I visited Isaac At for the first time last March and was suitably impressed with the quality and detail of the meal. Since then they have undergone some internal refurbishing and the place is looking smart and tasteful. So what else has changed? The kitchen is bigger (yet still bijoux by most standards) and there are a couple of places at the pass in addition to the larger dining area. Interestingly the tables have been set away from the kitchen and service is now staggered by table rather than served all at once to the room. Also the announced introductions to the courses have been ditched, which I'm kind of thankful for. Despite being interesting if you were geeking out on the food, it disjointed the evening for diners that had to cull their conversations at each course.

I'm still impressed by the young team here (who seem even younger...or I'm looking older!) who diligently work away during service, weaving around each other seamlessly in the open kitchen. It's quite some performance and if you are interested in the the theatre of the food, I suggest you snag the seats at the pass like us.

Everything is sourced as local as possible. The mileage of every ingredient and wine is listed on the menu which is two fingers up to the majority of restaurant menus that use the caveat "locally sourced where possible". (I was once shown a picture of a delivery of one place that particularly bleats on about this, but how local Spanish honey and Heinz sauces, are I'm not sure*).


The food here is very special and the meal even more refined and polished since my last visit. It was impressive before but the whole experience just seems more confident. The breads have even been tweaked a bit - the little treacle and stout loaf had a deep, rich flavour and the caramelised onion brioche was light and sweet.


We stated with a feather-light Brighton Blue cheese mousse, pickled walnuts and pear. This was a great start. The textures from the mousse with the crisp pear slices and the contrast of the the sharp pickled walnuts made it a real treat to eat.


The scallop dish was so pretty with the little pearls of kholrabi and the perfect circles of January King (cabbage to you and me). Scallops, despite being delicate, can take a strong hit of flavour and this came in crisp slices of pork belly. The only thing I wasn't sure about through the whole meal was the chestnut puree on this dish. The muddy, mellow flavour didn't really add anything to the plate other than a nod to the festive season.


The lamb belly in the next dish had been cooked in a water bath for two days. The texture was so interesting; crisp, thin layers of lamb alternating between gelatinous, silky slithers of fat.


Standout was the venison though - by far the best venison I have had for a while, possibly ever. The loin was so succulent, sweet and tender. The pressed terrine was a nice thing to add for interest too. I bloody love beetroot and the "ketchup" they had made with it was softly spiced - so good with this meat. This menu was intended as a Christmas menu (but available into January) and this was a really elegant festive dish.


Can we take a moment for the mulled cider sorbet? Sat like a pearl in an oyster shell you had to admire it for a while, but it was as good as it looked. I think they used sumac (amazingly foraged in Brighton somewhere) and peppercorns and the mulled flavour was intense and fresh. I could easily have eaten a bucket of this.


We finished with caramelised apples, oat clusters and a very subtle cinnamon ice cream. There is still a trend for breakfast as dessert and the honey oat clusters certainly tipped it that way. Mornings would certainly be brighter with a buttered apple puree like this one over my porridge though.

The dinner was punctuated with a disc of fennel shortbread with burnt apple puree and an almond, burdock and sumac drizzle cake which was the perfect end to a fantastic meal. You can order the full tasting menu for £47pp or have a slightly streamlined set menu at £35pp which misses out one of the main courses and the sorbet. For what you get and the care and attention to the food, you can't argue with the prices at all - well worth it.

Interestingly they offer a juice pairing (£20) as well as the alcoholic kind (£29) which is something I don't think I've seen before. All juices are created in house and a great idea for drivers, tee totallers and pregnant (I had NO IDEA what the hell to drink when I was). Wines are a real celebration of local vineyards - Ridgeview (of course), Bolney, Sedlescombe, Davenport, Nyetimber...they're all here. The same goes for the rest of the drinks menu, including the spirits (bar the whisky) and even the bottled water.

Isaac At is one of the many gems we have in Brighton. The dining scene here is pushing harder and harder in terms of quality, variety and experimentation and it's great that the city is getting national recognition for it. For a really special meal, either as a treat or occasion, Isaac At should definitely be a strong consideration.

www.isaac-at.com
2 Gloucester Street
Brighton

I dined as a guest of Isaac At. Words and thoughts, as always are my own. *They will remain nameless. You know who you are!

While other restaurants are sending out food that seems part of some obscure performance art; twiddled and tweaked and delivered with a ten minute soliloquy about overworked ingredients picked in moonlight or some other rubbish, Busby and Wilds, the little dining gem of East Brighton, work quietly and diligently in delighting their diners. They, like me, seem to be part of an old fashioned idea of going out for a meal in order to eat, and to eat well. And they are certainly feeders here, plates are as inviting as the welcome at the door, and the vibe is stylish and relaxed as ever.

But enough of that, let's dive into the meal shall we?



My potted crab starter looked elegant and I appreciated two decent slices of toasted soughdough to eat with it rather than the tiny portion of bread you normally get in restaurants. 

The little cup of rich crab bisque was an interesting addition and the pickled fennel and apple puree a nice acidic element to cut through all those lush, earthy flavours. 



My main was everything you could want from a meal on a chilly night. A comforting hug of puy lentils and root vegetables given a gorgeous smoky element with bacon. There was a generous serving of cavolo nero that still retained a delicious bite and topped with a beautifully rendered roll of pork belly, crisp and succulent and melting in all the right places. What's not to like in a dish like this? Although nothing new or inventive, it's the food most of us would be happy with.



We've had the bbq brisket here before, but again the meat was tender as it could be. Brisket has a gorgeous texture in the right hands and was served simply with fat, crisp polenta chips and a fresh slaw.



The dark chocolate and peanut butter torte was like the poshest Snickers you will ever have. Not sweet or sickly in the slightest, but very grown up and decadent. I adored all the textures and contrast between the silky torte and candied peanuts. I'm awarding this one the chocolate dessert of the year.

Service is exactly right for this style of dining; informal, friendly and well paced. The drink menus are good, I always appreciate the option of a carafe, glasses or full bottles and they have put as much effort into the beer menu as the wine.

Ok, so I may be drowning Busby and Wilds in praise but it deserves it, pitching itself spot on interior and food-wise and attracting diners to a formerly difficult location in East Brighton. This is a restaurant for people who like to leave happy, full and looking at their diary for their return visit.

http://busbyandwilds.co.uk/
Rock Street, Kemptown, Brighton

My last visit to The Chilli Pickle had been long overdue, it must have been a year or so, with only their fabulous take away service to tide me over. Kids. They ruin your social life.

The Chilli Pickle have always been a bit of a gem, emerging just as the restaurant scene in Brighton was getting exciting. Now well-bedded into their current larger location, and with an armful of awards that has brought national attention (finally) to the city, they really did set a new benchmark for dining quality here.

Not that I was too surprised, it was great to find that they have not become complacent or let the attention go to their heads. My meal was as enjoyable as all of my visits. The menu has expanded somewhat but the core favourite dishes are still there, with seasonal refreshes, like the whole sea bream, the tandoori platters and momos.

I desperately try not to order one of the tandoori platters, wanting to try something new, but they make it so darn hard to resist. I think at one point when I was frequently visiting I'd told them to refuse to serve it to me! However, seeing as I haven't had a fix for a while I couldn't help myself.

I did go for something new for a starter though, the dal kachori which are tiny pastries filled with a dense, mildly spiced dal filling. Although they were quite timid on their own, they were perfect with the acidic mint sauce and a contrasting fruity wedding chutney.



The tandoori poultry platter itself didn't disappoint. Oh, it's just all so tender and nice to have a taster of different meats and textures. I like food you can get stuck into and with a huge herb naan, hot chilli sauce, sweet chutney and refreshing raita, it's never a boring, monotonous dish. Although the platters here evolve with the seasons, you always get a few cuts, this time an oyster leg, tikka breast and a turkey Seekh kebab that snakes around the whole plate which I'm always amazed I can polish off. Yet always do.



Noone on our table of five had anything to complain about. To be honest, with the food here, you could blindfold yourself and throw a dart at the menu and you would have made a good choice. Tandoori, Dosa, Kebabs, Curries or Biryani...who cares? I'd eat it all happily.



Indian sweets generally are not really to my taste, apart from Gulab Jamun (which I was pleased to see on the menu still), so I don't often indulge in dessert here. I did notice a good selection of homemade ice creams which I haven't really explored before so thought Id give them a whirl. I loved the presentation (the attention to detail of all their crockery is wonderful) of the stand holding my cone with a huge scoop of raspberry lassi and white chocolate ice cream. A tiny cube of Mysore Pak sat on top. All of their ice creams come with a matched Indian sweet, also made in-house, which is a nice touch. This was a perfect palette refresher after the main food and look forward to trying more of the flavours out.

I probably don't need to tell you how good this restaurant is anymore, its reputation and awards speak for it, but I can tell you that the heart of the food and the passion that was there in the more humble premises along Meeting House Lane where it all started is still very much there. A Brighton treasure.

The Chilli Pickle
17 Jubilee Street
Brighton BN1 1GE

Find it on The Graphic Foodie Black Book of Brighton dining on Pinterest Maps.