Kindling in Brighton and Hove

This restaurant is in liquidation. Our son in Australia purchased a voucher as a gift. Insolvency will mean there are no funds available to refund. Absolute disgrace. The owners will probably have removed profits and will set up again under another guise after washing the debt and buying back from the insolvency practitioners. Shame on you.

We went for dinner where you can only have the tasting menu (£80) but this was our preference anyway as a special occasion. I was able to switch a dish from the vegetarian menu to the meat menu’s (the halibut) which was no fuss. The food was delicious and filling. Loved the courgette fritter from the chef’s snacks, the walnut/carrot tiramisu, and the vigornia fizz which looking back I would have preferred a bottle of. Partner was extremely happy with the food too. The staff explained what everything was which was a nice touch.

Simply exceptional cooking. One of the best meals I’ve had all year & I eat out a lot. I usually dislike tasting menus but this demonstrates exactly why they can be amazing & thoroughly enjoyable experiences. I loved every single dish. The accompanying very well selected wines were fabulous too. We enjoyed watching the two chefs cook who own the restaurant - calm, pleasant & assured. We’ll certainly be back - exceptional on every level & very good service too. These are people who really care about what they do & you’ll reap the benefit if you go. Brilliant work and very memorable flavours & combinations. Go.

Ate some great food here on a Saturday lunchtime. Lovely presentation and the cooking was assured and delicious. Two pieces of feedback: the « small plates » really are tiny, so don’t go hungry, or be ready to spend £40 a head; and for a restaurant that majors so much on local produce, having one English wine on the list would be good. The list isn’t comprehensive enough for such excellent food. Working with an independent supplier like Vincognito would take Kindling to another level. Hope the feedback is useful

Absolutely amazing. Best restaurant I have been to. Food exceptional, service impeccable and both chefs super friendly. Must do if you are a foodie in Brighton.

We went here a couple of months ago (thought I’d already left a review) and treated ourselves to almost everything on the menu for our engagement lunch. Food and cocktails were fabulous and servers were wonderful, we’ll definitely make another trip

Modern restaurant with original, high quality food. Flavours are very unique, so it might not please everyone. They have small plates for lunch (you will probably need around 2-3 per person and they cost around 10£) and a degustation menu for dinner. The service is excellent. My favourite dish was the lamb with gnocchi. Overall we enjoyed it. It was a bit expensive but good to try once as an experience.

Very nice food, but very small portion!

Came here for their small plates lunch menu. Every plate was so fresh and vibrant! Heavily recommend asking if any larger grill cuts are also available, we managed to get their lamb chops which was amazing. The inside of the restaurant feels clean and modern, the service was also great.

Absolutely delicious dinner, it was charming to sit at the bar and chat to the chef as the dishes came out. Everything was delightfully fresh and of the season.

Very slow service for what they charge. 3 hours and was still 2 courses to go. Drinks not great either. Wouldn’t return.

Food is incredible. Seasonal. Fresh. Delicious. And GORGEOUS. Staff is very knowledgeable, friendly, helpful, and generous. Atmosphere is alright, a bit noisy for my sensitive ears. We will be back at least once a season.

I visited Kindling with my girlfriend who very kindly booked a table for us. I am so happy she chose this place having visited a lot of fine-dining restaurants in Brighton. This was on par if not better than any food I’d had in this city. Every dish was utterly delightful, with such care and attention to detail which was unwavering. My girlfriend decided to request to sit at the high tables right in front of the kitchen which I’d never done before but I must say it was a fantastic decision. We got chatting to the incredibly friendly chefs about all the dishes, the produce, and their cooking methods. This added so much to the experience and they were kind enough to let us try a few little extras! Thank you so much to Toby, Holly, and Fraser for your kindness and exceptional food, and to the wonderfully friendly staff that served us. The service was just perfect - just the right amount of attentiveness whilst still letting us enjoy our company together, and they really did everything they could to ensure our experience was as special as it possibly could be. The drinks we had were also fantastic, and the choice of wines were wonderful. I honestly could not recommend this place enough and I will certainly be returning, hopefully soon! What makes it even better is that the prices are extremely reasonable for such quality, far better than some others I’ve tried. Thank you so much to all of you for creating such a special birthday dining experience.

Great food (mostly) but had really disappointing fatty sirloin! When I mentioned this to the server I didn’t get any productive response (not what I would expect from a Michelin plate restaurant!). This really threw off my meal, and although the manager attempted to make amends (cheese plate) I wasn’t impressed given the cost of the experience.

My favourite restaurant in Brighton. Friendly service and delicious high quality food. Every mouthful is a delight!

Great food and lovely, friendly service. Would highly recommend! We tried to work our way through all the small plates (almost succeeded!) and every one was brilliant in its own right. They specialise in using local, seasonal produce. Unfortunately we did not have room for the larger cuts of meat from the blackboard, but they looked incredible and we will definitely be ordering on our next visit!

Amazing food. So fresh and everything was so intentional. The staff were absolutely lovely. We sat on the counter and spoke to the 2 chefs who were so friendly and we found out they were the owners. You can really tell they have a passion for amazing food. Will definitely come back when I’m back in town.

Food was amazing! Such a little gem of Brighton and we were pleased to visit for the second time. Everything is sourced locally and the waiters tell the story of each very well presented course. Would definitely recommend

Amazing menu, knowledgeable team, highly recommend

Amazing food and fantastic service. One of our favourite restaurants in the UK!

Absolutely incredible experience! One of the best tasting menus I have ever tried! The service was excellent too, every dish had a little story which was described in no rush, great wines accompanied the food and the whole experience was just under 4h as opposed to other places where you pretty much finish in 2.5h. Made everything more enjoyable and relaxed.

Fantastic food and amazing service.

Phenomenal food, great service, lovely ambience. Head and shoulders above the rest of the (many) restaurants in Brighton. We had a wonderful time and look forward to coming back soon.

Really enjoyable lunch at Kindling. Service was excellent and explained the dishes well. Food was really special. Locally sourced and beautiful presented. Recommend the wild garlic and mushroom bread.

Mixed feelings about Kindling. When it was on it was excellent. But when they missed the mark it was actually a little disappointing. Staff are fantastic and I cannot fault them at all for the service provided. Attentive, friendly, fun, helpful - everything you wanted or needed and nothing you didn’t. The food was largely excellent. The steak was cooked wonderfully with a beautiful and tasty mustard. The octopus was bursting with flavour as were the mushroom scallops. The beetroot completely let the meal down - the beetroot was difficult to tell what you were eating and the flavours didn’t really match the standard of the other food we tried. Ambience wise it has real potential. We however sat in a corner which suffered from vibrations and excessive noise from the ventilation system for the kitchen. While we enjoyed our meal and the staff didn’t rush us the noise and vibrations from the system did mean we were ready to leave immediately after our meal rather than staying for a coffee or tea. I’d probably come back to try the food again based on dishes like the mushroom scallops and the steak, because there’s real potential here. Brighton also has lots of other choices so I’d like to see the menu doing that little bit extra to stand out from the crowd.

Amazing. Food and service was excellent highly recommend.

Really amazing restaurant. Top service, great drinks and fantastic food. Couldn’t recommend more

Food was good, really good. It took me a while though to get my head around the way courses are served. Sharing is caring. It was a high end experience and I would go again. But I have to save up first.

Food was amazing and service was great, 100% recommend

First visit this evening to Kindling. We appreciated the professional, friendly and warm welcome with attentive service, whilst delivering food that is innovative and excels. We can’t wait to go back. Thank you to all at Kindling - that’s how to run a restaurant.

Perfect food, imaginative and beautifully presented. Fantastic staff; appropriately attentive, knowledgeable, friendly and funny! Just brilliant.

Delicious small plates and lovely waiter. Great surprise that whole menu is gluten free!

Exemplary fine dining of the calibre which easily commands a place amongst the best restaunts in the UK, paired with equally stunning mixology from the bar. I cannot recommend a visit to Kindling enough, you will not be disappointed.

An embarrassing evening. Our starters took an hour and a half to arrive. After an hour and 15 minutes the restaurant realised and said that there was a delay and we got given some almonds and olives whilst we waited. 3 of us ordered the oyster mushroom which was a vegan dish and unfortunately had a strong taste of bacon. For mains the vegans had ordered the cauliflower which was a disappointing option considering how many other choices could have been made vegan. This took 40 minutes to arrive and was burnt and a pathetic sized portion. As someone who really enjoys fine dining this place really lacked for the prices they charged. Not a good place for vegans and a shambles of organisation.

Loved it. Really good food, the shoulder of lamb was particularly amazing, but everything was exceptionally tasty and inventive. The roasted sprouts were addictive. Really friendly and attentive waiter as well, he gave us a really warm welcome on a drizzly day. Fully recommend.

Exceptional food, beautiful relaxed and informal setting and great service. Will come back ASAP!

Little hidden gem. Excellent food and service

Great experience, the food and presentation is awesome but the service levels are outstanding, Thank you James :-)

Really excellent medium plates for a tasty selection to share or a a light bite. Loved the ex-dairy beef burger and will return for the 500g sharing steak. Possibly the best skin on fries I've ever eaten, and some really good olives. Also impressed with the drink options, had a couple of very refreshing cocktails on a hot summer day. Desert choices limited but the Eaton mess was delicious. Well worth a visit, great place to eat and pretty good value too. Visited again for an evening meal, the tasting menu is unfinished with a couple of vegetable dishes needing tweaks but the rest is delicious. Amazing beef, divine fish and marvelous desert courses. Mentioned in the Michelin guide, and deservedly so.

Great tasting menu meal sat up by the Chefs watching all their creativity! Wonderful food and service.

Just brilliant. Who'd have thought cabbage would be so tasty. Lovely staff

Really good cooking- superlative service - made to feel right at home - wonderful flavours and really good value

Went last Friday, hands down the best restaurant in Brighton. Starters of romanesco and mushroom were class. Mains of plaice and lamb were insane and the white chocolate panna cotta was the best dessert I've had. Good value wines too, will 100% be back

Had a lovely Sunday lunch today (30.10.22) food was delicious and with the small plates it allowed us to try lots of different choices. Each of the dishes were served with great accompaniments that worked well together. The service was perfect and our server knew his stuff. The only thing I couldn't really comment on was the atmosphere as it was very quiet with 4 tables but it definitely has a lovely feel to it.

Cooking of the highest quality. Interesting ingredients and combinations, with friendly knowledgeable front of house.

Been to the restaurant twice and loved it both times. Although the second time we have been sat at the counter in front of the chefs and we absolutely enjoyed everything - from the service to the meal and a great chat with chefs. Can’t wait to go back and sit on the counter again!

After seeing so many good reviews and it being in the top list of Brighton restaurants, Kindling has been up there to try for ages. However, it could not of been a bigger disappointment. The pricing of the menu just does not add up as all the dishes are about the same price. Would usually expect a variation between meat and veggie dishes. The portion sizes for the price was also very disappointing. I appreciate that hospitality is in a difficult situation with rising energy costs etc so would not mind the price being high for small portions if the food is amazing. However, the food was pretty bland with no real flavour being highlighted. I went with three others so ordered everything in the menu to try and there was nothing really that stood out and had any wow factor. We still felt hungry after finishing. I try to eat out and support all independent restaurants around Brighton. However, I really would not recommend Kindling. There are many other small plate restaurants such as Plateau, The Market and Burnt Orange that consistently deliver.

As a self proclaimed foodie I was extremely excited to finally dine at Kindling after seeing this appear repeatedly on the Top Places to Eat in Brighton… to add to my excitement small plates is my ultimate style of dining, the joy of being able to get a real insight into the chefs style and being able to order the whole menu and create an experience with friends. However Kindling wasn’t able to deliver on either. Part of this style of dining is have about the staff being part of your table, talking you through the dishes, giving an insight into how much is the norm to order. Most of the staff couldn’t care you were there to which in this current financial climate makes spending money to dine out a regretful decision. The food gave a whole new meaning to Small plates. Which when ordering the whole menu left us hungry, disappointed with the lack of flavour and passion for this style of cuisine. If looking for a meal of this style take a short walk round the corner to Plateau or Burnt Orange.

Possibly the nicest meal in Brighton for a long time. And a first time here for me. The space is open and calm, the team, kitchen and floor are all visible and work together tremendously, the service was really super! Our cocktails to start were delicious and imaginative. All the food was amazing and cooked with skill, (we loved the open grill) and a thoughtfulness for local and wild produce was nice to see. Really really good thank you Kindling, we will be back!

Good service. Excellent small menu made with great local produce.

We had a wonderful meal here Friday night. Food was absolutely delicious, so tasty. Beautiful presentation and fresh, seasonal, local produce. Can't recommend enough.

We went at lunchtime. The staff were very attentive, we had everything on the menu as we had 5 people for the party. Cocktails were good, one of the nicest restaurant in Brighton city centre.

Every dish was superb, the venison kofta sandwich my friend planned to have again as "dessert" 😋🤭 If they had 2 loaves of the bread, we'd have taken both home BUT had to settle for splitting one. Very impressed with the strength of the vodka martini (dry) & the waiting staff were informative, attentive but not hovering!!

Uno de los mejores restaurantes de Brighton en donde hemos comido en este 2022. Ambiente extraordinario, servicio excepcional y menú sofisticado. Los productos utilizados en la confección de Los platos son locales, y cada plato degustado nos sorprendió gratamente tanto por la calidad como por el precio. Áltamente recomendable.

Had a thoroughly enjoyable evening here with my folks whilst visiting Brighton. The food and service were both excellent, can’t wait to come back.

Small and friendly restaurant with excellent dishes based on ingredients from Sussex and sustainable methods. We loved the cauliflower and scallops, and also shared halibut and pork chop. Excellent service from Lee!

Excellent food and service, could not be happier.

Had a nice lunch at Kindling last weekend. The waiters were great - welcoming and friendly. We had cocktails to start and a few different plates which were all fresh, well presented and tasty.

Great little restaurant near the Pier (not at the waterfront). Beautifully crafted menu, order 2/3 items per person, they all combine well (mostly small portions). Throughout it shows how much they care for the customer experience. We'll be back!

Best lunch out in a very long time! Reservations are highly recommended as this place is super popular for a good reason. We’d unsuccessfully tried walking in on a Friday night, but they were booked solid. We tried again the next day for lunch and loved it! Service was attentive and friendly and the food was both delicious and interesting. You can really tell that this is the passion of the owners and the diversity and whimsy of the menu reflects this. All fresh, seasonal, ingredients combined in surprising and delicious plates. Also…just the best damn fries in town. Can’t wait to visit again.

Delicious food, fresh and full of flavour. Friendly staff and excellent wine. A perfect choice for our evening out together.

A flawless lunch. Beautiful flavours delivered from a knowledgeable but unpretentious team.

Got there feeling thirsty, asked for some water and was given a jug of warm water, we asked for some ice and were given a glass with a few cubes. Bad start !!!!!

Amazing service and fantastic locally sourced produce. I would highly recommend 👌

What an amazing restaurant! All the staff were helpful and friendly. The best thing is my Sister in law could choose anything off the menu without worrying if there was gluten in it. We'll definitely be back.

Lovely restaurant fabulous staff. Menu selection is small but everything is cooked to perfection. As well as set menu also had specials of the day. Good wine selection and cocktails. Definitely recommend.

Superb..unique..excellent food and service...the perfect negroni...

A wonderful dinner, excellent food and service with an innovative menu. The hispi cabbage and Eton mess were unexpected highlights aswell- only recommendation would be to ensure the fish portions are more reasonable, the serving of wild bass was delicious but on the small side.

Can't fault this place. Mescal cocktail one of the best I've had in years and incredibly knowledgeable barman. Food was just immense. All food was gluton free and you would never know. Went totally vegan ( I'm a meat eater) with a cauliflower starter (delicious) followed by the tomato and Jerusalem artichoke main course, which was out of this world. Beyond tasty. Pudding was a gluton free sponge cake with chocolate ice cream, dont even ask me how they managed to make it taste this good with no gluton, the chef is a genius. Highly recommended this place. Only mild criticism is the resturant is very stark it needs darker walls and lower lighting. Will be back.

You MUST try this amazing food if you are around. I didn’t expect the food to be sooo tasty and fresh. The staff was soo welcoming. I normally live in London, but I am willing to travel again just to try this food again. It is indeed an explosion of savour.

We had an awesome lunch! Fabulous welcome and friendly service.. really great ingredients and a wonderfully imaginative menu! Loved the pork chop and the cauliflower small plate and actually everything! Wine list is well thought through..thank you David and Lee and rest of the team! We will be back!

The Service is amazing, the food is delicious. The menu is suitable for a gluten free diet.

Michelin-star standard food & service at wallet-friendly prices! The place to be if you are ever at Brighton! Locally sourced produced, prepared ever so professionally by the kitchen team! Sit by the bar and see it for yourself if you doubt this review! Will be back the next time if I do get to come to Brighton again!

Amazing food. I am very fussy with my food but there was nothing I didn't like here or wasn't tempted by when I saw it cooking. 10 stars!! We sat at the bar so we spoke to the chef's all evening, they told us about the food and lots of other conversations. An all round amazing night and would highly recommend to anyone after a nice dinner out.

Went for lunch with my partner on Saturday and without hesitation we were welcomed and given a choice of tables, the service was exemplary and could not be faulted. Every single question was answered, the knowledge the team had of each of the products used was astounding, it was a pure delight each time one of the two chefs turned round to give an answer as both of them obviously enjoyed imparting their knowledge to enquiring minds. Each and every single dish (even the ones destined for other diners) looked and smelt amazing, even when Toby was grilling off something as simple as garlic (and we'd had our full of food) our mouths watered and we instantly stuck our heads up like meerkats and asked what he was cooking! My partner had the pork meatballs with buttered mash, I had the marinated Nutbourne tomatoes with a wild garlic pesto, we shared a portion of fries with Kindling ketchup (made using the above mentioned tomatoes), we had a side of the soda bread and homemade butter, we could not fault a thing. The desserts are worth a mention in their own paragraph, Holly's meringues were the best and honestly not much more could be said, the Eton mess was literally divine! My dessert, I was waiting in anticipation as I'd seen it on the menu and had decided it needed to be mine, the chocolate cake, with a salted caramel sauce and chocolate shards with popcorn and a chocolate sorbet was the best I'd ever had, each bit took me back to a different memory and gave me a warm hug, I didn't even ask who made it so I cannot actually say but it was definitely without doubt the best. The cocktails are also worth a mention, their approach is unique and it works! We will be coming back to Kindling and can wholeheartedly recommend them, thank you for such an amazing dining experience, kudos to you and what seems like an excellent team.

Went for lunch the food was fabulous. Staff were super attentive and knowledgeable. The Eton Mess was an utter joy, some of the very best merengue.

Overrated the Michelin man must've lost his taste buds when he visited the Kindling restaurant

Incredible good quality food, welcoming staff. 🙌

Delicious fresh food and friendly staff.

Terrible experience dining here at the Kindling restaurant the menu lacked flavour and portion sizes were tiny and expensive. Most of the flavouring seems to be from the grill. As some of the other comments say you will definitely still make a profit even if you double the portion size. Please don't respond with some sustainable meat nonsense. Would not recommend this restaurant.

We had high expectations for this restaurant given the reviews. The food was nice but not quite the spectacular wow factor we were looking for based on the prices. The desserts were unfortunately way off the mark - balance of flavours completely wrong which was incredibly disappointing again given all of the reviews. The service was also very slow - starters received over an hour after we arrived for our booking - this isn’t acceptable for this standard of restaurant. Overall, slightly higher quality food than a pub minus the dessert of course and the service needs work.

Have visited Kindling several times before and have always been wowed by the food, albeit service slightly slow but the standard of food made it worth the wait. Sadly we were disappointed by our experience over the weekend, our main course of mutton was served completely cold and raw, when raising this to the wait staff we were advised that is how it is meant to be served. We were told that it had been grilled, but even the fat was raw with just a hint of being cooked on the edge. It was served with extremely salty kale on the plate, we ordered a side of new potatoes which were also hard and undercooked. Very odd response from the team, and frankly disappointing evening. Kindling used to be at the top of my recommendation list, but not any more ☹️

Came here on a recommendation and it was phenomenal - probably the best restaurant I’ve been to in Brighton, certainly up there. - the waiter was knowledgeable and really knew about each dish in detail

Had high hopes based on other reviews but food was unfortunately disappointing. Mutton dish ordered was £22 and the quality of the meat was so poor as to be inedible

My wife and I had a lovely meal at Kindling. The staff were friendly and knowledgeable, the food was divine, and the atmosphere was great. Not the cheapest night out, but you definitely get what you pay for!

Great service and lovely food. The sprouts were especially good!

Came for my partner's birthday lunch and had a really good time. The dishes were all of a very high quality, and really showcased a lot of local food, and the talent of the chefs. The wait staff were beyond amazing, catering for our every need and making us feel at home instantly.

There is a real effort on the food (creative, seasonal, well executed) and some of the dishes were really good (the brandade in particular) but the fact that the owner appeared to be totally upset by children despite the restaurant being 3/4 empty made the experience far less pleasant than it could have been.

Belated Valentine’s Day celebration evening. Absolutely incredible amuse bouche (pictured), so fresh and bursting with flavour. There was a slight mix up with our mains but the restaurant dealt with it with such ease, we ended up enjoying an unexpected but delicious mutton dish (we were skeptical about mutton to start with (neither of us had tried before) but it was ridiculously tender and melted in the mouth). AND we got to try to Monkfish (originally ordered) as well, which was equally as delicious. All in all a wonderful night - the chefs and waiters really made our evening through their excellent service with lovely personalised touches. Thank you so much, we really look forward to visiting again soon!!

Phenomenal food, beautiful calm and airy environment, outstanding service. We were a group of 4 and all ordered different things so we got a good taste of nearly the full menu and everything was delicious. Also it’s an absolute treat watching the chefs cook in the open kitchen. Overall an amazing experience will definitely return.

Staff were lovely and knowledgeable. Food was delicious and we were offered some free amuse bouche also.

We had a great visit here. The whole experience was fabulous, from the friendly and knowledgeable team through to the outstanding food and drink. What a treat!

Lovely venue, friendly service, good food (but not quite 5 star)

Sitio muy interesante, con una cocina que elabora unos platos de fusión de sabores muy especial. Interesante relación calidad precio. Trato amable y dispuestos a ayudarte en la elección lo que facilita siempre la experiencia. Una muy buena elección en nuestra visita a Brighton.

My partner took me to Kindling for my birthday back in December. It was an incredible experience, a truly special evening. The food was exquisite, and the staff were warm and attentive. They went out of their way to make everything perfect. We sat at the bar so we could watch the cooking take place - it was amazing to watch the chefs in action, and so much fun chatting with them and asking questions. I cannot recommend Kindling enough - everyone should go!

We've had a great dinner experience here. They make seasonal, local and creative food and every dish is excellent. It was also nice sitting at the bar watching how our food was made - and chatting to the chefs. I'd highly recommend to anyone who enjoys local & a little experimental food. We are already planning our next visit.

A lot of dishes are based off the flavour of the grill and did not complement each other. Hence, dishes are not spectacular in terms of flavours. Portions were very small (even for mains) so make sure you order at least 3 dishes per person. Overall, flavour of food is poorly balanced.

We went on New Years Eve, and had the most amazing evening. The food was beyound delicious. We chose a counter seat and the chefs explained every dish, shared stories and made us feel so welcome. The meal was brilliant value for money for NYE and took the form of an 11 course tasting menu. Will definitely be back.

I took my partner here to celebrate her birthday and it was one of the best eating experiences we have had. The food was out of this work nice, so eloquently presented, and cooked to perfection. To complement the food, the staff were so attentive, and really passionate in explaining the menu which helps us choose. We sat at the bar so were able to watch the cooking which was so cool. I cannot recommend this place enough. The food and the staff are pure class.

I had been looking forward to going for months and they did not disappoint at all. The flavour for every dish was spot on, each ingredients wasn't too exotic (which for me personally sometimes puts me off) but what came was far more than I imagined them to taste like. The Brussel sprouts with miso mayo was so good that even though I don't like them, I LOVED this version and if you're lucky to have the sheep's cheese on your menu, DEFINITELY order that - the right balance of sweetness from the honeycomb and cheese with the sharpness of frozen raspberries was just so good thinking about it, I could have another one!