The Insight - Brad Levy
Sam has gone to great lengths to create an overall eating experience which the people of Brighton and Hove should be very grateful for.
7th Heaven
Brad Levy is served three courses fit for a king a Seven Dials
Seven Dials restaurant is housed in a building that was once a bank and then later a branch of a corporate burger joint. The owners have firmly laid to rest the ghosts of the former occupants with tasteful decoration, good music, attentive, friendly staff and some of the best food that I have ever tasted.
Run by Sam Metcalfe, who learned his trade in many top London eateries, Seven Dials is a family business which aims to provide solid modern European cooking utilising the best and freshest ingredients around. Additional flavouring is achieved with herbs taken from their own herb garden (which made my window box look very poor in comparison).
We started the evening with a bottle of Rioja Crianza Marques de Arienzo 1998 at £17.00. Now I don’t know much about wine but I do know that I like a good Rioja and believe me, this was a very good choice. Sweet black cherry and berry fruits with vanilla spice it said on the list and by god, they were right.
When eating out I think you should eat something that you wouldn’t normally have at home so I ordered the Chef’s salad. Nothing unusual there, but this salad consisted of grilled black pudding (flown in from Paris), poached free range eggs and bacon on a bed of salad leaves with dressing. Not very PC but very yummy all the same. Bretton went for an equally naughty Foie Gras Parfait with toasted brioche, red onion marmalade and sauterne jelly (which I obviously had to taste in the interest of a fully rounded review and it was delightful).
Main course was pan roasted, grass fed, Rib-eye of Beef with pesto stuffed plum tomatoes and lyonnaise potatoes which I had to eat half of before I could see the plate. Bretton had an attack of the guilt’s after his starter and so opted for an Asparagus and Grilled Golden Cross Goat Cheese Risotto with roasted wild garlic which was light and fluffy with great flavours.
Pudding was always going to be a struggle after such a feast but between us we thought we should at least try one. So armed with to spoons we proceeded to devour a Raspberry Crème Brulee. I wish we’d had one each now.
The whole meal was extremely good value with an all-in-one price of £23.50 for three courses (or £19.50 for two). The lunch menu costs £10 for two courses or £12.50 for three and the lunchtime menu changes every week (dinner changes every five weeks).
Sam has gone to great lengths to create an overall eating experience which the people of Brighton and Hove should be very grateful for. The fact that the restaurant was only a quarter full on a Thursday evening should make you hang your head in shame. However, with the Brighton food festival around the corner and summer returning rapidly, their outdoor terrace will re-open as of May 1st form 10.30 for breakfasts, lunch and dinner. So you should make amends as soon as possible and pay them a visit.