Last Updated on September 27, 2025
Maré Hove Review: Michelin-Starred Flair Meets Casual Fine Dining by the Sea
4.0 out of 5.0 starsIt’s not often a 2 Michelin-starred chef opens a restaurant in Brighton and Hove. So when we heard that Italian-Brazilian chef Rafael Cagali, the culinary force behind both Da Terra and the more casual Elis, both in Bethnal Green in East London, had opened the 36-cover Maré in Hove, we thought we ought to check it out.
Cagali and his partner, Charlie Lee, the general manager of Da Terra, have set up shop in Church Rd, Hove, which seems appropriate since Maré means ‘tide’ in Portuguese and the restaurant is a stone’s throw from the sea. In charge of the kitchen is Ewan Waller, a protegé of Cagali, and Maré is being pitched as a casual fine-dining space. In case you are wondering why the restaurant in the picture is called Marea and not Maré, the restaurant seems to have changed its name since our visit, probably because there are Mareas in Beverly Hills and New York that dominate the Google rankings.
The interior is stylish with a relaxed feel, with three interlinked dining spaces. The walls are stripped back and sand-coloured, with Brazilian art and art posters adding some colour to the room. There are light wood tables and floors, and a gorgeous old-fashioned zinc bar where you can sit and eat. The playlist is predominantly from the 70s and 80,s with The Beach Boys, Prince and Lionel Ritchie making me feel at home.
The restaurant’s fine dining roots are apparent from the glassware and cutlery, which are more refined than you would typically find in a neighbourhood restaurant.
We started with a couple of enervating glasses of the local Rathfinny Wine Estate Classic Cuvée with its citric notes balanced by more comforting brioche flavours. The menu offers plates ranging from snacks that graduate to small and large plates, mains, sharing plates and desserts. It’s a mix of Spanish, Italian and South American influences, and for two, it’s probably best to order a selection of smaller plates and a main to share. Ingredients are carefully sourced and top-end, which is reflected in the pricing.
The snacks are entitled ‘One Bite (maybe two)’. A West Mersea fried oyster with a hot sauce emulsion and pickled onions was definitely only one bite (for me anyway!). Still piping hot from the fryer and with a lovely textural contrast between the softness of my favourite bivalve and the batter, the pickled onions were tantalisingly tangy and made up for the blandness of the emulsion, which lacked the ooomph required from a ‘hot sauce.’
Another gently flavoured mouthful was a soft crumpet topped with Dorset crab and the herbal crunch of some lovage, radish and dill.
We ordered some bread from the Small Plates menu. A slice each of seeded sourdough and toasted focaccia was accompanied by a freshly whipped, fragrant pink peppercorn butter and some peppery Gonnelli Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
A standout dish for me was the plump and juicy Fowey mussels that sat on an almost unbearably delicious Puttanesca Sauce, helped along by the salty crunch of Botarga, salted tuna roe, and the underrated Italian green, agretti. I needed a big plateful of this dish!
Another small plate of autumnal, earthy-flavoured salt-baked beetroot came with soft-fleshed mackerel and chervil oil.
For our shared main dish, we had the Carabineros prawns with red peppers and a creamy, coconutty Moqueca sauce. I’m a huge fan of these eye-poppingly expensive crustaceans, named after Spanish police uniforms, that have an intense, funky flavour if you suck out the innards of the head. The Moqueca sauce and peppers were a pleasant accompaniment to the glorious prawns. Sides of deep-fried layered cassava chips were crisp and moreish, served with a vegetal chimichurri sauce, whilst a mixed leaf salad was unremarkable.
We also shared a dessert, a precisely constructed Choux Bun filled with a delicate fig leaf ice cream and pimped up by an ungenerous spattering of raisiny Pedro Ximenez sherry.
The food at Maré is refined, interesting and executed at a very high level, and the service is charming and informed. The price point is high with bread at £7.50 and mains mostly in the upper £40s. I wonder how that will work in what is essentially a neighbourhood restaurant in Hove, mostly reliant on local trade. But if you’re looking for a tasty treat with a South American slant in Brighton and Hove, then Maré is worth a visit.
Maré
60 Church Rd,
Brighton and Hove,
Hove
East Sussex
BN3 2FP
01273 055900
Looking for something different? We also recommend LOST in the Lanes nearby in Brighton
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