Andrew Kay gets rather excited over a burger & bits at The New Club
Burger me
It was 1974 and at that point the only burger I had ever eaten was a Wimpy, and not many of them as Mum thought they were not only common but over-priced. I arrived in London to find The Hard Rock Café which had been opened in London 1971 by Americans Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton. It was a revelation and a place of pilgrimage for we art students in our 501s, jellies and day-glo socks. And the food was pretty good and sensibly priced back then. I started with burgers but pretty soon found the club sandwich served on something called ice-box bread. Happy days indeed.
These days it takes a lot to get me excited about eating a burger, that was until I discovered The New Club on Brighton’s seafront. Recently opened, it occupies a place that over the years has housed a variety of not-that-impressive eating joints, which is sad as it has great views out to sea and to the last knockings of the West Pier which stands now as testament to complacency in so many quarters. I guess we all thought that someone else would sort it out.
The New Club is based on the idea of an American diner and the dinner menu is refreshingly short, but filled with things that I wanted to try. So too did my guest Mrs C. We were meant to be having a non-drinking day but I had already fallen off that with three G&Ts after receiving some rather bad news, so when our server said that the cocktail of the day was a cheeseburger martini, who was I to refuse? I’m glad to say that the cheese part came as a cube on a cocktail stick with a cornichon as a garnish. The rest was still pretty out there with a smoked bacon infused vodka in there. It was a cross between a martini and a bloody mary but without the claggy bulk of tomato juice – I rather liked it in a weird, off the wall kinda way. (Note the use of an Americanism to add to the flavour.)
We decided to share a couple of the small plates, not billed as starters, and when they arrived we could see why. The fried chicken was big and totally delicious with a great beetroot relish on the side. We made light work of that. The potted shrimp and crab was not only delicious but generous. I had potted shrimps recently that came served ice cold in a glass that would have struggled to accommodate a shot of whisky. This came in a small iron skillet and was served with the cayenne spiced clarified butter melting around the seafood and with two slices of great toasted bread. I also ordered a side of pickles which arrived rather surprisingly deep fried in batter with a mustard mayo. They have to be tried too – I loved them.
We both decided that burgers were in order so Mrs C had the cheeseburger and I had the amusingly named ‘dirty burger’. Both came on excellent brioche buns, made on the premises, and simply delicious. My dirty burger had a smoked onion and bacon relish in it and it simply oozed scrummy flavour. The meat, also bought in and hung on site, then minced, was cooked exactly to my taste which is medium. I really don’t like rare minced beef unless it’s raw fillet of exacting provenance.
The fries were equally good, hand cut, not over salted, crisp and plentiful. The fact that they also tasted of potato and not cooking fat was a real plus.
Both far too full for dessert we realised that we had a duty, to you the readers, to press on. Mrs C wanted cheesecake but the chef himself came to apologise and say it was not ready, again baked on site. She then had the triple layer chocolate bar and declared it to be superb. I chose peanut butter cookies with vanilla frozen custard and salted caramel. Go order it, you will not be disappointed.
The New Club ticked so many boxes, it cheered me up no end, it tasted good, it was satisfying and sensibly priced too. The chef explained the dishes, how he sources and hangs the meat and makes the breads fresh each day. As soon as my appetite returns (we left fit to burst), I will be back to try those smokey ribs and that breakfast menu has my name on it too.
The New Club, 133-134 Kings Road, Brighton, BN1 2HH,01273 730 320
thenewclubbrighton.com
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