The Ginger Pig is at the other end of Brighton from the Brighton Pier and is just past the lovely coloured huts, well a bit further past than you might think. We walked back and forth and back and forth, thinking we must have missed the street. So if you're going, keep going, it's further than you think.
I started with a glass of local Sussex English sparkling wine called Bloomsbury, which was excellent, reminiscent of champagne with a yeasty taste and plenty of bubbles. It wasn't cheap (6.50) a glass, but it was very good and it was great to see an English sparkling wine by the glass on the menu. Kyle had a Sussex Best ale, which he also enjoyed.
The Ginger Pig is classic gastro-pub. It is all very wooden and natural looking (although amazingly the chairs match, which is unusual for gastropubs) and has a pretty cool rotating door. There is a specific restaurant section, but as we got there so early, we had sat on the pub side. They were happy for us to stay there for lunch though, and as soon as we said we wanted to order, brought menus, bread (really good sourdough) and olive oil and set the table for lunch.
The menu was daily and seasonal and there was also quite a few specials on the blackboard in the restaurant (a bit of a pain when seated in the pub section).
We started with a chicken liver pate with pear chutney and toasted sourdough to share. The pate was rich and creamy and a lovely colour pink in the middle. The pear chutney cut through the richness perfectly, being sweet with just a hint of mustard at the back of the throat. It was a pretty significant serving of pate, but could have done with more toast and chutney. I love chicken liver pate anyway, but this was delicious.
We were still so full from breakfast, that we decided to order starters as mains as well. I chose the crayfish risotto, which was also quite a reasonable size portion. The risotto was so creamy, it was almost as if they had added cream or creme fraiche to it! The crayfish taste was subtle but very tasty. I really enjoyed this. Kyle chose from the specials board what was described as a salad of suckling pork, fennel, apple and black pudding. I think this description really undersold this dish as it was not really a salad. It was, however, a brilliant combination of ingredients - meltingly tender pork, crumbly, well-seasoned black pudding with an uncredited piece of roasted fig and the 'salad' part of fennel and apple. Really good and it looked beautiful on the plate. I also couldn't resist trying some of the dripping chips, which were excellent - thick, super-crispy coating and fluffy on the inside.
Despite being insanely full already, I had already spotted the rhubarb and custard tart on the dessert menu. I have already explained my fascination with rhubarb so I couldn't really pass this by. As it turns out, the rhubarb was a barely noticeable thin layer underneath the heavenly light custard filling. The pastry was a little soggy, but that just made it easier to leave behind. The filling was worth it.We didn't actually see a full wine list, but just ordered a glass of Argentian Malbec-Shiraz from the blackboard. I would also rave about the service, which was friendly and efficient. Nothing was too much trouble and they had no problem with us ordering starters as mains.
All in all, this was a brilliant restaurant. For the quality of the food, it was very well-priced. We may have only had starters, but it was quite a lot of food in the end and cost less than 30 pounds including a decent tip (there was no service charge). Highly, highly recommended. So even though the previous night's dinner was pretty average, it was worth it to have had a recommendation to The Ginger Pig.
Food - 9.5/10
Service - 9.5/10
Wine - 8.5/10
Ambience - 8/10
Overall - 9.5/10
The Ginger Pig
3 Hove Street
Hove (Brighton)
East Sussex BN3 2TR
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