A great Brighton brunch at Small Batch

If brunch were a PLC right now, all of its shareholders would be buying themselves Caribbean islands and space rockets.
A trio of brunches and a Bloody Mary at Small BatchA trio of brunches and a Bloody Mary at Small Batch
A trio of brunches and a Bloody Mary at Small Batch

If brunch were a PLC right now, all of its shareholders would be buying themselves Caribbean islands and space rockets.

The meal that used to be the preserve of the late risers is currently riding high in the popularity stakes, as is Small Batch, a Brighton and Hove success story which has five branches in the city and this week launched its own brunch menu at three of its venues.

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Obviously there’s never a bad time for a full English or pancakes with Maple syrup and 11am on a Sunday seemed a fairly civilised time to visit the bright and airy Seven Dials branch of Small Batch.

Cocktails and coffee at Small BatchCocktails and coffee at Small Batch
Cocktails and coffee at Small Batch

The beauty of the brunch moniker also means that all sorts of other treats can come into play, because unless you’re having breakfast with Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor you wouldn’t necessarily order a cocktail with your morning repast.

Your reviewer opted for the relatively sedate, but excellent, flat white, while the ladies of the party decided 11.10am was a perfectly reasonable time for the harder stuff.

The best of which was The Goldstone Villa, a distinctly Hove-flavoured cocktail born as you’ve probably guessed, at the Goldstone Villas branch of Small Batch, which benefits not just from a shot of Small Batch espresso but also Small Batch coffee liqueur, and Madame Jennifer vodka, from a small urban distillery in BN3.

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Similarly the food, curated by new executive chef, Andrew MacKenzie, makes good use of local produce.

Coffee at Small BatchCoffee at Small Batch
Coffee at Small Batch

The full English featured a smashing bit of sausage from Brighton Sausage Co, and show-stealing garlic baked field mushrooms.

And the excellent Arabian-inspired Shakshuka, a smoky mix of sweet peppers, eggs and feta, was made all the better with the addition of a Brighton sausage Co. Merguez which packed a huge amount of spice and flavour.

We also enjoyed nice plump American-style pancake with Maple syrup, whipped cream and banana, and were tempted by the scrambled tofu of the vegan full English.

Elsewhere sunburst-yolked eggs and mounds of mushrooms on sourdough toast looked hugely appealing, and made a swift return visit seem all the more likely.

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