I tend not to watch Masterchef on TV these days because there just aren’t enough shots of actual cooking going on, and I hate that voice-over lady’s voice and the patronising things she says. But back in 2013 I really enjoyed Masterchef – The Professionals, which was won by Steven Edwards. At that time Steven worked at South Lodge Hotel, though not in it’s Michelin starred restaurant ‘The Pass’. More than with any other contestant before or since, I really felt Steven’s cuisine skills and creativity were excellent, and I looked forward to the day I could try his food.

Etch only offers tasting menus; 4 or 6 courses on Wednesday and Thursday evenings and Saturday lunch, and 6 or 8 courses on Friday and Saturday evenings. Prices are £40, £50 and £60 for 4, 6 or 8 courses. That’s what it says on their website etchfood.co.uk but we ended up having 8 courses on a Thursday, at £65, plus only £35 for the wine flight of seven glasses, making a nice round hundred. The restaurant is in Hove, not far from the invisible border with Brighton, in a converted pub. So it has good high ceilings but it’s definitely not a stuffy cathedral to fine dining: cool street art prints by Brighton artist Pure Evil are on the walls and the tables don’t have tablecloths. As you enter you face a bar area and behind it a good sized open kitchen. Seating is around the edges, either in booths in the bay windows (best choice), or on tables in the central floorspace.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you don’t like reading about toilets, skip to the next paragraph now. Before eating I popped to the toilets, down some stairs from the dining room, and I was amazed and super-impressed that they have Japanese lavs – think warmed seats, water jets and warm air driers!  And the room is nicely designed, clean and has real hand towels and good quality toiletries. And on the way back I had a quick chat with chef/proprietor Steven Edwards himself, who told me the lavs are sponsored by a local bathroom shop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

First to the table were ‘snacks’, a term used more often these days instead of ‘amuse bouches’ or ‘canapés’. They were totally amazing! 10/10
‘cheese and onion’ was a small cheesy biscuit with onion cream cheese, and then there was a ‘mushroom donut’. The cheese biscuit was of the highest quality. I’m not sure why, but the rich flavour actually brought back a memory of being in the kitchens at Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, which is about the highest praise I can give to food. The donut was lovely too, with a comforting flavour of truffle.

We were also served mini marmite brioches with a pat of seaweed butter, served on a slice of tree trunk. Both the marmite and the seaweed flavours were quite subtle and I found the brioche a little light, but visually this was a terrific way to serve bread 8/10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The first proper course was ‘beetroot.horseradish’ which was a cold beetroot soup with a horseradish ice cream quenelle, and gingerbread croutons. The soup was smooth, sweet, only mildly earthy, and well balanced, and the ice cream wasn’t overtly wasabi hot, and worked well with the beetroot. 9.5/10
The accompanying wine was an Austrian gruener veltliner, which was pretty light without being impotent.

The second course was ‘bream.artichoke’.  The line-caught bream tasted so fresh and it was cooked to perfection, with crispy skin and flakey flesh. The artichoke came in the form of chips, a puree, pickled and griddled.  A few dashes of basil oil added zing. It was a good, very flavoursome dish, but I felt maybe more fish or less artichoke would have created a better balance. 8/10 A glass of 2015 Pecorino was served with this fish course, which was very light in flavour and weak in aroma.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next up came ‘beef.kohlrabi’; the former presenting as a shin croquet and a sirloin tartare, and the latter as a puree and pickled and griddled (which was superb). I found the croquet a little dry and underseasoned, but it tasted great with the puree, and I thought the tartare was a little chewy (I always prefer fillet in a tartare). 8/10  With the beef we had a glass of Passo Doble 2014, which I thought was the best wine so far. It was like a pinot noir – light yet punchy.

The fourth course was like a summer veg palate cleanser: ‘pea.mint’. There was a mint pana cotta, crushed peas, pea shoots and a lovely rochet of creme fraiche. It packed lovely summer flavours, but I felt it needed more of the croutons, which added desperately needed texture to the otherwise soft food. 7/10  The accompanying wine was a French 2015 pinot noir, served slightly chilled, which was pleasant, but not as nice as the previous Argentinian red.  But by this time I was getting a little tipsy, because we were being served decent sized glasses of wine with each course. I applaud this strategy; it’s so much more fun than the measly splashes one usually gets in “wine flights”!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Course five was a belter! ‘scallop.cuttlefish’ comprised two moist and plump scallops dusted with powdered scallop roe, sitting atop orzo cooked in cuttlefish stock, served with an ink tapioca crisp 9.5/10 a very tasty, imaginative and well executed dish. With it we enjoyed a 2016 Australian Riesling, which partnered everything excellently.

Our final savoury course was ‘guinea hen.lettuce’. I think I prefer the term ‘hen’ to ‘fowl’ on a menu, so hat’s off to them for straying away from the norm.  Both the hen’s breast meat and rolled leg were moist and full of flavour, the skin was crisp and there was a terrific jus. There was also a bright white snow, referred to by the waiter as a ‘guinea crumb’, which I didn’t get at all. The lettuce was charred and very good. 8/10. After drinking the accompanying 2015 Fluerie, which seemed quite light, I declared myself well inebriated!

Dessert No.1 was ‘chocolate.malt’, which was a quenelle of good strong flavour-packed chocolate mousse, so packed with chocolate that it could have been a ganache,  sitting alongside a delicious quenelle of malt ice cream. An impressively thin tuille dusted with Oriol crumbs gave the dish texture. 8/10

At this stage my chronic abdominal problems decided I was completely full, so we asked for the bill. They very kindly put our final dessert, ‘fig.blackberry’ in a box for us to take away. And as we were missing out on the gewuerztraminer to be served with it, they made an adjustment to my bill, which came to £229.90 all in, with water and service.  That might seem a hefty price for a meal for two, midweek, in Hove, but I really felt it had been worthwhile and value for money, as we’d had a great meal full of flavour and skilled cheffy techniques, and a lot of wine!

Overall 9/10 Etch is a place I will definitely be keen to return to!

UPDATE: Mr A and I returned for dinner on 20th January 2018 and once again we had a very enjoyable meal with wine flight. This was a private meal, where I didn’t take notes or photos, or make scores. But I can confirm this is still a place I would strongly recommend if you’re looking for a very fine meal in Brighton & Hove.