Brighton you are continuing to astound me. I still can’t get over just how much dining in this city has changed over the last few years and I can’t wait to explore even more of it. Oddly as part of our journey of discovery in Brighton we ended up in a vegetarian restaurant (odd because it’s me) ordering a huge four tier afternoon tea. Terre à Terre started life in 1993 by Amanda Powley and Philip Taylor. Both classically trained chefs have created a truly unique and wonderful meat-free cooking environment, serving food as ethical and sustainable as possible. Honestly If I’d had my eyes closed throughout the meal I couldn’t have always guessed it was vegetarian, even sometimes I still couldn’t get over the richness, “meatiness” and overall depth. This is afternoon tea with attitude and goes down a treat with a glass of fizz or two (or three).
We started our vegetarian extravaganza here with the savoury tier. A huge plate filled with serious flavour. One of my favourite selections from the plate was the tapioca crackers, drizzled with pickled vegetables and sweet oil. So simple, yet so affective. Perhaps even more epic was the steamed rice buns stuffed with Szechuan marinated tofu, kimchi Chinese cabbage, lapsang souchong pickled watermelon, miso chilli sauce and spring onion garnish. Quite possibly the best thing I ate on my visit to Brighton – incredibly satisfying which burst in the mouth with every bite. It’s also very messy, but worth every bit of spillage. Warm homemade mini muffins with peppered cream cheese and pear perry chutney was also a lovely mouthful however not my favourite overall.
Although the savoury dishes here were excellent, the sweet treats were also very special and presented absolutely beautiful. The kitchen obviously take lots of pride in what they do here at Terre à Terre because in some instances, it looked too good to even eat. Cranberry quince jam filled almond tartines were very pretty to look at and followed through to being just as delicious in the mouth. Each was accompanied by Grenadine forced rhubarb puree on the top. Alongside the sweet tartines were some peppered spice poached pears, nougat and a lovely ginger nut cracker crumble. My favourite from these calorific treats still was the decadent chocolate tier. A mini chocolate brownie with damson plum puree, dark chocolate glaze and satongo flakes was oh-so satisfying and very moist, made especially more enjoyable when scooped up with the chocolate flakes, blackberries and minty shiso shoots. A side of creme de cacao Brandy Alexander milk shakes helped wash it all down a treat too.
Incredibly full by this point we had barely any room to squeeze in the tea soaked scones, but we tried our best. Each scone was served warm and filled with sweet raisins and served alongside the restaurants home-made jam and thick clotted cream. A lovely way to end an incredible afternoon tea.
Terre à Terre is such a unique restaurant not just in Brighton, but throughout the UK. The food has personality, flavour and it’s unique. You won’t find food like this elsewhere which makes Terre à Terre a real destination restaurant. If it wasn’t for Brighton’s Best Top 20 Restaurants 2016 guide I’d have probably never found this hidden gem so I’m very grateful for that. In terms of improvements Terre à Terre could perhaps create a more personal service as the space is large and you can feel a little isolated, but the food is good enough to barely notice any of that. Book now – you really won’t be disappointed.
8.5/10
