Review: Apiary, Brighton

Apiary is a smart little bar that looks out of place in the middle of Western Road – it ought to be in a much hipper corner of Brighton. But it’s worth seeking out. We stopped off for drinks on Saturday evening and then breakfast on Sunday, and if I superimpose the two then I reckon I can recommend going there for lunch or dinner too!

It’s honey-themed, of course. They’ve got a long list of various modern expressions of mead, a cocktail list that features honey in many of them (but not all, they’re not, like, obsessive or anything!) and a menu where honey crops up in places too. My French toast breakfast was good, well presented fluffy chunks of toasty-edged brioche with plenty of fruit, fresh figs and crumbled pistachios with a drizzle of honey. The mead flight last night included an absolutely knock-out barrel-aged mead with flavours of smoky oak and dark maple syrup as well as a surprisingly elegant banana-infused mead that had a dry caramel-y taste and would have been a perfect switch-out for a dessert wine with a souffle. Maureen’s cocktail was a Salt Bee; salted mango vodka with fermented chilli honey and lime juice, an exceedingly moorish sip with a gentle warm kick.

The owners of Apiary are beekeepers themselves, so this is literally a hive-to-table restaurant! And being where it is, prices are sensible for Brighton. Short review as we haven’t had a full meal here, but they’re a friendly little place doing something unique and very deserving of a visit next time you’re in Brighton!