AA Rosette Awards in Brighton and Sussex – 2024

AA Rosette Awards in Brighton and some of the best restaurants Brighton has to offer.

The AA Rosette awards have been marking restaurants of distinction with their grades of 1 – 5 Rosettes since 1956. The 2023-24 AA Rosette Awards were held on 27 October, with the guidebook available to buy now.

Here’s what you need to know about restaurants in Brighton, Hove restaurants and Sussex restaurants.

Steven Edwards continues to leave an impression with etch. Retaining his three AA rosettes for another year. The newly decorated and expanded Hove restaurant is just one sign that this MasterChef: The Professionals star, is continuing to rise.

“Monthly-changing set menus of five, seven or nine courses have their heart in Sussex produce”.

The Little Fish Market has held three AA Rosettes consistently since 2016 as well as a score of Five in the Good Food Guide and a Michelin recommendation since opening in 2013. It is Brighton’s most highly and most consistently awarded restaurant. The AA guide describes Duncan Ray’s cooking as:

“stunning local and sustainable seafood cooked with exemplary accuracy and an intelligent creative edge.”

Micheal Bremner’s much-loved locally and nationally acclaimed restaurant retains two rosettes. The AA describes the restaurant as:

“convivial tapas-style sharing in a buzzy ambience”.

The Gingerman group is well established on the Sussex foodie scene as a bastion of quality, refinement and front of house excellence. Serving uncomplicated, fresh and full-flavoured food The Gingerman retains its two rosettes for 2022.

The Chilli Pickle is a well established Brighton institution, bringing a thoroughly modern take to the nation’s favourite (although often misrepresented) cuisine. The guide describes The Chilli Pickle as:

“breezy and buzzy, and the menu gives subcontinental cliches a swerve.”

Newly awarded this year, Cin Cin, is a modern stylish and laid back Italian restaurant in Hove, that’s well known to locals. With an open charcoal grill, the food theatrics make a seat at the open bar both sociable and entertaining.

Well known nationally for its extensive wine list the food here is also top notch. Their stylish bistro serves french classics done to an exceptional standard and when paired with a expertly chosen wine there is nothing quite like the experience at Hotel Du Vin.

Beyond the exquisitely executed lobsters, fresh fish and grass-fed steak, you can expect each course to have tweaks that embrace foraged ingredients and global flavours. With views over Brighton seafront and sharp modern interiors, The Salt Room is the perfect balance of style, substance and sustainability.

Dining at Terre a Terre Brighton is a culinary experience like no other, with intense flavours, sublime textures and a combination of ingredients that few have the imagination or daring to put together. This is vegetarian cuisine at its absolute best.


AA Rosette Awards in Brighton and Sussex picks

Sussex is perfectly situated to be a food lovers paradise. Set between the rolling fertile hills of the South Downs and the harvest of the South Coast, restaurants celebrate seasonality and locality throughout the year. It’s no wonder then that the AA restaurant Guide features so many fine restaurants in East and West Sussex.

No guide to AA Rosette Awards in Brighton would be complete without a quick look at a few Sussex venues that we think are well worth the visit.

Gravetye Manor

With 4 AA Rosettes, Gravetye Manor in West Hoathly is the highest rated restaurant by the AA in Sussex. It also holds a Michelin star making it a highly desirable destination. The AA guide for 2022 describes it as:

surely one of the most atmospheric places to eat in the country. The daily-changing set menus are seasonal, and dishes are pretty as a picture.

 

Restaurant Interlude

Within a year of opening Restaurant Interlude earned itself a Michelin star and this year jumps straight into the AA guide with 3 Rosettes. The epic tasting menu draws heavily from the extensive estate grounds and local produce and is finessed with creative genius by Head Chef, Jean Delport. Watch our foraging at Leaonardslee Gardens with Jean video.

Chef Jean Delport being filmed picking gauze flowers