Delicious Value Lunch at The Salt Room Brighton – Ideal For Couples!

The Salt Room Brighton is part of a sisterhood of well-known Brighton eating haunts, the others being the meat-heavy Coal Shed, the award-winning Burnt Orange and the Italian-themed Tutto.

They are all owned by the restaurateur Razak Helalat, who, based on his portfolio of eateries, I can only assume is as much into his food as I am.

I had high hopes for the Salt Room. We’d dined there once before on a wet November evening and Mrs B still talks about their venison steak with a dreamy look in her eyes, but we’d never tried the lunch offering.

So when a glorious sunny May day arrived and Mrs B and I found ourselves in town, we decided to see if the lunch was as good as the dinner offering.

As it was a nice day, we were offered a table outside on the terrace next to the A259 Coast Road. The terrace area provides some lovely views out across the English Channel, just down from the always popular Brighton Sea Life Centre, and you can also see the world-famous Brighton Palace Pier.

However, sitting outside immediately proved to be a bit of an error, as the A259 is an incredibly busy road, more so on a lovely sunny day.

It turns out that it’s not very relaxing eating lunch when a 44-ton articulated lorry screams past your ear at 30 mph, followed by bikers with exhausts deliberately turned up to “deafeningly loud” to compensate for their tiny manhood.

Nonetheless, we are British, and it’s a fine and noble British tradition that we must make the best of it, no matter what the situation. So that’s what we did.

The Salt Room Brighton Set Lunch Menu

Pretending I couldn’t hear the sirens of the passing ambulance six feet from my ears, we studied the mid-week set lunchtime menu. This gives you 2 courses for £25, or 3 courses for £29, which in Brighton terms is a bit of a bargain, but of course, you can also order from the main menu too, if you wish.

Sadly, with a full afternoon of work and child pickups ahead of us, there was no chance of sampling the excellent looking drinks menu, so we both opted for the Lucky Saint non alcoholic beer which was crisp, cold and excellent.

Now, I love a soup, so when I saw it, I immediately opted for the Salt Room Fish Soup with Rouille, Gruyere and Croutons. Mrs B went for the Crispy Creedy Duck Salad and I, continuing the fish theme, went for the Fish (Haddock) and Chips, with Mrs B going for the Shetland Mussels and Frites.

It was certainly busy for a lunchtime, but not crowded, and it gave the Salt Room Brighton’s terrace area a pleasant air of hustle, bustle and noise, although that may have come from people needing to shout to be heard over the traffic.

After a very short wait, our starters arrived, and first impressions were very good. The Fish Soup was thick, rich and very tasty and vanished inside me in about three good spoonfuls. Mrs B’s duck salad was also well received, with the sweet soy and sesame dressing adding a lovely zing to the duck and salad.

Like all good starters, they definitely left you wanting more, and it took all of Mrs B’s power to stop me licking the bowl of the soup for the last couple of drops.

Next up was the Fish and Chips and the Shetland Mussels. Again, these were excellent.

Fish and chips always amuse me disproportionately. It’s such a British thing to take a fragrant, delicate and tasty fish, like haddock, and our first thought is to throw it in batter and fry the living hell out of it.

Other nations would perhaps celebrate the delicate flavours and serve them simply with some sort of light sauce and salad. Oh no, not us Brits. Into the deep fryer with it, as tradition demands. Chuck some chips on the side, done.

Mrs B was pleased with her choice of mussels, which were nice and fresh, although she does prefer her sauce to be creamy, whereas the ones served in the Salt Room were served in a more sort of white wine, garlic and tarragon sauce, with crème fraiche on the side.

Again, both these courses vanished in record time, and we were left with the agonising choice of whether to dessert or not to dessert. Of course, if in doubt, you should always get a dessert.

Elvis Presley once said, “It’s better to have a gun and not need one than to not have a gun and then need one”, and in my book, the same is absolutely true when it comes to pudding.

I opted for the Twist of Lemon (a lemon cheesecake with a mint jelly), although I was briefly tempted by the Affogato. However, I was glad I stuck to my guns as to our great delight the cheesecake was enclosed in a lemon icing and served in the shape of a lemon, and it was delicious – just the thing to cleanse the palate before returning to the hubbub of modern life and school runs.

Mrs B opted for the affogato, which did exactly as it said on the tin. Ice cream with a shot of espresso, the perfect pick me up to get over a food slump.

All too soon, our lunchtime soiree was over, and it was back to work. At £58 plus drinks for 3 excellent courses for two, I couldn’t help but feel we’d snagged a right bargain.

So if you’re in Brighton over lunchtime and fancy a little treat, you could do a lot worse than the Salt Rooms lunch menu. Perhaps you’ve been inspired to visit the Brighton Lanes after our last blog and need some lunch.

Just don’t sit outside if you’d like some peace and quiet!

Salt Room Brighton – Further Information

Address: 106 Kings Rd, Brighton and Hove, Brighton BN1 2FU
Phone: 01273 929488
Website: saltroom-restaurant.co.uk

Email: info@saltroom-restaurant.co.uk

Opening Hours: Monday to Saturday Noon – 11pm, Sunday Noon – 9pm