Lunch Review: The Coal Shed

SBT’s Lee Mansfield takes a client to The Coal Shed in Brighton for a long business lunch…

Brighton hosts a hugely diverse range of eating options, some more appropriate for business meetings and others appropriate for a leisurely lunch with friends or family. The Coal Shed, I believe, meets both worlds in the middle, offering an extremely high level of service akin to a businessperson’s needs, with a menu, atmosphere and price range that would meet most food-lovers’ requirements: mid-range but affordable and very good value.

The décor in The Coal Shed is modern and slick, incorporating an ideal level of colour and lighting to make the customer feel at ease and amply excited by the environment and subsequent dining atmosphere. My guest and I were sat at a window seat, ideally located so that we could have, what felt like our own private view whilst still feeling included in the bustle of the lunch time period – although I must say, it felt quite quiet when we arrived, but soon picked up.

For starters, we began with a BBQ Jacobs Ladder for me, and Tuna for my guest. The Jacobs Ladder included pork ribs slowly and magnificently cooked in a sticky smoked sauce, and the Tuna came with passion fruit, avocado and cucumber. The ribs were extremely succulent and juicy. I could easily have eaten this as a main course. The meat fell off the bone and left me just full enough but still wanting more.

Upon looking at the menu, it only seemed right to splash out on a sharing platter, so we chose the Bone in Prime Rib Sharing Steak. The meat, we were informed, was dry-aged for a minimum of 35 days and cut from the finest Scottish cattle, reared in the North Highlands. This came with our choice of sides: roasted garlic cloves, creamed spinach, fries (or ‘dripping chips’) and garlic mushrooms. Without exaggerating, this meal was absolutely huge, and unfortunately far too much for even both of us to get through. The meat, however, was perfectly cooked at the requested medium rare, and the sides were absolutely delicious, complementing the meat perfectly and at ideal side portion sizes, so that we didn’t over indulge. This was clearly well thought through, but was simply immense in size.

Not surprisingly, we had no room for sweets. However, we did order a cheese board for the both of us to share, which included a good range of cheeses, all very flavoursome and ideal for finishing the meal off as well as complementing the last drops of our bottle of wine.

The staff were extremely helpful and undeniably knowledgeable about the food on offer: how the meat was cooked, what was included in the dish and the recipe itself, what wine complemented our orders most and, most importantly, how to treat a customer. Being in The Coal Shed for as long as we were – which ended up being most of the afternoon – we felt welcome and relaxed, and treated well, with respect for our timings and privacy. This is certainly top of my list for restaurants in Brighton, and I would thoroughly recommend it for any occasion – in particular a business lunch or dinner.

Book through info@coalshed-restaurant.co.uk or call on 01273 322 998

 

The Coal Shed, Brighton 

Address: 8 Boyce’s St, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 1AN

Telephone: 01273 322998

Email: info@coalshed-restaurant.co.uk

Web: www.coalshed-restaurant.co.uk