With the onset of summer I had anticipated the season's first coffee in Pavilion Gardens but it was heavy cloud in Kemp Town, so I was on my own! Work in Black Lion Street has been progressing for months but was it actually open for business ?

I thought perhaps a brief inspection on progress, then on to the seafront, but the door opened out and at the early time of 12.15 I was ushered to an uncomfortable table for two between the front and rear rooms on the ground floor. Luckily, as I struggled to find enough light to view the menu, I was offered the opportunity of going upstairs, a space half the size but twice as bright with just two rows of tables with a hip height room divider. With an open kitchen and bar on the side, I sat with my back to the westerly windows, clad in a sheen of chain mail, now able to study the menu with ease.

It's a large emporium with around 50 seats in tables of 2 & 4 upstairs, and probably in the order of 100 seats on the ground, so no mean organisation. On my departure there were 13 tables in use upstairs and it was heaving downstairs, I'd say busy for a Wednesday lunchtime with a variety of trendy chic, young and middle aged, and just the one old fart !! With tables of 1&2, 3&4 and 6½, well baby was just one, clearly an early learner.

The upstairs décor is what I'd call ‘busy' without any discernable design theme. Three stunning light fittings grace the length of the room, all pale, different in colour; pink, blue and cream, in cascades of plastic (?) leaves. Set against the aluminium grey ducting, battle ship grey windows and surrounds and gracing the westerly windows, a full height see through curtain of fine chain mail !! There are the bright red plastic seats, tan leather clad banquettes, timber clad verticals and wooden table tops. There are stainless steel surfaces for bar and coffee prep' area, then there's the wall tiling … chocolate brown thin horizontals around the cooking area and bar, the front of kitchen bar has slabs of light blue and off white, and then there's the hexagonal floor tiles, in orange, cream and blue, and not least … a full height display unit of bottles behind chicken wire taking up the whole of the north wall, nearly the depth of the room.

Well that's the ambience out of the way, you can tell I had time on my hands with no company ….

The menu, which I admitted to pinching, came on a double sided A3 card …

bread, olives & bits and aperitivo

(which includes ‘Olives and Things', ‘Bread' and 4 drinks from Bellini to Pimms around £5). Olives on ice, £3.50, roasted almonds, £1.95, stuffed pepperdews, £2.75 (these are round mini sweet chillies stuffed with ricotta and tuna, a light and a cheap and tasty start to a main dish which I chose along with the selection of Italian breads £2.95, (though I think my Grissini sticks had gone walkabout) !!

starters antipasti

Antipasti ‘planks' (£6.50 a head for ‘seasonal meat' OR ‘vegetable') the girls next to me had this as I stared at the assemblage of 4 tins of tomatoes, err unopened … what was going on ? then the two planks were set atop the tins ! ah, I see …..

pasti primi

‘Homemade', ‘filled' and ‘baked' but yet to be sampled. From the ‘Jamie Italian' spaghetti Bolognese or ‘beautiful bucatini' Carbonara £6.25/9.75, crab spegettini, sausage papardelle, prawn linguini, truffle tagliatelle, tagliatelle primavera, turbo! penne arrabiata from £8.50 – 11.25.

mains secondi

Cooked under a hot brick OR Salad mains, there's ‘good old' grilled steak, 10oz rib eye, 8oz sirloin or a flash steak, 7oz of prime feather steak, pounded with sage and prosciutto then griddled with tomato, basil and chilli salsa £16/15/12.95. Daily fish – on the wall board – burger £10.95, “spiedini” a Sicilin pork skewer £11.95, chicken, crab or lamb chop dishes. The salads include Yellow fin tuna, grilled Chicken Caesar, Crab bruschetta, Proscuitto, pear and pecorino OR Bresaola & rocket at £14.50/10.75/12.50/9.95/10.75 respectively)

My “Spiedini” was described as free range british pork fillet, stuffed with Italian cured meats, breadcrumbs and parmesan served with lemon, garlic and oregano dressing, was indeed two wood skewers of sausage style meat cut in bite size chunks with a red tapenade, tasty and different, accompanied with a seared half of lemon. I chose a green salad as there were no vegetables to accompany the main. As described on the menu under ‘Sides contorni', “My favourite humble green salad” £2.75 was indeed as described; 6 or so leaves, in a light dressing covered in a snow of finely grated cheese, presumably parmesan or similar ? All in all, tasty and quite unique…..

(£14.70 for the two light dishes)

sides contorni

Side salads include; “my favourite humble green salad”, bean, ricotta and pecarino cheese £3.25, rocket & parmesan £2.95, mozzarella & tomato £4.25, root salad with lemon & mint £1.95; other sides include posh truffle chips £3.50, seasonal greens £2.50, garlicky green beans with tomatoes £2.50, slow-cooked balsamic chickpeas £2.50.