Shops and restaurants in Brighton - What to do during your stay?
Below you can find some of my favourite places to eat, to go out and to go shopping. When you are not too tired from dancing, it's a good idea to have a look at some of these places.
Places to lunch/dine
Suko Thai - Middle Street, Brighton
Very good value for money. In Suko Thai, you can lunch any day between 11.30am and 5pm for a very reasonable price of £ 4.95 for a two course meal. You get to pick a starter and a main course. The food is tasty and staff is very friendly.
St James Pub - St James Street, Brighton (Kemptown)
Not the interior you would expect in a Thai restaurant, the St James pub is a great English pub with amazing Thai food at a very reasonable price. Prices start from £ 3.95 for starters and £ 5.95 for main courses. They have a massive selection of different kinds of Rum in this place, if you fancy that kind of thing and the music is always great. If you want something different than the usual pub food but fancy a pub atmosphere, this is the best place to be in town.
Some other great places to eat are:
Casa Don Carlos - South Lanes - superb Spanish tapas restaurant!
Pizza Express - South Lanes - great pizza chain restaurant
Pret a Manger - East Street and North Street - cheap and tasty/healthy lunch
options
Marks and Spencers - Western Road & Brighton Station - supermarket with great
lunch options
Terre a terre - East Street - the best vegetarian restaurant in town, prices are
quite high but definitely worth it!
Taj - St James Street & Western Road - supermarket with healthy food options and
food from all over the world
Daytime attractions
The Pavilion Gardens - The Brighton version of the Taj Mahal...
Kind or surreal to see this here and you can't miss visiting the Pavilion gardens on your first visit to Brighton. You have to pay entrance to go inside the palace, but I have heard it's really amazing, so definitely worth to go inside the Pavilian.
Brighton Watersports Centre - on the beach - for Kayaking, paddle boarding,
wake boarding,...
One of my friends (Adam) owns the Watersports centre, so definitely say hello from me! If the weather is nice, I totally recommend to go Kayaking or standing on a paddle board as it's amazing seeing Brighton from the sea. You can also book for a speedboat to take you wake boarding or take some Ringo's out on the water (this is SUPER FUN, I have done it with some friends and takes a lot less skill than wake boarding)
The Palace Pier - cheesy fun fair rides and freshly made doughnuts
It is a little cheesy, but it's good fun going on the rollercoaster on the Pier or trying to win a stuffed animal! Watch out for seagulls trying to snatch your doughnuts out of your hands and don't waste too much money on the slots!
Evening entertainment
St James Pub - St James Street - Brighton
Apart from great Thai food, it's also a great English pub to go for a Pint. They often play great swing music, depending on what night you go out and you can do some fantastic people watching at this place as they have some great characters in there from time to time.
Las Iguanas - Jubilee Street - Great 2 for 1 cocktails!
Las Iguanas is a chain bar with great atmosphere, where you will most likely hear Samba music in the background. If you go before 7pm you can get a selection of 2for1 cocktails. They have a selection of really tasty tapa's also.
Om Bar - Steine Street - AMAZING interior, great cocktails
The Om Bar is one of our favourite bars in Brighton. Amazing interior design. Great cocktails! (Try the Downward Dog: my favourite cocktail in town, with fresh chili and freshly squeezed clementine juice) Upstairs there is a dance area and they even have a DJ in the toilets downstairs.
The Black Dove (aka Gin Gin's) - St James Street - Brighton
Lovely bar just around the corner from the Court Craven hotel. Nice atmosphere, nice music.
Casablanca - Ship Street - Live funk music
Casablanca often has a funk band playing live downstairs and salsa upstairs, so it's a great place to go out dancing.
Komedia - Gardner Street - comedy shows, live music and great clubbing
The Komedia is a great venue for some good comedy (every Saturday and Sunday evening), live music and great clubnights. We have seen some great performances by Natasha Atlas, Balkan Beatbox, ... at this venue and if you are lucky, Balkaneasca might be on the weekend of your stay, which is an absolute must, great Balkan tunes with Live music and I often dance there as well.
The Hanbury Ballroom - St Georges Road - Brighton
1920's interior design ballroom, great live music. Often there are swing dance performances. People usually dress up at events at the Hanbury, so you won't feel out of place wearing your hair fascinators!
Shopping
Charity shops/antique shops
Brighton is known for having a wide selection of vintage shops and charity shops, so if you are looking to find some original pieces for your costumes, the two best places to go are Kemptown (St Georges Road - there are about 5-6 different antique stores in this street & St James Street - here you can find 3 or 4 charity shops in close distance of each other) and The North Laines (mainly Kensington Gardens and Sidney Street - there are a few antique stores here also)
The South Lanes
The South Lanes is an area in the centre of Brighton, which has 100's of shops/bars/restaurants,... so a real recommendation to explore. I get lost each time I go into this maze of little streets, so you wouldn't be the only one.