Brighton’s award-winning, ‘Great British Menu’ winner, and chef/proprietor of my personal favourite Brighton restaurant (64 degrees), Michael Bremner, has opened a new, additional, restaurant called Murmur.  Named after the spectacular murmurations of starlings, which take place just before sunset over Brighton Pier throughout the winter months, you will indeed be able to watch the starlings from the new site. Murmur occupies two of the newly restored Victorian arches under King’s Road (Brighton seafront), a stone’s throw from the brilliant i360 observation tower, which opened a year ago.

When I heard plans for the new restaurant a few months back, it was being marketed as ‘more family friendly and accessible’ than 64 degrees, which is notoriously hard to get a table at.  I feared that would mean they would offer things like ‘egg, chips and beans’, but I was relieved when I looked at the menu and found it to be similar to the type of fayre at 64 degrees (i.e. very inviting), but served in normal restaurant portions, rather than the smaller plates at 64 degrees. So I promptly decided to eat there the next day.

Although it’s bigger than 64 degrees, it’s still a small, intimate restaurant. Half its tables are on the patio outside, so al fresco dining will be a big feature throughout the year, come rain, wind or shine (!).  Inside it’s all very new, with comfortable and colourful metal chairs and solid white topped non-wobbly tables, without table cloths, and white walls with dark wood trimmings.  There’s a small bar area with three stools, presumably where you can wait if your table isn’t ready.

The menu is assuringly short, with six starters ranging between £7.50 and £10.50, most of them £8, six mains from £12.50 to £18 and four desserts from £6.50 to £9.50.

I chose the ‘Fish Soup’ to start. It had good deep flavour, but it wasn’t rich and heavy. I usually prefer some cream or a rouille in my fish soups, but this healthier bowl was spot on. Within the soup were morsels of grey mullet, three petite, perfectly prepped mussels and three absolutely superb clams; plump, sweet and juicy – all landed at nearby Newhaven. Two additional small bowls were provided: one for the shells and one with lemon and water to clean one’s fingers. A further plate brought ‘flint owl’ sourdough oozing in garlic butter. 8/10

My partner Mr. A had ‘Kokoda’, a ceviche type dish of raw grey mullet marinated in lime juice and coconut milk, which tasted good, but IMHO it would have been better with a lighter, softer fish such as plaice or brill.

For main the main course we both chose the ‘Ox Tongue’, hoping it would be similar to Chef Bremner’s winning GB Menu banquet-winning dish. The large slice of super-tender tongue had a sweet glaze, like that dish, but the accompaniments differed: this time it came with a circle of ultra-smooth pomme puree with bone marrow (less pretentious than me, they called it ‘mash’), a watercress salad and slices of beautifully pickled shallot, which expertly cut through the richness of the meat and marrow.  For me the salad lacked seasoning, so I asked for some salt, despite being embarrassed to do so, because it sometimes irritates chefs.  It was a good wholesome dish of comfort food cuddles. 8.5/10

As a consequence of my stomach problems, I was full up by this stage, so we declined a dessert. I was even too full to finish our mineral water and wine, and the restaurant’s licence doesn’t allow alcohol to be taken away.  On the subject of wine, I had asked our waiter to commend a red which would go well with our Ox Tongue. Against my better judgement we took his suggestion of a Litoral Pinot Noir at £33. It was a nice smooth wine, but I found it too light to match with the rich, heavy beef. Perfect for lunchtime drinking, but I would always prefer a fuller bodied cab sauv, Rioja, or suchlike for a dinner of red meat.  Maybe the waiters’ wine suggestions will improve over time.  However, I should mention that the restaurant manager, Erwan, is superb at his job, with great food knowledge and a very warm and friendly personality.  At the end of our meal his deputy, Brad, who served our table, got Michael Bremner to step out of the open kitchen to have a photo and short chat with me.

Murmur is a very pleasing addition to Brighton’s lauded dining scene. New staff will embed themselves in the culture soon enough, and several other kitchen and front of house staff have moved over from 64 degrees (including Head Chef,Josh), so the skills are all in place. Total price for 2 courses, wine and water, and service, for two was £96.19, which seemed pretty fair to me.  My overall score is 8/10

2nd visit – Lunch, 12 August 2017. Pleased with our first visit, and finding ourselves in the unusual situation of having free time on a Saturday, with the sun shining and armed with the knowledge they keep tables for ‘walk-ups’, ‘A’ and I decided to return to Murmur for a late lunch at 4pm.  It was pretty busy, but we were offered tables inside or out, and we chose the latter as it was a lovely afternoon. (Their patio umbrellas were very useful in shading us from the strong August sunshine.)

Before we even sat down I asked our waitress for half a dozen ‘Poole Bay Oysters with shallot vinegar’ “while we are studying the menu”.  After 20 minutes there was still no sign of them, yet the table next to us which arrived after us had oysters served to them, so I asked the waitress.  Apologising, she said our starters were actually ready, so she double checked if we still wanted the oysters, and said they would re-do our starters, to follow afterwards.  When the oysters came they smelled of the ocean wonderfully; so fresh, but disappointingly they weren’t chilled, nor were they served with shallot or vinegar, instead they had a tiny sliver of seaweed and a dash of olive oil anthem! Olive oil on an oyster??!
Although the oysters were very plump and fresh (maybe too plump?), this was not what I had ordered, and was not delivered at the time I expected it, so a very low score of 3/10
At the end of the meal when I gave feedback to Brad, the front of house manager, he said he would comp them, which he did, saving us the £14 charge.  No-one told us the reason for the cock-up, though it must have been down to the waitress not placing the order in the first place. Once again, a ‘training’ issue for the new staff, which will hopefully improve.

I started with ‘Ham Hock’, a generous portion of a terrine served with ‘house chutney’ and ‘flint owl toast’. The chutney was good, with flavoursome summer tomatoes, and the toast was good, but more than one slice was needed, given he size of the terrine portion. The terrine contained deliciously cooked ham with lots of flavour, and cornichons to cut the richness, but overall I found it a touch too moist. £8 6/10
‘A’ had the ‘Short Rib Skewers’ (£8) which looked good, but there was no logic for the presence of the skewers in the two cubes of tender beef.

 

 

 

 

 

My main course was ‘Cod’ (£17). A very well, but not perfectly, cooked tranche of fresh cod, sitting on top of braised butter beans alongside some petite steamed mussels, with a divine parsley and dill beurre blanc which really made the dish sing. Sometimes I can be left longing for a few potatoes, but the beans really were the only carbs needed to balance this dish. 8/10
‘A’ had ‘Fish of the Day’, a whole-grilled lemon sole (£17), which the waiter offered to fillet at the table, but ‘A’ declined, as he likes doing that bit himself.

Neither of us wanted a dessert, so we ordered double espressi. When they were delivered they looked so small that I exclaimed “gosh are they doubles? How small are singles?” and the waitress initially said “yes they are doubles” before correcting herself and going to get us proper doubles. Another new restaurant training point.

With a comfortably relaxed service in the sunshine and generally good food, we had a lovely late lunch experience at Murmur. I had chosen a bottle of a “natural” Viognier from South Africa (£40) which was very nice and extremely interesting: it was rich yet acidic and fruity yet flinty.
Total bill for 2 people having two courses, mineral water, one bottle of wine and two coffees, and service, was £106.88. My overall score is a somewhat disappointing 6/10 even though we had a good lunch, which is due to the waitress errors.  I shall go again soon, but I might give it a couple of weeks for the new staff to become better at their work.  It was good though, that Brad acknowledged this (the entry on the bill for the comp’d oysters gave “training” as the reason for the discount).

3rd visit, Lunch 16 August 2017

OK now they think I’m stalking them, after my third visit in 8 days!

I had a mate visiting with his young twin girls and it was another gloriously sunny day in Brighton, so why not go and test the ‘family friendliness’ of Murmur?  First off I phoned to check that they did a kid’s menu, then we strolled down to be seated at about 4pm, on their lovely sunny shore-facing patio out front.  The five of us chose to sit at a table for four, despite the waiter offering to move two such tables together.  We were immediately told what was available for kids (tomato pasta or fish, though their choice will be expanding soon) and were amazed when told these dishes were free!  The same happened somewhere else last night, so maybe this is a regular treat for families, which I’ve never been aware of, and I’ve been subsidising their offspring for years without knowing it! (LOL).

As a consequence of my stomach problems, I chose to have just three starters, which the waitress handled without batting an eye, even asking me when I wanted each dish served to me, in relation to the others’ normal starter/main/dessert choices. 10/10 for service

My first starter was the ‘Fish Soup’ I had enjoyed the previous week, at £7.50. It was still packed with fresh fish flavours, but seemed a little darker in colour and maybe richer than last time. Maybe this was something to do with chef/proprietor Michael Bremner being in the kitchen this time, or maybe it was just because everything is made fresh each day. The ‘Flint Owl’ toast was good, but not oozing in garlic butter this time, which was a minor disappointment. 8.5/10

Next up was ‘Tomato Salad’ at £7.50, which came as roughly four different marinated heritage tomatoes of differing colours, accented by a kale pesto and topped with a generous dollop of stracciatella cheese which was like a rich and creamy burrata.  This was a truly delicious, flavoursome, nutritious dish for a summer’s day. 9/10
I forgot to take a photo until half way through the dish; please excuse me, but sometimes food is just more tempting to eat than to stop and get the camera out!

My third starter, served when the others had their main courses, was ‘Tagliatelle’, which, at £10.50, was the highest price starter. WOW!!! Wide ribbons of home made pasta held a sous-vide egg yolk, with everything covered in shaved black truffle and parmesan; it was divine. My eyes could have eaten another portion, but my stomach began to tell me I was full.  My previous visits to Murmur have highlighted some ’new staff errors’, but this visit was almost perfect: the waitress only forgot to give me a spoon to help me eat this dish.  9/10

BTW the kids’ pasta in tomato sauce, with freshly grated parmesan looked and smelled great, and the kids liked it and ate it all up.

We had a bottle of Blu sparkling water and a bottle of the Viognier I had enjoyed last time.  I can’t tell you the final bill, because my mate took care of it.

It was a really lovely lunch, eating fresh, nutritious, good quality food in the August sunshine by the seaside. This is my new favourite place.  Overall score 9/10