Seeing as I’m partial to hunting out hidden gems in Brighton and Hove, away from the main tourist sights and little-known places – and have written a Secret Brighton guidebook (have a little peek here), this post is well overdue, I know.
So, without any further delays, here are six secret restaurants in Brighton I highly recommend for your next date night, catch up or weekend in Brighton – all of them tried and tested by several times over…
1. Chard, Clandestine dining in a home design shop
People come to Brighton just to visit the iGiGi General Store, a beautiful design shop filled with rustic curios. Get too distracted by it all, though, and you’ll miss the tasty secret hiding upstairs…
Above the shop is a rustic dining room which is home to Chard, its resident family-run restaurant serving lunch, afternoon tea/cakes – and dinner, too, when more tables are set downstairs in the shop, so you feel as though you’re having dinner in your most stylish bohemian friend’s house.
Here’s a little backstory: Chard started as a pop-up restaurant, eventually settling at Cafe Rust (my local cafe with a pretty secret summer terrace), quickly made a name for itself as one of Brighton’s best dining experiences. It’s recently moved into its new bohemian home you see here.
Obviously, with such a stunning setting, it goes without saying the food is incredible, too – each dish is thoughtfully created, beautifully presented and tastes delicious. The menu also changes every month, so there’s always something exciting and new to try each time you visit.
Find Chard at the iGiGi General Store at 31 Western Road, Hove BN
Update July 2020: Due to the pandemic, Chard just announced it has packed up its little restaurant while it temporarily looks for a new home. Sad times…
Update May 2021: Unfortunately, Chard won’t be reopening in this space and neither will the iGiGi homeware shop both of which sadly closed as a result of the pandemic. More sad times. However – and although Chard is irreplaceable – you might like to know that a new restaurant has opened here. It’s called Botanique and the space is similar in atmosphere and style to Chard at iGiGi, so all is not quite lost. They serve delicious and the most beautifully presented vegan food. I highly recommend it.
2. Unithai, tasty no-frills Thai food in a supermarket
It might look like an ordinary Thai supermarket on a busy main street in Brighton and Hove, but the Unithai Oriental Market is hiding a secret no-frills Thai restaurant out back – seriously you feel like you’ve walked into someone’s home in Thailand.
The service is fast and no-nonsense and the food is absolutely delicious (my favourites are the pad Thai, chicken with ginger and mushrooms, Massaman curry and morning glory stir-fried in garlic, er basically everything!). It’s also BYO so come prepared with your favourite cheap wine or maybe even a Brighton Gin!
Find Unithai at 10 Church Road, Hove.
3. Cocktails in a bar underneath a Brighton Hotel
Hidden underneath Brighton’s oldest hotel, The Old Ship, is the setting for a clandestine cocktail party, wine-tasting session or candlelit dinner. Known as the Cellar Bar and Dining Room, this subterranean venue is located in what is thought to have once been used by a smugglers’ tunnel. It’s mostly used for private events but occasionally opens to the public as the Cellar Cocktail Bar, details of which it posts on its Facebook page.
Find the Old Ship Hotel at King’s Road.
4. E-Kagen, Japanese food above an oriental market
It’s easy to miss the doorway to this Japanese restaurant above the Yum Yum Oriental Market on Sydney Street in the North Laine. Go in and head up the stairs and you’ll find a spacious canteen-style noodle house and open kitchen. It’s old-fashioned in its décor, but that adds to its charm. Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday for lunch and dinner it serves up the most amazing steaming hot big bowls of ramen, as well as delicious sushi and dumplings.
Find E Kagen Japanese Noodle House inside Yum Yum at 22-23 Sydney Street.
Update May 2021: Sadly, this no-frills noodle house has closed as a result of Covid, sad times. Opening in its place is a cheery sushi place called Happy Maki which serves incredible sushi rolls and sushi bowls. Opening date TBC but you can check out the menu here.
5. The gallery, ‘Fine dining’ in a college restaurant
This could well be Brighton’s best-kept secret restaurant – seriously, I only just found out about it despite living here for 15 years! Hidden inside the Greater Brighton Metropolitan College, The Gallery Restaurant serves inexpensive bistro lunches and creative ‘fine dining’ dishes for dinner, all cooked and served by students training to be chefs and learning the front-of-house ropes.
Find The Gallery Restaurant inside Greater Brighton Metropolitan College at Whitecross Street
6. Mediterraneo, the side-street Sicilian restaurant
Hidden in plain sight in Preston Circus is this mysterious restaurant which I’ve just decided to name ‘Brighton’s abandoned secret restaurant’. You only really hear about it from word of mouth – you don’t easily notice it if you walk past since the restaurant has a kind of ‘closed down’ look about it, plus it’s not open during the day. But… come Friday and Saturday nights, it throws open its blinds and comes to life as one of Brighton’s most romantic restaurants serving up delicious and inexpensive platefuls of homemade Sicilian food.
Find Mediterraneo Deli at 2 Clyde Road.
Update: This place has moved to Hove, heartbreak! But at least it still exists, phew… find new address details here.
BONUS SECRET BRIGHTON RESTAURANTs
7. Tlaloc, POP-UP REFINED MEXICAN FOOD
This is the best Mexican restaurant I’ve ever been to. Apart from the one I talk about in this post, which is great, in a different way (it’s more of a burrito and spicy fries kind of Mexican you go to if you’re seriously hungry.) Tlaloc is more refined, with a simple menu – three starters, three tacos, and three desserts.
Dishes are delicate works of art, almost too pretty to eat, and each mouthful has a taste sensation. You’ll spend your time munching in satisfied silence. The fact it became popular through word of mouth testament to how good the food is. Oh, I almost forgot – the cocktails! The best, especially the hibiscus margaritas. I drank mine too fast to take a photo of it… you’ll just have to take my word for it.
The reason I call it a ‘secret’ restaurant? It doesn’t have a permanent home, preferring to surprise us by popping up around the city, most recently at Oseta; a regular cafe by day; a ‘secret’ pop-up Mexican restaurant at night.
Find Tlaloc at Oseta Cafe, 34 North Road, Brighton BN1 1YB
Update July 2020: Since Covid hit, their future at Oseta his uncertain, but they’ve been popping up at the Golden Pineapple in central Brighton, and collaborating with various other restaurants. Check their Facebook page to find out where they’ll pop up next.
Update May 2021: I just read that Tlaloc has found a permanent home at The Old Pier Restaurant inside Selina on the seafront. Find Tlaloc at The Old Pier, 135 Kings Road, Brighton BN1 2HX. Book a table here.
8 Bendito Maiz, Vegan Mexican street food inside an art gallery
I stumbled on this place by accident one day on a wander around the area for the Artists’ Open Houses festival. Bendito Maiz is the coolest hidden vegan Mexican street food stall, with a truly secret location, inside the Coachwerks Art Space. This is an overlooked place in itself tucked in the corner of a residential street in the Fiveways neighbourhood of Brighton, also hiding a grocery shop, Hollingbury Wholefoods.
Bendito Maiz is run by the lovely Marie, who serves delicious made-to-order vegan Mexican street food – think tacos, enchilladas, quesadillas, as well as churros and Mexican juice. I am no vegan, but honestly, I could not tell the difference, the fish tacos were delicious and authentic. I have been back several times since and they also deliver.
Find Bendito Maiz at Coachwerks, 19a Hollingdean Terrace, Brighton BN1 7HB
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