Seaview dining – The Salt Room Brighton Review

Since the opening of The Salt Room in Brighton, I’ve been absolutely dying to give it a go. One of Brighton’s newest, most stylish restaurants, The Salt Room opened it’s doors in February 2105 and subsequently created one of the biggest buzzes around town I’ve seen for a long time! Located right on Brighton Seafront, the restaurant boasts the freshest seafood dining with uninterrupted sea views right by one of Brighton’s most iconic sites, the West Pier.

The Salt Room is a seafood and grill restaurant, celebrating the food of the ocean and like their sister restaurant The Coal Shed, they have the same ethos on sustainability and use only the freshest local produce. Inside, the style is smart and sophisticated, with exposed brick walls and low level lighting giving it that industrial feel and reclaimed timber adding a beachside twist. The floor to ceiling windows give unparalleled views of the iconic Brighton seafront and if the weather is warm enough, there is even an outdoor terrace at the front for those sunnier days.

We were invited to try out the 3 course Lunch and Pre-Theatre menu. This is available weekdays 12-4pm with a pre-theatre slot running Monday – Thursday between 6-7pm. We chose to have a late boozy lunch date night type shenanigan and sample their set lunch menu and of course, the wine list.

Now, bearing in mind that between us – although we don’t like to admit it, we are slightly fussy eaters. I am a pescatarian – I love my fish and vegetarian dishes, but don’t eat meat. On the total contrast, Vee is highly allergic to fish, especially shellfish – one taste and she is in A&E so we have to be super careful. So, basically with that in mind I decided take her on a date to a seafood restaurant (aren’t I the BEST girlfriend ever….ha!) However, luckily for us, the team at The Salt Room had it covered – I emailed them in advance with our requirements and they had it all sussed. Our waiter knew all about Vee’s allergy before we even mentioned it and had already checked the ingredients to the non-seafood options, to check they were suitable. That’s service for you!

Vee still alive and well, surrounded by seafood

Our Starters

The good thing about the set lunchtime menu is that it changes weekly, so you never quite know what you are going to get. I normally do my research and eagerly scan a restaurants website ahead of time, but with The Salt Room (and the fact our date was on a Monday) I’d been thrown a curveball – so, I decided to go with the flow and let the menu be a pleasant surprise, to which it was. I opted for the Oyster cured Mackerel, which arrived served with cucumber, lime and horseradish. Vee went for the Iron Bark (which I learnt it a type of pumpkin… who knew!) Both of our starters were flavourful, delicate and uniquely presented, my Mackerel was deliciously cured and seasoned. Each dish was like a work of art, I almost didn’t want to eat it. Well, ok …  thats not true.

Coal Roasted Sea Bream, Green Chilli Chutney, Beetroot Yogurt 

My main course was just to die for. I went for the Coal Roasted Sea Bream and I loved every single mouthful. The delicate fish flaked at the touch of a fork and was exquisitely flavoured with a light taste of the charcoal, served with a green chilli chutney and beetroot yogurt, which were the perfect equilibrium of spiciness and calm. As the dish was served, the waiter offered to fillet the fish for me, but I declined his kind offer, firstly as I’m a blogger – my priority is taking a picture of my food before I eat it and two, I just wanted to dig in. But if you are a little squeamish about eating fish still in ‘fishy form‘, it’s good to know the waiters will kindly oblige in filleting it for you.

Lamb Rump, squash, fregola, purple sprouting broccoli and NO anchovy 

Vee went for the meat option of Lamb Rump, squash, fregola and purple sprouting broccoli, this dish is usually flavoured with anchovy but kindly our waiter was one step ahead of the game and made sure there would be no traces of anchovy within the dish for her. She tells me her lamb was just melt-in-the mouth, with tender broccoli, her dish was just bursting with flavour. All I know is just as I was starting to make a dent in my fish as I delicately picked around my bones, I saw her clean, shiny white plate across from me, it was all gone. I’m pretty sure she liked it (a lot).

After our boozy lunch I had just enough room for pudding – we were utterly stuffed from our starters and main courses so we opted for something light and went for the ice cream. The Salt Room’s ice cream’s and sorbets are all homemade, subtly flavoured and are served with a crunchy brownie type biscuit. The perfect end to a gorgeous meal.

We finished off our second glass of Pinot Grigio, admired the view and chatted whilst our food went down. It’s such a calm relaxing atmosphere, seeing as we were there for the set menu we didn’t feel rushed at all.

Overall, I really loved The Salt Room. I had been hesitant to go due to their higher end prices and I’ve been waiting for that special occasion to push the boat out –  but now I’ve experienced it, I really do feel like the food is high quality and lives up to the price tag. However, at £17.50 for 3 courses the set menu is such a reasonable price, it makes it really affordable for any time! Inspired by such a fabulous boozy lunch date, we are going to repeat the experience in the next couple of weeks at the sister restaurant The Coal Shed, I can’t wait – I could make this a regular thing!

A big thank you to The Salt Room for wining and dining us! We were treated like royalty from the minute we walked in the door to the minute we left and I cannot wait to return! 

– I was kindly invited for a lunch courtesy of The Salt Room in exchange for an honest and unbiased review, like always – all opinions are my own