Favourite Breakfast Spots in Brighton

Breakfast has become my favourite meal out and here is my list of  Brighton's best -   

Velo Cafe - Rose Walk, The Level, BN1 4ZN - www.velo-cafe.co.uk

The first on my list has an unfair advantage; it's my local. Set abruptly in the middle of Brighton's biggest park, Velo cafe could have been lazy; it might have served the secured punters with mediocre coffee and over cooked eggs but instead we have locally roasted small batch coffee and a breakfast menu that hasn't disappointed yet. Maple porridge with roasted plums and eggs Florentine and particularly good. 

Marmalade - 237 Eastern Road - www.cafemarmalade.co.uk

Marmalade is a little walk from Central Brighton, in Kemp town but well worth the trip. There are glimpses of the buildings former use; an old diary but now transformed into a stunning, light, clean cafe. The food is fiercely fresh and you hear the chef discussing an order, such is their proximity. We ate eggs & soldiers, honeyed granola and cheese on toast. We drank flat whites and read the newspaper in warm reflected sunlight, no wonder I like it. 

 

The New Club - 133 Kings Rd, BN1 2HH - www.thenewclubbrighton.com

The restaurant, which occupies a cleanly modernised space amid Brighton's retro seaside muddle, is very much a chunk of now. It is hard surfaces and sunlight and enamel plates and urban eating. There is also something very contemporary about the way the menu descriptions are realised on the plates, calm and unshowy. We ate a hot pretzel with salted caramel; how very New York. 

I Gigi - 31A Western Road, BN31AF -  www.igigigeneralstore.com

Located on Western Road, this general store is surely the most beautiful of them all? There's a ridiculously priced but very stylish general store on the ground level, while the top floor houses an atmospheric cafe that is especially lovely at breakfast time. The breakfast offerings range from breakfast welsh rarebit with grilled tomatoes, to two dippy eggs with giant buttered soldiers; and from acai smoothie to a toast basket with organic jam and marmalade. Walk off your breakfast with a stroll to the Naked Eye Gallery which often has a lovely small exhibition.

Bread & Milk - 82 Trafalgar Street, BN1 4EB - www.breadandmilk.co.uk

Located on Trafalgar Street, the main artery feeding Brighton station, Bread & Milk is easy to find. It packs a lot into its small quarters nicely combining vintage with a touch of the industrial. As well as serving artisan coffee they do a lovely line in fresh juices and a simple menu (though the small kitchen does limit them to a toasted sandwich & breakfast muffin). At the weekend it becomes a place for exulting in the what’s-the-rush pace, I suggest going to drink coffee and eating a breakfast brownie.  

Small Batch - 17 Jubilee St, BN1 1GE - www.smallbatchcoffee.co.uk

This renowmed coffee bar now has six locations in and around Brighton and does a roaring business in American-style coffee and selling a very good croissant. I head here for an injection of the Brighton trendies sitting, headphones on, with a shiny Mac and feel a bit inspired. You can choose from several different kinds of coffee, roasted in-house, or a long list of herbal teas. The most central branch is Jubilee Street, right by the library so have a wonder around afterwards.