1847

The new vegetarian in town

I’m always amazed when I hear people brand Brighton and Hove as a city of vegetarians. I have lived here 30 years now and have failed to see the place as nut roast central. Far from it in fact, and especially now with the rise of exciting chefs championing local and seasonal produce.
That said the city does boast a few restaurants that create astonishingly good food that just happens to be vegetarian and some who, whilst not being solely vegetarian, create meat and fish and even dairy free dishes that would thrill the strictest veggies and vegans. I think you will know them so I will not namecheck them this week as I want to talk about a new vegetarian venue in town.
Open only a few months, 1847 is an interesting place that has taken over a very smart venue in Church Road that has had a chequered past. By which I mean that as an eatery it has repeatedly failed. Oh there have been a few exceptions but they have been short lived – so let’s hope that this time they have got the concept and the cooking right.

I went for lunch with Mrs G de V and Mr M, two of my food cohorts one of whom is a pretty strict vegetarian and the other a man who does not like to be overfaced by meat. I’m an omnivore, I eat pretty much anything for except for pineapple.

Mr M started with a mushroom pate which he really enjoyed. I have to say it looked very good and the presentation throughout was very nice indeed. Mrs G de V had a pumpkin and kale salad that looked equally good and was declared very tasty with huge amounts of soft cheese that I envied. My scotch egg starter was okay, it looked great, the egg was impressively runny but the barley outer part was a big dry and the barley risotto beneath was pretty much the same, in fact I think it was the same.
I was far more impressed by my main of fried halloumi with a delicious lemon curd dressing and basil infused peas. The portion was just right, the dressing a good balance of bitter and sharp and the peas were inspired, far better than peas with mint. The chips, three times cooked were okay, a little soggy and disappointing so I left them pretty much untouched. Mrs G de V chose the beetroot bourguignon, an earthy take on a classic beef dish that looked excellent and put a big smile on her face. Mr M had a second starter of pakora and loved them, I looked on with envy. But then so did he when Mrs G de V and I tucked into a delicious deconstructed chestnut pie, we both loved that.
Early days for the newest branch of this small national chain, plenty of promise and good to see a new vegetarian choice for the city.
1847, North Road, Brighton, BN1 1YW
01273 677776
www.By1847.com