Solera D Tapas in Brighton and Hove

My go-to Tapas joint in Brighton. Excellent selection and swift, kinda service!

Small but fab. Great food, good wine and a great minimalist vibe. Not cheap to eat here but I had a great evening.

Absolutely fantastic, great food

They don't have a coffee machine and the wine list is very limited

Atmosphere was great, shame you couldn't say the same about the food. It really was a disaster. The tortilla was dry and hard, seafood very basic, aubergine so so, but the chick peas with spinach was truly a disgusting sludge. Very disappointing. I'm afraid I won't be going again unless it improves.

The staff managed to squeeze us in on a busy night. The place is fairly small and has a really great vibe. All the food we ordered was delicious as was the wine recommend. We would definitely go again.

Super slow microwave food very friendly staff and v pleasant atmosphere

Without a doubt the best food I’ve eaten in brighton. Also possibly the best tapas we’ve ever had! Will definitely be returning

Overrated for the price. Average on the whole.

Excellent food, superb service. Staff very friendly. Fantastic little bar, will make a return visit, definitely.

Not generally a fan of tapas - never understand why some dishes come with one food item short as to the number of people on the table (4 meatballs and five people!). I like to have my own plate of food. Overall it was good & tasty with a friendly, efficient service. It was Valentine's night and packed with a fun party atmosphere. Reasonably priced. Worth a visit. Enjoy!

My wife and had our anniversary meal here, the staff were brilliant and the food was excellent, although the muscles were a little salty, would highly recommend

Food watery. Felt as though it was microwaved and not at all authentic. Waste of money

The decor is rustic, the atmosphere is relaxed and the food is wonderful. Good sized portions of tapas, wide selection, friendly staff. The service could be slightly prompter, given the size of the restaurant, but it’s nice to be given time to choose and eat. The wine on offer is very good, and our particular choice was excellent and reasonably priced. Tables and stools basic - could be more comfortable. Biggest drawback - the toilet! Door lock doesn’t work, empty loo roll, hand dryer that is like a gentle breeze and empty soap. And the toilet bowl needed a good scrub!

The tapas (Spanish for snack ie small dish) were perfect size…..we had four and couldn’t finish. Wine was lovely. All v reasonably priced, which didn’t come as a surprise given we looked at the menu before we sat down. Staff were welcoming, owner smiled and shared a joke. Highly recommended.

I don’t like to write negative reviews. Times are hard and restaurants may need to be cut a bit of slack. But this place shows no sign of trying when there are so many more deserving of your custom. Soggy patatas bravas, meatballs as hard and flavourless as golfballs in a cold bland tomato sauce (honestly Subway does it so much better!) No sign of fresh veg in any dish. Still hungry after long wait for last dish so asked for dessert menu. Told there is none. Guess a scoop of ice cream or a churro is too labour intensive for this place. We went elsewhere for coffee and dessert and wished we had dinner elsewhere as well.

Muy buen ambiente, comida muy buena, lo recomiendo

Food was ok, very expensive bill for not a lot of dishes. I have been here just before covid and had a great meal, however I would now not go back

Espectacular comida ,un trato del personal , un 10

Absolute garbage. The food arrived in 2 minutes fresh from the microwave which we could hear pinging In the background, it was disgusting. You should be ashamed of yourselves. This place is a complete scam, avoid at all costs, dont trust all the fake 5 star reviews on here, they are as legitimate as the food.

It was our first time there and it won't be our last! Great food great service great atmosphere 👍❤️ (small stools the only negative 😉)

Sitio no recomendable, por lo menos con mi experiencia. Pedimos una fritura andaluza, tenía 6 buñuelos de bacalao, 6 gambas y unos cuantos calamares y con eso ya estaba la fritura. Las gambas fritas de las que son congeladas, parecían de goma, los calamares igual, los buñuelos no estaban mal. Por otro lado pido un refresco y me lo traen sin hielo, pido hielo y no tenían, entonces les digo que me traigan una botella de agua y me traen una botella con agua del grifo, les digo que una botella de agua mineral y me dicen que no tienen.. Ya pedimos postre y tampoco tenían postres!!! Y seguimos.... Lo que pedimos fue: una ensalada, la fritura y una copa de vino, esto nos costó 35 libras, pero esto no se queda ahí, le voy a pagar con un billete de 50 libras y me dice que no tienen cambio. Muy fuerte todo!!

We had high hopes about this place. We ordered 5 dishes which arrived suspiciously quick. There wasn't any sound of cooking coming from the kitchen except the pinging from "Chef Mike". There was also some guy setting tables and coughing all over the cutlery. Had high hopes but reality was awful microwaved food. We left and went straight to another restaurant.

Use to love this place but was really disappointed - the wine was low quality and the food very basic lacking the frills. Shame

Lovely little place, that was the reason why we booked. But the food is overpriced and everything was extremely salty.

Don't even bother go in. Can food > 4 times the price. Pure extortion.

I was longing for some really nice tapas and this place delivered. Really cosy environment and welcoming staff which could make you think you were in Spain! The tapas were regular tapas size and the quality was excellent. I especially loved the cod fritters, the cheese and the Spanish omelette. All dishes were very good but loved these the most. Would visit again!

A nice restaurant. Service was very good as was the food. Waiter was very attentive and made the evening enjoyable.

We shared a lovely evening here with friends. The staff are very friendly and welcoming, and the tapas dishes were very tasty and authentic. The only down side was that they had run out of some of the veggie options, which I could see had been served, so we were simply too late to order some of the dishes. However, I'd highly recommend coming here if you enjoy classic Spanish Tapas, in a relaxing, homely and rustic atmosphere.

Delicious wine. Good food selection although some of it feels extremely pricey, 5 thin slices of manchego for £9!

It is with sincere regret that I write this review. I have been in touch to complain with the owner however have been met with a wall of silence. We booked Solera having not been since the pandemic. It was a major disappointment. The food was reheated by microwave and not fresh. The calamari rubbery, and certainly not fresh. When we ordered our drinks they had only Fanta or water- no tea or coffee. We had to approach the servers on 3 occasions (drinks, bill, to order) and all in all a really terrible experience. Don’t go there.

I found this place on Google and the reviews were very mixed some very good and other very bad. It was a a birthday treat fir my wife but as it was booked late I had to take my chances. I had more of a canteen look about it and the seating and decor was very basic. So not really a special event sort of place. The service was OK but quite alougth and everything came from the small open kitchen behind the service counter. We chose to go for the set menu for 4 and topped it up with a few other dishes. The food was tasty and well prepared. All in all the meal was good and it had the feal of a typical local Spanish tapas bar in Spain. But I would say they are charging restaurant prices in a cafe setting.

A lovely little place with lovely food. We shared the vegetarian 2 person sharing option, which could have done with something extra like bread to make it more filling. It was good value for money in Brighton. It was very quiet with only a couple of other tables. It is a shame to see all the negative reviews.

Dined off the Xmas menu tonight and all 3 course’s we’re amazing! Top quality food and drinks - will definitely be booking to come back soon! Thank you for a lovely evening 🥰

Overpriced for what I had, £8.95for 4 slivers of Manchego, Patatas bravas which were cold. Gambia’s were okay but not for £10.95 for a small plate. £35 for 1, 3 small plates and a bottle of beer! Won’t go back !

Very mediocre. Salad had shop bought, slightly rancid dressing, tapas offering is very basic indeed.

Avoid, this “restaurant” it’s a rip off. £9 salad that was taken out of a supermarket bag (florette) with two tiny pieces of goat cheese.

The food was awful, clearly frozen supermarket stuff, the portions were beyond a joke like minuscule, we didn't even eat half of it because it was so bad. I have worked in the industry for years and I'd be ashamed at sending that out, with a "sorry we changed supplier" line from the waiter, how about don't then charge me full price ??? £45 quid for nothing, the 1 star is for the waitress who was nice and clearly felt bad.

I’ve never left a restaurant so angry in my life. Ten Pimentos Del Padrón for £6? Are you kidding me? £7 for six tiny frozen cod balls. Try serving this in Spain and you would be laughed out of the country. We insisted on the 12.5% service charge being taken off being taken off. £50 and we left hungry. By rights this place should go out of business.

I’ve never reviewed on here before, but I felt moved to warn people: the owner has no scruples and is ripping people off. We went for dinner, spent £50 and left feeling like we’d been pickpocketed. We could have prepared this food for £5. The waiter patronisingly pointed out that tapas is small dishes. Well you’re given bigger for free in Spain with every glass of wine bought. This place brings shame on decent Spaniards running restaurants in Brighton. Avoid this place at all costs.

£6 for ten grilled peppers. Do they really think that this is acceptable? You would get this for free with a glass of Rioja in Madrid. Completely unacceptable. Avoid this tourist trap.

Cracking lunch. Really nice tapas and a lovely cold beer. Honestly thought I was in Spain.

On a busy Friday night in Brighton I stumbled on Solera. There was a rare outside table and I needed food before a gig… so I sat down and ordered. Going for a bottle of house white Rioja coupled with garlic ‘fries’, fried goats cheese and sherry chorizo I sat back and waited… but only for three minutes for the wine (which is lovely and perfectly acceptable) and another 5-6 mins for the food. Which. Was. Delicious. The fries I’d expected to be chips… but they were lovely little potato cubes covered in a tasty garlic sauce. The Chorizo was generous and sat in a really rich sherry sauce. And the goats cheese… well I could have eaten it all night long!!! This isn’t a ‘cheap as chips option’ but if you want to spoil yourself… this is the place…

Visited 17 12 21. Very disappointing. Not at all authentic. More akin to a microwave ready meal. Over-priced wine.

I used to really enjoy Solera. We went there tonight and it was shocking. Total change of standards: I could cook the food better myself even on a bad day. I’m so annoyed. 3 tables complained tonight whilst we were there so I know it’s not just us. 3 out of say 20 tables is a bad rate. The food was poor. Chorizo ‘in wine’ was microwaved and rubbery. The prawns the same. Poor looking patatas bravas. These dishes are not hard to cook There seems a lack of care there now. Jesus was a manager there before and now maybe left or I haven’t seen him lately. Maybe they are trying to cut costs but they will end up losing customers. Such a shame. Waiter was a bit shocking aswell. When we said we don’t want to pay 10% service charge we were asked quite firmly ‘why’. Well you didn’t actually do anything. How hard is tapas to make and serve ? The waiter even complained to us that he’d had a busy day and that may be why we didn’t enjoy it ! Oh I’m so sorry mate. I’ll Still pay full price though should I ? I could basically run that place myself.

Food delivered at the pace you'd expect for Tapas, very tasty with an authentic homemade Spanish style about it

The food was amazing, perfect place to eat for sharing different plates of food. The staff were so friendly and accommodating. Very authentic place. Would definitely go here again on my next visit !

Delicious tapas. Such friendly staff.

We have some dinner here last week the food was amazing. Authentic Spanish tapas, fresh food, lovely staff. Looking forward to our next visit

Cosy, authentic tapas restaurant with excellent food.

Great vibes, cozy traditional spot, with delicious food and nice wine. The staff are lovely.

The decor is rustic, the atmosphere is relaxed and the food is wonderful. Good sized portions of tapas, wide selection, friendly staff. The service could be slightly prompter, given the size of the restaurant, but it’s nice to be given time to choose and eat. The wine on offer is very good, and our particular choice was excellent and reasonably priced. Tables and stools basic - could be more comfortable. Biggest drawback - the toilet! Door lock doesn’t work, empty loo roll, hand dryer that is like a gentle breeze and empty soap. And the toilet bowl needed a good scrub!

Mi español no es perfecto pero disfruté mi experiencia aquí. La cerveza era bien, y también las patatas bravas y olivas (marinadas por supuesto) son increíble.

I love that we can actually enjoy tapas!! they all taste sooooooooo good!! feel Spain in the middle of Brighton, UK!!

Stopped in for an impromptu evening meal after a hiatus of not visiting since before lockdown. Things have gone downhill. The place is tired and the toilet facilities downright unhygienic. Asked the serving staff for an allergies menu and they dais that the one they had was 'out of date' for the current menu. I explained that this was against the law and the response was 'I am not the owner'. We ordered based on assurances that my choices would be gluten free - big mistake! The tapas are all pre-cooked and so nothing is freshly made. All the dishes were heated up in the microwave in the tiny kitchen. The Spanish Omelette was tasteless consisting of eggs and potato and no seasoning and my wife sent hers back. I ordered the oxtail on the assurances of the staff that it was gluten free - it turns out it was not based on the severe reaction I have has since eating there. In summary, the staff are friendly but lacking knowledge, the food at best mediocre and warmed up in the microwave, the lack of allergens menu contravenes UK law, and lastly, the prices were extremely high for 'warmed up food'. My recommendation - avoid at all costs.

Have walked past many times and thought it looks so cosy! Finally we were child free and wanted an adhoc meal out (it is apparently open until 10pm) so we strolled down at 8.15pm to be told the kitchen is shut and they are closed (there were tables with people there) . Shame we can’t actually review the food.

Friendly tasty little tapas restaurant in the lanes

Looking for lunch on Friday and saw this place. Haven't had Tapas for a while so decided to give it a gamble. And the gamble paid of off! Really enjoyed the cheese and the ham, and the lamb chops were super delicious.

Authentic feeling Tapas restaurant. Lovely staff and friendly atmosphere. We enjoyed the set menu washed down with plenty of sangria.

Simple, delicious and reasonably priced with warm friendly service.

Sin pan no como. Stuff reheated in microwave, no love in the food. Poor.

Fabulous food and service very friendly staff, happy to talk. Staff member Alex played all our favourite music all afternoon and the food, the beers of which there were many and the wonderful staff made this visit unforgettable. Highly recommended.

Really good service, best place to enjoy the authentic gastronomy of Spain.

Great authentic Spanish tapas.. muy bueno

Wow. Worst tapas place in Brighton. I ordered albondigas (dry, bland) and chickpea and spinach (mush). Neither dish had no flavour and the toilet looked like it had never been cleaned. Don't eat here. Go to the nice place in the lanes (book if you can). The only good thing on my table was the wine.

As a Spaniard I try to avoid these type of restaurants abroad, but was my wife's Birthday and she was fancy some tapas, so we decided to give it a go. The place is very pricey for what you really get in terms of quality and quantity - the "cooked" chorizo with a kétchup sauce was cold and tasteless, the bravas were burnt, and they run out of bread (I think is the first "Spanish" place Ever I see running out of bread), and the worst is that the waiter didn't even suggest ordering something where in Spain we eat little bread. We ordered gambas al ajillo for which actually one of the ingredients for dipping is bread! So I was very disappointed. Sorry, this for Brits may work, but definitely not Spanish. At least my wife understands me now why I never go to "Spanish" restaurants abroad.

Found this place by accident and had a terrific meal. A great surprise.

Tapas , what a joke ! Chorizo more like a Wimpey bender without the bun with Mayo and tomato sauce! Meatballs warm at best and no way homemade !

Scrummy! We only had a couple of tapas and Sangria but it was great. Attentive and friendly staff. Sat outside the front in the sun - felt lovely.

several items on the menu were not available, excuse being "it is wednesday" (what??)... after waiting forever to order, and then finally ordering after a long wait, we watched everybody else eat but ourselves... after a very very long wait, the prawns were nice, as was the chicken... however, bread was not available... chorizo, a tiny sausage on a plate - nothing to do with the sherry it is supposed to come in... iberico ham, which was more than £10, was just 4 slices (yes, just 4 tiny slices), without any iberico taste, because it was drowned in olive oil... overall, very disappointing...

Amazing food and awesome atmosphere. Brilliant staff!

Perfect atmosphere, excellent food and super friendly staff. One of Brighton's best.

Overall I had a feeling that the waiter kept trying to push stuff on us that we didn’t want to order. In fact, the table next to us ordered a glass of sangría an the waiter brought them a pitcher and pushed it. He was the sneaky kind. We tried bravas, shrimps with garlic, croquettes and fried cheese. The bravas were small and too fried. The shrimps were a bit undercooked. The croquettes and fried cheese were fine but can you really go wrong with that? I wouln’t recommend it.

Amazing experience at Solera Tapas. Where the food was real good along with the excellent and attentive service from the staff. Would highly recommend to anyone looking to experience authentic Spanish food along with their hospitality.

Loved every mouthful of food in this friendly, intimate restaurant. It was unfortunate that they tried to charge us for bread we'd ordered and didn't receive, and for two bottles of red when we only ordered one.

Lovely quaint little place with delicious food at affordable prices. Really enjoyed our meal and staff were lovely and very helpful Thanks for a lovely evening

Prawns in garlic and oil are delicious

Lovepy food and wine and great service

Entré como un paseo y la decoración es agradable. Las medidas de COVID parecen relajadas: sin máscaras y algunos asientos están muy cerca. La comida y el vino estaban bien, pero las porciones son pequeñas por el precio. El guiso de chorizo resultó ser una salchicha pequeña con una salsa esparcida por encima

We had a lovely lunch here last week. Sitting outside watching the world go by and enjoying the friendly relaxed service and some excellent food and wine.

My wife and had our anniversary meal here, the staff were brilliant and the food was excellent, although the muscles were a little salty, would highly recommend

very disappointing food, especially for the price we paid for it. The squid was just oily and did not seem grilled, patas and tortilla tasted dry and old, which fits with record time in which they appeared, Manchego and Pimento were okay though extremely thinly sliced. Service was nice enough and the atmosphere and interior quite lovely, but that could not make up forthe food. Even though we were starved and should have been easy customers

Después de años de vivir localmente y disfrutar de este y el otro restaurante Bodega, hoy fue y es totalmente diferente.El ambiente de estar rodeado de hermosos vinos y productos españoles se ha ido y parece una cadena. La carta de vinos que solía ser espectacular ahora ni siquiera tiene marcas, solo Rioja House o Reserva. Incluso Wetherspoons tiene la marca real de vino.Bueno, después de ser un cliente leal durante más de 10 años, nunca volveré, pero afortunadamente tenemos opciones aquí.

Tuvimos tanta suerte de que Solera reabriera la noche de mi cumpleaños. Hicimos la reserva usando Messenger el día anterior: respuesta amable y rápida. El lugar es pequeño pero muy agradable y las tapas eran excelentes. Más cerca estaremos llegando a España por un tiempo. Destacaron las espinacas con garbanzos y las abondigas y ¡las patatas bravas estaban riquísimas! Gracias.

Superb food and wine, great staff. Rough around the edges, but feels authentic.

Great evening good food good staff yeah good time

Pequeño restaurante encantador, la comida era muy sabrosa, porciones muy justas. Excelente relación calidad-precio. Definitivamente lo recomendaría, aunque parte de mí quisiera mantener una joya escondida. Fuera del circuito turístico habitual en un lado más interesante de Brighton. Sin embargo, creo que sería un verdadero perjuicio para el chef si no compartiera este gran hallazgo.

Average really, not bad but nothing to write home about..

La comida estaba increible. El servicio fue rápido y eficiente.El lugar es sencillo y acogedor.Mis amigos y yo podíamos conversar con otros sin tener que levantar la voz porque el volumen de la música era lo suficientemente bajo.Disfrutamos toda la experiencia y volveremos.Recomendaré el lugar a todos mis amigos.

Lovely little tapas with friendly staff.

Lovely food, had the set meal for 4 and it was definitely enough. Good wine and well priced. We will be back 😀

It is a cosy and friendly tapas restaurant. Serving very tasty dishes at a pace and price we loved. We visit Brighton once or twice a year and have been back here each time Phil C

Sadly really disappointed 😔 was recommended here but left knowing we will not return. Firstly our table we booked for 7.30 was not ready, not too much of an issue as we went to The Office for a drink for half an hr. When our table was finally ready 6 of us were squashed onto a table of 4 spaces! We ordered a jug of apparently the best authentic sangria in the U.K. £18.45! only to have to send it back as it tasted like it was Ribena with some tinned mixed fruit cocktail in it. The 2*s are literally for the tapas which was tasty when it was finally served to us ( apart from the creme brûlée which was cold custard in a dish with cinnamon layered on the top. The service was ok to start with but went downhill very much after mentioning the non alcoholic sangria........ left feeling really disappointed & a little ripped off 😌

We made a last minute booking here on a Saturday night. The staff were very friendly and welcoming.A small but lovely feel restaurant. We did a sharing tapas platter for 3 people with a bottle of house wine. Very reasonable! And delicious. The only thing we would say is we wished the portions were a bit bigger. It was yum! Would definitely recommend.

Great food and a nice quiet restaurant as a home cooked and not a chain. I have eaten here on several occasions.

Cosy friendly tapas restaurant. Serving very tasty dishes at a pace we loved. We visit Brighton once or twice a year and have been back here each time Phil C

As a Spaniard, I really tend to avoid these sort of places at all cost.. Seafood is relatively tasteless, tortilla is hard (it's meant to be relatively uncooked I'm the middle...) and salty, portions are very small, and prices are extortionate... the lamb chops were actually very good!! But thats it... I guess for someone trying to eat something new... well.. maybe. But as a Spaniard trying to eat food from home, absolutely no way.

This place came recommended and we visited as a group of friends pre Theatre. Very squashed tables not particularly comfortable but this had an authentic tapas feel so didn't mind that too much, however was disappointed as the first dish came out a tiny portion of cheese barely enough for half a mouthful per person. Didn't get much better portions of every tapas that came out was tiny and at £6 or £7 minimum a dish it turned out to be a very expensive evening and everybody in our group was hungry afterwards. Service also slow and we had to keep reminding the waitress to bring our food. Atmosphere was pretty good though so not all bad and the dishes that were good were actually pretty tasty. Best was the prawns, and the chorizo. Won't be back though.

Ate here last night,my third visit. I realise it's tapas, but the dishes were very small portions and the quality of the food has really declined. We ordered a selection of fried fish which came on a small side plate; a few squid rings, a couple of anchovies and 2 prawns, £14. The rest of the food was underwhelming and overpriced. I won't be returning !

Cosy, authentic, friendly staff, and great food.