Review of Taro Brighton
- Nick Mosley
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
As a fan of all things Japanese food and culture, when I heard Taro was opening in Brighton I was rather excited, writes Nick Mosley.
With eight established – and popular – restaurants across London, this small multiple is a real success story of how an entrepreneurial chef can grow from a single restaurant to a multiple. Every chain starts from humble beginnings so founder Mr Taro has definitely done something right in the Big Smoke.
I dined late on midweek lunchtime with my colleague Miss Nathalie at their ninth restaurant – and the first outside of London – that’s taken over the former Curry Leaf Café unit on Ship Street. The venue has gone through a considerable refit with a new open kitchen space at the rear and a fairly neutral interior design concept; think informal canteen dining.
When my dining side-kick and I arrived, the space was about a third full but during our lunch it filled up to be consistently about half full. Not bad for a midweek on a blustery late October afternoon. For a brand-new opening in the city, I did find the footfall a little surprising but I guess the fingers of social media were at work as the clientele was definitely eclectic – families, couples – it felt much more London than Brighton.
The menu is very extensive – there’s a lot going on here with classic Japanese snack dishes such as gyoza dumplings, grilled yakitori, salads, rice dishes, katsu curries and more ramen soups and noodle dishes than you can shake a chop-stick at. Add to that sushi rolls and nigiri raw fish, Taro is serving up everything you’d want from a Japanese restaurant.
And so to the food. For me a bowl of flavour packed kimchi with lashings of red chilli. I absolutely love kimchi, which is a good thing as its one of the healthiest things to put in your digestive system. Miss Nathalie would have quite happily ordered a second portion of her vegetable gyoza, reflecting they were beautifully light and amply filled with carrot and cabbage. And a steal at £6.75 for five dumplings. The beautifully presented avocado and asparagus uramaki roll topped with crispy fried shallot was equally devoured with gusto and easily a meal in itself.
For my main, I went for beef teri don – a grilled meat and rice dish with stir fried vegetables and teriyaki sauce. A perfectly tasty, well-sized portion at £15.90, there was more than enough for lunch. So much protein in fact that Miss Nathalie ended up boxing up the leftovers to take home for her husband. For her main, yet another hearty serving of yakisoba noodles with onion, peppers, carrot and a slight kick of ginger and chilli. It was also absolutely piping hot so clearly from wok to walk to table took seconds. Again, super value at £11.90.
I was stuffed by this point but Miss Nathalie was insistent about dessert. Compared to the main menu, Taro’s desserts are somewhat limited but the matcha cheese cake really stuck out. A firm structure – no doubt helped by pistachios giving additional body – with a sweat edge added by vanilla and plum sauce.
Although the service was friendly, it was a bit sporadic in terms of the timing of plates arriving on our table although the restaurant had only recently opened so that can be put down to staff still settling in. However we did have communication issues between us and the service team which presented problems. This leads me on to my one unfortunate criticism of Taro.
Although there are vegetarian and vegan dishes a plenty, if you have an allergen then there is a great deal of confusion between the service team, the menu, the allergens guide book and also – bizarrely – notes on a staff member’s iPhone. This wasn’t helped by a considerable language barrier; it didn’t instil any confidence when discussing allergens with them.
I avoid gluten wherever possible as it no longer – shall we say – sits well with me; I’m fortunately not coeliac so it won’t kill me but equally I don’t like the fall out. Hence my options at Taro turned out to be very, very limited which is surprising at a self-professed Japanese restaurant where other than wheat noodles, gyoza pastry and perhaps soy and fish sauces everything should by its very nature be gluten free. Sashimi is literally a slice of raw fish, and you can easily get hold of gluten free soy sauce from any supermarket to dip it in. I hasten to add that at neighbouring Moshimo all the soy on the tables is gluten free.
Whilst I appreciate the kitchen’s cautiousness about cross-contamination, pretty much every single Asian restaurant of any note – again thinking Moshimo but also Namo, Sabai, Blossoms, Gars and Fumi which are literally moments walk away from Taro – can deal with major allergens without issue and I’ve never had a problem at any of them.
Based on my visit, Taro certainly serves up some great value and flavour packed dishes – Miss Nathalie loved everything – and I’m sure it will succeed especially in this area of the city centre with Ship Street becoming quite the food destination hub. But – if they want to attract local custom – I would recommend that they quickly take stock of their immediate competition and definitely get on top of how they deal with allergens as that simply won’t cut the mustard in Brighton (and, yes, mustard is an allergen).
Taro, 60 Ship Street, Brighton BN1 1AE
01273 524 003 • www.tarorestaurants.uk