Hotel Du Vin & Bistro in Brighton and Hove

Such a great ambiance. Came here for dinner tonight and had the steak tartare and my friend had a light bite of the foccacia. Both very tasty and delicious. Our server was very pleasant. Will come back here again!

Arrived for our reservation a little early so had a few drinks in the bar. Was greeted by the kind, warm hearted humorous soul that is Kim who took care of us wonderfully for our stay in the restaurant. Food was brilliant and selection of drinks (especially whiskey) was amazing. The only reason this isn't a full 5 star review is that I found that the bar staff were very singularly focused and not necessarily on customers. Both myself and the table next to ours tried and failed a number of times to get someone's attention only to be ignored as the staff walked by. It was only an errant member of the restaurant team who managed to get their attention on our behalf. Otherwise enjoyable and wholesome experience, a very big part of this being our server Kim and we will be back in future.

Pretty good for a drop in meal. Will return for sure.

This was going to be a special occasion and we were really looking forward to treating a friend to a luxury afternoon tea experience which is why we chose this restaurant. Firstly, the service was excellent we were treated courteously and our every need catered for. However the big let down was the actual afternoon tea. Horrible dry sandwiches that had obviously been left open to the air and gone dry. A strange sloppy wet concoction in a mini brioche burger bun and hard dry crispy scones. We were disappointed and a little embarrassed and certainly won't be going back again.

Such a lovely building and a wide varied menu. The staff were amazing (especially the waitress that went to the same school as me- I’m 29 years older!) I have tried to cook their petit pois a la Francais at home but nothing like theirs. Highly recommended.

Room was small but quaint,perfect for couple of days stay. Breakfast very good and cooked to order . Literally 2 min walk to beach

My top choice for afternoon tea in Brighton. This vintage hotel offers a beautiful seating area, perfect for a delightful afternoon tea experience. I suggest visiting in the morning to relish the serene ambiance, and you'll find it pleasantly uncrowded. Plus, the prices are more reasonable than London's upscale afternoon tea options.

We had a lovely time at Bistro du Vin. Not only were our meals delicious the service from our waitress and server was outstanding. We’ve been to Paris, London and Brighton on this holiday and the service from Agata and Ashton surpassed anything else we’ve had on our trip. Agata was attentive, friendly, professional and made great recommendations (the roasted carrot main fish was unique and delicious). She appeared to be waiting on many tables tonight and made every effort to check on us continually. The crime brûlée, salad, French onion soup, pomme fruits, cocktails were all great. If you’re in Brighton, this is worth a stop. Thanks, Agata and Ashton for making our last meal before we leave memorable.

The service is poor Nobody offer the menu You have to go to the bar account . Every single time They forgot about the drinks and about us as well. Never go back .

We attended a celebration dinner last night with 50+ others and we were seriously impressed by the professionalism of the staff throughout. The kitchen performed flawlessly: I mentioned a main course preference to one of our waiters and to my surprise they were able to accommodate me - very hard to do with such a large party. The food was excellent and everyone had a most enjoyable evening.

Not at all what I expected. I booked online and requested a bottle of champagne to be ready for me and my partner upon arrival, however this didn't come until about 20 minutes later. The whole point of the champagne was to be a special surprise and set the mood, so we sent it back at this point. We noticed the young server bring the wrong dish to several tables so weren't at all surprised when we were brought haricot vert opposed to the petis pois we ordered. They did give this to us 'on the house' but having something on the house that you didn't order because you didn't want it is slightly redundant. The atmosphere wasn't ideal. The place was half empty with the only soundtrack screaming children. It also seemed significantly under staffed with only 3 people working on a Friday night, it took at least 15 minutes for the head server to come over and explain the menu to us. Not at all what I expected from a restaurant of this price. The food itself received mixed reviews from my partner and I. Everything was delicious bar the fishcake I ordered, which was under seasoned and dry even when accompanied with the sorrel sauce. The fougasse, french onion soup, fillet steak, and petit pois were all delicious so maybe I just ordered the wrong thing. If I could give 4.5 stars for the food, I would. Overall I wouldn't return to this restaurant, nor would I recommend it. I think it's rather dated, and cannot compete with other Brighton spots of the same price on atmosphere, service, or food. Upon reflection, (and reading other reviews here), I wonder why I even booked here and think I relied far too much on an assumption that a restaurant charging this much would be a decent restaurant, however Bistro du Vin has proved this is far from the truth.

A great meal - served by kindly staff. In the comfortable air-conditioned dining room I had a simple smoked salmon starter and then a beautifully cooked sole. Polished off with a cafe gourmand - I’ll let you find out. Wines by the glass are good and reasonably priced - including the dessert wines. This one is for well executed French influenced cooking - not fancy pants, just well done. Enjoy, I did.

I booked a dinner reservation online for 18.04.23. One hour after the booking was made, I received a further email confirming my reservation was cancelled. I attempted to call the restaurant to find out what had happened, but no one picked up the phone. I send the hotel a message via Facebook. It was read but no one could be bothered to help / answer my question. I've booked elsewhere and would not hesitate in not recommending this restaurant to others. Disappointed.

We were staying in the hotel for a couple of nights and the restaurant looked inviting so we popped in. We had a great time. I had tiger prawns for a starter and might have liked more chili heat but they were well cooked and presented. Then I had a splendid sole meunière, beurre noisette, and pommes frites. We ended up with a fun pairing of three cheeses and three glasses of fine ports. It's a lovely, very comfortable room and the service was warm, effective, and polite. Very happy to recommend.

Salt salt salt salt. Started with cocktails in the bar (with the kids). Plus - the margarita was delicious. Negative - I'm fairly sure our waitress had been in the pub all afternoon/was struggling from the night before. We had to repeat our order many times, then she got it wrong and gave us the wrong cocktails. The food in the bistro was fine. The monkfish was delicious, the green beans were overcooked, the steak was (according to my 12 y/o) a 7/10. The food was insanely salty. The wine was amazing, and the staff were generally good although it took a long time to pay. For 4 of us, (3 eating off the main menu plus 1 kids menu, only 2 courses) it was nearly £300. Which is what you'd expect for a nice restaurant, but the food just wasn't that amazing. Good quality pub food, with posh restaurant prices.

I have previously berated this restaurant BUT boy! have I changed my mind today.Joe Carter arranged a lunch for us that was outstanding-French onion soup(a delight with a thick layer of melted cheese on top,it was aesthetically outstanding as well as tasting great,monkfish and creme brulee.Daisy the waitress is brilliant and Owen cute as a button. We will now return to stay in the Cristal Signature suite and eat at The Bistro,not The Ivy. Thank you,Joe. Pam Munday-Chanin

Ham hock terrine-3 different temperatures,coleslaw really cold,toast warm and terrine room temperature The chicken was supposed to be an escalope but had a bone in it BUT the salt was overwhelming(my husband's meal was also oversalted)I could not eat it They refunded the cost Diego on reception saved the day He is charm personified The breakfast was however very good.

Came on new year's day with my partner as a treat. We were waiting for this special moment together and we were looking forward to it! We came here quite a few times and seemed like they changed the menu for new year's day occasion. Everything was absolutely outstanding! The service was impeccable! Our server was Pablo and recommended us really good paired wines to go on with our menu choices. Excellent waiter! The atmosphere was lovely. Definitely coming back soon with the kids!

Booked for my husband's 50th birthday. The restaurant was inviting, cosy and atmospheric. The starter and mains were excellent and there was a great selection of drinks on the menu. However, I was disappointed by our puddings. y pudding was a bit dry and the crème brûlée was disappointing. As a classic French dessert it is usually served cold, with a warm top. Crème brûlée is best served right after torching. This is the reason for 4 stars.

Did not live up to expectations… e.g. food, cocktails, and service.

Best roast dinner I’ve had in ages. Service was brilliant, friendly and attentive- great ambiance in restaurant. Really accommodating with my new born.

Good food, big portion and excellent service. Thank you

Spent Saturday at the Bistro, it had been a while since we visited. Champagne at the bar followed by dinner in the restaurant. Everyone was great and friendly, our server Jack H could see that we were chatting and so gave us plenty of time, menu explained and great service. Seabass and Chicken got the big thumbs up. Will be back.

Not what it used to be for Sunday lunch, there used to be a captains table of cold meats and sea food and cheeses. The Sunday roast is OK but they need to pour the gravy in a gravy boat, we got ours drowned in gravy which I hate.

My husband and I were so looking forward to a rare night off and away from our young children so couldn’t wait to visit Hotel du Vin for the first time together. Arrived and staff were all friendly and food was good but drinks were so late they didn’t arrive until after we had eaten each course and I had to ask for some tap water 3 times before some finally appeared. My husband’s drink finally arrived a while after mine and was wrong as the drink he ordered was out of stock but the bar failed to tell us or ask if the alternative was acceptable. Still charged us the full rate for everything however. A shame because if the service re the drinks hadn’t of been so bad it would have been a perfect evening.

Splendidly romantic ambience and wonderful service from Jack and team. Wonderful waiters. Amazing menu and fab house rose as well.

The cocktail bar and restaurant feel suitably upmarket and service is great. For the price the food is amazing. Step up from Gastro pub. Hot on the heels of some much more expensive Michelin starred restaurants.

We stayed in a cosy room and it was lovely and clean and the bed was very comfortable.The food was outstanding and all the staff are amazing ,couldn’t do enough to make our stay any better.will definitely stay again.

We arrived at the hotel, very slow at reception. We were shown upstairs, downstairs, round corners, along corridors, though swinging doors and finally to our room (the place is a maze and no for anyone with a disability. Our room had a strong stench of urine. I spoke to reception and was told they would spray a little air freshener?? And open the windows?? I asked for but was not given a change of room. As we were far from home, we had no choice but to stay. But we had to close the windows, as the room looked out over a very noisy street, with noise into the early hours. Even with the single glazed windows shut, it was still atrocious. The following morning I told reception again about the smell of urine. This time I was told we would be given a new room. We were asked to clear our room out, but our new room wasn't ready until later that evening! So we were left without a room for several hours! The second room smelled of smoke and damp. A vast improvement on urine, but still not great. We also ate in the restaurant, the food was dreadful. Everything was clumsy, flavours didn't work, overcooked. Not good. I wouldn't recommend this hotel on any level, sadly. Oh, and as an added bonus, on checkout they slapped an extra £60 for our small child's pull out bed! I had booked online, entered "3" people into the details, and books this room. Nowhere on any email did I receive any mention of extra charges. I showed this to reception but they were having none of it! Forced to pay in order to leave. Awful. Will NEVER go back and don't recommend!

This place has gone down hill. The lighting is all wrong, zero ambience. Food is distinctly average. The most disappointing starter I have had in a long while - how do you grate a soft boiled egg??? I mean really? Used to be good, now not good, go elsewhere.

Really nice Restaurant in the lanes. Lovely ambiance and great food. Service is vey good with food presented beautifully. Menu choice is good with a good selection plus specials dish of the day. Came here with my daughter for her birthday meal and we were both very impressed.

We are staying in the Hotel du Vin and, as usual, we had our first night's meal in the hotel's restaurant, the Bistro du Vin. We've stayed in the hotel chain elsewhere, so had an idea of the high standard to expect from their restaurant, and we did indeed find it here. The restaurant was bright and airy, and the service was delivered professionally by friendly staff. Covid restrictions were being lifted around the time of our visit, but staff still had face masks on, One of the specials on offer was Lemon Sole, and before I had the chance to ask if I could have it 'off the bone', that option was given to me. I was also advised of the side dishes that were available, so I felt fully informed about my choices without having to ask, Overall, this is, as you would expect, an excellent restaurant for professional service and tasty food.

This was the meal I was most looking forward to in Brighton and it was the worst. My prawns were clearly frozen as the centre of them was soggy(at the sea side!!!). My main course of frisee au lardons had so little bacon in it...

Came here for dinner with 4 friends this week and had a lovely meal. Service was excellent – polite, friendly, knowledgeable and attentive. The menu offered a good selection of options and the food was extremely tasty. The Chateaubriand was particularly well executed and their...

Went for Sunday Lunch, great food and service, lovely choice, ended up staying on for cocktails !! Look forward to going again.

One of my guests found a large coaster sized plastic label in the middle of her burger meat. Another guest found a rubber band under his steak. My steak itself was very much rare despite asking for medium/rare. We only complained about the burger, as...

This restaurant definitely became my favorite in Brighton. Incredible, cozy atmosphere created by a amazing interior. Absolute professional service from smiling and friendly staff. Fantastic food! Congratulations to the chefs! Wonderful collection of wines .. No remarks! Everything is just great! Thank you for beautiful evening!

We are having a drink at the cigar bar after an excellent dinner at hotel du van. From the beginning until the end Benedetto suggested us the best food and drinks, always with a great smile on his face. Highly recommended

Such a lovely dinning experience and the food was amazing. Our waiter George was lovely and made our date night so enjoyable will defiantly visit again

Stopped off here for a few drinks one night whilst taking a stroll around Brighton. We sat outside in the courtyard and ordered our drinks online for the first round of drinks which was easy enough, after this we received table service which was even...

Menu that remains the same for lunch and Dinner - and doesn't change form one month to the next. A couple of "Specials" each night - but went was there they only had one left - a Plaice. Steak Tartar despite being a once regular...

Great hotel in a great location, close to all the sights and the beach. Staff were incredibly friendly and the quiet courtyard is a fantastic place to unwind.

Service very poor, waited 20 minutes for table service for a drink despite going to the bar and asking twice. When in restaurant, menu offers were limited with numerous dishes not available, surprising for 7.30pm on a Thursday. Service again very poor as waiter knew...

Attended an excellent birthday meal here. Food was excellent, the scallops were perfect. Brilliant service by Julia. Recommended

Re-heated scones, hard-stone carrot cakes, asda-bread with low quality salmon and cheep-mayo eggs.... Stomach ache in the evening... For this experience I paid £22.50 + 10% service charge which has been automatically added to my bill. What a horrible experience! I will never bring my...

Just had a wonderful meal at Hotel du Vin bistro in Brighton - superlative service from Harry, who honestly is the best waiter we have had the pleasure of being served by in a long time. From the get go, Harry looked after us with...

After many hours of stressful travelling myself and partner arrived in Brighton, it had been recommended that we go to the hotel du vin. We was hoping to find a peaceful place to enjoy a bottle of wine to wind down after the journey, and...

Great evening had Benedetto as a waiter who was amazing. Funny, attentive and definitely has a sense of humour!! Beautiful food and lovely service. Will definitely be back again.

Food was very tasty. Cant find any fault on the service, Benedetto was amazing, charming, he made our night perfect. My friends were happy I picked this place for our reunion. Will definitely be coming back again. Thanks Benedetto.

Hotel is top class and the beds are super comfy. The rooms are a little warm but better that than freezing. Staff are friendly and helpful and a great selection of drinks. At the bar.

The food was nice but there was no 'WOW factor' so to speak, would not come back in a hurry when there are so many different places to visit in Brighton. However the staff were really nice and the food was not too expensive.

Didn’t eat here, just Pre-lunch drinks. Excellent selection of 26 wines by glass, from £6-11, good quality too but only what is expected of this group. Warm welcome from barman Dewi and Manager Georgia, delicious mixed spicy nuts to keep me going until lunch. Dewi gave me a tasting of the wines he recommended and all were delicious. I will definitely return to try the food.

The staff at the hotel were great, the bar staff and the reception staff were all very welcoming and made us feel at home.The room had it's high and low points - the bathroom was really lovely, great shower room and lovely deep bath, everything you need supplied. The bedroom carpet was very brown, ugly and looked very old which was a shame, it really dated the room and the other things was the breakfast in bed option, it costs £15 - and includes a mere choice of a bowl of cornflakes or granola and a drink - erm - not sure how they can justify that in any universe so we skipped that hahaThe other down point for me was that the bed was oddly shaped - nice and wide but also strangely short? I am 5'7 and couldn't stretch my legs .... it wasn't that comfy to be honest and for the cost of the room I was sad about that.The room did have snacks and a fridge and some other useful things - but you had to pay for anything you had, fair enough I suppose - at least you had the option.We didn't eat in the restaurant so I can't comment on that.Lovely cocktails in the bar which is open all night to guests - we thought that was a nice touch. All in all it was a lovely hotel, well kept, clean and welcoming with a really nice atmosphere but there were just a few shortcomings which would put us off spending that much on a room there again.

Mi familia me sorprendió con una cena de cumpleaños. Este era tan encantador. Servicio atento personal por todo el personal. La comida era deliciosa y abundante. Incluye el menú de Navidad que era deliciosa. Un ambiente muy relajado. No demasiado formal.

Realmente decepcionado con nuestro almuerzo de Navidad para 8 personas.

Cenamos en el restaurante en la última noche de una estancia de dos noches en el Hotel Du Vin. Nos cuidaron muy bien y nuestra camarera LITA no podía haber hecho más para asegurarse de que estábamos contentos con nuestra comida y bebidas. Servicio - gracias tremenda LITA.

Nous avons séjourné 3 nuits dans cet hôtel.La chambre(Gosset)avec vue sur mer était pleine de charme et très cosy, rien ne manquait.

Our staff christmas do was an expensive set menu of two options picked two months in advance. The christmas pudding was burnt and the vegetarian "option" contained meat making both inedible. Frankly, not good enough.

Limited choice on the A la carte menu. We went for the set menu choosing two and not three courses which was expensive for what we had. 3 courses £29. Very disappointing starter and main I wouldn't repeat the experience.

Hotel du Vin, a lovely hotel in the centre of Brighton and only a few seconds from the sea front ,We were greeted by 2 very friendly reception staff and offered an upgrade for a very reasonable £20, the room was lovely up on the 3rd floor, a bit of a hike up the stairs .. but worth it for the very comfortable Big Big bed . Dinner in the restaurant/ Bistro was excellent ,a good selection to meet all our hungry needs,not over priced and served once again by very friendly staff . Breakfast once again just lovely and good coffee a must with my family. The decor is very stylish and interesting lots of framed posters . On different levels you will find out of the way seating and outside courtyard to enjoy your pre dinner drinks . They do not have their own car parking but you can park in the nearby NCP car park with a discount from the hotel.. Yes we will be back..... a nice little touch as we had mentioned it was my husbands birthday ,, we received a voucher in our room for 2 glasses of champagne to be enjoyed pre dinner ..little touches make a difference..

Fab food fantastic service welcoming nothing was to much trouble highly recommend,surroundings very comfortable ,

I have no problems with the food, it was great. We did not have to wait for our table, our food came promptly and it was nice that most of the champagnes were available by the glass. However, for our initial drinks, bread and starter they delivered them to the wrong table. The bread had been touched by the first recipients so they had to take back to the kitchen and make another, it was garlic bread and was delicious. Eventually, we were literally waving the wait staff down telling them where the food was supposed to go. Then later when delivering another round of drinks they knocked over a glass and about a 1/4 cup of beer went in my lap. We were there for my birthday. I would go back on a special occasion because the food was so good. We shared the Chateaubriand and haricot vert. They removed the garlic bread from the bill (without prompting) since we had to wait extra long for it.

Booked this for my parents 50th wedding anniversary. Was a bit apprehensive having had varying experiences with Hotel du Vin in the past but gave it a chance for this special occasion but really wish I had booked The Coal Shed or GB1 instead. We were only a party of 6 so did not expect any delays. However, we arrived 15 minutes before our table was booked and sat in the bar, My husband had called a few days before to pre order a bottle of champagne. We asked 3 times for this to be brought over as the plan was to enjoy this in the bar before sitting down to dinner. Eventually, a bottle of champagne was plonked on the table in front of us with the announcement that it was not chilled! No chilled bottles of champagne on a saturday night??? And we had pre ordered it??! The waiter then brought over an ice bucket, put the champagne bucket in it and left our glasses before disappearing.Obviously, we couldn't drink the champagne warm so I asked if our table was ready even though we were a bit early. "I will check" we were told. We waited, then asked again, we waited, then asked again. Eventually we were seated after 25 minutes and 15 minutes after our table booking. We then waited another 15 minutes for anyone to acknowledge or take any order from us. By which point, we had decided to drink our still not cold champagne (at £65 a bottle)! The food arrived relatively quickly and was ok. Service was unfriendly. No smiles or any chatter. At no point did anyone wish my parents a Happy Anniversary. We had brought a cake which we had given to someone at the start of the meal. After the main were cleared away, my sister in law had about 20 minutes before she had to leave to catch a train back to London. She had asked the reception to book her a taxi to the station when she had come in but was worried as they had not taken her destination or name. We asked for the cake to be brought out. Then we asked again. Then we asked again. Eventually it was brought out as my sister in law was putting on her coat. We didn't want to eat it without her so asked for it to be boxed up again and we would just take it home. Not great service again.My sister in law then went to get her taxi. They hadn't bothered to order it as suspected, so she waited 20 minutes for one and missed her train home. By this point, we had had enough.I took my parents into the bar for a drink leaving my husband at the table to sort the bill, I ordered some drinks from the surly bar staff including 2 coffees. The drinks came quite quickly but we had to go back to ask for milk and sugar for the coffees as these were not brought out to us. My husband appeared after 10 minutes of sitting at an empty table and asking twice for the bill. He still hadn't received it. They quickly brought it over to us when they noticed we had virtually left!!!We paid the bill and left with no goodbyes!I don't know what has happened to this brand. You could guarantee a special treat, great food and great service a few years ago. Not now. It is so hit and miss and always seems to be the staff that can make or break it. We will not be giving it any more chances and will never return. There are much better places to spend your money where you are treated well and given good service. Thank you for taking our hard earned money and ruining my parents 50th wedding anniversary Hotel Du Vin. Goodbye!!!

My boyfriend surprised me with a meal here this evening and it was incredible! Being a vegetarian eating out is very diffcult espically in such a classy place like this! However the menu was surprisngly "normal" in both price and food choices which made me alot more comfortable! The service was amazing and the food was delicious! 100% recommened to anyone visiting brighton or who is looking for a classy night out

Lovely dog friendly pub, serving great food at reasonable prices. lovely staff- they gave my puppy some treats and a little water bowl. Very welcoming.

What can I say I'm not actually a great lover of the traditional Sunday roast, but this place is a true gem in the heart of Brighton that offers more than the traditional roast.Look out for the lavish French Market Table, this is a fab centrepiece of Sunday Brunch at Hotel du Vin. With a wide choice of fresh seafood, charcuterie, pâtés, rillettes and a selection of salads, vegetables and freshly baked artisan breads. Try the homemade crème brûlée as it is truly scrumptious.

Comimos en la terraza. El sitio es muy bonito, tanto dentro como fuera, y el servicio es bueno; sin embargo, aunque todo estaba bueno, me pareció un poco caro ya que las porciones no son muy grandes.

We popped in for lunch in the pretty courtyard which offers a welcome rest bite from the madhouse of Brighton on an August Bank Holiday. Service was very slow, took us and then the hotel reception a long time to even find a waiter. Once they did, he was pleasant and the food good. Having stayed at the hotel and eaten at the restaurant several times in the past (few years ago now) the poor service was unexpected and certainly not what we have experienced in the past. Perhaps they were having an off day.

My partner and I ate lunch in the courtyard of the Bistro du Vin recently. The atmosphere was pleasant and the food good, however, this was marred by the extremely slow service and worse than that my partner began to feel unwell a couple of hours later and then was violently ill all night, still feeling the results a week later. We had eaten the same except for the prawn starter and feel this was the culprit. As the meal had cost over £100, without wine, I would not recommend this as a place to eat until they polish up their service and food hygiene.

We visited last in 2014 (following some pretty poor reviews) and were really pleasantly surprised by both the service and the quality of food on offer. We were accordingly hopeful of a repeat performance; particularly as this was for a family birthday celebration. But oh dear, how the mighty has fallen! Service was snail-like and less than interested. Menu choices limited, cooking uninspired and presentation poor. To add insult to injury it wasn't even decent value for money. Although we were not expecting culinary fireworks we had hoped for something that at least resembled fine dining but were sadly disappointed. Only bright spot? The wine list. Comprehensive with some good value on offer and some decent options. By the way, the place was absolutely rammed which only seemed to add to a sense of chaos and disorganisation among the staff. Needs to step up!

Pub du Vin is in serious need of an overhaul. Or perhaps simply a good clean. My friend and I ate an overpriced and overcooked steak on an over varnished sticky table. When a steak in a rather grotty pub costs £26 it should at least be cooked as requested. A medium rare steak might as well be well-cooked for someone who requested 'rare - proper rare'. £50 each for a bottle of Rioja, steak and a shared green salad (leaves from a bag with no noticeable dressing) left us utterly underwhelmed with the experience. The service was friendly but I am fed up with restaurants' slowness to provide a bill when requested and then having to ask someone to come and take payment. Surely this is the sole reason for the existence of any establishment? To cap it all a Service Charge was added to the bill. I would have tipped our friendly waiter far more despite the mediocre food and surroundings.

Business luncheon in the courtyard. Quiet, sheltered, an excellent place to discuss business. The wines were all excellent, from the champagne to the red wine with our main courses, and the wine flight with our desserts. The starters were a good omen... My crispy porc joue was delicious, and my colleagues' pâté and parfait were reportedly lovely too. I shared a Chateaubriand with my colleague, which was impressively cooked, and our colleague had a fillet steak to himself which he reported to be the finest he'd had in quite a while. The vegetables were notable too... Sautéed spinach and French beans Niçoise, both tasty and worthy of the steaks. An excellent béarnaise accompanied the fillet, and a jus rôti wetted the already moist and succulent chateaubriand.Desserts were superb, and the "Sweet, Sweeter, Sweetest" wine flight was perfect for purpose.Not cheap, but superb food, excellent wine, and very good, warm, friendly service.

I came here with my friend, stayed for one night dinner and breakfast in Bistro included. All the 3 courses from the set menu were delicious. We've also got a recommendation for a great wine, which perfectly fit for our meals, by a very friendly and knowledgable sommelier, Robin. All the staff members in Bistro, bar and a reception are very smiling, friendly, talkative and attentive. Our room was absolutely stunning! And breakfast? It was a cherry on the top! Definitely recommended.

I came here with my boyfriend, and it was a very special night. The staff weren't overly helpful when it came to the menu, perhaps because they expect their diners to be regular fine diners and fluent in French - luckily I knew enough French to work out the menu, but some recommendations would have been nice. They were, however, able to recommend us a wine, which was absolutely beautiful. The food too was lovely, thoughtfully prepared and full of flavour. This ended up being a really special and memorable place.

We stopped here for lunch in the quaint courtyard out back as we are having our wedding dinner here. The service is a little slow but excellent (Florianne and her colleague were lovely) and the food is great (we had the tapas), but the French Menus looks divine. More on that after The Event! There's something quite special about the hotel's interior - it's old world bookish feel to the bar, and the retained features for when it was a Winemakers. It's a quiet retreat for grown-ups from the hustle of the seafront.

We ate at 2:30 on a sunny Sunday (so had the Sunday Brunch Menu). @ £24.95 a head for 4 courses it's an absolute bargain. The restaurant is a great place to eat (no sea views but comfortable, stylish and with a great vibe). As you would expect there is a great wine list with choices for all budgets. The food was just great, cooked with care and served with a smile. Full of what appeared to be local repeat visitors (mix of couples and parties all having a great time). We have stayed and eaten a number of times at the Newcastle HdV and have always been impressed with the quality and service. The Brighton HdV Bistro is yet more evidence that the chain knows how to do things right.

So overall this was an ok experience with definite high and low points. Service was not as expected given the price of the food in this place. Whilst waiting to enter we saw about four ladies wanting a table and the waiter told them they had to wait in the bar for 15 minutes, this didn’t seem necessary as there were plenty of free tables during this time and they were obviously hungry/ in a rush. They gave us a choice of table which I liked. The restaurant appeared clean. The waiter we had was very strange and was probably new as he didn’t do some basic things. We didn’t see the sommelier at all even though it was advertised on the website. We had warm bread and butter to start which was lovely but not complimentary. We waited a long time for our wine to arrive. We even saw the bottle with the restaurant manager at the entrance for a good 5 minutes before he brought it over to us, but it was delicious – just got the Chenin Blanc from the regular wine list. They didn’t have the tuna so I had salmon with my nicoise salad which was huge and perfectly cooked, except the skin which was almost raw. Serve fish skin crispy or not at all! My husband’s steak and chips and garlic butter was lovely! Except he was given a cold potato rosti instead of chips when the food first came out, they left him with the rosti and bought extra chips out which was good. My salad was delicious but I never like spending £15 on a salad. I didn’t even get money off for not having the tuna which would have been more expensive. We weren’t the only ones thinking the service was poor, there was a lone diner who kicked off and walked out the restaurant cancelling his main course and protesting ‘The service is s**t!’. When we asked for the bill we got a free brownie and ice cream brought to us with chocolate writing on the plate which said – Happy Anniversary! This was a wonderful surprise as when I had booked online I mentioned we were coming as it was our first wedding anniversary. This rescued the night for us. I wouldn’t rush back.

Lovely hotel. We had room service for dinner (good food and service) and very nice breakfast. The bed was slightly short as it is a sleigh bed and I am 6'2 (I could have asked for a longer bed but did not so won't fault the hotel for that) very friendly and helpful staff. Lovely bathroom was clean and spacious. Would definitely stay again

My mother and I enjoyed a wonderful birthday meal at this exceptional hotel restaurant last week. We enjoyed pre-meal drinks in the atmospheric hotel bar, where a knowledgeable staff member helped my mum select her wine by providing her with a good description of the various characteristics of the wines on the wine list. She made the right choice and enjoyed a fine glass of rose. Onto the restaurant, where we enjoyed first class service from two fine waiters called Carlos and Simone. The salmon main that Carlos recommended was indeed marvelous. These two members of staff could not have been friendlier or more helpful. They were so attentive and did everything that they could to ensure that my mum's birthday one of the most memorable ever! The restaurant manager was also friendly and courteous. Well done to all of them! I would highly recommend this restaurant and will definitely be back. Thank you.

I stayed here with my partner for my 30th birthday last week, I booked the cristal suite costing £339 (way out of my price range) but it was my birthday and everyone deserves some luxury in their lives occasionally, we arrived earlier then anticipated the receptionist was fine and let us check in an hour earlier as the room was ready they were extremely helpful and friendly, the only fault I have with this hotel is the fact there is no lift but there wasn't too many flights of stairs luckily, got into the room and the size of it was unreal especially the bed I literally didn't want to get out of it once we started watching Wimbledon and drinking champagne, the room has its own private balcony but due to the shocking weather we wasn't able to sit out there and eat in the evening like I was planning on doing. We went down to the restaurant for dinner instead and I was greeted by a friendly male waiter who wished me a happy birthday and gave me a free bottle of champagne (which I was not expecting) our meals were amazing off the set menu was definitely worth paying the extra for. I definitely recommend anyone to stay here if they can afford to... I hated checking out the next day as I just wanted one more night in such luxury.

Service was good, downhill from then. My Husband and I took friends for a birthday dinner on recomendation.Drinks on arrivalOrdered Wine to accompany meal; £351. First course; Watery Tomato Soup, Tasteless.2. French Market Table. Amazing selection, delicious.3. Main Course; Roast Beef, selection of veg and roast potatoes. Waitress advised order Pink Beef I didnt expect it to arrive like Jelly! Veg were all mixed together in a bowl like frozen!4. Dessert was really lovely as was the cheese board.Ordered second bottle wine with our cheese.We then asked for the Bill. On checking the Bill we had been charged for three bottles of wine (at £35 EACH)TOTAL AMOUNT PAID £217As a local,Hove, I would not choose to visit again! Catherine

The ambience of this bistro is lovely. The staff are very pleasant. The food was nice but a tad expensive, but hey, this is Brighton, its normal. The wine list was extensive but we were given a vintage different to the one on the list as 'just as good. It was an inferior year but we were charged full price. A few restaurants do this and its quite irritating. We waited a long time after the main course plates were cleared away and in the end got tired of waiting for a dessert order to be taken so we skipped it and had to track someone down, ended up paying the bill at the til. An OK night

My husband and I had eaten here in a family party many years ago and wanted to try it again - we felt very well-looked after by Simone who was just lovely. I am so hard to please as a gluten-free veggie but felt in safe hands and had a really delicious meal. Hubbie is easier and enjoyed his a lot too. We love the vibe in there, all oldie worldy décor and classic...had a lovely table in the corner and held hands etc which felt ace. Worth dressing up for!

A large, attractive example of the chain. Friendly staff, but not very well trained and limited knowledge of the menu. Food average at best, despite premium prices. Cote represents better experience and value if you want a bistro chain. Several separate areas with large tables suggest it is more geared up for corporate or large groups.

We ate in the bistro after booking a night's stay, dinner and breakfast as a package at the hotel. From the moment we were seated (the waiter yanked out the table making such a noise and pushed it back, literally barricading me into my seat!) I could sense this bistro was not up to the usual standard of others in the Hotel du Vin chain. As we were waiting for someone to come over and give us menus, another waiter walked by swinging a jug of water and literally covered the floor next to us including my feet! Diners at tables opposite us looked completely shocked at what they had seen as the waiter just walked off, completely oblivious to what he had done! When we got the menus I mentioned what had happened and pointed to all the water on the floor which he did wipe up but seemed quite disinterested.We were eating off the fixed menu as part of our package, however when the waiter eventually came to take our order he informed us that as it was a bank holiday they didn't have certain items. I only eat fish or vegetarian, but was told there were no scallops, but lobster was on to replace them, however when i tried to order I was told the lobster had also run out! This left only the vegetarian option of stuffed peppers. My husband also had trouble ordering so they said the chef would make a special dish with salmon, pesto and gnocchi.We waited 50 minutes for our starters to arrive, I had ordered prawns and avocado and my husband the pate. I almost wished I hadn't bothered, mine arrived in a big bowl a mound of prawn cocktail on iceberg lettuce with 3 or 4 rock hard cubes of avocado, on the plate were several half slices of buttered white sliced bread. Not what I expect from Hotel du vin. My husband had a slice of pate with a few leaves of salad but no toast/ bread, so he shared my white sliced! I could go on, but will not bore you with details of the next courses, but suffice to say they were equally disappointing (the salmon had obviously been warmed up in a microwave) and were a long wait. One waiter did keep apologising to us and said he would not charge us for the bottle of wine, but they were short staffed and had run out of lots of items from the menu.I even thought they couldn't go wrong with the dessert, but that wasn't available either! I settled on just a couple of scoops of rather tasteless ice cream!All in all a very disappointing experience and having eaten at various other bistros at Hotel du Vin this one seemed a much lower standard and service was pretty awful. We definitely won't be back!

From the moment we entered the hotel the staff in all areas were friendly and helpful. My friend wanted Proscecco but was told there wasn't any. One of the barman left and came back with Proscecco after a good search. The room we had lunch in was elegant with good space between tables. The staff are very attentive. The food was fresh and delicious. They gave us and others extra special treatment for our birthdays. Will definitely visit again when we go to Brighton.

Enjoyed dinner for 8 at this quaint location. Service was great and attentive. Great food options, steak cooked appropriately. Would recommend for business dinners or nice date night.

I started with cocktails in the bar of this well renown hotel and the bar staff were terrific. However, the bar area lacked any real buzz but then, it was a Tuesday evening.My colleague arrived and we decided to have an impromptu dinner in the brasserie/bistro. The restaurant was quite empty, though there was a private party of 22 people being dealt with. The quality of the meal was, well - and I hate to say it - very disappointing. I had the steak frites cooked medium and my colleague had the breast of lamb. My steak was undercooked such that even by French standards it was very rare. I had also ordered a side of peas with ham (can't remember the name of it) and the peas were so overcooked that they were inedible. I tried in vain to find a waiter to tell them but in the end I gave up and ate as much as I felt able. At the end of the meal the waiter came to collect plates and asked how it was. I told him it was far from good. Oh dear, he said . . . and walked off! Another waiter appeared a few minutes later and asked whether we'd like dessert? I asked to see the menu. After 15 minutes it still hadn't arrived. Instead, I left the table, walked around the restaurant for the second time to try to find a waiter. It was useless. Despite there only being 9 people in the restaurant at 10pm (plus the private party) no one was to be seen. At that moment, the wonderful barman arrived to give me back my credit card from my earlier bar tab. I explained my dilemma and HE went into the kitchen to find waiting staff. A few minutes later a waiter arrived - no apology, no humility - to explain they were very busy?! I apologised for being a customer and for ruining his evening and ordered some coffee then left.I have stayed in many of the Hotel de Vin establishments and used to use the Tunbridge Wells establishment to entertain my visiting overseas guests when I had my company there. I have eater there well over 100 times and have never had anything but a good experience. I also use the Cambridge facility regularly as I now have a business there. In addition, Harrogate and York are not unfamiliar to me but I am hardly a regular there. This Brighton establishment is a sorry excuse for belonging to the same chain. I can't even say the experience was mediocre. It was bad by any comparison.

Went for Sunday Lunch for a friend's birthday. The 4 course lunch is great value. The cold buffet section was delicious. The wine we chose was great too. We were there for the long haul and the staff were very accommodating. Highly recommended.

We found this restaurant in advance on Open Table and were thankful we had reservations as there isn't many other decent places in this town to eat. It's in an out-of-the-way lovely hotel and was absolutely fantastic in every way. We were underdressed in this upscale establishment, but they didn't turn their nose up at us. The food was fantastic, service friendly and professional and the surroundings were gorgeous.

I thoroughly recommend the bistro bar and the restaurant. The food was delicious, we ate a la carte.I had the fish and a glass of Perrier Jouet, & a bottle of water followed by an espresso. The price is upper end or Zurich prices as we call it. The service was excellent although there was a rather long wait before our table was ready due to a conference.I advise booking. The next day we ate outside for lunch, we enjoyed a selection of tapas, again service was excellent. This lunch was reasonably priced.

It was my mums birthday, and she has wanted to go to the Hotel Du Vin Bistro for ages, so we booked a table there. The decor is beautiful, and we had cocktails at the bar which were delicious (especially the white russian yum!). The staff are friendly, polite and helpful. We all had Tiger Prawns with Chilli Sauce to start, the best way to describe these prawns is 'fluffy' in texture, luke warm and not spicy at all - this was a shame after the tasty soda bread baguette we'd just sampled. The main course however Mussels and Frites was delicious, a really huge portion, with a really nice sauce. However my Grandma had the salad niscoise and said it far too much dressing on it, making it incredibly sweet. We were also given scented hand wipes rather than finger bowls (for the prawns and mussels) and we had to ask the waiter to bring us a proper finger bowl. For pudding the waiters wrote 'Happy Birthday' on my mums plate in chocolate sauce, this was a nice touch. The wine by the glass is also very expensive, but very good wine obviously. I would say that the quality of the food was a bit disappointing on the whole, and that for the money I would usually expect more.

We had dinner here and, whilst the staff in the bar and restaurant were exceptionally attentive, the food itself was good but not impressive. My husband had pumpkin risotto and it was served lukewarm. I ordered pappardelle with hare sauce and although I think it could have done with more flavour, I enjoyed it.Food and drinks at the bar were exceptional.

Great place, great food and wine list. Perfect for spending a sunny afternoon on the terrace with a bottle of Champagne and some tapas.

Hotel du vin has it all, love there sunday lunch, dinner fabulous and try there wonderful cocktail courses.food is delicious, friendly and helpful staff, fabulous atmosphere.

Some years ago, HdV was (to my mind) one of the top 5 restaurants in Brighton, I don't think it is the case any more. I hadn't visited for a while; last time I was put off by average food and average service at a premium price tag, so we went along today hoping a Sunday lunch would be easier for them to manage. There wasn't a great deal wrong with the meal, but nothing really exciting (although the wine list is very good). For me HdV still has the same problem of trying to cram too many people in, with clearly insufficient staff. Running out of plates for the buffet summed up the event, a minor niggle which wouldn't have happened if the establishment really cared about what they were doing.

1st visit to Hotel Du Vin restaurant. Wasn't sure about the bar, a bit huge and impersonal (nice staff though, well done cocktails), but the restaurant was really great. It was a buzzy happy atmosphere, it felt like any restaurant in France in decor. The staff were really great, humorous, helpful, really efficient. Loved the food, we started with carpaccio, which came with a gorgeous scotch egg - the carpaccio was wafer thin and delicious. For main we had Moules Frites and Sole, both gorgeous. The chips that came with the mussels were unsalted, which was great - this town is full of over enthusiastic chip salters. We had Rhum baba and creme brulee for dessert and were so impressed, best version of either we've had in a really long time - the sommelier (?) suggested a tawny port with the rhum baba instead of a sauterne and he was right, it was a brilliant match. All in all it was a really happy anniversary meal, we can't wait to go back, no bad notes, just fab food, service and atmosphere on a Friday night.

Amazing place and the food is fantastic and really worth the large price tag, just perhaps not every week. The staff were courteous and helpful. I'll save up and go again.

My wife and I have eaten here several times and were looking forward to another great meal and excellent service. Unfortunately, we left very disappointed and won't be returning in a hurry.The waiters were very helpful on arrival, fitting us in without a booking and finding us a table near the open doors on a very hot day. However, we found that our choice of tiger prawns as first course and moules for main were both not available on the already limited menu. The replacement starter, scallops, were excellent but the steak was the toughest we have ever been given (the gentleman on the table next to us had the same experience).To make matters worse, despite asking for more wine when our main course was delivered, we had to ask 2 further times before it arrived - just as we were finishing. The waiter was clearly frustrated by the bar service and, to be fair, took them off the final bill. I sense the good waiting staff are all frustrated by the poor quality service from the kitchen and bar. Hotel du vin need to take action to prevent this place going further downhill.

Went here on Sunday for a birthday celebration the service was awful. Not sure if they were under staffed as there was a wedding going on or if it like this all the time.Messed up the drinks order and then with the food we all had steak but for some reason they cooked all the steaks the same even though we all asked for rare, medium rare and medium to well done - all came out medium rare. I ate it as did not want the hassle of having to wait for them to correct as it took 20 minutes for them to get our drinks order sorted out and there was only 3 of us.In the end for all the hassle they took the carafe of wine off the price. (thank you)For the price you are charged the service needs to be sorted out, it is a shame as the hotel and pub are lovely.