As far as restaurants in Brighton go, 64 Degrees is yet to be rivalled…

Outstanding service, remarkable food and exceptional value. One of the best things about little food retreat 64 Degrees in the Brighton Lanes, is that you can never be bored of the small but varied menu.

64 degrees regularly switch up what they have on offer, the chefs are continuously evolving the menu to ensure that the kitchen is working with the freshest produce available and creating dishes with ingredients that are in season.

 The menu is split into three sections, Fish, Veg and Meat, each division having four options within it. The staff recommend around 3 dishes per person and they are designed to be shared – similar to the way that tapas is served.

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Regardless of whether you order from top to bottom or bottom to top from the menu, the dishes arrive in an order to keep you guessing. You may think that you’re about to start chapter 2 and you’re served up with chapter 5!

We were seated up at the pass, which was no more than a table top distance from being in the open kitchen, the head chef immediately made us feel welcome and talked us through the menu offering his recommendations – his passion for cooking and the creative opportunity that comes with it was immediately evident.

 After ordering (with a real struggle not to order every one of the 12 dishes available) we were treated to a complimentary appetiser;

 Piri Piri Chicken Wings

Extract Nandos from your mind immediately – these piri-piri wings are a game changer. The sous chef was continuously making new batches of the perfectly spiced, thick marinade to serve these up hot, fresh and topped with sesame seeds. Delicious.

The Fish

Oysters – This notorious aphrodisiac was available as part of the specials  menu. The oyster shells were well presented on a collection of sea sprayed  pebbles, the chef removed the two live oysters from water and delicately popped them back into their shell, seasoned them with soy and spring onion, ready to enjoy.

The Meat

Beef Fillet Carpaccio, turnip, grapefruit – This dish was the evening’s star performer. The meat so tender and perfectly pink, it melted away in the mouth. The blushing fillet was delicately flattened and accompanied with a grapefruit coulis, a marmalade style rind, a creamy turnip scoop and potato. Sensational.

 Hebridean Shoulder, chilli, spring greens – This Asian tasting generous portion of lamb shoulder, sat with a spring onion mix and a creamy chilli sauce. A sister plate was included with salted spring green leaves. We were advised to make a mini wrap out of all of the ingredients and then enjoy. Flawless.

 Ox Tongue, pea, pancetta -WOW. The unexpected blast of smoky flavour as we tucked into this delicacy was an absolute delight. The meat was topped with a pea foam and cooked to absolute perfection, the chef highlighted that this was his favourite dish not only of the menu, but that he has cooked for the restaurant. Just go and try it.

 The Veg

Wild Mushroom, Parmesan, Yolk -Freshly chopping a range of different mushrooms in front of us, we watched on as Sam (the head chef) started working his magic.

 We were shortly presented with a mountain range of mushrooms, and a delicately nestled egg yolk in the centre with a generous helping of parmesan.  I’m running out of positive adjectives to describe this food! Tremendous.

 Hispi, Raclette and Pea – I didn’t want to share this one… Who thought cabbage could taste so delicious? A circular block of cabbage was burnt crispy and topped with raclette cheese, sweet onion and peas, as with all of the food, the presentation was superb.

 In between eating, it was a great experience to sip on a glass of Montepulciano and watch the second to none attention to detail that goes into each dish. The décor is simple, clean, and contemporary using grey hues and warm lighting.

 The food here is spectacular, tapping into the sweet spot of experimental flavours without being confusing or daunting – it’s intricate and is in no way pretentious. If I owned a restaurant, I would want it to walk like this and talk like this in every way.

 With the food being so delectable, we certainly didn’t leave without dessert.

 Dessert

To complete our meal at 64 Degrees Brighton, we had a refreshing tangy strawberry sorbet that sat hand in hand with mascarpone, fresh strawberries a hazelnut crumble and elegantly sliced dehydrated strawberries.

 Obviously, we couldn’t stop at one pudding – so we followed this up with a waffle based pudding. They were served with an extra crunch, a cinnamon hit, velvety malt ice cream and generous shards of honeycomb.

 The skills and impeccable style that the kitchen staff possess at 64 Degrees is very clear. The head chef has a brigade of staff floating around him in what seemed a slick operation, from service to clean down, everything was done to a very proud standard.  Not to mention how lovely our waitress was, pleasing from the first second, clearly knowledgeable and passionate about what she was saying, and continued to be attentive throughout the 2.5 hours we were there.

 Go get it – if you didn’t know about 64 degrees, now you know.

 64 Degrees Brighton
53 Meeting House Ln
Brighton
BN1 1HB
Phone: 01273 770115