Hove Kitchen

Jon I. ( Male, United Kingdom )

Seeing that the sinking ship that was Barney's had finally disappeared beneath the waves and been replaced by the Hove Kitchen we decided to give it a try. Initial good impressions were sadly and swiftly dashed. The menu was very limited ('lunch menu', far too pretentious for this type of establishment), but we chose with hope from the specials (which were recited by the waitress rather than being up on a blackboard with prices) and the main menu (house burger). The ‘special’, a ravioli with sage butter, cost £10 and consisted of seven pieces of ravioli only. I queried this thinking I had been given the smaller starter option but no, that was the main course portion. They gave me another bowl for free, but with little grace, and even then I didn't feel I had had a main course (i.e. I was still hungry). So, that's £1 per individual ravioli piece, give or take. My wife's burger was requested to be medium rare but was in fact medium well cooked, rubbery, tasteless and came with a burned bun, a few chips and a poor excuse for a salad the constituents of which looked like the kind of thing most us us would throw out of the fridge because they were way past their best. Apparently the chef at this restaurant has a strong pedigree: I can only hope that he or she had a day off on our visit, because if he or she did service at one of the UK's best-known eateries and was on duty then I'm Gordon Ramsay.

My wife's glass of house white was good, my mysterious Czech beer reasonable, which was just as well as there was no other choice offered or available.

I take no pleasure in writing this review, as we had both hoped for a decent, well-priced meal at a bistro we always used to enjoy very much. Sadly, neither simple criterion was met with reality.