Eat at Brighton’s best restaurants for £20 during OctoberBEST 2018

Dining at Brighton’s Best Restaurants is a whole lot more affordable this autumn, thanks to the return of the OctoberBEST restaurant festival.

When is OctoberBEST this year?

Between 5^th – 21^st October 2018, 25 restaurants in Brighton & Hove will offer a variety of £20 menus, special discounts or one-off events with dishes and dining experiences created especially for the festival.

This will be the third year for OctoberBEST and 20 of the restaurants taking part are the winners of the 2018 Brighton Best Restaurant Awards, the additional 5 restaurants are hot on their tails.

What are the OctoberBEST offers?

Examples of some of £20 menus offered include:

• The Ginger Pig: 3-courses with 3 drinks matched to each course
• Little Fish Market: 5-course tasting menu (usually £65)
• The Urchin: 4-courses from Shellfish menu plus a schooner of Larrikin IPA
• Market: 2 wines and 3 small plates from the Anglo-Spanish menu
• Cin Cin: 3–course Italian menu plus a glass of fizz
• Isaac At: 2 Brighton Gin cocktails and 3 Sussex-inspired desserts

Other menu highlights will include Silo’s Ambrosia menu which chef Douglas McMaster says is ‘a twist on ‘the food of the gods’, championing wild ingredients, unknown ingredients and nose to tail that are often not given the attention they deserve’; and The Set’s Fill Your Wellie Boots menu that includes a selection of the restaurant’s creative small plates such as rabbit bao, carrot slaw, tofu, green chilli and Beef cheek flatbread, tahini, XO sauce, all with vegetarian alternative options.

Which restaurants will offer OctoberBEST menus at the weekend?

Last year the majority of the offers were redeemable on weekdays, over lunchtimes or early evenings, but this year half of the restaurants (all listed below) have extended their OctoberBEST menus to cover the weekend too – great news for those of us that can’t escape work so easily!

PREVIEW: The Ginger Pig OctoberBEST Menu

I was lucky enough to be invited to sample The Ginger’s Pigs OctoberBEST menu on Thursday, ahead of its launch, and I can tell you it’s not one you want to miss out on…

Firstly, the whole place has been refurbished so the new surroundings as absolutely gorgeous to be in. The bar and restaurant have been opened up so there are separate areas for sipping cocktails and dining. There’s also a private room with doors that open out to a patio area.

For the first course of the night, we had the choice of either Whipped Cod Roe, Pickled Onion, Sourdough Crisp or, Arancini, Truffle, Mushroom Caponata. I tried both options and the Arancini was the clear winner for me.

The golden risotto balls were crisp and light and I couldn’t get enough of the sweet caramelised flavours in the mushroom caponata. The caramel notes in the accompanying sherry paired perfectly with the dish too.

Next came the choice of either BBQ Pork Shoulder, with Fried Mac ‘n’ Cheese and Charred Peppers or, Soft Polenta, Spinach, Celeriac, Gremolata and Hazelnuts.

I chose the Pork Shoulder (paired with a glass of red Les Roches, Beaujolais) and the flavour blew me away. The meat was tender with a subtle smokiness and the puddle of rich jus surrounding it made me want to lick my plate clean.

The Fried Mac and Cheese wasn’t like anything I was expecting either (it was better). Instead of a sticky gooey mess plopped on the side of the plate, the chef had cleverly encased the mac and cheese like a hash brown. The result was a crisp outer and a gooey, cheesy melting centre – heaven!

For the final course, there was just the one option, Peanut Butter Cake with Marshmellow and Plum Jam Ice Cream. It reminded me of a deconstructed arctic roll with the peanut and the marshmallow additions to spice things up. Another divine course, with a perfectly moist light sponge.

I absolutely loved this OctoberBEST menu and I think you will too – so be sure to give it a go.

Which restaurants are part of OctoberBEST?

I’ve popped a full list of participating restaurants below and details of the offers times and how to book can be found at brightonsbestrestaurants.com. Remember, don’t leave it too long to book, as 3 restaurants have already sold out!

I’m pretty tempted to take the week off of work to ensure I can get around as many of the restaurants as possible – but what do you think of the event? Did you go last year? Leave me a comment below and tell me!

And whilst your here, please let me know if you liked this post by clicking on the little heart button below – cheers!