Il Bistro Restaurant in Brighton and Hove

Amazing food and service. Will definitely be going back.

Stuck up waiters who gave us third degree service. I was having a quick bite after attending a work event so I’m so sorry my friend didn’t want to eat as I only bumped into him at the event and yeah he’s not the most preened looking guy but was just keeping me company before we went back to London where we live. I thought this place was pretentious and being from London that’s saying something. The food was so-so.

The most amazing experience I had my wife’s surprise 50th birthday celebration meal here for 21 people and the staff mad it a very special occasion The prior organisation that went into the surprise was seamless as was the service. The food was outstanding and excellent value for money, we will definitely go back the next time we are in Brighton

Wonderful restaurant with excellent food and fantastic service. My pork chop was the best I've eaten. Our server was so lovely, she was upbeat and funny but of course so professional. The beautiful old building has been decorated well and the atmosphere was delightful. Highly recommend and ilwill be visiting again

For the first time in my life I have not eaten my food even though I was hungry. Risotto was not a risotto but a pile of dry rice, undercooked. The gnocchi of my partner was a store bought product. We were still fully charged for it. Beautiful place but worthless food.

The place looks great, lovely interior and nice looking, however service was not great, specially during busy times, what was far worse, was the very poor food portions, value for money is not good, quality not great.

I have never sent food away in my life until today. That was the first time it was not edible for me. The risotto I’ve ordered was a pile of what I think was a reheated (not risotto) rice. Risotto does not form a dry mountain in the middle of a plate… they still charged us for it though. My friend gnocchi was a store bought product.

A lovely meal, it was quiet as was a Monday night but food and service was very good and enjoyed our meal

Really lovely dinner at Il Bistro. Impromptu walk-in whilst visiting Brighton, excellent friendly service and great food

Great place to eat, small but perfectly formed. We went for a meal after the theatre , the choice of seating was useful as there are sort of two areas, so a bit of space between the noisy ones. Food choice great, what was ordered came in a timely manner with the staff being attentive and friendly. Quality was high, the chicken with blue cheese was wonderful. The wine had a free flowing feel to it! Overall an excellent experience and hopefully one to be repeated.

loved this spot so much! amazing dark ambience, the seafood pasta was delicious (16.95£) and my friends loved the steak. the prawn on the pasta was so delicious and flavourful, but it’s a pity there was only one. it’s slightly pricey but for a fancy italian restaurant i get the price point

A lovely restaurant with lovely staff and fantastic food. The Sunday roast is stunning. Highly recommended.

This place is outstanding, and the steak was cooked to perfection. Everything else was on point. I will come back to this place again. Thank you.

I had lovely meal,food was great,starter very big,not complaining 🙄 just no room for dessert. Highly recommended 👌

Nice family run Mediterranean style restaurant located in the Lanes. Staff were very friendly, offering a broad choice of food and wine. Service was good with food arriving in a timely manner, no rush, which is what we wanted. Small error with our order when the side dishes arrived, which was immediately rectified. All in all a good experience and a restaurant that we would visit again.

Wonderful Valentines Day meal at this beautiful, family run restaurant. Being a foodie and a regular at many restaurants, Il Bistro stands out. For any occasion, id highly recommend this restaurant, whether you live in Brighton or just visiting.

Highly recommend for its real Italian cuisine and incredibly friendly service. Our dog was treated as a prince (super dog friendly) and the kids loved the food so much that they ate almost an adult's portion.

What a brilliant find, I would highly recommend a visit to Il Bistro. The food was delicious and the service was at its highest.

We ate at Il Bistro on 24th January and had a lovely meal. We have been once before and thoroughly enjoyed it so decided to book for a post-graduation celebratory meal. We didn't need to book in the end as we ended up being the only ones in the place! (But this meant that they paid a lot of attention to us, so it felt really special). We ordered bread for the table and I ordered the Poulet Basquaise, this was absolutely delicious and so flavourful, as was the Lemon Cheesecake which I ordered for dessert. Overall, it was a wonderful atmosphere with some great service and tasty dishes that were just as great as the first time we visited. Highly recommend!

Nestled in the heart of Brighton, Il Bistro is a charming fusion of French and Italian cuisine, offering a delightful culinary experience. From the moment you step through the door, you're enveloped in a warm ambience that sets the stage for a memorable evening. One of the standout features of Il Bistro is its commitment to using fresh ingredients, whilst offering an excellent varied menu to cater to all tastes. What truly sets Il Bistro apart is the personalised attention extended to every guest. The owner's warm welcome and genuine appreciation for repeat guests create an atmosphere of familiarity and hospitality. It's not uncommon to be greeted with a complimentary drink or to engage in friendly conversation with both staff and fellow diners. Having recently relocated our office to the area, discovering Il Bistro has been a delightful surprise. It's not just a restaurant; it's a culinary haven where great food, attentive service, and genuine hospitality converge. We look forward to returning to Il Bistro whenever we find ourselves in the area, knowing that each visit promises an excellent dining experience.

Fabulous meal and fabulous attentive service! Definitely recommend this place especially for the steak and service!

Fantastic place. Very cool. Great food. Owner great guy carrying on his Dad's dream. Well worth a visit. Nicely priced as well.

Un cadre agréable le soir du 31/12, un service agréable mais pas au rendez-vous dans l’assiette. Visiblement en cuisine on ne sait pas ce qu’est un risotto on confond avec un simple riez à la tomate. Quant à la charcuterie je doute de sa provenance si ce n’est d’un supermarché du coin sans aucune réflexion alimentaire. Nous étions trois et aucun d’entre nous n’a été satisfait de son plat. Aucune idée non plus de ce que sont des pâtes « aldente ». Quant à l’escalope milanaise moins bon que dans un restaurant n’a de gamme. Franchement extrêmement décevant. Je déconseille. Un attrape touristes ! A pleasant setting on the evening of 12/31, pleasant service but not on the plate. Obviously in the kitchen we don't know what a risotto is, we confuse it with a simple tomato risotto. As for the cold meats, I doubt its origin if not from a local supermarket without any food consideration. There were three of us and none of us were satisfied with our dish. No idea what “aldente” pasta is either. As for the Milanese escalope, it is not as good as in a restaurant and has no range. Frankly extremely disappointing. I advise against. A tourist trap !

Had a late lunch here, and it was very good indeed. The service was very friendly, and knowledgeable. The food wad excellent, we really couldn't fault the food or service.

Very friendly staff, really nice and chatty, food was absolutely beautiful from starters to the main , liver and bacon to die for. Definitely will be returning little gem , Thankyou

I'm sure the dinner is great but am yet to try it. So I'll judge the breakfast. Tastewise it is pretty decent but I guess when you pay this much for a breakfast you expect good taste, more than 4 mushrooms. Not to mention the overcooked eggs and cold dry toast. Don't get me started on the shot of juice you get with the "Traditional Breakfast". Anyway, it's not the type of restaurant you should get a breakfast from anyway so my bad.

I had a nice time having Christmas dinner with my friend with short notice of reservation. The food is good, the portion is generous. The staffs are very helpful.

We came here for a pre theatre dinner. The atmosphere was lovely and the staff were friendly and attentive. The starters of burrata and the pate were very tasty. The steak had an amazing char grilled flavour and was super tender and the seafood pasta was delicious! Will 100% be visiting here again to try more of the menu!

First time to Brighton. Found a lovely looking place with loads of Trip Advisor reviews saying how wonderful the food is. Unfortunately, the dishes were so bad that we needed to return them and left hungry. We were so embarrassed to have to tell them and left without taking any photos. We ordered Prawn PilPil, which was the most palatable of the things we ordered but lacked seasoning. Bread, olive oil and dip starter, which consisted of two doorstop slices of white bread that were clearly made in a bread machine, with a few breadsticks broken in half and a two bowls of dip, which was underwhelming in both quality and presentation. We also ordered vegetables side dish which consisted of broccoli and carrots. This was the best dish. The pasta pescatore looked okay when it arrived, but on tasting, we thought it may have been heated in a microwave, and then left under a heating lamp for a period. Pasta was over soft and fish bits were hardened through over cooking, the entire dish was lukewarm. Overall the dish did not taste good and neither of us although very hungry could eat much. Service was good and atmosphere lovely. Food was certainly nothing special. We left hungry with £32 bill feeling quite deflated! Feels like a place that used to be great but either needs the person cooking to prepare the dishes as they are ordered instead of pre-preparing them or needs some form of revival. Underwhelming.

Lovely food good sevice reasonable priced £90 a couple which included a prawn starter plenty of wine and beer 🍺 so all in all not too shabby will definitely visit again

Overpriced for a lacklustre meal, the chefs should go and visit Spain for some idea’s on how to cook….£78 for a starter and main for two with one drink…. Will not be back….yet again rip off Britain…..

Very nice meal attentive service and good atmosphere.

Was looking for someway to eat, saw this place, we went in but had to wait as we did not booked a table, but they found one for us ,we only had a few minutes wait, a big thanks to all the staff they were fantastic .would go back if we was nere there. But if we are in Brighton next time, will be there

Celebrating a friend’s 40th with 6 of us. Lovely atmosphere, delicious food, great drinks, fantastic service. And I recommend the Americano 9 cocktail 😄 Perfect place for a great evening. Thank you.

Fantastic dinner & service last night. Can highly recommend the sardines & fillet steak. Abe & Natalia were lovely & friendly.

Went here with family for dinner, staff were lovely. The fish casserole was delicious.

Good restaurant Nice atmosphere 2 level Good location nice quarter in Brighton located in centre city No parking nearby No wheelchair access Good choice of food Seafood or meat Great homemade dessert

Ich finde, es hätte allen Gerichten gut getan, mehr Gewürze zu nutzen.

Went here after a matinee show at Brighton's Theatre Royal. We were about 45 min's early for our booked table time but this was no problem and we were seated immediately. Il Bistro has a cosy feeling about it. Staff very friendly and accommodating. The food was very very good. We had arancini and gambas for starters, both really nice and for our mains we had the fish and chips and rib eye. The only downside to our visit was we were both too full to have a dessert. This is a really really good restaurant. I highly recommend it.

Disappointing experience with bland food that was most likely frozen and then microwaved. Service was good but little interest when we mentioned that the food was average ( after being asked ). We had steak ( over cooked ) , fish cakes ( tasted like cardboard ) , petit pois ( frozen Birds Eye peas ) and very oily roast potatoes. The gambas starter was nice , charcuterie board was not. Wouldn’t go back.

A good place to have a good meal. The service was commendable and a neat place to eat. We would go there again.

Excellent service and food. Well worth the price and great environment. Perfect for any steak lover.

We managed to reserve a table only a couple of hours before we wanted to eat & so glad we did. The staff were brilliant, very efficient & polite, the food was first class (pate starter & chicken milanese for me & sardine starter & chicken in blue cheese for my husband). Food & drinks are reasonably priced. Would definitely recommend.

Lovely atmosphere Lovely food great staff would totally recommend Very busy family run business great location

Great bistro in a good location right in the lanes. Nice atmosphere especially at night, and they were kind enough to let us have a table quite late. Ordered the rib eye steak and the sea bass - both exceptional, and the sides were very good sizes. Thoroughly recommend

Amazing service with great food

Lovely restaurant in a charming street! Food was delicious, definitely recommend!

Booked last minute, a charming building with tons of character an old fisherman’s house im led to believe ! A lovely greeting by a young lady who reminded me of the girl from stranger things! Very friendly informed of the couple of things not available, do to bank holiday weekend being packed in Brighton, which was no big deal as the whole menu looked great as did the specials board. We had butterfly sardines and i had pil pil prawns my fav when abroad, next we had bass and i had steak with potatoes, timing was just right with the courses fiving enough time to soak up the place, desert was eton mess/strawberry’s and cream a great meal start to finish i always try and find independent place to eat, the menus seem more seasonal and imaginative rather than the chain restaurants, thoroughly recommend a visit food is great staff are pleasant! Or shall i delete this and keep for myself 😀

Awesome food great staff and really reasonable price and so worth it for the quality of food in a family run spot: Was also super quiet compared to the other places around that seemed to have pretty bad customer service where tables weren’t welcome! All in all- highly recommend!

We celebrated our 21st wedding anniversary with a meal here, whilst on a weekend break to Brighton. The rib eye steak was the best my husband had ever had. My chicken was cooked perfectly. The customer service was 1st class. Even the manager took time to chat and made sure everything was ok. A great, friendly, well run restaurant.

Quality service & food in a little "tucked away" restaurant that must be visited. Numerous visits now make me & my husband return as we know we are going to be made to feel special by the staff but also whatever we order will be of the highest quality & cooked to perfection. I work at the local Morrisons store & also live locally so have tried many b"tn restaurants but this one is in my top 2. Highly recommend.

Lovely restaurant in the centre of Brighton. Steak was great although any sides were extra. Vodka pasta was also lovely. Good selection of wine. Lovely atmosphere.

Lovely ambience, beautifully curated by Abe. Cosy, welcoming with a great playlist. A must for food lovers. Beautifully cooked steak. Superb service. I will definitely return, highly recommended, 10/10.

We always hate to leave food on the plate but such was the quantity served up for our main courses that we reluctantly had to concede, having eaten starters. The menu is wide, encompassing southern France, Italy and British cuisine. Vegetarians are well catered for. We enjoyed our meals and especially the warm welcome and chat with owner Abe and waitress Carmen. The prices are as you would expect in these times. For a Thursday evening the place was quiet but so was every other restaurant we passed during our stroll through The Lanes, which raises fears for the future of many eateries in these inflationary times.

The service was great but the food was really bland and not worth money. The cute ambiance was nice so perhaps a good spot for a drink. Wish I had read the other reviews before ordering food here. Definitely is not a real Italian restaurant and the food tasted like something you’d get from a school cafeteria. Everything from the starter to the main. Very disappointing really.

We found this wonderful bistro purely by smell - the aroma was so gorgeous that that the 8 of us booked in for a dinner the next day and it didn’t disappoint. The staff were wonderful & didn’t rush us and the food was amazing....

Lovely evening meal where the food and service were both perfect. We were given time to enjoy our meal without being rushed.

Service was friendly and restaurant is well located in the Lanes but the food was quite average. Most of our food lacked in seasoning and was not quite worth the money.

Bad food,slow service.Wasted my Love Brighton time and money, unfortunately.

Cosy place, friendly waiters and very good service. Food was delicious offering pasta, steaks, sea food and variety of starters. Highly recommended!

Did a late sunday lunch...amazing food/wine /service...this place is a MUST VISIT whether you live in brighton or are here visiting. Such a comfortable relaxed atmosphere with great food & perfect background music. Absolute value for money...mega quality food & served beautifully.

Il Bistro (or it could just as easily be Le Trattoria) announces it has been serving Mediterranean fayre since 1976 and remains something of an institution amongst Brighton’s Lanes. On a hot early summer Bank Holiday Sunday most diners were seated in the patio outside...

Just had a drink, lovely friendly staff though 😊

We had the most incredible meal here last night. Had the sirloin steak which was cooked to perfection and complimented by the chimichurri sauce.

This is not a real Italian restaurant, despite it pretending to be. We had some seafood pasta which was way to tomatey and with salmon... The waiter offered me parmesan to grate on, to which I replied "on seafood?!". It wasn't disgusting or horrible just in that moment I really felt like a good seafood pasta. And I got some past with fish. Not bad, but bland. The arancini were ok. Fish and chips too. My 3yo enjoyed the spaghetti and tomato. It's in a nice fisherman cottage. I won't return,but it's not an evil restaurant, just not the real thing.

Rude waiters, long waits, extremely poor service. After waiting for a long time to order, I asked a waiter (young man, light hair, mid hight) if we could order. His reply "once I get free time I will come to you" and walked away. Very...

What an absolute gem of a restaurant in the Lanes. We had not reserved but the staff were excellent in accommodating us. We had a lovely table outside, where we could watch the world go by and happily chat. The staff were friendly, efficient and...

Quite average and disappointing unfortunately. Service was good and food was quick, but underwhelming. Cacio e Pepe had girthy spaghetti that wasn’t great, gnocchi was fine but relatively plain. All in all, just average.

We had the sirloin steak each with all the trimmings, and wow. I've never had such a lovely meal. The service was amazing and the staff were very friendly. The whole meal was an excellent experience and when we come back to Brighton, we will definitely be coming back. Thank you for the lovely service and meal.

Lovely family run restaurant . Been many times for the lovely food, rather generous portions and friendly staff who always greet us with a happy welcome. My favourite starter( one of them ) is the gambas.. my main course was steak cooked to perfection as...

Great service shame we ate separately due tosteak being under cooked. It's a skill that all chefs should know.

The service was good but the food was not. The ‘Mixed Marinated Olives’ were unfortunately the best item we tried - although there was only one non-green olive so perhaps mixed is generous. The ‘Gambas Pil Pil’ was bland, with prawns tasting off and a weird tasting sauce. It is advertised as the only gluten free starter, which made it off putting that it was served with bread. The Bruschetta was particularly disappointing, as the modest seasoning of the topping could hardly be tasted compared to the comically thick bread (which was burnt at every side). The pork was decent but the crackling was acrid and burnt, making it inedible. The ‘Cacio e Pepe’ was unfortunately lacking in both cacio and Pepe, with barely enough sauce to thinly coat the pasta while adding almost nothing to the taste. The orange juice and lemonade stood out as the only thing we had nothing to complain about.

Příjemné bistro s milou obsluhou. Jídlo bylo výborné za přijatelnou cenu. Obsluha se postarala i o naše deštěm promočené bundy.

Not impressed, Americano coffee served in small tea cup at the cost of £3.00 Asked if wanted some water for the table forgetting to mention that they charged for it . Had the full English with toast,one slice of thin cheep white bread. When another...

The best steak ever and the staff are always lovely and so accommodating.

It was a Sunday late morning and we were looking for a decent cooked breakfast. I ordered a veggie version and my other family members ordered a standard cooked breakfast each. I was particularly hungry so ordered extra hash browns. Good job I did. The...

Very Nice meal and Excellent service.

We absolutely loved this place. Lovely food and super friendly staff. We got turned away from a nearby restaurant because of our dogs, but got a warm and friendly welcome from IL bistro. Dog friendly!! (as long as you have a well behaved doggo of course 🐶❤️)

Booked this place rather last minute but was so glad that they had a table. Wonderful atmosphere in a restaurant right in the middle of the Lanes. The staff were amazing and the food even better. Recommended

Day trip to Brighton on Easter Sunday. Everything closed with streets empty. Starving after a walk through The Lanes happened across a "Bistro" sign in the distance. I had a good feeling about it and I wasn't wrong. A delight. You must go. Fillet steak was medium rare to perfection and vegetables the same. I will return.

Really nice restaurant. We went here as a group for a birthday. The food was very good, well cooked and presented. The staff were friendly and attentive. Overall, we were very satisfied with the quality and price point. This is a very well run restaurant. We would definitely visit again!

Lovely little hidden gem. After looking for somewhere to eat and not finding anywhere that had space, we came across this little restaurant, they were busy , but managed to find us a table. All the staff were very friendly and helpful. The food was very nice, we had the bread, oils and olives to start then the seafood pasta and chicken milanese, (this was on the specials board). Having room, we opted for the home made tiramisu and bannoffe pie. They were so rick and creamy . Would definitely recommend going here.

All dishes were very average and overall disappointing. My son took a bite of his dessert (profiteroles) and couldn’t eat it, he said it tasted funny. Two of us tried and couldn’t eat either as tasted like the cream gone gone off. My niece had...

We visited for my birthday and had a perfectly cooked fillet steak. I have to have gluten free and the staff were very clear about what was and was not suitable and there was still a wide choice of main courses available. Not so much...

We have been meaning to visit for years and finally got around to it.The 4 of us had lovely starters, pate, fish croquettes, meatballs, bruschetta. Then we had the liver&bacon, chicken blue cheese, chicken cream & mushroom and chicken goats cheese salad, 3 of these...

Very pleasant staff. The fish cakes were very tasty as was the sea bass. But then you have to pay extra for anything else you want on the plate. So salad and chips. The salad was just not worth it, being mainly salad leaves. With...

Very nice decor inside the restaurant, staff were all happy and friendly. I do think they need to lose a table or two just to give it a little more space. Food was really nice, freshly cooked and hot. Definitely worth a visit. The toilets are upstairs. I did find it a little expensive, with the bill having 10% automatically added. Good selection of drinks however no draught all bottles.

Great brekky. Eggs Royale superb. Service very friendly. Background music perhaps a little louder than necessary.

We had brunch on a Saturday morning. Can't fault the food. I seemed to get more bacon on my plate than advertised. Staff pleasant, food didn't take long but bill was a bit slow arriving. Nice, busy, happy atmosphere. Some nice photographs on walls. Half the price of some places, for food just as good.

Had a lovely meal today The food was excellent and the staff made us so welcome We will definitely return 😊

We stopped for an early evening meal having walked from East Worthing. We were to catch the train back. The Brazilian waitress was very welcoming and friendly. We were the only customers at 5.30pm on a Monday evening nevertheless my pasta with seafood was delicious. My husband enjoyed his dish too.

Had a very nice meal here, paid just over 60 for 2 glasses of wine a main and 1 starter. Would recommend

Lovely food and experience. Really cosy inside and the staff are very friendly too. We were served by Poppy, she was amazing and very attentive. Would definitely come back again and recommend to others looking for a romantic meal in the South Lanes

First visit & will not be the last. Excellent menu...so good it was hard to choose...food was perfect...well presented & our taste buds had a party. Thanku chef Marco...you are amazing! Service exceptional & just the whole experience felt special with a relaxing atmosphere...soft background...

We were at the Brighton race course and as the Pub is only a stones throw away it was the obvious choice especially after reading all the excellent reviews, We was surprised to find the bar empty but people soon started to come in, Four of us in total all ordered and paid for our meal at the bar and told the bar man to keep the change as a tip,food arrived mostly very nice although the cod Iwas served was the thin tail end with more batter than fish, reminded the barman II had ordered bread and butter this then soon arrived, we had asked for two pots of Tea the landlady didn't seem to impressed when I asked for additional hot water because the Tea was on the strong side and in fact didn't speak throughout which I felt was rather rude,I then noticed the back of my chair being bashed every time she walked past to clear tables. The icing on the cake was when we stood up to put our coats on the younger bar maid shouted across to us that we owed her for two mugs of Tea presumably she thought we was going to leave with out paying. We all agreed that we wasn't welcome and would certainly not return.

Popped to Brighton for the day and found IL Bistro excellent service 👏 excellent food great place

This is a really lovely place. Enjoyed delicious meatball starter followed by an amazing fish casserole. Excellent service.

Just ok! I was looking for somewhere for some breakfast and came across this place. The staff are friendly (although they keep forgetting to bring some water, despite asking a couple of times, so I’m the end I gave up - it wasn’t even that busy!) I had the vegetarian Eggs Benedict (spinach and peppers rather than ham) and was decently presented but was just basic taste wise. Perhaps if this was my first experience of having Eggs Benedict I might have appreciated it more, but the eggs were undercooked (too watery but at least the yolks were runny), the spinach was bland, their hollandaise sauce wasn’t to my liking but the peppers were nice. I did finish it but that was more out of hunger than taste. I also ordered a hot chocolate. It looked pretty but lacked the flavour - I’m guessing because it was not stirred enough before it got to the table, as there was some chocolate powder right at the bottom (too small a space for a spoon). The vegetarian Egg Benedict was £6.50, which is reasonable. The hot chocolate was £3.50 - definitely not worth it

Went mid week with friends, this is a lovely restaurant have been before and will go again !. The atmosphere is wonderful the staff are attentive but also friendly and the food is gorgeous, good value for money as well.

This little place was absolutely amazing so welcoming and helpful great food great service great atmosphere will definitely be returning it made our night finding this restaurant and the garlic butter was to die for