Etch was named as the best-rated restaurant in the city in a poll of diners by Hardens last month – coinciding with the announcement of its winter menu, priced at £50 per person.
The menu is available until the end of February, so Brighton and Hove News went along this week to check it out.
The restaurant is on the end corner of the final stretch of shops as you travel west along Church Road.
We started in the basement with a couple of cocktails – a rum old fashioned with a cube of Cointreau jelly on a stick, and the Figgy Pop, a long drink with tequila, Benedictine and fig jam, a refreshing start to the evening.
Then up to our table, which had a prime view of the kitchen. Having watched restaurant-kitchen dramas The Bear and Boiling Point this year, it seemed disappointingly calm and efficient – nobody stuck in walk-in fridges, or storming out while quitting.
Instead, the food which came out was exactly what you’d expect from the city’s favourite fine dining restaurant.
Tasting menus aren’t for everyone, but I love them – no having to decide what to order, instead being presented with a parade of beautifully presented plates.
The snacks which kicked everything off were great – a very posh version of a mini-cheddar with a ball of cheese on top, and the most intensely savoury mushroom and truffle mini-tart.
As a member of the hate camp, I’m very glad to report the marmite bread which was up next did not taste of it at all, beyond a subtle yeastiness. I should warn my fellow Marmite-averse diners that it did make a more obvious reappearance in a beefy broth as part of the lobster course though, which is one of the two courses offered as a supplement to the main menu, priced at £18.
Next was an incredible cauliflower soup, which had been aerated so it was halfway between a creamy soup and a mousse, with a tempura cauliflower bite on the side.
This was followed by the restaurant’s signature dish, the dippy egg – a sous vide duck egg yolk with deep fried brioche soldiers, which was indulgently rich.
But the halibut which followed it was the highlight for me – beautifully cooked fish on top of a parsnip puree with tarragon oil and crazy parsnip crisps on top.
I did enjoy the extravagantly large steak knife which came with the beef rump – complete with a resin fist-filling handle.
The other supplement course available was the cheese course – £12 for a generous sliver of Tunworth, a rind-washed cow’s cheese, a shard of crisp sourdough and a sharply sour quenelle of sour grape sorbet that I’m still thinking about.
Another sorbet appeared in the final course, an apple desert with a granny smith sorbet, apple parfait, shortbread and compressed apple slices with marigold, an unexpected but delicoius herbal note.
The service throughout was friendly and attentive – it’s the kind of place where they fold your napkin when you leave the table, but it’s never done in an intimidating way.
Each course is briefly explained to you as it arrives, sometimes brought by the waiting staff but often by the kitchen staff themselves, who can answer any questions you have.
This is clearly the kind of place you save for a special occasion, and the soft lighting and quiet dining room is perfect for good conversation.
The £50 standard menu is available until the end of February, and after that another £50 menu for spring will start through until the end of April.
When they opened in 2017, the menus were priced at £40 for four courses, £50 for six and £60 for eight. If you include the bread and starters, this menu has seven standard courses, which makes it a more than inflation-busting deal.
I’d highly recommend taking advantage to blow away the winter blues with a fine dining treat.
Can I go to the restaurant and buy two vouchers for a meal rather that doing it on line?