The Regency
131 King’s Rd, Brighton BN1 2HH
Book here
If you check out The Regency’s website you will find stellar reviews from various well respected sources and that their motto is “perfectly cooked seafood and fish”. No shame.
I wonder what has to happen to a restaurant to unashamedly publish such statements so far from reality. Maybe those reviews are from a long time ago. Maybe the website designer was a bit overzealous. Don’t get me wrong, I get why people might want to head down to The Regency on a sunny Saturday, to have a glass of wine and enjoy the terrace looking onto Brighton beach. But the truth is The Regency is not one of the best restaurants in Brighton whatsoever, despite the reviews on their website. It’s not even a medium quality restaurant, but the type you would see on one of those shows on the telly. I can imagine Gordon Ramsay effing and blinding all over the shop.
A service beyond belief
None of the waiters were welcoming, they all displayed a lack of interest, and on top it, a total lack of knowledge of the menu. The Regency has a backboard with their specials of the day, you know, like the proper seafood places. So we want to order something of that, and specially something that’s been fished locally. The waiter, very dryly, says he doesn’t know if they are fresh or where they are from, and he fetches a waitress that’s just passing by to ask. Again, she says, very nonchalantly, “I don’t know”. And there, just like that, that will be their last attempt to find out. So we have to play Guess Who? and order something randomly.
The lack of knowledge of the staff about the seafood in a seafood place will never cease to amaze me. But what’s worse is when they are actually fine with it. It might happen that you are a new waiter and they send you out there without knowing the menu (a pat on the trainer’s back) but then you definitely ask the head waiter, or the kitchen. And at least you say something to the costumers, and attempt to be nice.
It’s like saying “Yes, I am the face of these dishes“, “Yes, I am representing these dishes“, and “Yes, I am trying to sell these dishes to you“, but “Yes, I also have no idea about these dishes and, as you can see, I am totally OK with it“, and “Yes, of course I expect your money in return, and for you to come back for more“.
A fish beyond the pale
No surprises then when we were brought the dishes and the food wasn’t great. The tartar sauce for the whitebait was so vinegary we were thinking something was wrong with it, it tasted like it came from a bottle and a bit off so not happy about the idea of dipping our little fried fishies in it.
Then came the main dish, their classic Lemon Sole, and this one took the biscuit. The fish gave off a burnt chart smell, that was very unpleasant. The texture was mushy and dry, and the taste was amiss. My side salad didn’t even come come with dressing so I ended up having to eat the chips from my mate’s plate. That went down like a led balloon.
The oysters with parmigiano cheese grilled on top were nice and tasty. But it was mozzarella.
The result? A very disappointing dinner and 30 quid lighter.
