When I lived in central Brighton I was a regular visitor to 64 Degrees, a tiny restaurant in The Laines run by Great British Menu champion Micheal Bremner. 64 Degrees used to offer an a la carte menu of small plates, for sharing, covering cutting edge British cuisine and techniques across meat, fish and vegetables.  Covid restrictions were a big hit to 64 Degrees which has led the small restaurant to make some significant changes, the most significant of which is that they now only offer an 8 course seasonal tasting menu (plus snacks), at £85/person.  Mr A and I went for dinner one Thursday night in November 2021, before which I referred back to my blogs from my previous visits and was amazed to see that we hadn’t been to 64 Degrees for four years.

When we arrived for our 6.30pm reservation we had to wait a few moments to be seated because the Front of House Manager was busy with another customer.  I soon realised that, along with a reduction in capacity, the restaurant has reduced its headcount – just one front of house, three in the kitchen, and one KP.  With just 3 covers there before us we had a choice between sitting at the counter or at a table.  And at the counter I noticed some new, more comfortable plush stools than on my last visit.  All of the staff were new faces, to me, but I quickly gathered they were pretty experienced and professional.

BTW I chose to have the wine flight for a very reasonable £55, Mr A was driving.  Our dinner began with three “snacks” served individually. First up was a small dish of ham hock topped with a grey charcoal cheddar foam, which in turn was topped by toasted seeds and a few chives.  There was awesome flavour from a relatively small portion of ham hock, the cheesy foam was like a warm duvet to snuggle up in and the seeds brought texture and nutty flavours.  I loved it 9.5/10 but I don’t know what benefit the charcoal brought to the party; if anything the grey colour detracted from the aesthetic.

The second snack was octopus carpaccio – ultra thin slices of octopus, with black garlic and pickled green chilli. Although it was a tiny tiny portion, this snack was light, with a yummy garlic flavour and a kick form the chilli. 9/10

Our third and final snack was shown on the menu as “Squirrel, walnut” and when the chef served it to us I assumed he was joking when he said “squirrel”, but he wasn’t – this was a croquette of moist squirrel meat, topped with smoked mayo and a slice of pickled walnut.  It was pleasant with mild game flavour. The chef told us they get the squirrel from a butcher, and the next day my local forager friend told me the squirrels are farmed because the eating of wild squirrel is not recommended.  I’m scoring 10/10 for bravery and innovation.

The first course proper was a squid ink bao bun containing eel, sitting on a plate above a bowl of pumpkin soup. The bun was really delicious (9/10) and the soup was creamy and velvety, with toasted pumpkin seeds adding texture and nuttiness (8.5/10).

Course two was a deliciously sweet pan fired Orkney scallop with a sharp carrot and ginger sauce, which worked well together. 9.5/10

Next came a rabbit roulade in a side rabbit broth, which I forgot to photograph, but which was very interesting, novel and tasty. 9/10. By this point we had been in the restaurant one hour.

Our next course was Rotolo, rolled pasta with cavalo nero and pine nuts with a confit egg yolk on top and a cavalo nero and spinach sauce.  This was the only carb dish of the meal and I found it nice, but not ‘stand-out’ and I’m not clear what benefit the egg yolk brought to the dish. 7/10

The menu offered a choice of dishes for the next two main courses, so Mr A and I just ordered each plate to share. The first one was Iberico ham cheek with burnt apple, hazelnuts and celeriac topped with lardo. This was a tasty dish, but it had gone cold. 7/10

Then we shared a dish of sea bass in a red curry foam with a delicate crab dumpling, which had beautiful light Thai flavours and deliciously fresh fish. 8.5/10

Our second shared fish main curse was Halibut with salsify and leeks in a smoked chowder sauce, which was light, fresh and flavoursome. 9/10

For our final savoury dish Mr A and I shared beef fillet and sweetbread with cauliflower, yeast and grated truffle and a truffle jus. This was really good, especially the sweetbread. 9.5/10

We skipped an optional cheese course because we were quite full. Our first dessert of “grape, olive oil, meringue” was a very small portion, so in effect it was a ‘pre-dessert’. Although there wasn’t much of it, the balance of flavours between the sweet meringue and a refreshing verjus ice was spot on. 8/10

Our final plate was a dessert of apple and hazelnut with a salted caramel ice cream, which was fine but not special. 7/10

Overall we had a very enjoyable meal and it felt good to be back at 64 Degrees after so long. The tasting menu was very good and terrific value compared to other restaurants I visit, especially in London. And the wine flight was also great value, for the variety, quality and quantity of the wines we received.  My only regret was that we didn’t see many vegetable-focussed dishes, which used to be some of the most interesting dishes served here.  My total bill for two came to £287.16. 9/10