Octoberbest, Brighton

I’ve lived in Brighton my whole life, and over the last few years, the restaurant scene has massively boomed. OctoberBest, Brighton’s premier restaurant festival is returning for its third year, bigger and better than ever.

Between 5 to 21 October, an extended selection of Brighton’s best restaurants will participate in the
festival, offering a variety of £20 menus, special discounts or one-off events featuring dishes
and dining experiences created especially for the festival.

OctoberBest reflects the quality, wealth and diversity of Brighton's restaurant scene, with stunning Sussex seafood at The Salt Room, The Urchin and English’s; flame grilled meat at The Coal Shed; and inventive small plates and fantastic wines at Fourth and Church and Plateau.

The festival will also feature gastropub dining at the recently refurbished Ginger Pig; modern European cuisine at Semolina; cracking Italian food at Cin Cin; and cutting edge vegetarian food at Terre a Terre.

Photo: XDB Photography

My favourite Brighton restaurants are all on the list, with highlights including a series of sold-out 64 Degrees pop-up events where chef and owner Michael Bremner and head chef Michael Notman-Watt will be going back to the roots of the restaurant to serve a menu that will illustrate ‘how it all began’; zero-waste restaurant Silo’s Ambrosia menu which chef Douglas McMaster says is ‘a twist on ‘the food of the gods’, championing wild ingredients, unknown ingredients and nose to tail that are often not given the attention they deserve’; and The Set’s Fill Your Wellie Boots menu that includes a selection of the restaurant’s creative small plates such as rabbit bao, carrot slaw, tofu, green chilli and Beef cheek flatbread, tahini, XO sauce, all with vegetarian alternative options.

The Chilli Pickle are offering up a mysteriously titled The Nizams of Hyderabad, the ever-popular Bincho Yakitori have pulled out the stops with a generous offering of salmon sashimi, oxtail harumaki, grilled skewers, fried rice with kimchi and green tea ice cream with sesame cookies. Not to be outdone, The Gingerman are offering a sharing feast for two people of Lancing College Farm rare-breed pork Tamworth/Berkshire cross to include roasted loin, black pudding ballotine, confit belly, crispy croquette, crackling and accompaniments, and finally, my absolute favourite, Little Fish Market are offering a £20 tasting menu, that has been so popular it sold out on the day it went live.

An excuse, if any for a little visit to the seaside, and a total win for us Brighton residents!

For all the details of the offers and how to book go to www.brightonsbestrestaurants.com.