The Coal Shed is opening in its new, bigger home tomorrow, featuring an open over-fire kitchen, a private dining room and a cocktail bar.
The restaurant was first opened in 2011 in Boyce Street by restaurateur Razak Helalat, who has since launched several more successful Brighton restaurants including the Salt Room and Burnt Orange.
This new incarnation of the restaurant showcases a more elevated menu from Helalat and Executive Chef Lee Murdoch.
The Coal Shed’s over-fire beef cooking remains central to the menu, but here Murdoch also applies that process to other meats, hearty vegetables and vegan dishes served alongside a selection of robata oven-cooked fermented breads, snacks and small plates.
Leaning into the coastal location, the new restaurant offers extensive seafood – both raw and cooked over flames – and a Sturia caviar menu.
References from Lee’s international career spanning Japan, the Middle-East, France and Germany can be found throughout the menu.
Snacks include Firecracker Cauliflower with shishito chilli, black sesame, green onion; Cantabrian Anchovies with smoked Norfolk quail eggs, and pickled roasted piquillo; Blue Prawn Toast with sesame and coriander.
Raw and Fire dishes include Miso Aubergine with crispy shallots and toasted sesame; Blue Fin Tuna Tostada with rainbow radish, aji panca, avocado and corn; Sussex Half Blue Lobster taco with mango, cashew, nam jin and sesame; and BBQ ‘Waldorf’ Scallops with celeriac, walnut and nashi pear.
Robata and Rotisserie dishes include the Black Duroc Pork Chop with roasted apple, sesame purée and heritage carrots; Bedlam Farm Squash with tempura blossom, toasted buckwheat, smoked piquillo, whipped tofu and jalapeño chimichurri; Seafood ‘Bonne Femme’ with scallops, king prawns and wild sea bass and One Year Acquerello Baked Rice with mushroom master stock, roasted portobello, crispy cauliflower, silken tofu and bok choy.
For the first time, The Coal Shed has a dedicated bar open seven days a week from noon till late with a rotating weekly line-up of Brighton’s best DJs every Thursday – Sunday. With a dedicated food menu including The Coal Shed Ruben with house smoked pastrami, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, and pickle; Kimchi Grilled Cheese with Swiss, American cheddar, and English mature cheese, and pickle: Steakhouse Burger double smashed salt aged beef patty, truffle cheese fondue, pickle and milk bun.
The cocktail menu draws inspiration from the best bars of New York and London, reimagining classics with contemporary flavours and techniques, with serves including a Dill and Pickle Martini (58&Co Triple Distilled Vodka, Dill & Pickle Brine, Noilly Prat), Apricot and Fig Margarita (Cazcabel Reposado, Lime, Fig Syrup, Apricot Brandy, Creme de Peche), Steak Washed Old Fashioned (Beef Fat Washed Evan Williams, Bitters, Salt), Cocoa Negroni (58&Co London Dry Gin, Martini Rubino, Cocao-Infused Campari) and an indulgent Fudge Espresso Martini (Burnt Faith Brandy, Coffee, Mr Blacks, Date Syrup, Roly’s Salted Chocolate Fudge).
The new site is one of the largest restaurants in Brighton, for up to 142 guests across five distinct dining rooms including a main restaurant, bar and three versatile private dining rooms, coined The Flamingo Social, The Longhorn and The Grand Dining Room. The Flamingo Social seats 26 guests, comes complete with its own bar, bespoke ‘Experience Menus’, private entrance, dedicated sound system and serving team.
The Coal Shed will open its doors this Saturday 14 September – bookings for up to eight people can be made here and enquiries for larger groups and private dining here.
