The Gingerman

Brighton restaurant legend Ben McKellar still keeps a keen eye on his original eatery – an “utterly reliable local stalwart” that is now reaping the benefits of a major refurb. The once-dark and intimate bistro-style dining room has been opened up, allowing natural light to flood through the front windows. The simple yet stylish interior also incorporates smart wooden tables and leather banquettes. There’s a broadly French slant to the cuisine, tempered by an instinctive understanding of simple, unaffected partnerships. The kitchen makes the most of top-class ingredients, as seen in a starter of asparagus soup with a poached quail’s egg, toasted ciabatta, Old Sussex Cheddar and home-cured lardo. This could be followed by poached halibut with seaweed butter, smoked garlic and lemon purée, morels and wild mushroom velouté or honey-roast quail with truffle polenta chips, peas and pied bleu mushrooms, while dessert might be lemon parfait with buttermilk and Gingerman honey sorbet. Excellent service, reasonably priced wines and a stellar cocktail list help to make this a highly satisfying prospect for locals and weekenders alike.

The Gingerman is the flagship restaurant of The Gingerman Restaurant Group (also The Ginger Pig, The Ginger Fox and The Flint House) and can be found on Norfolk Square close to the seafront in Brighton. This intimate restaurant offers uncomplicated, seasonal food that celebrates classic British flavours and ingredients with both a la carte and tasting menus available. The Gingerman Group was originally set up by Ben McKellar (aka the ginger chef) and wife and business partner Pamela McKellar with its Brighton branch now considered one of the best restaurants in the area. Ben McKellar was born and raised in Brighton, and previously worked in the kitchen at two Michelin-starred L’Ortolan in Berkshire before launching his successful restaurant enterprise. 

The food offers plenty of familiar flavours, with each plate executed exceptionally well and always using the best ingredients. The tasting menu is where guests are able to sample a curated selection of some of The Gingerman’s very best dishes with examples including goats curd and thyme tortellini with hazelnut, celery, morel mushrooms and crosnes, pan roast stone sea bass with fennel, courgette, squid ink, bisque and mushrooms and loin of south downs lamb with black tea, aubergine, braised neck and grape. For dessert, there is rhubarb parfait (if it’s in season!) with roasted rhubarb honey and bee pollen ice cream. The tasting menu comprises a total of five courses and must be taken by the whole table, but a dedicated vegetarian menu is also available for any meat-free eaters.  

The décor inside is cosy and welcoming, with studded leather banquet seating creating a relaxed feel to the room, and amplified by exposed red brick wall, wooden furniture and golden lighting.