Semolina
Baker Street, Brighton

SEMOLINA slipped slightly under the radar when it opened five months ago, but since then it was been quietly going about winning over fans of its straightforward, elegant and affordable bistro cookery.

Hidden away on Baker Street, it is another piece of the jigsaw in the ongoing revival of the London Road.

So far the road’s food offering has been fairly carnivore-fixated, with the likes of MEATLiquor, Trolls Pantry and BBQ Shack gaining it the nickname Meat Street.

Semolina offers a bit of refinement away from the hectic London Road, the cafe-bistro run by husband and wife Orson Whitefield in the kitchen and Linda front of house.

Despite its Mediterranean influences, the style defies easy classification, Linda from the Czech Republic and Orson from Italy with African heritage and experience cooking around the world.

So there are Japanese options like miso both with tempura vegetables, sitting alongside Italian grilled polenta, artichoke, cannellini and spinach pesto, as well as Middle Eastern style spiced poisson, Israeli cous cous, chickpeas and chermoula – an aromatic coriander paste.

There is a calm, confident approach at work here, with in-house baked sourdough, coming with generously truffled butter, intensely peppery extra virgin and bountiful Sicilian green olives. A starter of duck is a model of assured subtlety. The scarlet slices of breast are lightly tea smoked for a compelling but background aroma. Dainty quail eggs, bitter frizze lettuce, a mustard vinaigrette and walnuts garnish the plate, for a light, unpretentious harmonious dish.

There’s a keen focus on fish, with bream probably the standout on the a la carte. The fillet is served atop a bed of new potatoes, laced with flecks crab meat and comes with a generous creamy sauce with ‘Hairy Pig’ cider from Norman Hunt and Sons in Sedlescombe.

This is classical cookery well done – crispy skin on the pan-fried fillet, the Normandy-style sauce a tribute to our the beaches and the Channel. A twist comes in the form of chunks of cucumber, a curious choice which quickly makes sense, the refreshing greenery cutting through the rich cream, with the help of some lashes of chervil oil.

There some alluring deserts if you have space, including lemon and rosemary crème brûlée, baked chocolate cheesecake with rum raisin ice cream, and Sussex cheeses.

If it’s just coffee you are after, they serve delicious blends from Horsham Coffee Roaster – very much a solid presence in the city and giving Small Batch some healthy competition.

As well a la carte, the small 20-cover restaurant has an excellent value lunch set menu of three courses with a glass of wine.

The secret’s getting out about this lovable bistro.