The Chilli Pickle in Brighton and Hove

This used to be a fantastic restaurant with delicious food. Now taken over by a company more interested in profits. If you like a plate piled with cheap carbs and a substandard curry, then you’ll like it. Me, I’m going to see if I can find where the original Chilli Pickle have gone

Once again, great food, could not find fault with anything, we had a wonderful food experience, atmosphere warm and cosy

Had an amazing evening!! Food was incredible, and Ruby looked after us so well, can’t see enough. Will definitely be coming back again!!

The Meal We “Paid For” Twice We regularly eat and enjoy Indian and other spicy food so we were really looking forward to this meal. We had pre-booked and arrived on time at 7pm. We had to wait a while for our table to be cleared and then for our order to be taken. It was nearly 8pm before any food came. We noticed others who arrived at the same time as us were already eating and we had to follow-up twice to find out what had happened to our order before it finally came. We think it might have been forgotten when our server went on break. We enjoyed most of our food when it arrived-a generous portion of onion bhajis, lamb sizzler (very tasty but small portion), paneer sizzler (we really liked the chilli jam), spicy potatoes, kachumber salad, and black dal (swimming in oil/ghee and with extra butter, way too rich.) We had a delicious Turkish delight kulfi for pudding. So, overall we thought we’d had a good time…until the severe food poisoning symptoms started shortly after we left the restaurant. Driving home from Brighton the next day was not fun, and we’re still not fully recovered nearly 2 days later. Never again!

Ok, no more. Service was a little slow, and small portions compared to others who service good food. Not sure I'd bother to rush back.

We had dinner with friends who had visited Brighton. The food was lovely, it can lean towards being very rich but is always nice. Service was slow. We had ordered some starters and while wait staff were clearing table we were told our mains were waiting to be served and did we want them now. We all agreed and were a bit shocked when our main meals were served 20 minutes later. We then had to wait a further 5-7 minutes for rice and naan's as our waitress had forgotten to place the order. We received no apology for this. We didn't want to complain as it was our friends last night in Brighton and we didn't want to ruin the night. We spilt the bill deciding not querying the service charge. As we were about to leave our friend was approached and told we owed 9 pence. Very disappointed with this considering our wait on sides and drinks with no apologies for mix up.

Best Indian fusion food in The City ..no disappointments here need time to choose and devour delicious food enjoy a drink and go with friends or family

Honestly, one of the most delicious meals out we’ve had in a very long time. Wonderful buzzy atmosphere, really friendly staff, incredible flavours. Our meal was around £45 pp and we had a lot to eat! I think it’s very good value for the exceptional time we had. We can’t wait to come back.

Have been coming here for many years and as good today as ever! 🪷

Spicy, but exceptionally tasty food. Attentive staff, and great atmosphere. This place fills up 'QUICKLY' so book a table to avoid disappointment. Superbly located

Disappointingly inauthentic. Nipped in for idli sambar. I dunno what it was, but it wasn't sambar. There was a little bit of muringa, a few curry veppu, but the gravy was like a thick tomato sauce (too salty, also) , the veg was like a pumpkin curry and there was absolutely no flavour of tamarind, asfoetida etc. Sooo thick, too - nothing like sambar. Also one idli lol? You know that's not how it's done. Maybe just as well tho because it was solid. Are these guys using Gits instant mix or what? Brighton people wanting to taste real idli sambar had better pop over to Worthing to the dosa cafe. This was horrible stuff. Sorry. I rarely give bad reviews, but it was a shockingly poor rendition of an easy and simple dish.

Probably one of the best meals I've ever had. Perfect.

Lovely food, a little different. Very busy so make sure you book. Would of been 5 stars but so busy, we had to pre order as we were a large group (8 of us) our food arrived before we had even ordered a drink or been given any water. The staff were incredibly busy and although alot of them, there still didn't seem to be enough, they worked non stop so hats off to them. Great food and atmosphere. 2nd time here and definitely worth a return.

Food wasn't bad, but service was just appalling, we were taken to our table and then forgotten after being served drinks and starters, turned around to try and get attention of the staff, but unfortunately had to get up twice to get water etc even had to get peoples attention to get the bill. I'm not impressed. You seriously must train your staff properly in service etiquette.

Food was tasty, but sadly I got food poisoning. I won’t be ordering again for this reason.

I first went to this place about 10 years ago and it was buzzing, with a queue outside and wonderful atmosphere and great music, while you wait. The food THEN was exceptional Indian cooking. Now, I am afraid to say, it must have changed hands because basically, its like so many other places and not special anymore. The food repeated on me for about five hours afterwards, which was not a great experience when you have to drive 60 miles to get home...comprende paisano?

This is the most fantastic restaurant, with the kindest and most lovely waitresses i have ever encountered. Will go above and beyond to make it a comfortable dining experience. Delicious food and fantastic quality for money. All halal too!

Twonof us had dinner here one wet and windy night in Brighton. Food was lovely. The lamb curry main was rich and tender. With just the right level.of spice. Pilau rice was also.really good The poppadoms are great too and highly recommended. Staff friendly and efficient, atmosphere was good and it was pretty busy. Recommended

Amazingly tasty curry, but the real treat was the spiced chicken wings for starter. I'll be dreaming about those for a long time 🍗

Great modern restaurant serving top quality Indian dishes at good prices. Portions are huge!! Their onion bhaji are heaven on a plate and service is super. Highly recommended

Had the half chicken and fries and it was awful. About 20 different flavours fighting for dominance in my mouth. I imagine in isolation each ingredient is good but in combination it was yuk

Very poor customer service traveld 300 Miles to spend day in Brighton came to this restaurant stood around for 15 minutes waiting for then to be told there’s no tables available even tho there was numerous tables available empty .

Great food. Server was not very friendly & a bit rude. Rest of the staff were very nice. Not keen on the service charge which was automatically put on.

No complaints at all about the food (the lamb shoulder balti in particular was excellent), but the service was dreadful. It took over two hours have a one course meal with a couple of kids ice creams after, at lunchtime when it wasn't too busy. Very slow generally, nobody checked if everything was fine after service, had to walk across the restaurant to find someone to produce the bill, which was then wrong. We mildly complained and we're basically told it was our fault because we had kids with us. Really bad. But the lamb balti was memorable for the right reasons.

Food was really good and came out really quick. There was a good selection on the menu that wasn’t just standard curries. Dropping a star because the waitress M***** didn’t have a great attitude and wasn’t very friendly. We asked to take the tip off and she just walked off without saying anything after we paid.

We ate here on our son’s recommendation, as he lives in the area. It was an excellent choice. The restaurant is beautifully set out, with interesting and authentic furniture and ornaments. Service was first rate and the food was mighty fine. This is not your traditional Indian restaurant but one with a varied menu, with all our meals being very tasty and much enjoyed.

Loved it! Delicious food and amazing service

Expensive and not so good... deceiving...

Another great visit to the CP. We had prebooked but the restaurant, like the rest of the town was very quiet. It was a drab, rainy evening. We shared a starter of poppadoms which were very tasty but thought the price of £7 ish was quite a lot. We shared a bottle of wine and both had our fav dish of chicken biryani. Delicious. As usual I couldn’t eat all mine so took half of it home, never a problem for the staff who are quick to provide takeaway boxes etc. Quite a quick meal as it was so quiet. Could be a very reasonable cost if you skipped the starters etc. Still a very good choice when eating in central Brighton. Staff always amazing here. Highly recommended. Worth going out of your way for.

Amazing banquet meal. Great atmosphere. Amazing service. 10/10

We enjoyed a lovely meal at the chilli pickle. Full of taste and it was a great twist on Indian cuisine.

Mind blowing Indian cuisine at the heart of Brighton. We order the chicken and was excellent. I’m always a bit hesitant to order chicken at restaurants as normally is either undercooked or dry. Not here. That sauce accompanying it was also second to none. Extra points for the Bloody Mary. Just a bit think for my taste (almost like a smoothie) but great taste.

Early stop for dinner and was really pleasantly surprised! My chicken biryani had loads of flavour and meat in, beautifully presented. The onion bhajis are to die for! Absolutely delicious. Only dropped to 4 not 5 stars because of the weird toilet room and limited choice of alcohol free drinks. Overall I’d definitely come back!

This was lovely, the food great and the Decor very up-to-date. This is one of the few non shabby places on Brighton....which by the way is very shabby 😕

The food was amazing, our server was not, but it did seem like a one off for us, everyone else appeared to have great service.

Best Indian food I’ve had, and being from London I’ve tried many places. The restaurant is also halal which is a plus but portion are small.

Food quality is good but they are stingy on the food portion. Even though the staff service charge is high, they hardly provide good service to you. Bear in mind they don't let plug your phone in any plug and also the receipt I got tonight was unreadable. Weren't bother to take look at it before bringing it to our table. So very faded letters. The atmosphere was nice but you could find better in town with more attractive Indian vibe. So overall staff quality low, food quality high and atmosphere typical.

We opted for the Chef's banquet which was great, a really good selection of different foods to share. I think if they still did Thalis, we might have chosen them, but this seemed to offer a similar variety of dishes and we thought it was a good alternative. It was a LOT of food though, and we sadly had to give up, unable to finish, despite both having healthy appetites. We looked incredulously at the waiter when he brought the pudding menu, there was no way we could have eaten another mouthful.

A large, lively restaurant with great Indian food and unfussy service. The food was good, lighter and less greasy than how Indian food can be sometimes. A good option for a group - something to please everyone on the menu. Service was efficient

Consistently good. This weekend we stopped here on the spur of the moment for a quick and delicious lunch. The food here is always excellent - fresh and full of fantastic flavours. The service is great and it’s a nice airy space. You can order all kinds of delightful little dishes but this time we just went for a straightforward curry each. But of course it comes with all kinds of delightful little dishes anyway. So delicious.

The best Indian restaurant in Brighton ! I went here with my Indian friend and she gave 9 out of 10 here. As i have never been to India it was 10 out of 10. We recommend the chicken tandoori for the lunch menu and the appetizers (pani puri and fried veggies)that are in the picture.

Yummy 😋 Indian food. Atmosphere looks amazing and feels.like India

I've had their house special, 1/2 tandoori chicken xacuti for 18 pounds. First and last time trying xacuti chicken. My mistake was not understanding "1/2" in the dish's name meant it's half of a WHOLE chicken. It's definitely a dish to share, and it would be a good deal for two. Dish was very messy and hard to eat. The chicken breast (a whole breast) didn't get much spices, was very bland. Sauce, mostly a spice blend, wasn't better than more mainstream indian dishes I have tried like butter chicken.

Special shout out to Milo for absolutely making my dad's evening with his lovely service :)

Visited this resturant in 2013 and reviewing it today. Loved all my local Indian dishes there. Good prepration.

My opinion of chilli pickle has diminished almost as much as their portion sizes. Service was fine but the fOoD, what happened? We paid £60 for two mains, two sides and a starter. The sides were bigger than the mains, and we just bought rice and a supermarket bought naan bread. Nepali Hot wings Achari paneer sizzler Sigri Kesar Jingri Coriander and garlic naan Pilau rice The starter was decent (Nepali Hot wings) but the mains were ridiculous. Maybe this place is run by a team of rabbits, I'm not sure why else I got charged almost £20 for 6 prawns and raw spring onion (Sigri Kesar Jinga). it appeared as if someone had literally walked outside grabbed them, and stuck it on a plate. The Achari paneer sizzler featured 4 slices of paneer over a handful of red onion and was £14. Great place if you're on a diet and have too much money because this was about 200 calories. Would've been quicker for me to throw £60 in the bin than waste it here.

Food was good. Really good. Staff were lovely and friendly but felt a little rushed. Main course was brought out and we were still eating out starters.

Me and my partner went here for a meal and had quite a disappointing experience. The mains are tiny, the paneer (£14) was 4 cubes on a stick served on a pile of raw onion and lemon. The other dish (£18) was 6 prawns with some whole uncooked spring onions. It was basically starters at mains prices with the bulk of the food being raw onion. In most restaurants we struggle to finish a main, but here we ended up leaving hungry and getting more food on the way home. Very disappointed

First time here and quite impressed with the more modern quirky take in what a decent Indian cuisine restaurant should be in 2024. Good simpler menu, tad light on vegan options but still some choice and what I had was good. Superstar brilliant server (younger male, dark hair sorry cant recall name) who defines what's missing in the art of decent service in certain other places I could name. So basically impressive

Stopped for lunch on a rainy weekday. Happily they allowed our medium sized dog inside so very happy.

Wow ! Incredible tasting food. The restaurant was packed however service was perfect Well done !

Place is booming with customers. Very popular.But they charged 1 pound for less than a teaspoon of chutney which they forgot to bring along with the sweet as well. As we are in a hurry we paid and came. Bit pricey.

Excellent Indian restaurant in the heart of of Brighton! I took a lunch deal with butter chicken curry. That was delectable with intricate spices (don’t worry the heat is nice and pleasant). Lovely cozy atmosphere both inside and outside. If you are looking for a good Indian this would be a place to go!

A really great spot for lunch in Brighton with an amazing lunch deal. Not to be missed.

Group of 12 , excellent service & delicious!

Best restaurant in the area Amazing Indian food

Very very disappointing. Service was terrible and we received incorrect food from the set menu which is completely wrong in comparison to what you order and what you receive. Prawns we got only prawn heads with empty shells of a body and lamb balti only had one piece of lamb in it. All sides were half the size of how they usually have been in the past(a month ago when we last visited). Absolutely not worth the money in any way and no way we we ever come back, waste of money.

Great place for a relaxed curry experience. Good location, spot on customer service and very nice food.

The ambience was great and the service was amazing. We loved the food except one dish that was replaced immediately without any questions and later weren't even charged for it. The manager GIGI was very very helpful and approachable. Highly recommend. Thanks xx

Nice cocktails and food was good

You will not be disappointed if you like Indian style food. Food & service were nothing short of excellent. The young waitress was not only knowledgeable on the menu but also the wines….great experience, thank you, highly recommend.

This is a busy city centre restaurant so there is a sense that everything is a little rushed but the service was friendly and the food was interesting and unusual (in a good way). Something a little different from your standard Indian restaurant.

How the mighty have fallen. A few years ago I would have given you a good argument as to why this was the best Indian restaurant in the UK. Now, I am not so sure it’s even the best Indian restaurant in Brighton.

I’ve only ordered delivery from the Chilli Pickle, but every time it’s incredible! Highly recommend the butter chicken, with their fluffy garlic naan. Samosas & Onion Bhajis are generous & of high quality. Best Indian in Brighton I’d say. 🌶️

Delicious. Flavours are 6 star yummy. I was visiting Brighton for a few days and had to come back 2 nights in a row. Was my favourite place to eat in Brighton. Bring back the mussels!

Wonderful curry. A real gem. Delicious food, fast service and wonderful wait staff.

Booked as a late Mother’s Day present. Really enjoy coming here. A real treat. Great atmosphere and really friendly staff. We had a bottle of white wine, poppadoms and chicken biryani. All absolutely delicious. Highly recommend. Well worth going out of your way for.

Really lovely food and great atmosphere. Have been three times because it's good. Each time we have been 'walk-in', and they're super accommodating. One negative only; most recently we sat at the high table (one adult, two kids). Spent little over an hour there, and while food was finished and bill was paid, drinks were not finished. We got chased out. Didn't like that.

The most incredible Indian food - well worth a visit!

We had the set menu and were not disappointed. Decent amount of food for the price, good quality, and plenty of dishes to sample. The service was also friendly and the wait times for food not too long given it was a busy night. Will be going back at some point.

Great team meal (10 of us), super affordable and better than Dishoom! Huge portions and lovely drinks. Great Indian / English’s fusion with deep flavours!

We love eating at the Chilli Pickle for the friendly welcome and relaxed vibe. The food is exceptional and offers an elevated experience to more traditional Indian restaurants. We're big fans of Sunny's Pani Puri and the extensive drinks and cocktail menu!

We didn’t have a booking. We were waiting one of the staff if there’s available table. There’s this one tall girl staff who just walked passed to us couple of times, didn’t bother and then suddenly she’s like stopped and asked us if we have booked a table, I said no. She said I’ll call my colleague. In fairness the other colleague was friendly and showed us our table. Food was good. But I can say over all service was not great! Again I saw the tall girl staff in the ladies toilet, she was loading the washing machine, small door next passing from the ladies toilet. She’s not friendly, very rude approach I can say. We asked for the bill, we waited for like 5-10mins and gave us a pudding menu instead of the bill. Oh well.

Firstly it’s a nice place nice and modern not your typical Indian the staff are very nice service is quick.the onion bhaji was nice the sauce was lovely .then came the lamb seekh kebab that was sitting in a naan shaped like a large hotdog .to me I would have wanted fried onions with it but it comes with chopped Tom’s onion and cucumber and three small sauces and it’s them I did not like and it all got too much for my palate my wife’s butter sauce was the same you just could not eat too much of that sauce it was too buttery and sickly so really you had nothing you could dip your naan in ,I’m a bit more of the traditional I suppose and the place was busy at 6pm so it’s popular .the menu is rather small just sorry that we did not enjoy it .

I had a booking for 5:45 and received a call at 5:49 asking where we were. I apologised and said we’re just coming round the corner now and they responded saying you’re 20 minutes late. I explained my booking was at 5:45 and they said no it was at 5:30. This wasn’t true. They obviously then realised the booking was at 5:45 and said it doesn’t matter. I had booked for 4 people and put in the comments we had a baby with us (who wouldn’t be eating) and we also rang in advance just to ask for high chair. When we arrived we were rudely told that I needed to book for 5 if there was 5 of us. We explained we only need a high chair as the baby isn’t eating. The rudeness continues and they then sat us at a table for 6 with one of the chair spaces as the high chair. There were plenty of people sat on tables of 4 with 5 people, as one person just sat on the end like I would have expected them to do with the high chair. It also wasn’t busy at that time so the reaction seemed completely unnecessary. The whole ‘welcome’ was extremely rude and made us feel unwanted. Our actual waiter was lovely and did a great job making up for this but unfortunately the two earlier colleagues left a bad taste. The naan was lovely but the rest of the food wasn’t great.

Delightful waiter. Long waits for food once ordered. Some inspired and delicious moments with our dishes but others were less satisfying.

Food is absolutely exceptional here. By far the best Indian I have ever had!

It’s a good year since I have been as the offering as got slowly less attractive . And tonight proved me right. First point the staff are great they work hard and try and help the customer. But the food is mundane - starters were good, black lentil dhal was good , lamb kebab was okay, lamb balti was awful. Had it been sold as a carrot , potato and lamb balti it might have been fairer. As a man out of Birmingham, this was not a balti, the lamb was really tough , and it wasn’t even a good curry. To give the CP credit, it was knocked off the bill. The people next to us thought exactly the same. There was a time when the CP was different and worth the money. Now it doesn’t even muster average. Very sad - but not going to bother again

Delicious food and fast service. Loved the boozy coffee and coconut sorbet at the end. Can't go wrong with anything!

Never disappointed. The food is always way beyond the usual Indian fare. Terrific, friendly staff. Just. A fab place to be. Took my brother (a chef) and he rates the butter chicken as the finest he’s ever had. Being a veggie I’m never disappointed with my variety of choices. Ace!

It's expensive, wasn't great in terms of flavour, and a hyped up chain. I really love Curry and seek out good, authentic food wherever I can. This looks great for instagram, but that's where it ends. We did the lunch. The menu is limited, and it's poor. Service wasn't great, it was just..... lacking the beef curry was terrible! It was mince beef and was tasteless.

Had a very bad experience with the reception lady. Nice looking young woman who exudes rudeness with a smile.

Had lunch in there. Was very nice lots of choice. Service good and food lovely .

Really amazing food with lovely staff and a great atmosphere. We were the last to leave! Highly recommended.

This had been on the list for a long long time. Authenticity = Zero. Colourful expensive decor, location, branding and social media = Huge My Tandoori Prawn Curry (Sigri Kesar Jingri) had sauce so sweet it verged on curry custard, and prawns so overly salted they were impossible to taste. My partner (South Asian heritage) ordered the 'Veg' & Mushroom Biryani - it was the opposite in all the wrong ways; bland, no texture, underwhelming, flaccid. Service was from a too cool for school who was virtually never there. So I can't think of a single good thing to say. Enjoy it Brighton, it looks like you do, but I do hope you taste proper curry some day.

Delicious food. Tried the set menu and everything was delicious. Would highly recommend the paani puri and orange ginger margarita.

A really interesting and different Indian restaurant. Throughout the menu there were options that you wouldn't normally see on a standard restaurant menu. The pani puri and onion bhaji starters were lovely. We had the chicken tikka sizzler and the lamb balti which both had great flavour and heat. Friendly service despite being busy and a good atmosphere.

We try to eat at Chilli Pickle whenever we’re in town and weren’t disappointed on our latest visit. The menu has changed since our last outing but very pleased to see thalis still on the menu. Tasty and spicy. Service was slick.

The Thalis are the reason we have visited Chilli Pickle for years but they’ve stopped them at lunchtimes and we weren’t the only people asking about them and being disappointed. Best thali for miles but is no more sadly. We travel down from Surrey and it looks like we will be trying other places. So sad to say this.

Chilli Pickle is a nice restaurant. Very nice staff, atmosphere is warm and the food is authentic in Indian cuisine.

Friendly staff tasty food nice decor

Excellent Indian restaurant, cozy atmosphere and the food was very tasty. Friendly service.

Fabulous Indian food with the best onion bhajis! Lovely, modern restaurant with some different items on the menu.

Overated and overpriced. Presentation is amazing but the taste not so much. Lamb was not fresh and too chewy. Paneer was ok.

Tasty Indian food! Need to book in advance for dinner. We tried the Beef and Bone Marrow, Butter Chicken, and House Dal. Portion sizes could be larger as there weren’t many pieces of chicken in the butter chicken. Every dish was enjoyable. Service was good.

We came in without a reservation as a table of 3 and were promptly seated with an offer of a jug of water for the table. The staff were friendly and helpful throughout the meal, and food came swiftly! We ordered a variety of dishes and each were delicious and paired lovely with our drinks. The restaurant itself is also very cozy, well decorated and smells great from the moment you walk in. Thank You!

I wish I could be more positive about this place. It's a nice restaurant but I felt the menu was quite limited, the staff not attentive enough. Pro active staff/customer would help a little me thinks. Food was ok but I've had better.

BLEW MY MIND. What a nice spin on a typical Indian. Me and my wife got the chefs banquet, which came with sharing platters of all starters and sides for the mains. For our mains we chose mutton biryani and the beef keema and marrow bone. Everything was spot on.

Been looking to go here for some time and have to say we were extremely disappointed with the food. Lost our order initially & had to retake so no big deal if the foods good to follow. 4 little pieces of meat in both main dished, neither tasted good. Naan was burnt, dry & tasteless. When we asked where one of our sides were they said the kitchen is extremely busy, don’t fully book the restaurant if your kitchen can’t accommodate the orders. If you want a good curry this is not the place!

The food is just incredible, and the service was first class. It was a great night and a truly great place to eat. I can only wholeheartedly recommend it.