Cafés, Coffee Shops & Delis

After just one year since ‘The Manor’ rebranded to ‘Common’ it has disappeared. In its place is a new Middle Eastern street food café, called Lavash.

Despite living here for almost 30 years, I still, occasionally, get lost in the lanes; so it amused me when a brand new café in Brighton appeared, named just this.

To me, a fried breakfast is a bit like a Sunday roast. Now hold on a second before you dismiss this and I’ll explain the context of what I mean. Both meals are comprised of a long list of different items and each has a certain value attached.

Back in March, Brighton said farewell its beloved Nordic Coffee Collective, a tiny independent coffee shop on York Place, opposite St Peter’s church and famous for its cinnamon buns. In its place, The Longhouse appeared; an entirely plant-based cafe with a mission to support small local traders in the community.

Since I’ve taken the leap from employed to self-employed I’ve been working in a little office space downstairs in our house. Two weeks in, cabin fever set in and Simon and I began to get a little tetchy with each other. He works from home the majority of the time and although I love him to bits, we’re definitely the sort of couple that needs our own space occasionally. Cue my search for coffee shops with good working spaces and free WiFi.

How are those New Year’s resolutions going for you? Still eating healthily and running three times a week? I didn’t think so… Don’t worry I’m not judging you – I’m in the same boat as you. What you need is somewhere to make it nice and easy for you. Somewhere with a breakfast, lunch and dinner menu that’s wholesome, healthy and nutritious, without sugars or additives.

Despite opening seven months ago, I’m only just getting around to trying out the menu at Cafe Plenty, located at Vantage Point, just by Circus Parade. It’s 10 am on a Saturday morning and I’m here for breakfast but it looks like the whole of Brighton has had the same idea.

Stroll down from Brighton Station and you’ll come to Mange Tout, an Independent Parisian Bistro that’s the sister to Plateau, one of Brighton’s top 20 restaurants. It’s menu, as the name roughly translates, makes you want to ‘eat everything’.

In amongst all the gentrification that is advancing the London Road some restaurants and cafés have been going about their business for a while. Nine years in, independently owned Moksha is one such spot.

Whilst most of Brighton watched or ran the marathon we headed for breakfast at new spot Baker & Spice. Nestled in the South Lanes at the former site of Fishy Fishy, this is the first of the small chain’s locations outside of London.