» Food & Drink
Andrew Kay gets a thick slice of the meaty action at Foxy’s Roast & Grill
I’ve been putting off doing this for some time, and now I really cannot see why. I simply hadn’t grasped exactly what Foxy’s is. I had got it into my head that it was a takeaway that did roast dinners. In part I can be forgiven for that, because that was the initial concept. However, it is far from how things have turned out.
Foxy’s sits in a parade of shops running down from Hove Station. It doesn’t look like a restaurant, more like a bar, or in fact more like a diner. There is a distinct look of Edward Hopper’s ‘Nighthawks’, only busier. Yes, despite the night being evilly cold, the place was buzzing.
Service all takes place at a long, high counter, and you sit on fixed bar stools. The chefs take the orders, cook and serve the dinners too. The menu offers a range of grilled or roasted meats, oh and a bit of fish too. There is nothing for vegetarians and they do not apologise for that as they are a meat joint after all.
It’s difficult to choose when almost everything on the menu sounds so good, but in the end I go for a classic steak. I could choose fillet, T-bone, rump or sirloin. I don’t rate fillet in the steak taste stakes and go for a fat slice of sirloin. The chef, Chris, brings a slab of meat to the counter and a huge knife and, like a man pouring a drink, asks me to say when. I stop him before the slice gets stupidly thick. Greed is silly when it will jeopardise the cooking of the meat, and too thick a steak will not cook the way I like it, which is properly rare.
Mr L has joined me hot from London and is immediately thrilled that the menu is versatile enough for him to have some barbecue ribs in combination with some spit-roast chicken. There are sides of confit potatoes, coleslaw and spring greens too. Mr L has a small carafe of Cabernet Sauvignon and I have a Diet Coke – from a bottle, hoorah.
“The Chef brings a slab of meat to the counter and a huge knife and, like a man pouring a drink, asks me to say when”
And nothing takes long to arrive; the ribs and chicken are being prepared all the time, my steak is grilled to order, and the potatoes are constantly being roasted in the hot fat that drips from the various meats. You can see now why veggies might not enjoy this. The potatoes are disgustingly nice, possibly the best I have ever eaten, and piping hot too. I would happily sit down to a plate of these on their own.
When our meats arrive we do the usual thing of slicing tastes off for each other. I decline the ribs, which are going to be too messy, but the chicken is remarkable: succulent and oozing lemony herb infused juices that make me moan with delight. My steak is equally good, perfectly seasoned and properly rare, not raw. It slices like butter too, but is full of hearty beef flavour.
Around us people are tucking into roasts of various types, and there are some top notch chops, lamb and pork whizzing past our noses as we watch the chefs at work. I even spy a tuna steak with an egg on top being prepared to take away. I ask how far they deliver and they tell me they only serve BN3 – anything beyond that and the food will suffer. I can see the point, but it is disappointing.
Prices are good at Foxy’s too. You can get a decent plate of food for about £5 upwards. Steaks are sold by weight, the biggest being T-bone, and apparently there is something of a battle going on by the meat-loving guys from two rival local gymnasiums.
Foxy’s as a concept is great, and I can see that as a product to roll out nationwide it would work excellently. I know from my commuting days that it would have been a very welcome sight, and smell, when returning home from a day at the coal-face of modern publishing.
The menu does not have any starters, but there is a very tempting array of brunch dishes available all day, and they offer only two puddings: a chocolate mayonnaise cake – yes mayonnaise – and a twist on the classic banoffee that uses berries in place of bananas. The cake is less scary than it sounds and pretty good, while the berryoffe is inspired.
Foxy’s attracts a very mixed crowd and the place is buzzy and fun. There are no bookings but turn-around is fast and you can go to the pub a few doors along to wait. Foxy’s also do private, exclusive hires from 10pm to 2am on Fridays and Saturdays, for 12 people seated, or buffets for 25, which sounds great fun. Having left my first visit for far too long, I cannot wait to go back.
Foxy’s, 90 Goldstone Villas, Hove, BN3 3RU, 01273 776661, www.foxysbrighton.co.uk
