9 No-Frills Restaurants in Brighton

Sometimes, I couldn’t care less about the decor in a restaurant. I don’t need beautiful lighting, a designer interior or a menu of small plates. I just want really good food at a decent price.

These are the Brighton restaurants I come back to for exactly that: tiny cafés, family-run places and simple dining rooms where what’s on the plate is far more interesting than what’s on the walls. Some are properly cheap, others simply well priced, and none is trying particularly hard to impress you.

From freshly cooked falafel and huge mezze plates to Gujarati curries, Thai food and tacos, these are my favourite no-frills restaurants in Brighton.

This post was first published in 2016 and has been regularly updated with new places I love to keep it fresh.

My favourite cheap and no-frills restaurants in Brighton

1 Planet India

Planet India has been serving vegetarian Indian food in Brighton for more than 20 years. The Richmond Parade restaurant is colourful and quirky rather than polished, with c olourful tablecloths and mismatched furniture.

This relaxed vibe matches the menu centring on Gujarati-style home cooking: curries, dhal, rice, pickles and breads served in generous portions.

I usually order several dishes to share, although the thalis are great value if you want a bit of everything. There are plenty of vegan options too.

Find Planet India at 4-5 Richmond Parade, Brighton BN2 9PH

2 Pizza 500

Pizza 500 is a tiny, simple and rustic little local gem restaurant of Preston Park in Brighton. It’s also cool because it’s set in an old garage so in the summer, the big garage door opens up to let the summer breeze in.

I’ve recommended it to friends and family who have stayed in our house while we’ve been away, and received feedback that it was “the best pizza they’d ever had in Brighton, maybe ever!” 

Find Pizza 500 at 83 London Road, Brighton BN1 4QG

3 Unithai

Walk to the back of Unithai supermarket on Church Road in Hove and hidden inside is this no-frills Thai cafe. Or as I like to call it, Brighton’s secret Thai restaurant. It feels like you’ve been invited for homemade Thai food in someone’s home.

The decor is simple and pretty, the tables are decorated with fresh flowers, and the walls are hung with printed-out menus and traditional Thai paintings.

There are little cubby holes filled with Thai trinkets, ornaments and curios. For about £20-£25, two people can tuck into a king-size feast of two main dishes and two sides leaving you with full tummies.

Find Unithai at 10 Church Road, Hove BN3 2FL

4 We Love Falafel

I’ve been going to We Love Falafel for years, a tiny hole-in-the-wall on Sydney Street in the North Laine, with little more than a counter and a few seats.

Falafels come in three types – original, beetroot, sweet potato – and are cooked fresh to order, crisp on the outside and fluffy inside, then stuffed into wraps with salads, hummus and punchy sauces.

There are plenty of vegan options, and it’s my go-to when I want a quick, filling and inexpensive lunch mid shopping spree.

Find We Love Falafel at 37 Sydney Street, Brighton BN1 4EP

5 Sunbirds Deli

Sunbirds is a tiny Mediterranean and Middle Eastern deli on London Road, with a simple café set-up and a counter packed with homemade salads, dips, pastries and colourful dishes.

I come here for the big, well-priced mezze plates, piled with things like hummus, smoky aubergine dip, falafel, stuffed vine leaves, roasted vegetables and bright, herby salads, with warm flatbread alongside. You order at the counter and take a seat in the simple café behind, or on benches outside. 

Find Sunbirds Deli at 108 London Road, Brighton BN1 4JG

6 Tun Tuns cafe

Rich, flavourful homemade curries – the best in Brighton many say – are what you come to this no-frills high-street spot with a colourful dining room on the fringes of Hanover for. For a little bit of everything, the thalis come up top: several little silver bowls of rice, dahl, a curry of your choice, a samosa, bhaji and bread for only £15.

Order a mega thali to share with friends from £50. Order one of the snacks to start, like bhel puri, a Bangladeshi street food of crispy puffed rice tossed with sweet tamarind chutney, spicy green chutney and hot garlic.

Find Tuntuns Cafe at 150 Lewes Road, Brighton BN2 3LG 

7 Kambis

Kambis has been serving Lebanese food on Western Road for decades, in a simple dining room that has never chased Brighton’s restaurant design trends. It’s one of my favourite places for a relaxed, inexpensive meal when I’m seriously hungry.

The huge menu covers hummus, moutabal and tabbouleh, falafel, grilled meats, shawarma and generous mixed platters. I usually order several mezze for the table and inevitably end up with too much food.

Find Kambis at 107 Western Road, Brighton BN1 2AA

8 Casa Azul at Brighton Open Market

Casa Azul is a colourful little Mexican kitchen inside Brighton Open Market, where you eat tacos at simple tables surrounded by the bustle of the market.

Choose from fillings including smoky chicken tinga, slow-cooked cochinita pibil, rich mole and beef Colorado, with vegan versions of the menu too.

The soft corn tortillas come loaded with homemade fillings, salsas, pickles and herbs. It’s casual, inexpensive and one of my favourite places to stop for lunch at the market.

Find Casa Azul at Brighton Open Market, Marshalls Row, Brighton BN1 4JU

9 Bardsley’s

Where to find the best fish and chips in Brighton is a hot debate. There are so many places to choose from, it can be hard to know which ones are good. To me, Bardsley’s Fish and Chips, tucked up a quirky side street off London Road, is the best.

It’s not particularly cheap, and you can even order a glass of prosecco to have with your seaside platter, but the dining room remains reassuringly no-frills and old-school.

Bardsley’s has been here since 1926 and changed hands a few years ago, but thankfully the warm welcome remains – the new owners are just as friendly.

Find Bardsley’s Fish n Chips at 22-23a Baker Street, Brighton BN1 4JN

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