Strada, New Road, Brighton

3 generations of us went here after the ballet on Christmas Eve. I had a slightly undercooked fiorentina pizza, others had spag bol, children's spag bol a chicken salad. Slightly better quality than Pizza Express, good service (crackers included), floor a bit dirty. Good value. 3/5.

The Spotted Dog, Middle Street, Brighton

A group of 8 40 and 50ish cycling chums had our winterval meal here last week. Although the manager doesn't normally reserve tables she made a special exception for us and she even provided crackers. We had a right old mix of pies, burgers, steaks etc and everyone was pleased with the food - its definitely as good as the Snowdrop (licenced by the same people - Dom and Tony). There were 6 well kept ales on and, although it was a little disappointing that there was neither Harveys Best nor Dark Star Hophead, the substitutes were spot on. Jenny, the manager, also brought us taster 'shots' of a lovely aniseedy mild that she had just put on.
9/10