English's of Brighton

Terrible, terrible, terrible. Looked nice enough from the outside but the interior was almost unbelievable. The restaurant is so badly laid out you have to sit side by side as there's no room to sit opposite your companion. The decor looks like it's not been updated since the retro faux-1920s furniture and fittings were badly and distastefully installed, probably during the fifties. It's a disaster.

On to the food... my starter was squid on a bed of rocket. The rocket looked like it had been in the (breakfast cereal) bowl for at least the whole day, if not the day before too. Limp and dried. The squid looked like it was leftovers from the fisherman's catch, all little bits that were almost unrecognisable, covered in greasy wet batter, really awful. The main was haddock with quail egg. The egg was nice enough, the food was a lot better than the starter but that's not saying much. The side of spinach had been topped with lashings of butter, which had been left for at least half an hour somewhere as it was stone cold, so the previously melted butter had reset and congealed like a crust.

Service... The staff were unhelpful. When we were there another table of 5 arrived. When they tried to get some service they were told by the French waiter to wait a minute until he was ready - he then spent 5 minutes finishing folding his napkins. The worst dining experience I've had in a VERY long time. It's hard to believe places like this still exist, with food/service/ambiance like this they won't do for much longer.
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Sunday, March 16, 2008

we went here for a friend's 50th birthday. As a group of 9 we spent nearly £350. it was a wet Monday and the restaurant was nearly empty. after our main courses one of the friends brought out a cake she had bought somewhere else and taken to the restaurant. They allowed us to bring it out with candles and sing happy birthday but we were told if we wanted to cut the cake and eat it they would charge £1 per person. Unbelievable! How does this restaurant stay in business with an attitude like that? Best avoided.
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Monday, March 10, 2008

My partner and i made the mistake of having lunch at this dive yesterday. Words cannot discribe how bad the food and service actually are please do not waste your money how they can call this a resturant at all is amazing. It must be on Gordon Ramseys list to visit.
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andrew lines
Monday, March 03, 2008

On a friends recommendation my Mum and I ate here for the first time yesterday (having walked past many times before) - we were not disappointed.

The dining room might not be to everyones taste (tables VERY close together) but we rather liked the intimate setting.

For starters we had Spicy fish cakes and Lobster and caramelised onion tartlet. The fish cakes were very good some of the nicest I have eaten and the tartlet had great flavours, only let down slightly by the pastry not being as crisp as it should have been.

For mains we had calves liver with crispy bacon and Smoked haddock & leek suet pudding, side order of vegetables of the day and Lyonnais potatoes. The haddock and leek pudding was delicious, my only (very slight) criticism is that it could have carried more leek, however I enjoyed every mouthful and was sorry to say that I didn't have the room to finish it (the portions were HUGE) . My mum's calves liver was delightful with a superb sauce and perfectly crisped bacon. Both side dishes were very nice and although they seem a little expensive (£3 for green beans) they were very well cooked and flavoured and were enough to serve two.

With the meal we had a bottle of wine, bottle of water and liqueur coffee to finish and the bill came in at £40 per head, most definitely good value for the meal that we had.

I would happily recommend this restaurant and I already have a few other people that I now want to take!
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Chick
Thursday, February 21, 2008

Atrociously bad!
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Rob
Monday, January 28, 2008

We were extremely disappointed with this restaurant. For a £100 for two,with 2 glasses of wine you would expect at least adequate food. The fish was not particularly fresh, my sea bass was tasteless and my girlfriend's salmon was similarly disappointing. Although the service was friendly enough, the food let the side down badly. Needless to say, we shall not be returning.
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md - View all reviews by this user
Sunday, January 06, 2008

My husband insisted on taking me there as he had been there twice before and liked their fish very much. My visit however was very, very disappointing. First of all the maitre'ds were quite unfriendly and kept scrutinizing us. I ordered pan fried scallops (as starter) my favorite dish. When the food arrived I wanted to ask the maitre'd whether he was serious...i had 3! tiny winy scallops on my plate and this for a ridiculous price, I think it was GBP12 or so. We also ordered french fries which were totally burned and cold. So we gave them back and asked for new ones, which were drowning in oil and burned. I think our bill came up to GBP 50 for one dish of scallops, one dish of pan fried fish, fries and a bottle of water. I was starving when we left and terribly disappointed. I also have to say that the presentation of their dishes is terrible as there is no presentation at all! The plates and bowls have chips on them and the table cloths are dirty. I was disgusted by the restaurant and will never go back there!
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Christin
Thursday, October 11, 2007

my husband and i often go to english's for a good evening out always to be assured of good food with good service. thank goodness for english's, you wont be disapointed
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jo
Friday, September 28, 2007

My boyfriend and I had an absolutely fantastic meal - cooked to perfection, and way too much for us to finnish!

A lovely evening, sitting outside, with people singing and having a good time.

The staff were accomodating (as we had booked a table inside) and managed to squeeze us in!
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Kate
Monday, September 17, 2007

Having read some of the reviews on here I thought I would take my partner for a celebratory meal to English's. What a mistake! On arrival the maitre'd was very unwelcoming. We were sat on a table opposite other diners, my partner and I had to sit next to each other rather than opposite. The diner next to me was so close I kept being elbowed! We ordered the seafood platter, expecting such delights (as we had been told), of scallops, oysters, lobster etc. What came out was deep fried scampi, tuna which was so rubbery you couldn't even eat it. No scallops, no oysters, a lobster that must have been on a diet and a whole seabass. We sent most of it back as it was overdone and I certainly do not pay £60 for deep fried scampi no matter what restaurant I am in! The service was abysmal. The only good thing was that we were offered a sincere refund for the meal. I just couldn't understand that a chef would even send something out along those lines, do they have no morals? Will never eat there again.
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Tamsin
Monday, July 23, 2007