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Gull About Town: July 2025

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Once upon a time, not so long ago, it was a clear view along the beach from King Alfred to Millionaire’s Row – as the gull flies at least. But these days, there’s an increasing selection of landing stages for an ageing bird as Hove Beach fills with eateries, and happily, the pickings are getting better and better. At Rockwater, we may have found that all that glitters isn’t necessarily the gold that we gulls demand from our leftovers, but the Fish Shack with its fresh, locally caught fish and seafood, both raw to take home and freshly prepared, is excellent news indeed. 

But it’s Babble that has had the gulls gathering; Sam of Slam Tacos is in charge of the menu and buying his meat from Barfields Butchers and much of the rest from Shrub, names that fans of the Gull About Town will recognise as a mark of excellence.  The menu may sound like it’s luring in the festival crowd with its pork shoulder tacos, its fish tacos, charred broccoli tacos and a double slam burger, but when the dairy comes from Northiam, it’s a sign that there’s more to this pleasuredome than meets the bird’s eye.

Catching a thermal east to Tourist Town, an aroma hits your bird’s beak from a distant memory. Great Uncle Gulliver, a legend in the gull community for his tales of travel way off the migratory routes, would have the young gulls rapt as he told of roadside cafés and street food where birds had only to perch patiently for the most delicious leftover rice and noodles.  Could the spirit of his stories have really made their way to Brighton? So it seems; Roti King in Ship Street was inspired by the same roadside cafes in Ipoh, Malaysia, and is now part of a chain of cool restaurants in London. With main man, Sugen Gopal’s first book out, and a massive following on Instagram, it looks like the famous fat noodles, Char Kway Teow, and the rotis, hand-stretched in full view of customers, spun and served with a little fish kari, will be thrilling more than the gulls.

And so, to home, to West Hill where your gull again catches a waft of something new. The Sussex Yeoman, once a legend in its own lunchtime, has been recovering slowly from COVID. Your bird has been watching THE former hotspot for Sunday roasts try to recover for years. So, when the evocative aroma of beef and Chianti ragu, slow-cooked for hours began to rise from its kitchen, she formed an orderly queue with her feathered friends to get first pickings. Yup, it was the unmistakable taste of Pasta Evangelists, the finish-at-home, restaurant standard food delivery service, one of the clever inventions to emerge from that stressful period of fight or flight. 

Waddling up the road to her favourite rooftop to watch the sun set, your gull pops over to say goodnight to her favourite shopkeeper and pick at some of the avocado leftovers outside. But wait… Can it be that West Hill’s iconic community leader, the godfather of last minute green peppers, the best tap dancer in the neighbourhood has left the building! And what’s this? Shelf after shelf of… (whisper it) crisps? Your gull, suddenly finding a second wind beneath her wings, joins in with the crowd of gulls, a-gaggle with tales, some taller than others perhaps, of child-level chocolates at the counter. And we’re not squawking about those made directly with cocoa growers in Ghana and the Ivory Coast. As she bends her head under her wing, she sighs sadly. One claw forward, she reminds herself, and dreams of a new tomorrow.

Amari, Brighton, Gull About Town, Halisco, Palmito

Gull About Town – Nov 2024

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As winter approaches, it’s a time to batten down the hatches, put a head under a wing and settle in for the dark nights ahead. It’s not a good look for most restaurants, but wait, what’s this? Your gull has spotted has spotted a new dining experience coming out of hibernation. 

Amari is the reborn Amarillo, the partnership headed up Mo and Ali from Halisco and Michelin-starred former Murmur chef, Ian Swansain who has been feeding his delicious morsels for private hires and pop ups while simmering ideas for his new Spanish diner in Baker Street. Sourcing local fish and British pigs from farms where they’re positively encouraged to run around and have a good time, the vibe is definitely Latin. With excellent pickings for the finer palate, the Serrano and Iberico hams will come from the best Spanish producers while his Halisco fans will still find his legendary tacos on the table. The culture though is more modern British; the suckling pig will have had a longer life than its local Spanish equivalent, and Ian will be proudly breaking down the beast to make sure there’s zero waste. 

Hovering over Hove, your gull finds herself in a renovated Victorian terrace with best friends, Lauren Mullany and Ben Smith, also staying at home with their monthly lunch club, The Sunday Joint. Word had already reached the ears of your gull about this lovely little supper club in May this year; the young gulls in the family, disillusioned with work and lack of work life balance, had heard of this Millenial chef who wanted to prioritise the things she truly enjoys, such as cooking, recipe development and helping people to bond over shared culinary experiences. And so your gull happily flew over to peck at the windows. Spotting a cheffing certificate from Ireland’s Ballymaloe Cookery School on Lauren’s kitchen wall, your intrepid bird spent a fine Sunday afternoon pecking at the exquisite leftovers, particularly enjoying Lauren’s home brews for a little winter well-being boost. 

Over in Portland Road, your gull’s sticky beak happened upon a renovation at The Spice Circuit where Kanthi Thamma, the former Chilli Pickle chef and co-founder of Palmito, has just opened the smallest restaurant in town. At the back of a cocktail bar, he invites just four people to a South Indian feast at a table in his kitchen, a home from home. Cracking open the idea that South Indian food is all about dosas, each menu represents his best finds from the five different states in south of India, each with completely different cuisines. The Jaffna black pork, a rich and fragrant slow-cooked curry with black pepper, coconut vinegar and pandan combined with dark roasted curry powder from Sri Lanka is a gull favourite, and also available from Uber Eats.

Hopping on a thermal to West Sussex, your gull finds herself at home at Four. Tucked away in his own home in residential Worthing, former Smoking Goat chef and single dad, Aaron Dalton is putting food on his own table while his kids sleep upstairs. Your gull followed the aromas of local mackerel and Sussex beef to peck at the windows of his purpose-built kitchen with gull-friendly outside smoke-house and barbecue, and to taste some of the locally sourced slow braised, home-smoked dishes she’s scavenged.

As your bird glides home, the sun sets on a glassy sea. The curtains are closed early across town but for a food fan, it’s going to be a cosy few months ahead.

Gull About Town, Uncategorized

Gull About Town – Sept 2024

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Brighton in the summer is a time of plenty for your favourite scavengers. Tourists, blinded by the city’s light, can barely keep a grip on their picnics and barbecues as they stagger to the beach, and we see it as our job to help out. While the cafes spill onto the streets and fairy-lit restaurants stay up late, we provide a round the clock rubbish collection service. You’re most welcome.

But for a discerning bird like Yours Truly, it’s a time to sort the good from the bad, tapping on the windows of our favourite kitchens to check in on where they get their fish, meat and dairy. Regular readers of The Gull About Town will know that if there’s a sniff of a factory about the chicken or a heavy carbon hoofprint attached to the beef, she’ll turn her beak in horror. But her bird’s eye view over the city can reveal enough good news food stories to smooth even the most ruffled of feathers.

Swooping first to Time Out favourite, Halisco your gull spots an interesting exchange over the back fence between owner Ali and his next-door neighbour chef at Kanok Thai. 

One of the bird-loving brothers who have made this little Mexican one of the grooviest eateries in Preston Street, Ali always saves a delicious bite at the end of the evening at both this and his global fusion restaurant, Anakuma opposite. It seems that his Thai neighbours regularly go fishing off Brighton and happily share their freshly caught mackerel, bass and bream with him. The sea bream and grapefruit ceviche is as a fresh as a gull could wish for.

#Bemoregull is a mantra worth squawking when eyeing the menus at Brighton’s more exciting restaurants. Just as we catch local, seasonal fish from plentiful stocks, so do the best chefs in town. The word on the wing that you’re looking for when asking your waiter in better restaurants such as Petit Pois on Ship Street where their fish comes from, is BNFS – Brighton and Newhaven Fish Sales. Only the fisherchefs at Kanok Thai can compete.

You only need to look at the gang of gulls hanging around Barfields butchers on Ditchling Road on a Saturday morning to see where Brighton foodies choose to buy their meat. And it’s a feather in the cap of any good chef in town to get their meat here. A good butcher, as any gull will tell you, is the gatekeeper to quality meat, and if your chef doesn’t know who he is, that’s worth a proper peck. 

Palmito is at the head of the queue in brownie points on this one; hop over to the Climate Café column to find out more on this fine little diner which made it, along with small plates favourite, Med and Hove’s Fourth and Church to The Good Food Guide’s 100 Best Local Restaurants in the UK.

Gull About Town

Gull About Town – May/June 2024

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It’s been a long winter in much sunnier climes for your Gull as the British rain proved just too much even for this feathered old bird. But as she returns to Brighton and takes flight across her favourite old paths from West Hill to the rich pickings of the beach, what a joy to find such a vibrant food buzz along the way.  

Once upon a time, Preston Street was almost too overwhelming for your Gull’s discerning beak with aromas of oyster sauce and sriracha fighting for favour. Only Bincho Yakitori, with its award-winning grills transporting us to the back streets of Tokyo, was worth the wait for the end of the night’s bin pick. So what a delight to return from the warmer coasts to a smorgasbord of flavour.

Your bird was thrilled to spot a young cocktail crowd, probably fresh from two weeks in Cancun, pop in for a Margherita and gasp instead at the queso beef cheek birria tacos with dipping broth and oyster mushroom tacos.  And the pleasure was not just on the plates. 

Halisco has ramped up its style since your bird first pecked on the windows, and is about to celebrate its seventh birthday with a much groovier vibe than when it was just a chicka. And with Michelin-starred Ian Swainson  now head chef in Halisco’s tiny kitchen, it’s going to be a glorious summer.

Just across the road, owners Mo and Ali Razavi’s Asian alter ego, Anakuma, launched last year as a tribute to their late mother Lindsay. It’s already a hit with this bird’s family favourite, Seagull winger Solly March who was one of the first to feast on its delicious small plates just weeks after opening.  The fried baby octopus with squid ink and pink pickled onion your Gull managed to scavenge sent her soaring. 

In a road dominated by Asian offerings, your Gull pottered down to Big Bowl for a Vietnamese ramen, which came highly rated from her feathered foodies. But the squawk on the street is all about the new fire and ice at No, No Please. This food-loving Gull has spent years fluttering around those good folk at Brighton Best which has been rating Brighton and Hove’s top 20 restaurants for the last decade. Now Euan MacDonald, one of its four founders, has launched his own Asian small plates and cocktail bar with sister Mel and Namo Eats’ Bookie, again in Preston Street. 

Your bird didn’t have to take flight once as she tottered down, belly already full, to peek in through the steamy windows on a Saturday night in late spring. Popping round the back for a peck of leftovers, half a larb roll, a filo cigar filled with spiced chicken, and an iconic sesame toast finger with salted boiled egg was all your Gull needed to know that this is very fine food indeed. And despite being a scavenger, she even spotted that there’s nothing on the menu over £10 a dish.

Finally, it was time to fly, and to rest her head at Drifter, the vinyl, sea and food bar from the original team at Due South. Regular readers of this column will know that the Gull is all about local, seasonal food, and Drifter has developed a mainly vegetarian, small plate menu with natural wines and cocktails that Brighton’s beach has been screeching for. Like your bird, this is about dropping in, having a plate and moving on. But not before chilling out and listening to some very cool sounds as the sun sets.

It’s good to be back.

Blue Man, Calcot Farm, Chilli Pickle, Eating Out, Gelato Gusto, Gull About Town, La Choza

Gull About Town – July 2024

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The sun has finally arrived in Brighton, and your bird is on the wing, breathing in the smell of summer. The North Laine on a hot afternoon is every gull’s dream; shoppers from out of town just can’t keep their eyes on their ice creams as the delights of Gardner Street distract just long enough for a quick dive at a double scoop of Gelato Gusto. And what joy as they head up to the rooftop bar of Trading Post for a glass of Prosecco with a little nibble on the side. 

For the more discerning bird, it’s over to join the arty types flocking to Voya, a twice monthly pop up popular after a spot of culture at 35 North Gallery next door. Your bird has found a delightfully eclectic mix of wonton and birria, masala and habanero on the menu, with very few pickings after hours, such is the appetite of the cool crowd soaking up the vinyl and negronis. Even the cocktail straws had been sucked clean from the basho margarita, an oolong green tea tequila, lime, banana that your gull had her beady eye on. 

Hopping on a thermal, she breezed over to Blue Man, the Algerian café which has perched in Kemptown for the last 25 years, but has landed in Gloucester Road, replacing Neighbourhood with its delicious lamb sausages, vegan spiced aubergine stew and rosemary fries. With tables on the terrace shared with La Choza, it’s promising to be a summer of rich pickings for the gulls in Brighton’s coolest quarter.

Hovering over Jubilee Square has always been a delight for a bird of taste, with aromas of cardamon and cumin floating up from the Chilli Pickle kitchen into a summer evening sky. But news that the friendly family who’ve got a thing for pets and always save a couple of naans for the young gulls hanging out by the bins after hours, are moving on after 14 years on the MyHotel site, has hit the bird world hard. A flock of seagulls is already scouting for a new location for the beloved 115-seater which has appeared in Restaurant Magazine’s top 100 places to eat in the UK, and only this spring scooped a place yet again in Brighton Best’s Top 30. 

Gliding over to the beach for a spot of evening jazz at Drifter, your gull spots hyperlocal chef, Isaac Bartlett-Copeland setting up at East Street Tap. It seems he has reinvented himself yet again as a hot dog man. The once fine dining genius behind Isaac At who sourced every ingredient, including wines and soft drinks, from within 40 miles, went on to collaborate with fellow chef, Dave Marrow on Embers in The Lanes to much acclaim, not least among the peckish gull gang.   Now, he’s off to the pub to serve hot dogs – but not any old hot dog; keeping his commitment to sourcing locally, his pork will come from the pigs at West Sussex’s Calcot Farm where this bird has witnessed them larking around in open fields, happily playing with their siblings and pals until their time comes. Expect smoked pork dog with chunky ketchup, and even a serving of Ritz crackers and sage with stilton in the soon to be infamous Hugh Grant dog.