The Restaurant At Drakes

I wish I had photos!
We booked the private room for a family meal of 15. It came with a personal waiter and just the most wonderful evening.
We were allowed to choose three options for each course before we went so on the night we still had some choice which is unusual for a meal with this many guests.
The service was amazing. Topping up our glasses before they were even empty and catering to our every need.
The food was just wonderful. Simple, elegantly presented, with perfectly balanced flavours.
They made us feel so special. It really was just amazing!

My husband and I took an overnight trip to Brighton and he sneakily made us reservations for the Restaurant at Drake’s. He had read a ton of great reviews for it and thought it would be a good treat.
I chose to do 2 courses and he picked 3. What’s really awesome is no matter how many you pick, they start you with an amusebouche and end with a small palette cleanser before dessert. It’s like 2 free courses!
The food was excellent. For starters, we had fried mackerel and the special, which happened to be pan fried scallops. That was followed up by the lamb and the sirloin, both of which were perfectly cooked. We especially both liked the purees that accompanied the meat. Finally, for dessert we shared the strawberries and clotted cream ice cream. Yum!
When we arrived, there were virtually no other diners in the room, so we had amazing service (very attentive!) and our pick of tables.
I’d highly recommend them and hope to go back someday!

The restaurant came highly recommended and we were staying in the hotel so it seemed silly not to try it. We had the ‘chef’s package’ which is a set menu included in the room rate. My husband is gluten/​dairy intolerant and the kitchen coped well with this. The service was charming and the place itself — the converted basement of a lovely seafront house — is nicely laid out and decorated. I imagine that in winter it would be cosy; in summer it was surprisingly light.
Our food was very nice, very pleasant, never astonishing or exceptional, but always good. We had an amuse bouche of raw monkfish with pickles (fresh, light, clean) followed by a first course of lobster in gazpacho sauce (good lobster, tasty sauce). The main course was lamb stuffed with boudin noir and a sweetbread, on a bed of imam bayildi. Personally I didn’t think the boudin noir or sweetbread added anything (but then I’m not a fan of offal) but the lamb was nice if not especially tasty. The greens were divine. A cheese course was perfectly chosen and kept. A pre-​pudding of berry jelly was lovely and intense (although I wished I were having the caramel pots that I could see at the next table) and the pudding itself was more intense berries (bear in mind that we were doing the gluten free thing): strawberry sorbet with berries and tiny, soft, pastel coloured meringue drops. All very lovely, but none of it breathtaking. Still, the whole experience was well worth the price as a package with our room and I would certainly return (especially to order a la carte).

love this place for breakfast, but in the evening I found it too dark and cramped. The food was superb — one of the best meals I have eaten in Brighton. It just feels like you are siting too close to the other diners.

OH MY GOD!!!
I can’t believe that I have been living in Brighton for two years and have only just discovered this restaurant. I one foul swoop it has leapfrogged its way in to my all-​time top three. Yes, its a little on the expensive side, but this is certainly a case of getting what you pay for. I booked for my birthday and it was a treat in deed…
On arrival, I started with a strawberry balsamic cocktail before moving onto the wine. While browsing the internet prior to making my booking I had already decided on the five course tasting menu but having perused the full menu there were dishes that just couldn’t be turned down so we all decided to order from the dinner menu. We were given an amuse bouche of duck terrine, a really nice taster and a change from the usual small soup! For starter I went for the crab raviolli in crab and corriander broth — a combination of really delicate flavours.
However, it was the main course that was the true champion of this meal. Trio of pork featuring pancetta wrapped loin on creamed potato — cooked very rare so that it was completely pink in the middle — I have never eaten pork like this before but it was so tender and delicious it was a delight. Pork cheek that just melted in the mouth, and pork belly, again superbly cooked. It was truely one of those dishes that has kept me smiling for days.
I was a true piggy (pardon the pun) having a dessert and a cheese board — well, it was my birthday! However, I was finally beaten by the complimentary petite fours that were presented on a plate with «Happy Birthday» written across it in chocolate sauce –the waitress was kind enough to wrap these up for me to take home as I just couldn’t manage another mouthful by this point!
Overall, a truely exceptional fine dining experience, one I certainly hope to repeat in the not too distant future…

As it has been awarded the best in Brighton award my review becomes far easier as I can’t say otherwise. Although, these facilities are used as part of the hotel they are still free to book for people who want just food.
Even though they have this award they still offer a 5 course tasting menu for £50 which doesn’t include a 12% service charge which actually makes it £56 but still cracking value. Please do not think that this means the place isn’t classy as the award speaks for itself. If you are trying to impress then this is definitely a good place to go as it is also right on the seafront which in the summer leads to great after dinner walks.
It also has a cocktail bar attached which offers are refreshing choice to your meal as they can be served with your food and cocktails are always a great way to lighten the mood and to dazzle the taste buds that little bit more. If you are going to shell out, you might as well go the whole hog.