This is a great little cafe close to George Street in Hove. Inside is a cornucopia of fine vintage china teacups and saucers and old, wooden furniture, imparting a cosy, times-gone-by tearoom feel. And the staff are lovely. But with a pushchair it’s a little snug and hard to negotiate, so we parked the baby next to one of the outdoor tables. Luckily the sun was shining, but otherwise Blatchington Road isn’t the most inspiring place to sit – it’s a real road but not a pretty one, and the view of the parked cars and fluoro signs and the constant diesel noise don’t make great dining partners. But we were suitably expectant for our brunch - I’d made it for tea and cake before (they do a cracking, if very sweet carrot cake, topped with pistachios that I became overly fond of whilst pregnant), but hadn’t yet sampled the rest of the menu.
Rather uninterestingly we both chose the same. Smoked salmon and poached eggs with hollondaise sauce on a muffin, though I swapped the muffin for walnut and rye bread which they were more than happy to do. It arrived fairly pronto, presented nicely with watercress. It looked great, the sauce wasn’t overwhelming as it sometimes can be and I thought the walnut bread worked rather well. The smoked salmon was good quality too. My only criticism, and unfortunately it’s a crucial one, was that the eggs were far too hard. A poached egg is supposed to burst it’s unctuous, yellowy centre – these were fairly boiled looking. Disappointing, but the overall taste and good ingredients made up for it.
To drink I had earl grey tea with flowers, nice thought but quite bitter and was rather over-egging the breakfast as such – I wish I’d had builder’s. J’s coffee hit the spot though.
By all accounts the Sunday lunch is a winner.
Rating
Food – 7/10
Atmosphere – 7/10
Service – 8/10
Ethel’s Kitchen - 59 Blatchington Road Hove 01273 203204
