If you were coming up with a blueprint for a great neighbourhood bistro, it would end up looking a lot like Petit Pois. The family-run restaurant ticks all the right boxes with solid French cooking, friendly service and prices that would have been a bargain five years ago.
Head chef David Roy is a constant presence in the open kitchen, while his wife Ivana patrols the cute tile-clad dining room, delivering classic French food to tables with efficient charm. Snails, frogs legs and duck rillettes, followed by mains of beef sirloin with boulangère potatoes and pan-fried fillet of bream with bouillabaisse jus will have Francophiles dreaming of their summer holidays.
Add in generous cheese and charcuterie boards, a nice selection of dishes for ‘les enfants’ and a decent French wine list starting at less than £5 a glass, and diners may well cancel their vacances entirely. Why bother crossing the Channel when there’s cooking and prices like this a pebble’s throw from Brighton Beach?
Images by Nick Harvey