Food by Howie Brighton | The Roundhill and The Greenhouse

Why you’ll like Food by Howie

Brighton and Hove has no shortage of talented chefs, but few have built the kind of devoted following that Howie has earned over more than three decades in the kitchen. Brighton-born and proudly independent, Food by Howie is the culinary force behind two of the city’s most distinctive venues: The Greenhouse on Church Road in Hove and The Roundhill pub on Ditchling Road in Brighton. Two venues, two very different experiences, one unwavering commitment to bold flavours, honest cooking and food worth coming back for.

Food by Howie at The Greenhouse, Hove

The Greenhouse has long been a fixture on Church Road in Hove, and its collaboration with Food by Howie has transformed it into one of Hove’s most exciting all-day destinations. Sitting on a quiet stretch of one of Hove’s most characterful streets, the venue pairs a relaxed, stylish interior with one of the area’s loveliest terraces, making it equally suited to slow weekend brunches, long lunch meetings and evenings that drift from small plates into cocktails.

What Food by Howie brings to The Greenhouse is confidence. This is cooking that knows what it wants to be: seasonal, seafood-led, punchy and unpretentious, with menus that shift through the day and evolve with the seasons.

A Modern Brunch Worth Seeking Out

The Greenhouse opens its doors for brunch Wednesday through to Sunday, and what Howie’s kitchen produces during those daytime hours has become something of a talking point across Hove. This is not a standard avocado-on-toast operation. While the classics are done with care, it is the Food by Howie stamp that sets the menu apart. Expect crispy fried chicken on waffles with kimchi and maple, loaded breakfast bagels built for serious appetite, vibrant vegetarian and vegan options and house-made specials that change with what is fresh and good that week. Quality local produce sits at the heart of it, and the cooking shows.

The terrace is one of the best spots in Hove for a weekend brunch. On a warm morning, with a speciality coffee and something freshly cooked in front of you, it is difficult to imagine wanting to be anywhere else.

Seafood, Small Plates and an Evening Worth Lingering Over

From Wednesday evening onwards, The Greenhouse shifts gear. The menu leans into sharing plates, fresh seafood and the kind of food that encourages a second round of drinks and another dish for the table. Howie’s reputation has been built in part on his seafood cooking, and that shows clearly here.

Oysters are a centrepiece, served both classically with shallot vinaigrette and in the venue’s now-legendary Dirty Margarita version with tequila, lime and chilli. Alongside them come hand-dived scallops, mussels, whole market fish, sardines and a rotating selection of South Coast-inspired seafood specials that change with the catch. For those who prefer land over sea, the larger dishes include the famous Food by Howie smash burgers that built a loyal following long before the Greenhouse residency began, alongside schnitzels, steaks with peppercorn sauce and generously composed seasonal specials.

The Basque Nachos and the Signature Snack Menu

No visit to Food by Howie at The Greenhouse is complete without an encounter with the Basque Nachos. Described by regulars as “ridiculously posh crisps”, they arrive loaded with whipped feta, olives, pickled chillies, cured meats and assertive Mediterranean flavours. They have become one of the most-talked-about snacks on the Hove dining scene and represent exactly the kind of playful, confident cooking that defines Food by Howie’s approach.

Drinks at The Greenhouse

The drinks list matches the ambition of the food. Carefully chosen wines sit alongside creative cocktails, premium spirits, craft beers, speciality coffee and a considered selection of non-alcoholic options. The terrace is as popular for afternoon drinks as it is for dinner, which is really the highest possible endorsement a Brighton and Hove venue can receive.

The Greenhouse Essentials

• Address: 55 Church Road, Hove, BN3 2BD
• Kitchen days: Wednesday to Sunday
• Style: All-day brunch, seafood, small plates, cocktails
• Best for: Weekend brunch, terrace dining, seafood evenings, sharing plates
• Standout dishes: Dirty Margarita oysters, Basque Nachos, Food by Howie smash burger, fried chicken and waffles
• Atmosphere: Relaxed, stylish, neighbourhood

Food by Howie at The Roundhill, Brighton

A short drive up into the residential streets above Brighton station, The Roundhill has been a neighbourhood institution for years. Under Howie’s ownership and creative direction, it is being returned to what a great British local should be: a proper Brighton pub, first and foremost, where the beer is well kept, the welcome is genuine and everyone from the dog to the kids to the after-work crowd feels at home. The fact that the kitchen behind the bar happens to serve some of the most creative plant-based food in Brighton is almost a bonus, though it is a very good bonus indeed.

This is a pub with food, not a restaurant that also serves drinks. That distinction matters here and it shapes everything from the atmosphere to the menu to the rhythm of the place throughout the week.

A Neighbourhood Pub Reclaimed

The Roundhill sits on Ditchling Road in the heart of the Roundhill community, a densely residential pocket of Brighton that has long supported independent businesses and local venues. Howie, who grew up in Brighton with family connections to both the historic Jolly Brewers and Brighton Open Market, understands exactly what this neighbourhood needs and what it has been missing. His ambition is clear: to bring back the great British local, with the added dimension of a kitchen that is genuinely worth making the journey for.

The pub itself is warm, unpretentious and built for staying in. Tuesday through Thursday it opens from the early evening, filling up with after-work regulars, quiz night devotees and locals who know the beer list is worth paying attention to. Friday and Saturday it opens at midday, with kitchen lunches now available, and there are plans to expand into a six-day-a-week deli service during afternoon hours that will give the neighbourhood something genuinely useful and delicious in between meals. Sundays bring the kind of slow, unhurried pub afternoon that Brighton does so well.

Plant-Based Cooking That Does Not Ask You to Compromise

The Roundhill kitchen is entirely plant-based, and Howie runs it with the same exacting standards he applies at The Greenhouse. The menu reads like modern British pub food because that is exactly what it is, it just happens to contain no meat or dairy. This is not food that apologises for itself or reaches for substitutes. It is confident, seasonal cooking built around great produce, bold seasoning and techniques that Howie has refined across thirty-plus years of professional kitchens.

Expect comforting pub classics that have been rethought with real skill. The plant-based burger is taken seriously here, as it should be in any kitchen that cares about what it serves. Panko cauliflower wings, tossed in gochujang and finished with garlic aioli, sesame and spring onion, have become one of the most-ordered dishes on the menu. Seasonal small plates and snacks change regularly, and the Sunday roast, available through winter months, has become one of the most talked-about plant-based roasts in the city. Whether you are vegan, vegetarian, flexitarian or simply someone who wants great pub food, the Roundhill kitchen has no interest in making you feel like a special case.

Community, Events and the Calendar of a Proper Local

Beyond the food and drink, The Roundhill has rebuilt its identity around the things that make neighbourhood pubs irreplaceable. Regular Burger Club nights, Pasta and Wine evenings, a weekly quiz, Bring Your Own Vinyl Fridays and live sport on the big screen keep the calendar full and the community engaged. Families are actively welcomed, with children eating free on Saturdays and family offers running through the school holidays. Dogs are welcome too.

This is the kind of venue that Brighton’s residential neighbourhoods have always needed more of, and under Howie’s stewardship it is becoming exactly that.

What to Drink at The Roundhill

The bar deserves its own attention. Seven rotating craft taps and two cask lines draw from some of Brighton’s best independent breweries, including Abyss, UnBarred and Beak, with the selection changing week by week. The wine list, supplied by Sustainable Wine Solutions, leans into natural, organic and orange wines alongside reliable classics, served from returnable, reusable bottles as part of a zero-waste network. Cocktails are made properly, with house-produced syrups, infused spirits and seasonal garnishes, and there is a strong alcohol-free selection for those who want to drink well without drinking alcohol.

The Roundhill Essentials

• Address: 100 Ditchling Road, Brighton, BN1 4SG
• Style: Neighbourhood pub with a 100% plant-based kitchen
• Best for: After-work drinks, family meals, Sunday afternoons, quiz nights, live sport
• Standout dishes: Plant-based smash burger, panko cauliflower wings, seasonal small plates, Sunday roast (winter)
• Family and pet friendly: Yes
• Atmosphere: Relaxed, community-driven, genuinely local

About Howie

Behind both venues is the same chef, the same standards and the same belief that great food and great hospitality are not mutually exclusive. Brighton-born Howie spent fifteen years working across London’s restaurant scene before returning to the city where his love of food began, building a reputation across Brighton’s pubs, restaurants and seafood kitchens that eventually led to Food by Howie becoming one of the most recognisable independent kitchen names in the city. His background spans everything from coastal seafood cooking to the kind of bold, globe-influenced pub food that The Roundhill has made its own, and across both venues he remains personally involved in every service. That consistency is what Food by Howie is built on, and it is what keeps both venues busy, week after week.