but this makes the experience fun and exciting, which can’t always be said of meat free restaurants.
Address: 71 East St, Brighton BN1 1HQ
Website: terreaterre.co.uk
KINDLING (0.2 miles)
Kindling opened in late 2019, and due to that pesky pandemic, has only been open in fits and starts since. That doesn’t mean the restaurant hasn’t found it’s feet. In fact, they were recognised in the latest Michelin Guide and we weren’t at all surprised; their celebration of local produce and open fire cooking has won them plaudits fast and we are very much among them.
At Kindling, the cooking is deft and done the lightest of touches, with plenty of pickled and fermented notes. The chef’s respect for ingredients is clear; no plate is crowded or overworked and the focus falls as much on fresh vegetables as it does meat or fish. All of this leaves you room for pudding, which is superb here. A chocolate and olive oil cake with fig leaf ice cream was the highlight of our last meal, and it should be yours, too.
One of the most thoughtful, delicious additions to Brighton’s dining scene in recent years; let’s just hope Kindling gets a clear run at showing their strengths from here on in!
Address: 69 East St, Brighton BN1 1HQ
Website: kindlingrestaurant.com
PLATEAU (0.3 miles)
Plateau has fast become one of your favourite Brighton restaurants. Well, it’s nominally a natural wine bar, but the small plates and snacks are certainly no warm up act for the admittedly excellent wine list, much of which is available by the glass.
Nope, the food here is stellar, with a focus on rustic French fare. Their bread, pâté, rilettes, cheeses and pickles are particularly fine with a glass of the good stuff, but Plateau also have a light touch with fish, which is always welcome so close to the coast. On our last visit, a plate of raw wild sea bass with pink peppercorns and gooseberry was top notch.
It’s an effortlessly stylish place to hang out, and with the recent addition of a few tables spilling out onto the street, there really is nowhere we’d rather sip some natty juice than here.
Address: 1 Bartholomews, Brighton BN1 1HG
Website: plateaubrighton.co.uk
64 DEGREES (0.3 miles)
64 Degrees ticks all the boxes that a hip, seaside restaurant should, with a fantastic buzz any day of the week, an abundance of fresh seafood on the menu and booking an absolute must.
The restaurant is from chef Michael Bremner, who recently achieved success on the BBC’s The Great British Menu. To say that this brought more custom would be flippant and ill-informed though, as it was consistently rammed to the rafters before his two stints on prime time television, and remains just as much so after.
The space and menu are tiny, refined and sophisticated, with only 27 covers and a recent shift into a tasting menu only format. The intricacy of the food explains both. The vibe focuses on freshness and invention, which the open kitchen helps to showcase – you can watch preparation of dishes from cosy bar seating as you imbibe. Each plate is thoughtfully composed, with exotic and unheard of ingredients jostling with the familiar. All end in beautiful friendship rather than ruckus.
Address: 53 Meeting House Lane, Brighton BN1 1HB
Website: www.64degrees.co.uk
Read our full restaurant review of 64 Degrees here
THE FLINT HOUSE (0.4 miles)
From the team that brought you the Ginger Man, Ginger Pig, Ginger Fox and Ginger Dog comes the Flint House, the only wing of the burgeoning restaurant group without a carrot-topped calling card.
If you’ve been to any of those four East Sussex stalwarts, you’ll know that the cooking in any and all is reliably confident – big on flavour and with minimal frippery – and the Flint House continues in that vein, albeit with a more expansive menu and a smaller, sharing plate format.
From the snacks section, the restaurant’s fried bread, parmesan cream and anchovy is an absolute winner. Recently, it’s been replaced by a whipped cod’s roe and smoked eel version that’s no less delicious, and the perfect match for their superb cocktails. You won’t regret ordering the Rhubarb Negroni, in particular. We didn’t; until the next day, that is.
The Flint House is the kind of restaurant where you can be assured that whichever route your ordering takes you, you’ll find yourself satisfied. There are crowd pleasers all over the menu, but they have a particularly wicked way with potatoes. The confit sort is immense here.
If you can, leave room for dessert, with the doughnut’s various guises having earnt cult status in the city since the restaurant’s opening in 2019. Alternatively, the restaurant are more than open to you popping in for just a dessert and one of those cocktails we mentioned. A fine end to a beautiful day on the beach, don’t you think?
Address: 13 Hanningtons Lane, Brighton, BN1 1GS
Website: flinthousebrighton.com
THE CHILLI PICKLE (0.5 miles)
Not your average neighbourhood curry house, that’s for certain. The Chilli Pickle raises the bar so high on the cooking front that it’s almost unrecognisable from the Balti triangles and Curry miles of many cities of Brighton’s size.
For a start, the colour scheme and décor is more reflective of a street side Bangkok eatery than anywhere on the Indian subcontinent, and certainly a long way from the opulent gold drapes and plush sofas of our Anglo-Indian renditions.
The cooking is precise and assertive, with the manipulating of sharp notes (from, amongst others, the aforementioned pickle) bringing freshness and vivacity when all too often ‘curry’ translates as something sludgy and homogenous. We love this place, and judging by the queues, Brighton does too.
Address: 17 Jubilee St, Brighton BN1 1GE
Website: thechillipickle.com
THE SALT ROOM (0.6 miles)
The Salt Room is the kind of place that all seaside towns should have, but for some reason, rarely do. It’s a place of simple, respectful fish cooking of the freshest catch, but with that extra touch of flair and attention to detail to raise the level skyward.
The fact they have their own Josper grill (an industrial indoor Barbie, in essence) certainly does them no harm, as this type of ingredients-led cooking responds very well to smoke and flames. This is the place we’ll keep coming back to, again and again, when we want to taste the sea.
Address: 106 King’s Rd, Brighton BN1 2FU
Website: www.saltroom-restaurant.co.uk
