Andrew Kay Dines – A Grand Lunch
GB1 AT THE GRAND BRIGHTON
The invitation came from a charming young friend. He had won a voucher in a raffle for a meal at Brighton’s internationally famous hotel The Grand. Well I was touched and excited to go back to this iconic business to see what their lunch menu had to offer.
The Grand is posh, it’s smart and it’s perhaps perceived as being a luxury that one aspires to rather than a place to pop into for a good and very affordable lunch. Well think again. I have just been blown away by a lunch menu that included some great dishes for a bargain price of £10 for two courses and £15 for three. Yes you read that right!
Let’s start at the beginning, the room is beautiful, let’s face it, the building has always been impressive, but GB1 looks good and sitting in the window looking out to sea, well it doesn’t get much better.
It was good, better than good, it was tasty and light, perfect lunch time fare
The lunch offer has four choices at each stage. My host Mr W chose the spicy chicken which he really enjoyed, it looked great and very tasty indeed. I chose the fish soup. I love fish soup and this was better than good it was stellar, a rich bisque packed with large chunks of fish and cockles, okay there was no Gruyere, crouton or rouille but at these prices that is totally acceptable. It was perfection and more than generous.
Sadly for Mr W the beef rib was not available but the burger alternative he declared to be good, the fried cheese sticks on the side interesting and he loved the herbed mayonnaise too.
I chose the sea bream which came with a soy infused spicy kimchi that was dotted with tiny cubes of smoked duck. It was good, better than good, it was tasty and light, perfect lunch time fare.
Again Mr W was thwarted at pud as the carrot cake was off, but with a little gentle coaxing I managed to persuade him to try the peanut pannacotta which came with a dark chocolate tart, shortbread crumbs,strawberry gel and sundry other bits and bobs. I loved it, bitter, sweet,creamy, a touch of salt, mixed textures and pretty as a picture too. The pannacotta was perhaps a little over firm but not disastrously so. Mr W enjoyed it but didn’t finish, far more to do with an impending rugby training session than dislike, I think it had won him over.
Certainly The Grand had won us both over and I will be back for that soup very soon indeed, more than good value, it’s a real bargain!
GB1 at The Grand Brighton
97-99 King’s Road, Brighton East Sussex, BN1 2FW
T: 01273 224 300
