Brunch at Lucky Beach Cafe, Brighton


You just can't beat living by the sea, and to have a restaurant offering delicious food right by it, you just can't go wrong. Lucky Beach Cafe is a open all year round offering local and sustainable food from weekend brunches, to full on roasts. I was thrilled to be invited along to try the breakfast, as I had heard good things. I had no idea however, of the wider ethos behind Lucky Beach. 

Alongside other cafes and restaurants in the Kemptown project, they raise money and donate some of their profits to social projects in Rawanda, where they buy most of the coffee that they serve, including helping to develop Lucky Beach School. 

The Restaurant

The restaurant itself is small and intimate, we sat in an area upstairs at the front of the restaurant with a great view of the seaside. The downstairs of the cafe is mainly a bar which is full of greenery and crates; I loved the unique decoration and shape of the restaurant and would love to go back on a sunny day. The one limiting factor is the accessibility; the toilets, whilst beautiful, are inaccessible with steep stairs to them and to the cosy seating. There is seating downstairs but I couldn't see any accessible toilet. 


The Menu and Drinks

We went just after the easter weekend and I loved that they had made a specials menu to match that; not just of food but of drinks as well. The menu has everything from simple toast or granola, to crab and avocado benedict or a full english. As you can see Lucky Beach was voted the people's favourite restaurant by the 'Food Made Good Awards' in 2017. This comes not only from the great service but also the real thought put into their produce. The menu boasts a range of organic produce and directly sourced coffee which is great to see.



For drinks I went for the Passionfruit fizz, which although beautiful I wished it had a strong taste of passionfruit. Henry went for the coffee which he said was great, a really lovely touch was that they had coconut palm sugar on their table.


The Food

I so often go for the same thing when I go out for breakfast, so when we headed to Lucky Beach I decided to go for the Crab and Avocado benedict. The dish was fresh crab and two organic eggs on top of smashed peas on toast, topped with lemon dill hollandaise, avocado mousse and a mango curd. Amongst all this was also a selection of seeds, leaves and a few edible petals. 


I loved the combination of textures and flavours of this dish, from the crunch of the seeds   to the sweet mango sauce and the fresh crab. My eggs were cooked perfectly and I loved the flavour of the hollandaise combined with the pea smash. The avocado mousse was beautifully smooth but I wish there was more of it. I was a little disappointed with the toast; I would have liked something a bit more like a sourdough to compliment the other strong flavours. 


Henry went for eggs benedict with ham; smashed peas served with apple cider vinegar hollandaise, pulled ham and two organic eggs. The dish came not only with this but also vinegar powder and apple sticks and was served on top of toast. 


Henry's verdict...
The eggs were very nice and the salty ham hock was really good with the slightly tangy hollandaise (would have had more) and vinegar powder. The smashed peas underneath the ham were great, making a kind of pea and ham soup taste. I thought that the apple sticks and the flowers (on breakfast) were a bit much, but it was a really tasty breakfast overall. The sea view was also quite a treat. 


The Service and Allergies

The service throughout the meal was great, our waitress was attentive without being overpowering. It couldn't have felt anymore 'Brighton' which is what I loved about it. For the allergies, not everything that you were served was on the menu so make sure to check allergies before you order. 
They put a clear disclaimer on the menu that, when busy, they do not offer substitutions on their dishes so that is worth considering. They also state that some food does come with nuts and seeds and to ask before ordering.  



Overall, it was a great new location for brunch. I was sceptical that it wouldn't be as nice on a miserable day, like the day we went, but the cosy seating and low level music made it really enjoyable. I loved the small touches of the help yourself tap water and the consistent decor and would definitely go back again- maybe this time for one of their renowned burgers!

Did you see my last post? I went along to the Circo (formally senor buddha) opening and wrote all about it here

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