After a hard day’s shopping and sightseeing or before a romantic date-night dinner, one of the pleasures of living in or a trip to Brighton is to enjoy a cocktail, preferably in a darkened, candlelit corner. To get your night out off to a snug start, here are five of the best cocktail bars in Brighton I always recommend.
1 The Plotting Parlour
Best for: grown-up cocktails and stylish surroundings
Where: Kemptown, a stone’s throw from the pier and centre of town
Hidden up a seafront side street, this stylish reservation-only cocktail bar with a sultry decor is one of Brighton’s original cocktail bars that keeps going strong.
To me, it’s a breath of fresh air – dare I say it – in an area of less good-looking drinking establishments. Inside, there is no shortage of nooks and there’s even a private drinking parlour where you could easily lose all the hours.
Signature cocktails are twists on classics with fun names like rum plum negroni: plum rum, tonka bean, sweet vermouth, winter-spice, bitter sweet, cocoa and the smokey, sumptuous, bitter sweet.Fear and Loathing: mezcal, roasted pineapple, guajillo chilli.
Find The Plotting Parlour at 6 Steine Street
2 Bar Valentino
Best for: pre-theatre cocktails and people watching
Where: On the fringes of the North Laine near the Royal Pavilion
Find the doorway next to Spanish restaurant, Tinto Taperia, opposite the Pavilion Gardens. Head up the stairs and you’ll emerge into this small, bright cocktail bar with an upbeat atmosphere.
The decor is a little dated, but the cocktails are delicious. Choose from classics, signatures and its hall-of-fame list. This includes the fun-sounding Conversation Starter: an earthy – nutty mix of Vida Puebla mezcal, benedictine red bean orgeat, pineapple juice, lime juice, coconut milk and matcha foam.
Enjoy on the balcony for a healthy dose of people-watching and a distant view of the Royal Pavilion which you sometimes see peeking through the trees.
Find Bar Valentino at 7A New Road, Brighton BN1 1UF
3 Bar Medusa
Best for: clandestine cocktails and tequila
Where: Central Brighton, close to the seafront
Despite living in Brighton for years, I’m embarrassed to say I only just found out about Bar Medusa. It’s one of the city’s oldest bars, open over 30 years and counting on Preston Street.
It’s now my favourite spot for a drink before dinner at Bincho Yakitori on the same street, one of my favourite Brighton restaurants. It has a whimsical, fairy-lit interior and alongside classics specialises in cocktails with a tropical twist and exotic rums. They also serve wine.
Grab a seat on the small front patio to watch the world go by. Or, head downstairs to discover a little basement speakeasy tequila bar!
Find Bar Medusa at 20 Preston Street, Brighton BN1 2HN
4 Curio
Best for: laid-back neighbourhood cocktails or a solo date
I write about and visit Curio a lot. It’s my favourite place in Brighton or so many reasons and cocktails is one of them. It’s an all-day Euro-style cafe-bar with a decor to match and tables that spill out onto the pavement.
It’s more neighbourhood local with a casual atmosphere than high-energy occassion spot. People are welcome in for a quick cocktail or to linger longer over a couple of small plates, too.
It’s also the only cocktail bar in Brighton I feel comfortable going into for a solo evening cocktail date.
The wine-on-tap programme (over 30 by the glass) is another reason to visit, and owner Paul’s passion for natural, biodynamic and orange tipples shows in every recommendation.
Find Curio at 1 Clyde Road, Brighton BN1 4NN
5 Cellar Bar
Best for: something different
Where: In the basement of a historic seafront hotel
This place is mostly used as the setting for private events and occasionally open to the public for cocktail nights is this intriguing and stylish bar and dining room set within a series of old smugglers’ tunnels underneath Brighton’s oldest hotel steeped in history.
Read more here.
1 Comment
Oooohhhhh I want to go back to Brighton now! Think my favourite would be the Black Dove! Hope you are happy and well Ellie, Vikki Xx