Rickshaw offers a unique dining experience, serving Asian fusion cuisine from five countries in one single venue.
YOU CAN sample Chinese cuisine in the Beijing Suite, Japanese cuisine in the Tokyo Lounge, Indian cuisine in the Indian Summer Hall, Thai cuisine in the Bangkok Bar and Korean cuisine in any one of those four dining rooms.
Relax in the surroundings of the traditional Tokyo Lounge and enjoy some sushi, while your partner eats some Chinese or Indian dishes at the same table.
Before eating, enjoy a classic cocktail. I tried the Oriental Summer (£7), a spectacular cocktail with vodka mixed with Amaretto, Southern Comfort, orange juice and a splash of grenadine syrup. Cocktails on the menu cost just £6 or £7, with the top of the range Bitter Champagne cocktail costing £9. All cocktails were well-mixed, beautifully presented, great value and highly recommended.
For starters we had Pork Ribs Gangjeong (£7) – marinated pork ribs in sweet chilli garlic sauce. Quite delicious. The large and juicy New Zealand mussels in Green Thai Sauce (£7) were recommended by the management and were a revelation, complemented with a mild green sauce.
For a flavour of Japan we tried the Japanese Goyza (£6) – crispy dumplings of chicken or vegetables served with Japanese sauce. If you want both chicken and vegetables tell the waiter when ordering. The dumplings were crispy and the sauce spot on.
For our final starter we tried Salt Pepper Chilli Squid – squid lightly coated in flour and finished with sea salt, ground black pepper, spring onion and sliced chilli. The squid was tender and the batter light and tasty.
For the main courses my dining guest went with the recommendation of the management and tried the Fillet Steak Signature Dish (£19); a six ounce piece of the high quality fillet beef, served sliced and rare (unless you order otherwise) and covered with a dense, mild green sauce and a rice of your choice. It was stunning, the beef was perfect and my only suggestion is that some people might prefer the green sauce served separately on the side so they can choose exactly how much they want or don’t want on the beef.
I had the Thai Sea Bass (£14) – a crispy sea bass fillet topped with Thai herbs and sauce, garnished with basil leaves, fresh green peppercorn, grachai, lime leaves and brown rice. This was seafood at its best with the mild flavour of the fish perfectly teased out by the selected herbs.
For desert we somehow found room for the Banana Fritters (£7), which were served with ice cream and honey, and the Hot Chocolate Pot (£5) – a provocative coriander and red chilli chocolate pot ganache. Both puddings ticked all the boxes and my guest, a food critic from Barbados, said the Hot Chocolate Pot was the best desert she had sampled for a long time.
We washed each dish down with a glass of Prosecco Brut di Valdobbiadene (£23) – a light fresh and elegant wine with a slightly lemony and crisp palate.
House Wine costs £15 and the wine list included a good selection of wines from Italy, France and South America, ranging in price from £18-£79.
Service was first class, and the staff were polite and chatty without being intrusive. As well as offering a great all-round dining experience, Rickshaw is an ideal place to meet for a cocktail, drink before the theatre or to have a meeting during the afternoon.
Between 11.30am and 6.30pm each day try the Oriental Fusion Tapas deal which offers a selection of tapas dishes at £4 each or four dishes for £12. If you like sushi there is a Sushi Mixed Platter at £7 and £12, or a sharing platter at £20. Check out the website for some great value Christmas deals.
Rickshaw
36 Ship Street, Brighton, BN1 1AB
Telephone: 01273 911811
Open: Monday-Thursday 12-10.30pm; Friday & Saturday 12-11pm; Sunday from 12pm
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