Cafe Havana Lounge-Shisha in Brighton — Restaurant in England

Brighton

Day trips to seasides always result in the same questions: are you halal? What oil do you fry your fish in? Is it the fish fried with the pork?

You inevitably wait in prayer for “yes, we are fully halal” but it doesn’t always come 😔. And most of the time for some reason the fish and chips in these towns aren’t even that good

So a welcome new edition to Brighton, Cafe Havana (originally from Croydon.

Based on the marina (all these trips to Brighton over the years, and I didn’t even know they had a marina!)

Part shisha cafe part restaurant the meat is fully halal and no alcohol (muslim owned).

Gourmet burgers etc but what interested me were the flavoured lamb ribs and steaks.

Garlic Parmesan ribs. For many years ribs have been neglected. Flavourings wings with all sorts of sauces, Havana do the same with their ribs. They were awesome! Juicy, a nice crisp on the outside with garlic and parmesan flavour really coming through.

8oz Ribeye. To keep things simple they only have two cuts on the menu - sirloin and ribeye.

I asked for it medium-well. Personally this is the way I like steak. I’m not about that rainbow pink lifestyle and have no wish for “Hemoglobin” to become the sauce for my dinner, so it was perfectly cooked for me.

The peppercorns in the sauce popped as you ate, and an interesting edition of mushrooms was also different.

Juicy, tender, no toughness, the meat had a really nice taste. Loved it.

I don’t usually order mojitos because most places stuff the drink with so much vegetation that they feel more like a vegan snack than a drink. But when my friend got his and they said they blend the mint right down I became jealous and had to get one, and it hit the spot.

You can get a boat ride from the marina also (I think it was about £7 pp) so can’t go wrong.

Looking out at the boats, with the Arabic music in the back ground and hustle and bustle I was genuinely transported back to Dubai for while.

A must try for brightonians and those visiting (free parking also which is rare...

I was surprised to find a place that serves shisha at the Brighton Marina so I decided to try it out, especially after seeing the reviews. I had to go up to the counter to order and pay the bill in advance. The service was very quick, the shisha and milkshake arrived in around 10 minutes. The frozen blueberry and raspberry shisha was actually pretty decent. However, the milkshake was horrible, by far the worst I’ve ever had, the ice cream used tasted off or very cheap and it was something a 6 year old could make better. I had 2 sips and left the rest. The donner and peri chicken wrap was OK, a good size filled along with salad and sauce. I had high hopes for the boneless garlic parmesan wings after seeing another review, but they tasted and looked like plain chicken tenders, and were covered in ketchup which really confused me....

DO NOT COME HERE. Worst dining experience I have ever had. Should have known by the fact that it was empty. We ordered 2 doner wraps, loaded fries and a boneless wing platter. The food quality was appalling. I took one bite of the wrap and felt immediately sick, the vile looking loaded fries were untouched, the “boneless wings” were Iceland chicken dippers with a bit of sauce squirted on top. When complaining to management (politely) asking for a partial refund, they were argumentative and refused because “some” of the food had been eaten I TOOK ONE BITE OUT OF THE WRAP and there were several un touched dishes. He then offered for me to take it away in a takeaway box- no thanks, I would rather not risk the food...