REVIEW: Plateau, Brighton

Plateau has a very good reputation in Brighton and I can't believe it has taken me this long to get here, having eaten at their more casual sister restaurant, Mange Tout, a few times. Even before we get to the French-focussed food there is a lot to like about Plateau; its intinate feel, industrial yet welcoming interior and dark and moody colours. A very stylish dining spot that doesn't try too hard.

It's worth turning up a bit ealier and making use of the small bar (or worth popping in just for that). There is a very good cockatil menu and decent list of Sussex sparkling wines to whet your whistle with. I hadn't tried any wines from the Davenport Vineyard and the Limney Blanc de Blanc was perfect to peruse the menu with.

This is a restaurant primarily for sharing, hence its namesake, but for those of you that don't/won't food share (and I know those people exist!) then main meal specials are on the board. You'll miss out though as there is plenty you'll want to try. You can either order a few of the "bites" or go for one of the "Plateau". As there were a few of us we opted for a starter each from the "bites" and a couple of the sharing platters. (Apologies for the horrid camera phone pictures which do no justice to the food.)



Although I rarely choose pasta when dining out, there was something about the Braised Shallot and Parmesan Ravioli £6 that called to me. The sweet, rich onion filling was wrapped in perfect pasta. It made me think differently about what I put in my filled pasta as this was so different. The light Créme Fraiche and Walnut was just enough to coat the pasta.



By this point I was impressed. But then the Plateau de Viandes rocked up which was a carnivores dream. At £28 it dips its toe in the pricey area but you do get a lot and the quality does justify the price tag. Essentially a refined selection of grilled meat, you get a soft, sweet piece of bavette steak, a couple of sausages, the best pork belly you will ever try, a little burger with succulent pulled pork and a thick slice of their home-made Boudin Noir, essentially black pudding. The accompanying lentils, garnishes and chutneys were perfect as well as the side of truffled fries with shavings of Pecorino (my favourite cheese ever) £4.50.

We also ordered a Plateau de Poissons Fumés, £15, which would make a great shared lunch for two with a bottle of wine in itself. We didn't get through all this as there was a generous portion each of smoked tuna loin (new to me), halibut and salmon with a mackerel paté served with decent toasted bread, olives and capers.

Desserts all sounded good, and in the spirit of our dinner so far, chose the Plateau Gourmand, a selection of desserts for £15. Aside from my pet hate of pointless mini milkshakes anyway, this one was served with a single straw (for a table of four?!), the rest was divine. Warm, soft little Pumpkin and Cinnamon Beignets, a delicate set Rosewater Custard with poached rhubarb, a Lime and Coconut Cheesecake with pineapple cubes served in a glass. The ice creams were as good as the desserts themselves, the booze soaked rum and raisin and the maple syrup and bacon ones particularly. 

Ugly people are clearly not hired here as the gorgeous staff are all as stylishly presented as the food and really friendly to boot.

Compared with the more miss than hit experiences I've had at Mange Tout, everything about Plateau is better. It is more expensive but with everything considered, is far better value for money and one of the better restaurants in the city.

I liked it so much I went back a few days later for lunch. 3 "bites" (smoked salmon, chorizo with lentils and goat's curd with beetroot) came to about £12 (shown at top of post). Sling in a basket of bread and a couple of glasses of good red wine made for a perfect meal.

Yup. J'Adore.

Plateau

1 Bartholowmews

Brighton BN1 1HG

On a side note, this is one of those small details that I can't believe I haven't seen before. The total bill, total was also shown divvied up for groups and cheap-ass dates. Genius.

My little black book of Brighton eating and drinking spots / interview with WOW247

I've been meaning to do a "Best of Brighton" post for a while now, with my handful of favourite spots I go back to again and again. One of those many things on my to-do that I needed a kick up the butt to get done. Anyway, an interview with listings site WOW247 was indeed just that so have a read here: www.wow247.co.uk/blog

There is even a little map so, I dunno, do a crawl of the places which would be my idea of heaven, although I would strongly suggest wearing elasticated waistbands and actioning over a few days.


View Brighton dining in a larger map

My little black book for Brighton eating and drinking features:

The Chilli Pickle
Sam’s of Brighton
The Gingerman Group
Plateau
The Little Fish Market Restaurant
Riddle & Finns
Julien Plumart Salon du The
Iydea
Terre a Terre
Boho Gelato
Ridgeview Wines (Grosvenor Blanc De Blancs)

DESIGN: Fruit illustrations by Christopher Dina

Sometimes designers like to blow off a little steam after a day's work by designing even more stuff. Yeah, I don't get us either. Anyway, lovely self-initiated fruit illustration project by Christopher Dina.

EVENT: Sam's of Brighton pop-up at the Spiegeltent Garden, 3rd May - 2nd June 2013

A perfect combination for me is when food and interesting locations collide. One of Brighton's fantastic restaurants, Sam's of Brighton, will be operating a pop-up in the beautiful Spiegeltent's garden bar, throughout the entire Brighton Fringe Festival. You can sample Sam's classic style of food which champions local produce. At £30 for 4 courses, it's pretty good value too.

And to boost flagging energy for more dancing and festival fever he'll be serving up his South Downs Minted Lamb Burgers in the evening too. And I can tell you they are worth sampling.

Sam's at the Spiegeltent is open every night throughout the festival from the 3rd May - 2nd June.

You can book a table here.

For other events on visit The Brighton Festival and the Brighton Fringe.

Image of the Spiegeltent from The Brighton Festival - Note the pop-up will be in the tented bar area outside.

REVIEW: Bill's Produce Store, Brighton

There once was a day where Bill's Produce Store was hot, with streams of queues, largely for their breakfasts, winding out from the door. Then it all got a bit unsexy with a big buy-out and Disneyfication of the brand across sites around the country, diluting what was so special about Bill's and here we are today.

If I'm honest, I've steered clear of the Brighton branch for a number of years now. But, and I kid you not, was enticed back by hearing how many highchairs they had available. Really. There will be those of you scoffing at this and those sighing and nodding in understanding. And highchairs aplenty they have. They were also still quite busy. People seem to be talking about Bill's again now.

Anyway, the menu remains varied and enticing with plenty of daily changing specials to keep your interest but the Bill's classics are still worth a look.



The legendary fish finger sandwich really deserves its status. There is a time and a place for the perfect rectangular fingers from the Captain, but these were home-made, soft flaky fish in a perfectly crunchy jacket. Lovely, crisp toasted bread, not too thick, not too thin. Not too much sauce, not too little. I liked the rocket in there. Yeah a darn good sarnie, and if you think a few of the pubs in the area do a frozen packet version with crisps for around the £6, then this Gucci version is bargainous at £8.50.

Burgers, both beef and the halloumi and hummus are always nicely presented and make a decent, filling lunch option.

But really, breakfasts are what made Bill's name and this is still one of the best ones in town. Aside from the contentious serving of the bread under everything, all the parts of the full breakfast were well cooked, no soggy mushrooms or tinned tomatoes here. The bacon and sausage are particularly good quality. I think bubble & squeak really belongs to a breakfast and love it, even if the extra £1.50 was bordering on a bit steep for what was essentially a bit of mashed potato. I couldn't see much cabbage in there if any.

Service can be awkward. Recently on one occasion we had to prompt our order being taken, then the order took ages and then we had to wait ages for the bill and yadda yadda. Breakfast orders tend to be smoother and speedier. Lunch and dinner are different timing beasts and it amazes me that some established restaurants still miss the mark on it. Lunch needs to be speedier, epecially with workers, families etc and dinner relaxed. Not rocket science is it? One other thing that has irked me over my last few visits (and many others judging by Twitter) is that some staff seem to be a bit iffy, particularly with kids (nose ring girl with your rolling eyes, I'm looking at you.) Luckily, on the whole, they are a friendly bunch.

The food produce for sale has become a sort of wallpaper. No prices and little information means few people will purchase it but nice to see thay still have those lovely Spanish oil cakes I love. The fresh produce has gone too.



One thing I do like about Bill's is the interior in a former bus depot. The chilly breeze coming from the front door has been sorted with a big, thick curtain and the open, industial space is very unique in the area.

And although it has lost it's initial sparkle and if some of the staff buck their ideas up, there's still a place for our old mate Bill's, certainly in Brighton anyway.

Bill's
The Depot, 100 North Rd, Brighton, East Sussex BN1 1YE

DESIGN: Cake posters by Purpose

Love this set of cake posters that were created by design agency Purpose for an internal 'bake-off' competition. Although they have been stripped back to simple graphic forms, they are still pretty recognisable as Battenberg, Tiramisu, Millionaire’s Shortbread, Cherry Bakewell and New York Cheesecake. Here are my faves...

Street Food in Brighton

Ok, ok, so we are a little slow to the party here in Brighton. Well, maybe not slow but fashionably late let's say. The street food frenzy that has been gripping the capital has begun to filter down to us.

Realistically, we only have two places you can call "street food". Leader of the pack was The Troll's Pantry serving burgers using Sussex produce and handmade buns which operated from a trailer in a wood recycling centre. Naturally. From the Hellfire to the Troll's Stinky Breath burger, these are top-notch and had Brightonians tongues wagging (and burning). Worth reading is owner Paul's Street Food Revolution. You can now find the Troll at the Hobgoblin Pub where he'll be serving Brit-Mex food from Wednesday-Thursday and Burgers Friday-Sunday.

Taking over The Troll's Panty's former home is the cheekily named Charlie's Buns. Essentially, steamed buns with slow cooked free range belly pork, hoi sin sauce, cucumber and spring onions. Vegetarian options and sweet treats are on offer too. I'll be checking that out.

So, not much out there so far, but we're going to have a WHOLE street food market, every Friday lunchtime from 11am - 3pm from 26th April. Although you won't have the adrenaline rush of chasing down the best burritos in the world from some adapted horsebox called Nigel parked in a random back street, it's location only divulged in a Tweet, you will get to sample food from emerging street food traders from Sussex. They bring with them both global and home-grown cuisine, using local produce wherever possible. Eats include gourmet Sussex burgers, Spanish paella, Thai curry, American BBQ and hotdogs, Middle Eastern meze, artisan cakes and French crepes.

If sitting in a comfortable chair is more your style, then you could opt for street food served in a restaurant setting. Try The Chilli Pickle at lunchtime for their thalis, dosa or roti or the increasingly popular La Choza for Tacos, burritos or quesadillas.

Brighton Street Food Directory

Street Diner: Twitter@streetdiner or on facebook.com/streetdinerbrighton  Brighthelm Garden, just off of Queens Road

The Trolls Pantry: @thetrollspantry thetrollspantry.wordpress.com Hobgoblin Pub, 31 York Place, Brighton

Charlies Buns: facebook.com/CharliesBuns The Woodstore, Circus Street, Brighton (Check details for opening times)

www.thechillipickle.com 17 Jubilee St, Brighton

www.lachoza.co.uk 36 Gloucester Road, Brighton