Kid’s food review, part 2
The kids are alright! part 2
Last week, Andrew Kay handed over his cutlery and his cruet to a gang of youngsters – here are the rest of their brilliant reports
Out of the mouths … never was a more appropriate phrase applied to my food column. It always amazes me how cosmopolitan the kids of Brighton and Hove are when it comes to eating out. I cannot imagine any other place where youngsters would embrace international and modern cuisine with such an open heart – they just love it!
This week, we get reports of spicy food, pub food, modern mediterranean foods and traditional. It’s a feast of food love, and it gives me hope that we are not a nation hell bent on feeding the future on fast foods, sugar and fats.
A big ‘thank you’ to all the young people who took part, to all the parents who were lucky enough to be taken along by those young people, and to all the restaurants and foodie people who whole heartedly joined in on this, my favourite feature of the year.
Agua Dulce
Grace Windsor (age 14)
Recently I went to a small, quaint, traditional Spanish restaurant called Agua Dulce. I must say that as soon as you walk through the door, you are greeted with walls decorated as the Spanish flag and covered in wooden boats. The smell coming from the kitchen was sensational; it smells comforting and delicious.
From the moment we arrived, Carlo the owner was lovely and tended to our every need. What is even better is they spoke in Spanish to each other, which gave the place an authentic and relaxing feel.
We ordered our food and within minutes it was upon the table. We had deep fried squid, padron peppers, potatoes mojo verde and boneless chicken in a garlicky sauce. It was fantastic. I loved everything I ate including the squid, which is highly surprising for me, as I strongly dislike fish.
Throughout the meal the waiters were friendly and told us many interesting facts like ‘1 in 10 padron peppers are actually hot!’. For dessert I tried a typical Andalucian dish called leche frita. This dessert consists of deep fried milk and custard, which was perfect, not too sweet. During our pudding we could hear other customers highly complimenting Carlo on various dishes we hadn’t tried like paella.
To finish we had a small refreshing drink cleverly yellow and red.
I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone for any occasion.
It had a really traditional and interesting feel about it making the meal even nicer.
Agua Dulce, 10-11 King’s Rd, Brighton, BN1 1NE
01273 328672, www.aguadulce-restaurant.com
BREEZE
Caitlin Griffin (age 6)
I went with my Dad and brother Finlay to this restaurant. It was a lovely sunny day and all the windows and doors were open. We had a table inside where we could see all the art on the walls, a laughing Buddha and some big plants. It was Saturday lunchtime and very busy.
There was lots to choose from on the menu. I chose fish fingers and chips, Finlay had chicken (proper grilled chicken, not nuggets or anything) and chips and Dad had spicy squid with couscous. My fish fingers were better than my school’s and the chips were really yummy. Bruce, the round owner, gave us fresh bread to dip in olive oil. I loved it. All the food we had was fresh and tasty but I was really full. Next time I think I will try the pasta but maybe something else that we don’t have at home. It all looked really good.
Bruce gave us 9/10 and a lollipop each for our drawing and colouring.
I give him 9/10 for his food. He was very kind.
Finlay doesn’t really like restaurants but he didn’t want to leave. Dad said we must go again.
I hope we do.
Breeze, 98 Trafalgar St, Brighton,
BN1 4ER, 01273 693377
www.breezebrasserie.co.uk
Chaula’s
Eden Mills (age 14)
When I first got asked to review a restaurant I was very excited, especially because it was an Indian Restaurant as I love Indian food. I had spring rolls for a starter which were tasty. I didn’t know what to order so I asked the waiter what chicken dishes they had because I love chicken. He was very helpful and suggested a korma style dish called Murgh Makani which was lush. I also tasted a veggie dish which was Indian cheese balls in a rich sauce; it was an interesting and tasty dish!
I really liked the egg fried rice and garlic naan because I have never had it in an Indian restaurant before and it was a bit different. When I was offered desert I wasn’t sure about the traditional Indian ones so I went for the oreo ice cream cake but there was lots of choice. Chaulas was friendly and the waiters were very nice and chose fab food to eat.
Chaula’s,
2–3 Little East Street, Brighton, BN11HT
01273 771661, www.chaulas.co.uk
THe CHILLI PICKLE
Jonah (age 8) & Miller Roberts (age 6)
I was very excited to be going to the Chilli Pickle as my favourite meal out is a curry. It was the day of the teachers strike so we had fun looking around Brighton and spending time on the pier.
When we arrived at the Chilli Pickle we felt very welcome as our waitress was so friendly and gave us a fun word search to do. The restaurant was nice and colourful. The view out the window was great to the green, in front of the library. The atmosphere was LOUD!!!! EXCITING!!!! And busy.
We met the owner called Dawn, she was very kind and took us into the kitchen out the back. The tandoori oven is as hot as 450c and goes underground. They make the Nann in the oven and you can tell if it is cooked in the tandoori if it has a hole in it, as it would have been hooked by the chef.
I started with mango lassi drink, it tasted like a tropical fruit explosion in your mouth. We then shared poppadum’s which were very crunchy and tasty. The chutney’s were interesting because there was a carrot and pineapple chutney as well as mango.
For main course I had chicken thali which is curry with lots of extra bits. It looked great and was very big. The sauce was creamy and the best parts were the fluffy rice and soft Nann. My brother Miller had chicken and pineapple skewers which he shared with me and were so yummy. I might get this next time.
For pudding I chose mango ice cream in a cone with honey comb on top. I loved it as it was so fresh and fruity, more icey than creamy which I like best. It came in a cool swirly silver ice cream holder. Mum had mango leather and rose water sweets which were great so she let me share these.
We had such a fun time. I wish I could come back tomorrow. WOW!!!!!!!!!!!
The Chilli Pickle, 17 Jubilee Square, Brighton, BN1 1GE
01273 900383, www.thechillipickle.com
THE STONEHAM
Max Hemmings (age 8)
Going out to eat on a ‘school night’ is such a special treat, and my Dad took me to this really great and big pub on Portland Road where we were treated very well. There were loads of kids there. My Dad happened to know the manager, Stu, who is a big music fan like my Dad and they talked about the ‘olden’ days which was nice.
The kids menu has all the things I like; burgers, pizzas, chicken and macaroni cheese which I love and so I had that with a side order of skinny chips. For the really young or for those who are trying to be really healthy you can have a platter of food that includes sweetcorn, yoghurt, crackers, Babybel cheese, carrots and raisins.
My Dad went for one of the Stoneham pizzas (Chorizo Picante) which are big and rectangle shaped and served on wooden platters. He ate it really quickly, and had a beer with it, something called Brakspear. My Mum had a Halloumi salad which she finished off. For a starter they shared a Deep Fried Cheese Platter which looked and tasted great! The menu has a large selection of pizzas, salads, burgers and sharing platters. And there are starters and side orders too. They also have special weekends like a Lobster & Steak Weekender or a Moule & Crustacean Weekender which sounds like fun!
They have one of those ice cream fridges where you can choose a flavour. I had a scoop of mint choc chip. There are plenty of other puddings to choose from.
They have a nice big garden out back with lots of picnic benches and one of those funny red telephone boxes that people used to use before mobile phones!
This is a really fun family pub and it even has its own baby changing facilities.
The Stoneham Pub & Kitchen, 153 Portland Road, Hove, BN3 5QJ
01273 383840, www.thestoneham.co.uk
ASK
Vicky (age 11)
As my father and I walked into the restaurant we were pleasantly greeted by the manager don and were taken to our reserved table … the restaurant has a nice cosy patio a small dispense bar and a very colourful dining room (you could see a lot of thought had been taken to choose the lively colours) and large modern lamps. They also have fans which is good when it is very hot.
It was very busy which is always a good sign and now to the service … the waitress called Emily was very friendly and always smiling. I was offered the childrens menu which was very good and the menu came with crayons and activities which im sure would keep children busy however as I am a foodie I went for the main menu where Emily explained we could choose whatever we liked there was lots to choose from … pastas, pizzas, meats, fish, salads, risottos and vegetarian options now for the food, to start we chose a chefs salad (very fresh and full of ingredients) and some Sicilian arrachini (rice and spinach croquettes) both very good although the arrancini lacked a bit of flavour. We also ordered some rosemary warm bread which was delicious.
For mains I had a tagliatelle with wild mushrooms and cream which I couldn’t fault. My father had an oven baked spicy penne which he said was absolutely delicious aswell. My father doesn’t do dessert except for cheese but they didn’t have any which I thought was a bit strange as in Italy there are excellent cheeses. I on the other hand had a chocolate amore which is a chocolate chocolatey cake with vanilla ice cream which was ummmmmmmm. All this was washed down with for me an Italian Fanta and my father had a carafe of white house wine which was recommended and was absolutely great so he told me.
I ate all three courses and on the whole it was a great experience for me and I hope to return soon if my father takes me.
Ask Italian, 58 Ship St, Brighton, BN1 1AF
www.askitalian.co.uk
