1909 in Brighton and Hove

First visit here was with my mum in February and then I took my husband last night. I really like it here - the space is great, staff fab and great menu. Fantastic combinations of flavours taking simple fare like lamb and using wonderful marinades and sauces to give unexpected flavours (we ordered another lamb just to make sure!). Then the simplicity of a Poole oyster. I love their cheese and dessert list - one of each shared between the two of us just rounded out a lovely date night. Solid wine list, friendly and dedicated staff.

Interesting and tasty menu. Good service. Great evening! The setting is unusual (above a Shop) so you may think you have gone to the wrong place. Voted as one of the top 20 for brighton. It is also fairly priced too.

From the reception and being taken to the restaurant through the jewellery shop, to the outstanding food and attentive staff - this place is an experience! A Brighton fine dining must!

We braved the snow and visited the restaurant on Thursday, to celebrate our 3 year anniversary. Both my girlfriend and I are in the food industry, so when a new restaurant opens it’s on our radar from the offset. I’d heard nothing but good things about 1909, so we were excited. Don’t expect to go and have a large meal, because this is a small plates restaurant. Go because you want to experience excellent cooking of great quality humble ingredients. I was impressed at how the chefs could take a something like a simple vegetable and showcase it to its true potential. Everything we sampled in the menu was elegant and natural. The desert was sooo good we had to have two of them. Was actually nice to see some chocolate and cream on a dessert in a fine restaurant. The setting was great and very stylish. Definitely great place for a date night! If there was one negative, it would be that they didn’t have enough cocktails. It such a nice setting for relaxing, but maybe their not wanting to be a cocktail bar as well as a quality restaurant.

Why was it a surprise? Well because at first glance there was nothing on the menu that was particularly appealing. Delighted to say everything was really good ( not wild about the organic Chardonnay) , The atmosphere is more sophisticated than 64 degrees , the food not as elaborate and overall I think it is a winning combination. Even better they change the menu every two weeks so we can go back soon .

I wanted a quick bite to eat one weekday afternoon on route to meet some friends and spotted 1909, wanted to try so ventured upstairs through the jewellery shop. Clean and welcoming layout and super friendly staff sat me down and took time explaining the wine list and menu, was absolutely delicious and will return very soon, changing menu gives you an opportunity to constantly try new food.....don’t take my word for it just go....😊👏 Photo doesn’t do justice as I was so eager to get stuck in!!

Great little small-plate restaurant. Sensible prices, every dish was excellent and the chefs were friendly and happy to chat about the dishes they were preparing in front of us. Will definitely be back.

Visited here with a friend for a light lunch and was blown away by the high quality tapas style plates. The staff were really friendly and helpful with how many plates we needed since it was just a snack we wanted and also very informative on what wine to compliment our lunch. Very stylish decor and peaceful ambiance. We just had a lunch here and it was £15 each for one plate and a glass of wine so didn’t break the back. You could visit here just for a snack or go the whole hog for a special celebration. Can’t wait to go back and try the other delicious plates.

Took my friend for a meal at 1909 for her birthday last weekend. Initially slight confusion on how to get in....to enter you need to ring the doorbell of the jewellers to be escorted upstairs to the restaurant. Once upstairs you are transported to the 1920’s think gold opulence with edgy modern twist with a horseshoe shaped marble bar in which the cooking happens. You can sit at the pass or around. Keep a sharp eye for Jay Gatsby. Ha. Welcomed by the waiting staff and chefs alike. Food menu was great, so much so we over ordered so as not to miss out. One slight negative was the wine list, not often we are floored without knowing what to go for. However they manage to turn to a positive, the waitress was very knowledgable and helped us select a couple which we loved and meant we tried something new. All in all 1909 leapfrogged right to the top of the Brighton and Hove leaderboard knocking off another popular ‘Small plate’ restaurant that had been top for so long. Great work. We’ll be back soon!

10/10 for food ! Excellent menu with great choices , wine list equally as good . Apparently menu changes every two weeks so looking forward to next time

A new small plate venue and very welcome too. Star for me at least was the pheasant but the black lentils close behind. A serious love of yoghurt is perhaps required but all of the plates we tried, all but the oysters, which by the way looked very generous, and the onion plate were very tasty indeed. We did not really explore the wine quaffing only the lowest price red. What was a little on the unusual side is ringing the door bell to get entry via a jewellers shop, but it caused no problems.

We had a selection of small plates between four of us. Really enjoyed the experience. Food was innovative, well thought out and tasty. One crisisism is they could do with a stronger extraction system, came home smelling of cooking fumes.

This is not for the masses, it's a gem of a venue tucked away from prying eyes and obvious passing trade. If you are interested in a culinary journey thru a myriad of small plates best enjoyed in a sharing experience, you'll have to go far to beat the team at 1909. Let them lead you thru an interesting cocktail list and some carefully selected wines to match or challenge your palate - whatever's your fancy. Take time to engage with the team and be sure to squeeze in an E&T whether to start or end the journey.

We had an incredible night with lots of friends and family. The food, drinks and staff were fantastic. Very accommodating staff, with excellent attention to glasses getting empty and kept the food coming. Four brilliant courses of sharing plates between two. Really social venue with unique setting arriving and leaving through the jewellers downstairs. We were a large group and we would highly recommend a night out here or a private event like ours. Thanks very much.

Smashing food, great people and fantastic drinks. Tom, Jon and Jake all excels in what they do and just the wine alone is worth a visit. Splendid simplicity is what you all should eat right now