Hot diggity dog

Andrew Kay on hot dogs at Dukes at Komedia,a take-away from Chilli Pickle Canteen and eggs Benedict at The Hove Kitchen

Afew short reports this week after a somewhat disrupted Christmas break – but no less interesting for food lovers I hope. The festive season brings with it rather too much turkey for my liking and so I welcomed a few out of the ordinary breaks from the traditional fare.

My first was a real surprise. I love cinema and I can even get enthusiastic about the pick ‘n’ mix – but cinema and a decent meal have for way to long been but a dream. But not any more.

I was delighted to be given a tour of the new Duke Of Yorks at Komedia. It is a remarkable reworking of the building that seems to have conjured two rather lovely and quite luxurious cinemas and two cafés out of what was always a difficult space. Hats off to the management team and to their very clever architects for this achievement.

An even bigger hats off to them for coming up with a suitable menu for which I was truly unprepared. Taking the cinema as their theme the first menu is a selection of hot dogs. Now under normal circumstances I am about as likely to order a hot dog as I am to tuck into a pineapple. Not any more; their excellent young chef has sourced superb sausages from the Brighton Sausage Company, found great rolls, and made a delightful selection of accompaniments to go with them, in particular a superb relish that really hits the spot. I chose a chilli dog which came with a corn cob griddled in chilli butter, totally yummy and delightfully messy, especially for a man with a moustache and beard. I was with the manager Mr B and he chose a dog with sweet potato wedges. My how I envied those after just one.

These dogs are ten times – no, 100 times better – than the usual cinema dog but cost only a fraction more and they come with a large side order of integrity and none of the shame. Actually there was a little shame as we shared a delicious plate of churros with a devilishly good chocolate sauce. The chef is mad keen to source quality products, local, and fair trade wherever possible and that too is to their credit. It’s certainly also worth noting that you can use the café even if you are not going to see a film, and given how smart and comfortable it is I would not be surprised if it became something of a local hub.
Duke’s @ Komedia, 5-5a Upper Gardner St, Brighton, BN1 4AN

Chilli Pickle Canteen
Few could deny that The Chilli Pickle has defied all speculation and turned what had become a restaurant disaster spot into a nationally acclaimed success. With a string of local and national awards behind them it seems like only a matter of time before we see a second branch open in some other lucky town or city.

In the meantime, Alun and Dawn are not ones to see the grass grow under their feet so January saw the launch of Chilli Pickle Canteen, a rather smart take-away service that quite simply re-invents the idea of the Indian take-away. We were lucky enough to take advantage of an early trial and we were blown away to say the least.
Opting for a couple of King Thalis priced at around £15 we awaited their arrival with baited breath, after all, we love eating in, so could the carry out match up?

Well it certainly does – and with a great deal of style. The food arrives in a large cardboard tray with a slide off cover. Inside the separate dishes sit in containers set into the box so their is no mess and no slippage. In fact, we decided to leave everything in place and eat from the box which saved on washing up – yes, I can be that lazy. The food is as good as ever, the variety extraordinary and the meal complete. To order so wide a range of matched dishes from a standard take away would cost a heck of a lot more and you would certainly have too much food for two. This was a perfect amount and even included a dessert which I loved: a date rice pudding. There were starters, poppadom, bread rice dal, vegetables and a meat curry, one mutton (packed with huge chunks of tender meat), and one chicken. We loved it and would not hesitate to do it again and very soon. (On the downside there was none left for breakfast, my dirty habit and probably not one I should confess to here).
The Chilli Pickle Canteen, 17 Jubilee Street, Brighton BN1 1GE.
‎To order by telephone, please call 01273 900384.
www.thechillipicklecanteen.com, www.thechillipickle.com

The Hove Kitchen
Finally an exemplary eggs benedict and latte at The Hove Kitchen. How I wish this was closer to home, but an early appointment in Hove had me on the doorstep and I am very glad I decided to pop in. Eggs Benedict when good is one of the best dishes in the world, simple but blissful – and when it’s wrong or simply mean it is amongst the worst.

The best I ever had was in Sydney, Australia, and the eggs were the colour of a morning sun, the hollandaise a perfect balance of butter and egg and sharp white wine vinegar flavoured with sweet shallot. Equally good were those served in the café of Harrods’ menswear department back in the day, again really well made. But now I favour those at Hove Kitchen where the eggs are a deep yellow and fully runny, the hollandaise velvety smooth, clearly made by a pro, and the ham tasty and plentiful, a real ten out of ten brekkie by any standard.
The Hove Kitchen, 102-105 Western Road, Hove, BN3 1FA 01273 725495, www.thehovekitchen.com