Dines Out: Bus Stop
Hot stuff, but not too hot!
If there is an area of cuisine that I am truly unfamiliar with it has to be Caribbean. It stems from a disappointing meal way way back in time. I was served rice and peas which was truly dull, plantain that was floury and bland and blackened jerk chicken which was simply burnt. It tainted my view for over twenty years and there has been little here to change my views since.
Well that is until yesterday when, hungry from a BBC radio interview, I wandered down North Street and stumbled into Bus Stop. I had promised to go there at the last food festival, but had simply forgotten, so now seemed a good time.
Whoever makes this hot sauce is an artist
I was alone and I prefer not to review alone but I decided to give it a whirl anyway and ordered two dishes from the specials menu and a jug of iced tap water. I know, no booze, well it was lunch time and I do have a modicum of restraint.
My first choice was posted on a board outside, crisp coconut prawns with sweet chili sauce. It was one of those dishes that would either be brilliant or deeply disappointing, by which I mean a low grade product probably bought in frozen. I have to report that it was very good, good and generous too with a plate full of fat prawns in a good coconut coating. I’m not guaranteeing that it was prepared from scratch but I suspect it was or at least coated in house. Anyway, I liked them, the prawns were tasty and properly textured, neither hard nor squishy, and the chili sauce was pretty good too, not too sweet and with a good punch of heat.
Not that a punch of heat was going to be a problem when they delivered me a pot of their own hot sauce. Now I know people who like a hot sauce that is tongue seeringly spicy and mind dulling. That’s not for me, I like heat but not so hot that I cannot taste the other ingredients. There is an art to making a hot sauce that delivers just that and whoever makes this hot sauce is an artist. I loved the depth of flavour, the refreshing citrus hit that made it clean on the palate and the bite of chili heat that was intense but not a taste destroyer. My waiter suggested a try a little on the side of my plate, which I did, but I soon went back for more.
It worked perfectly with my seared swordfish and mango salad too, the fish cooked just right, moist in the centre and beautifully seasoned on the outside. It was a generous dish, plenty of fish and a salad that was not pretending to be a garnish.
I will certainly return and try the pork chop next time, it sounded delicious but too much for a bright sunny day.
Bus Stop, 99 North Rd, Brighton, BN1 1YE
01273 623143
