Peoples Republic of Brightonia & Turkish food courts – The tour continues

Refreshed after a week off the Monarch of the Puddings tour landed in Brighton.

Now the good Mrs F had just toured here with her play and so I was a little prepared for our trip. The Theatre Royal Brighton is a quirky place made up of a dozen or so different buildings culminating in a ‘house that jack built’ feel with not a single level surface in existence! When I’d visited Brighton a week or so before, Mrs F & I had been to a little Turkish Restaurant for pre show sustenance. Charcoal grilled lamb ribs and some lovely starters was a great set up for a little jaunt to Istanbul some days later to visit the new Zorlu centre.

This multi million dollar venue has only just opened and we put on two concerts. The first show was a Classical Spectacular featuring a local turkish choir. Lots of the usual favourites were featured with Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture complete with lasers & pyrotechnics. Show two was a whole evening of the music of John Williams and this was a real treat for all. This new facility is huge, reputed to have cost over 3 billion US$ features a multi floor shopping mall, three apartment blocks and a, soon to open, Raffles Hotel. Food courts in the UK are usually quite meagre affairs. The one in Norwich, for example, had the usual burger/fried chicken/pizza culprits with the exception of Ed’s Diner which managed to raise the culinary limbo bar to well above ankle level. The food court in the Zorlu was exceptional. Featuring mainly local food and all made to a very high standard £6-£10 bought you a 2/3 course meal and a drink. Interestingly the big franchises were not a popular as the local food haunts.

Back in Brighton and inspired by Istanbul the first little place on my list is FILFIL. This little palestinian inspired eatery is in the north lanes and only a five minute walk from the stage door. Pro porting the finest felafel in Brighton, the family run food bar offers a lovely meze (for two £12) that featured hummus, felafel, olives, aubergine, tabouleh & acres of fresh flat bread. It was always busy, nuff said!

Bombay Lounge, an Indian buffet, was also popular with the team. This was plain indian food (in a good way!) chicken, lamb & veg curry with a plenty of salads, pickle & poppadoms. Tandoori chicken wings were a fave and all for about £10 per head.

A multi cuisine buffet called Bon Appetite was very good value at £6.95. This featured a big range of middle eastern style salads and a range of cuisine from pizza & dolmades to chicken curry & beef in black bean sauce.

My personal two faves where Fishy Fishy & Le Maison. These two gems are in the lanes but couldn’t be more different. Fishy Fishy sells fish dishes and sea food. The fish & chips were some of the best I’ve ever had and were a perfect meal to ward off the cold & wet of post christmas Brighton. Toward the end of our stay in Brighton we stumbled across a french restaurant – Le Maison. Two courses for £10? Don’t mind if i do! Fantastic Moules as a starter and an excellent steak with garlic butter and frites as my second course. First class!

The power of keeping Karma!

Paul

Paul Fawcus
JAZZMOUSE
0785 097 3469