Chez Mal Brighton — Restaurant in England

As many others trip advisors we decided to try this restaurant due to the rave reviews & being no1!, so booked well in advance and packed kids off to friends for the night. Yes, the decor and ambiance is well pitched, a little bohemian, which Brighton is, and of course Giorgio front of house, very welcoming. However I would of liked to have been offered an aperitif (had been looking forward to a prosecco),to peruse my menu over and to try the lovely fresh, but slightly undersized 'amuse bouche', especially as we were assured we had the table for the night to ourselves so no rush. The paper napkin was a shame as the rest of the table oozed decadence, with silver candelabra and menu holder. We tried both starters, rice balls, and stuffed aubergine, but was sort of thing I'd make at home for friends, Main course lacked enough seasoning, but Giorgio did supply condiments without us having to embarrassingly ask. The lasagna traditional was tasty, but not out of this world, the braciole, seemed overwhelmed with bread and very little meat, also would have like to have seen another vegetable to accompany, we were served a few saute peppers. Finally the tiramisu dessert lacked a punch (think the booze had been omitted). It was nice home cooked food, which can only assume was cooked by a home cook and not a trained chef. The ingredients seemed bulked out with cheaper stuff, which I can guess would be the way they do it in Sicily old times, but restaurants claiming excellence need to step up the good stuff. Left here feeling like I could eat more. If I were to go to the same price, area, restaurant again for a special occasion I would go to Fig tree in Hurstpierpoint which really did have me talking about it for days. would keep this place for...

One of the worst dining experiences I have ever had.

The service was unbelievably poor… they were late and blasé showing us to our table, then they proceeded to leave us for a whole 45 minutes before offering us any drinks (even water!!). When we finally did manage to flag someone down and order some cocktails, they took over 30 minutes to arrive as well! Please note that the restaurant and bar did not appear to be busy at all and it was a fairly quiet night.

Food was also slow to come out and not tasty or worth the money - calamari was bland and tasteless, prawn cocktail had no sauce or seasoning (just plain cold prawns), burgers were so rare that one of my dining companions was put off eating it and left a mostly full plate. The mac n cheese tasted like bland cabbages and was very unappealing. Creme brûlées were burnt.

After receiving the bill we were then left waiting for someone to come back for the payment for a further 30 minutes or so until we gave up and left the table to search for a member of staff. No staff were anywhere to be found so we had to stand in the entrance until someone finally appeared.

We voiced our concerns, complained about our dining experience and expressed that we at least wanted the first round of drinks and service charge removed from the bill, the staff member (who we believe to be the manager) simply said “ok” and did not offer any type of apology or show the slightest hint of concern or interest.

I honestly feel that we shouldn’t have paid anything for our meal, received compensation and, at the absolute minimum, an apology!

Safe to say, none of us will be returning to...

I visited for the weekly Steak Night (50% off steaks on Thursdays!) and was greeted by Sasha who sat me at a lovely table with views of the marina. Started off with the Calamari, which was hot and fresh with crispy batter. Next was the New York Strip, medium rare served with the roasted onion and I opted for a side of chips and peppercorn sauce. The steak was cooked to perfection with a punchy peppercorn sauce and crispy chips and the onion was roasted to perfection. During this time I was looked after by the fantastic trio of Sasha, Kizzie and the restaurant Manager Sylwester who were super friendly and polite and were delightful to chat to. To finish I had the Pineapple Carpaccio which I would highly recommend. Sweet but light and not overbearing with some interesting flavours. The perfect palate cleanser and a nice way to round off a meal without feeling bloated afterwards. The quality and hospitality were exceptional! My compliments to Sylwester, Kizzie, Sasha and the chefs in...