Burnt Orange — Restaurant in Great Britain

We secured a table for 21:30 on Friday 4th for a get together for a friends birthday. We had all heard great things about Burnt Orange and were excited to try! Being a complete foodie and loving a tasting menu, we opted for the ‘experience menus’ please note, if you go as an uneven numbered group you can not have this menu! 2,4 or 6 persons only. Although the food was presented nicely, in most cases…. More on that later…. And there were a few ‘hit’ dishes, including the hummus and halloumi, we all commented on how the meal was certainly no more than ok to good. Not what we expected from a Bib Gourmand awarded restaurant. This place is absolutely not a touch on the likes of Etch. The Little Fish Market, 64 degrees, The Ivy Asia, to name a few. However what stood out the most was the horrendous ‘service’. Having being nicely greeted, seated and menus delivered, drinks ordered we ended up with a waitress who single handedly ruined our evening. The pressure from her to order was intense, standing there, glaring. After finding out we couldn’t order the tasting menu for 3 (I’m pescatarian) we had to have a rethink, with her increasing pressure looming over us, I actually had to ask her to give us 2 mins so we could have a rethink. We opted for 4 experience menus, so my partner could try, and topped up my order with a fish plate. Moving forwards, we had plates removed whilst we were still eating, asking if we were done with plates that still had food on, arms reaching across the table. My partner quickly ate up the remaining last bites on his plate while the waitress stood there waiting for him to finish to take his plate! When the dessert menus were bought over, they were simply individually tossed onto the table for each person, even though I held my hand out to receive. In less than a few moments, returning for the order, I asked for the chocolate mouse for my partner and I to share and with that she scooped up all of the menus on the table leaving our friends to have to inform her they still wanted to choose a dessert too! Then began another table clearing where my friend held on to her glass as she had not yet finished her drink after the waitress attempt to remove it. After not requiring anything else, the bill, without asking, was dumped on the table with no words and 2 mins later she returned with the card machine. Had it not have been my friends birthday I would have asked for the pre included tip to be removed. The whole event felt although we were a hinderance, rushed, pressured and not enjoyable. If you do not want to serve customers at this time, do not allow for late bookings. It’s a shame that the conversation on the way home was how just ok the food was and how hideous the service was. As mentioned, as much as most dishes were presented nicely, the picture attached is of our meals finale, untouched by myself, it looks much like how I would impolitely describe...

I came with very very high expectations for everything and I have to say the service was excellent however I was a tad disappointed with the food... not because it wasn't good... but rather for some aspects that just didn't sit well.

In general, the idea is to serve many small dishes in a mezze style as is customary in the Levant and mediterranean regions from which the menu is based.

So what didn't sit well... for example, there is a Wild Garlic Hummus dip that's served green and without breads as a dish... its green because it's blended with asparagus...and you can't taste the garlic at all. Forgivable at a push and the taste was okay though there was an element of mental juggling to conceive green Hummus ... But... you can't serve a hummus plain like that. It needs something to dip it with.

Luckily we had ordered a separate bread which was for all intents and purposes a traditional Manoushe (like a pizza base with a thyme coating.. very popular in the Levant)... we ended up having to mix that with the hummus to eat it properly (by separating the thyme coated side from the base). In my opinion, that was just an unnecessary thing to do rather than serve some plain bread base with the Hummus to start with automatically.

on the topic of the Manoushe... why not just call it that instead of "Wood Fired Flat Bread"? And even if you are going to call it that, then add the key ingredient of Thyme in the description (not just say it's with Sesame brown butter). It's very misleading. On a side note here, kudos for the server for knowing it was covered in Zaatar but poor training by the management not to educate the team that Zaatar is basically Thyme... as they had no clue when we asked.

Then there's the main dishes that we're vegetal all nice enough to enjoy. One in particular caught our eye which was the Merguez Ragu... a fusion of a traditional lamb dish called Kafta but prepped in an upside down cottage pie type serving. Very flavourful and was a highlight to be fair other than the excessive salt used. Again some mental gymnastics kicked in from the fusion element of the dish.

In the end, we summed it up as a fusion Lebanese menu (or fusion Levant menu) and on its own merits, it's perfectly fine and an interesting variant to try at least once... but if you're familiar with Lebanese / Levantine cusine, you will be scratching your head somewhat reconciling the dishes.

Perhaps that's...

Am burning with bliss after a delightful dining experience at BO last Thursday..

Had intended visiting on previous trips to Brighton and now wishing that I had done so earlier!

Everything about the experience was out-of-this-world, from the courteous efficiency of the staff who went out of their way to accommodate my friend and I for a table inside, despite not making a reservation and letting us wait there until the kitchen opened, to the charming helpfulness from Andrew, our waiter and then there is the food and drink!

Their Margarita concoctions are incredible: sophisticated, original, enticing, delightful and sheer pleasure from start to finish.

Food was outstanding and don't be fooled by the relatively small size of the portions as they compensate in flavour and diversity of seasoning that enables you to feel satisfied and pleasantly enriched without ever feeling too stuffed not to leave room for one of their marvellous desserts!

My friend and I were joshing that we would need to visit Brighton more frequently just to sample BO's margaritas and food! I share and applaud this wish.

We will be back and you should make a bee-line for Burnt Orange in order to complete any trip to Brighton..

But be prepared to want more many times over!

UPDATE: 9th July, 2025

Made my second pilgrimage to Burnt Orange and, let me say without any hesitation or reservation, that it was not only just as delightful as the first visit but also possibly even more outstanding!

On this occasion, my friend and I had the smooth, perfectly-cooked, beautifully enriched by its sauce, flamed sea bream and we accompanied this with the miso aubergine (as ordered on our first visit). Both were so exquisite that senses were driven wild!

Margarita cocktails continue to please and tease; presented beautifully and enjoyed with a sense of sophisticated indulgence as the array of tastes tickle the body thrillingly..

Service was just as attentive as last time though the only note that jarred, albeit marginally, was a lack of consistency to the server dealing with us but this is a tiny gripe and in no way interfered with the joys of this...