Ginger Dog, College Place, Brighton

This is one of the ginger menagerie - along with pig, fox, and, er man (shouldn't it be 'keeper'?). Ladbrokes are giving short odds on the next one being cat.
Anyway, its in deep Kemptown in an old pub, and has retained more of its pubness than most gastro-pubs of its ilk. Good ale on offer - Harvey's Old, Dark Star APA and (ahem) Sharp's Doom Bar.
The menu is the usual Brit fare and we had some v tasty corn Sformato (bean mousse) with chili , monkfish fritters and, for mains, a big old burger with dripping chips and I add a v well cooked cod fillet on mushy pea gloop and celeriac chips. Washed down with a good French merlot and finished off with a good rice pudding and a glass of venezuelan rum.
The only grump was despite being assured we wouldn't be anywhere near shrieking xmas parties we were placed next to a group of 10 in paper hats. And there was a top Tory councillor and his Mrs nearby which also lowered the tone.
£75 for 2.
5/5 http://www.gingermanrestaurants.com/ginger_dog/where.html

Eastern Eye, London Road, Brighton

This is a south Indian place doing dosas and the like on the gritty London Road. I've been there before and they've changed the tables since my wife's last visit when one of heavy glass tables exploded showering diners with glass. This was followed by the remaining diners being showered with bleach cleaning spray.

The other GOGs and I visited on a cold Monday evening in November. There was a sprinkling of other punters including a table od south Asians which was a good sign. The rotund waiter seemed a bit distracted - he knocked over a wine glass and brought us 2 large bottles of beer instead of one and we're not convinced we got exactly what we ordered. Perhaps he was distracted by the massive flat screen telly on the wall beside us. Anyway, the food was Ok. We had some (bog standard) poppadums and pickles to taste as we chose coconut fish curry, soft crab curry (off so we had something else), a masala dosa, chickpeas and a chicken dish, washed down with ok Kingfisher. We were looking forward to sweet but were informed that it had all been eaten! Bizarre. So far, in the Brighton and Hove Curryhouse League this is beaten by Rasa, Chilli Pickle and Moonstone.

3 out of 5
http://www.easterneyerestaurant.co.uk/

Dyke Tavern, Dyke Road, Brighton

This is one of Martin Webb's (ex Webb Kirby - responsible for tarting up many pubs and clubs in Brighton) new ventures. Along with the Connaught, it was a well-dodgy half-timbered barn of a place frequented by the wider members of the community. Now its been titivated into a gastro-pub style with mismatched furniture, log fires, wooden stripped floors and so on - you get the picture. The menu is also the normal modern British fare. Starters were about £6 ans mains a steep £12-15. On a Wednesday lunchtime it was sprinkled with yummy mummies and badly dressed businessmen. I had a tasty if thick gnochhi and mussel dish and my wife had a good rosti. Beer was Harveys and a toothsome Brakspear Oxford Gold. Service was ok but the tables and menus were a bit grubby. Rumoured to get packed at the weekends.
4/5

Is it me or is everything shit?

I'm laid up with a broken leg and my mates have showered me with books, DVDs and abuse. Some of the best books are by Steve Lowe and Alan McArthur. The clue is in the title of this blog. They are alphabetically listed tirades against modern British life. Well worth a read.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Best-Just-Me-Everything-Shit/dp/0751541745/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1289326815&sr=1-2

5 out of 5

Blenio Bistro, Seven Dials

I once went to a bar in the Barrio Alto in Lisbon where a bloke had stencilled on the back of his jacket: 'I fuck like a bistro'. How we laughed - unless he wore a red gingha,m tablecloth over his head when on the job.

This place used to be Dali's tapas restaurant which wasn't a better alternative to Casa Don Carlos. Anyway, I've got to take the GLW out one night a month and she likes going to restaurants. Chilli Pickle was full so we chose this place as it was the top-rated gaff on Top Table website. Its a French inspired bistro but without the red gingham table clothes. We booked it through Top Table but had to change the time and the restaurant were very happy to do it - admirable on a Saturday night. There was a bowl of walnuts and hazel nuts on the table which was a nice touch. The wine list was an average price and choice. The food is supposed to be locally sourced. I had a good crayfish and something risotto and SWMBO had yellow fin tuna to start. Can't imagine that any of that came from Sussex. For main course I had Rye bay skate - very well cooked but not sure how sustainable - with a cabbage leaf wrapping some swede, a rubbery potato cake (not fondue as stated on the menu) and some green beans. Her indoors had a well cooked bit of steak. Pudding was missed. The damage was £60 including a decent bottle of wine - very reasonable. The most irritating thing to grump about was the disappearance of the waitresses when we wanted to pay. They were either busy laying tables or cleaning them - more eager to get set up for the morning than get the punters served and out the door. But anyway, that was a minor grump. Nice bogs even though I scared myself when I cught sight of myself in a full length mirror - I looked like someone enjoying Care in the Community.
4/5
http://www.bleniobistro.com/

Rasa, Little East Street, Brighton

I've been a few times to this place as its one of only 2 Indian restaurants in Brighton that my anglo-pakistani wife will deign to eat in - the other one being Eastern Eye on London Road. Admittedly I've not taken her to Chilli Pickle yet, ecause she's not been good enough.

This is one of a small chain of violently pink painted restarants serving S Indian food. Its on 2 floors and can get packed at the weekend. My last visit was with the 3 GOGs and a friend visiting from Cornwall where good indian restaurants are as rare as non-related Redruthians (joke!).

We all went for a mixture of starters such as dosas and pickles (the lemon pickle is excellent) and had a right old fish, prawn, veggie and lamb main course extravanganza. The menu is reassuringly short, the ingredients and spicing fresh and subtle, the service courteous if a bit quirky at times. Beer is the usual suspect lagers. [WHY CAN'T INDIAN RESTAURANTS SERVE INDIAN PALE ALE?]. The lassis are good as well. Excellent value - about £20 / head and great time had by all.
5 out of 5 (the first time ever!)
http://www.rasarestaurants.com/UserPages/Viewrestaurantdetails.aspx?restid=46

Pho, Black Lion Street, Brighton

Its a huge barn of a place next to Jamie Olivers gaff. I went once at the weekend and it was heaving, but on a Tuesday night during the World Cup, it was v quiet.
This is one of a chain of 4 vietnamese noodle bars. One of us 3 grumpy old gits had spent a bit of time in nam fighting Charlie and spending time in the famous vietcong tunnels so he knew what he was ordering. Pho is a noodle soup with meat, prawns or veg innit. You get some 'erbs and chilli oil to chuck in as well. Pretty basic, filling soup that the vietnamese eat for breakfast, lunch and tea. There's also curry and a few other dishes on the menu. The beer is all lager style beer from Vietnam or Laos. The S vietnam beer is drier and just about drinkable. The staff are that new winning (for the owners) mixture of young western totty waitresses and authentic ethnics in the kitchen. Unfortunately, the coffee strained through the bladder of a weasel had run out. Perhaps the weasel had gone to bed. Shame.
And when we ordered a 2nd beer it was room temperature. The waitresses response to our protestations was to suggest she put it in an ice bucket. Ha!
Reasonable value, OK but not mind blowing food.

3 out of 5

http://www.phocafe.co.uk/locations/brighton

The Signalman, Ditchling Rise, Brighton

This used to be a good, solid back street local when it was the Railway Tavern. It sold a useful pint of Harveys, was a bit scruffy and had interesting railway memorabilia on the walls. Its opposite London Road station. Its now been tarted up - fireplaces scrubbed up, walls knocked through, books bought by the yard and 'new' railway memorabilia put up.
It sells gastro-pub grub like 'hand made fish sausages' (perhaps a section of eel?). When visited on a January Saturday night by 2 of the GOGs and 2 other grumpy old gits it was heaving with what looked like students and recent London immigrants with stupid haircuts. One of them, sitting under a 'Smoking Prohibited' sign was snogging his small dog. The ale was good - Arundel Sussex Gold and Bitter and Hophead (and I think another one as well) but at over £3.30 a pint, expensive.
2/5

Red Snapper, 90 Dyke Road, Brighton

This is a popular 'Bring your own' Thai restaurant near 7 Dials. We arrived about 9.40 pm, were greeted like heroes by other diners because we sported false moustaches and had to choose quickly as the kitchen closes at 10pm. Its popular because its unpretentious and not too pricey. We had a spicey seafood salad, various other squid and beef dishes and some nice coconut rice. One of the unifying features of the dishes were ubiquitous carrots - as far as I know, not a native vegetable to Thailand.
3/5

Open House, Springfield Road, Brighton

On the north side of the railway near London Road station.
It's a pub that was poncified a few years ago and they made quite a good job of it with high ceilings, mosaics and a woodburner stove. Its been voted in the 2009 top 20 of British pubs in the Morning Advertiser - the trade paper. Its a long time since I've been there but had arranged a lunchtime visit on a snowy Sunday in early January 2010 with family and another GOG to meet another family. We sat in the back room where families tend to go. The only slight irritation was the loud piped music which the staff did turn down when asked. Between us we had 3 falafel burgers with chunky chips, one with mash, a sausage and mash and a child's fish and chips. Generally, it was good modern pub grub. The chips were super chunky and well fried, the mash that came with the falafel was a bit on the sparse side, the falafel was a big ball - not the usual supermarket tiddly things - and a bit crumbly but nicely spicy. Mains were £8 - not bad value at all. Banoffee pie was sweet and sickly - but I think its supposed to be like that. The sprog polished off her fish and chips and wanted more.
Superb Hophead and they also had another Dark Star on and another ale.
4/5

Pizza Express, Jubilee Street, Brighton

I went there on a wet Monday lunchtime in late November 2009 with my ravernous 3 year old after a session at the Prince Regent pool. Pizza Express is normally fairly reliable and as this is a new branch (part of the library redevelopment)I was hoping for a good meal. There were about 10 other customers and it was all a bit desolate. I ordered a Fiorentina - my usual in PEx - which comes with an egg in the middle. Sometimes the waiter asks how you want your egg but this didn't happen this time. When it arrived, the egg was runny (which I like) but the rest of the pizza was too. When I queried this with the waitress she said you could ask for a 'well done' pizza - like a steak! Having just got back from Rome and had the best pizza of my life (see other post), I find this impossible to believe.
The gent's toilet door didn't lock and its too far away from the toilet bowl to jam your foot against.
1 out of 5
http://www.pizzaexpress.com/our-restaurants/search-results.aspx?search_term=brighton