A la Colthard: Danny’s, Hove
In Paris there are essentially 3 types of restaurant: the famous establishment for serious foodies like Ducasse, the Jules Verne In the Eiffel Tower, Tour d’Argent, the well known brasseries like la Coupole, Bofinger, Closerie des Lilas and the neighbourhood restaurant which every Parisien patronises. If you can get a Parisien to recommend one this might be your best bet to eating well at a sensible price.
With so many of the National Rust living in Sussex, I have been exploring their restaurants and have found some neighbourhood restaurants like Sam in Kemptown which I would recommend. Yesterday a couple I know in Hove invited me to a restaurant they patronise called Danny’s in Portland Road Hove. There they offer a buffet menu of well known Chinese fare for an incredible £15 per person.
It’s off the tourist beat and Hove does not encourage trippers but anyone in that area seeking a break from fish and chips or the traditional English’s or the fabulous 64 degrees would do well to try it. We had a mini-feast of won tun soup, mixed hors d’oeuvres of chicken satay, prawn toast, spare ribs; duck with pancakes, crispy shredded beef and beef in black bean sauce. I did not take the bill; with one and half bottles of red, a perfectly acceptable Cabernet Sauvignon I suspect it would be well under £100.
Sadly we were the only diners there which affected the atmosphere. I do like to people-watch the couple on their first date; a naughty tryst and a reservation at the Metropole for afternoon illicit sex- I must confess I have been booked in as Mrs Smith in my misspent youth!! Well, Brighton is famous for it !!!
I won’t say the cuisine is fantastic but it’s well above takeaway level and I’ve eaten worse for triple the price. I suspect it has a better evening trade and also a take away one. Danny the owner, who driving around in a Mercedes people carrier with his own cherished number plate, parks outside so he was doing alright thank you. The service was cheerful and efficient. The only stricture in the menu was not to waste any food by over-ordering.
The PR machines of the famous metro restaurants mean we critics do not always get about enough or have our antennae to discover the Danny’s of this world thus serving our readers badly in so doing. After Xmas many including the younger set have to watch the pennies and Danny offers such incredible value.
