Dilsk Restaurant at Drakes Hotel in Brighton

Last Updated on October 24, 2024

Brighton Gastronomy Rocks

I’m excited to be back at Drakes Hotel in Brighton to review Dilsk, a recently opened independent fine-dining restaurant situated in the basement at Drakes. It’s a joint venture between chef Tom Stephens, who trained with Tom Kerridge, had sous chef positions at Pied a Terre and Simon Rogan’s Fera before becoming head chef at Brighton favourite 64 Degrees, and Madeleine Riches who also worked at 64 Degrees and is in charge of front of house and the wine list. In case you were wondering, as I was, the restaurant’s name is an alternate name used for dulse seaweed.

The seafront room at Dilsk, with its white wooden blinds, dark wood floor and tables and cream walls, is the perfect frame for a nascent culinary project of serious intent, and with Tom’s stellar CV, I’m in hope of some culinary fireworks sparking up my tastebuds. The food is a tale of two tasting menus that reflect seasonal produce from the Sussex Downs and the English Channel. Out of sheer greed, we opt for the longer 10-course menu (£95) with Maddy’s wine flight (£75). Dilsk also offers a ‘a non-alcoholic pairing, extensive wine list and creative cocktail menu’ and if given notice can also deliver pescatarian, dairy-free and other dietary menu options.

We kick things off with a lovely toasty glass of Articlium Makers Rosé. It’s a new Sussex vineyard that had their first harvest last September and this pink sparkler is definitely one to watch. With its refined mousse, balanced acidity and strawberry notes the wine makes a fabulous aperitif and set us up perfectly for our 3 introductory snacks.

Prawns came in a piquant red pepper and tapioca tart with a light saffron rouille. An ephemeral wisp of a potato doughnut was filled with the intense smokiness of smoked Ashdown cheese and a gherkin gel, and a flavour burst of mackerel comes with the iodine lift of a seaweed tapenade, the sweetness of elderflower and saltiness of bonito flakes. I love it when a chef uses their opening dishes as a statement of intent and these all showcased a technical mastery combined with a powerful understanding of flavour and texture.

One of the most ‘luxe’ dishes I have ever eaten was at the Waterside Inn; oysters with a champagne sauce, topped with caviar and truffles. I still dream about it and when I wake up my wallet issues yelps of pain… The Dilsk version is a much more contemporary take on the classic with a lightly poached oyster combined with trout roe and a pickled radish custard. It’s deliciously fresh with a peppery tang and is matched beautifully with an aged Austrian Gruner Veltimer from winemaker Stefan Pratsch with peach and almond flavours, a well-balanced acidity and a hint of salinity.

Bread courses are de rigeur these days. Tom’s is a laminated flaky (layered) brioche roll with a vegetal whipped cavolo nero and garlic butter, topped with charred cabbage and verjus. It’s a technical marvel which tastes as decadent as it sounds.

Slivers of Orkney scallop are served with crisp shavings of golden beetroot, a smoked emulsion of marigold vinegar and a beetroot dashi. Unexpectedly served at room temperature, the dish creates a complex but totally integrated mix of texture and flavour. The pairing of a glass of Mittnacht Gyotaku, a blend from Alsace, balances the expected fragrant notes with a rounder body than a typical Alsatian wine.

Local South Coast monkfish is first cooked sous-vide and then grilled to perfection. The fish melts in the mouth, unusual for monkfish, as well as having plenty of flavour being topped with a dollop of smoked Exmoor caviar, bone marrow, fermented squash juice and sage oil. Served with a patty pan squash and crab gnocchi, a light monkfish cheek tempura and an unctuous prawn head hollandaise it’s a very contemporary plate of seafood. The crisp acidity and minerality of a glass of Vermentino from Domaine Des Sarrins, Blanc De Rolle, Lorgues France 2020 is a lovely accompaniment.

A pressed disk of Fox Acres chicken combines a crispy skin with tender flesh. It comes with local Culver corn, crisp BBQ lettuce with a lift from grated hard Sussex Tyneham Grange cheese. There’s also a caper ketchup and powder and a rich savoury cep jus. An Argentinian Durigullii Proycclo, Las Compuertas, Mendoza made with the Criolla grape is a very pale raspberry colour and adds plenty of freshness and vibrancy to the dish.

The aubergine roast with truffle is a dish that has embedded itself in my taste memory. A deeply satisfying journey into the essence of umami and plated with girolles, kale and cherry. The elegant spice and blackcurrant tannins of Chiara Boschis’ Dolccilli D’Alba brings out the richness of the sauce.

Our pre-dessert was a toasted fig leaf pannacotta with blackberry, a lactic yoghurt and marigold – a savoury-sweet introduction to the desserts!

Surprisingly tasty apricot cones are filled with a smooth lavender ice cream and topped with dehydrated honey milk crisps for an end-of-summer treat.

Apricot comes encased in a kernel mousse with a dehydrated brown butter and almond cake base, white chocolate shell. It’s a very clever dessert that packs a flavour punch. A late-harvest Urlar Riesling from  New Zealand with a petrol nose and honeysuckle notes is an interesting match.

The final dish is Sussex Tenor chocolate with crème fraîche, smoked rapeseed oil (smoked with Earl Grey) and barley miso with the chocolate coming from a local Hassocks chocolatier who sources his own cocoa beans. Again the sweetness is balanced by more savoury flavours with an intense red fruit sweetness and a hint of tobacco coming from my glass of Reciola, della Valpolicella DOC, Berlani Veneto, Italy.

Service at Dilsk is relaxed, informed and friendly and they seem to cope well with larger groups of diners as well as people out on gastro-dates. The 2023 Michelin guide has already described Dilsk as ‘The epitome of modern British cuisine’ and I’m confident that the restaurant is headed for its first star. If you can afford a fine dining experience and you enjoy sophisticated and contemporary British cuisine with a seasonal and local identity then you should visit Dilsk before you can’t get a table. The wine matching is beautifully done with some unexpected and fascinating wines being offered. It’s worth a trip down from London.

Dilsk
Drakes Hotel,
44 Marine Parade,
Brighton, BN2 1PE

t: 01273 696934