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Last weekend in Brighton it was starting to feel very festive indeed! We spent the day strolling around the city with the kids, exploring the Christmas Markets, playing in the arcades on the pier and showing the kids the church where we got married ten years ago! We’d definitely worked up a good appetite by mid afternoon, and thanks to OpenTable we’d booked a table at NuPosto on West Street.
The restaurant is a two minute walk from the beach, and about 7 minutes walk from Brighton train station. It’s bright and airy inside, with a rustic industrial feel, with bench tables with stools as well as more traditional seating. There’s a semi-open kitchen at the back of the restaurant and a small bar area to the front. The menu is pretty varied for adults, with a selection of pizza and pasta dishes, but has only 3 pizza and pasta choices on the children’s menu. There are specials on display, but our attention wasn’t drawn to them by the staff. The wine and cocktail menu has plenty of choice, and it’s happy hour all the time – with BOGOF cocktails and mocktails when you order two at the same time.
We were seated right away, although declined the first table we were shown to as it was right next to the door from the street, even though the restaurant had plenty of tables available. Our drinks and food order was taken quickly, although at no point were we ever asked if we’d like to order more drinks, and it turns out that Sam’s pizza was missed off when the waitress input the order into the till.
Our starters, a cheesy garlic bread and Arancini balls to share arrived quickly and were delicious, although we didn’t get given any side plates, and the cutlery and napkins we used for the starters weren’t replaced, leaving us short for our main courses.
Athena ordered a Bolognese pasta dish, which she said tasted nice but could have had some cheese sprinkled on to make it even better. Arlo ordered a pepperoni pizza, which was a great size for him (at 7 years old) but I’d say any child over 10 would probably benefit from ordering from the main menu. His pizza dough was lovely and crispy and the toppings were generous for the size of pizza.
I chose ordered the Rigatoni Creamy Mushroom pasta with pancetta, though asked to swap the mushrooms for onions, which was no problem. I really enjoyed the creamy white wine sauce, and the chunky rigatoni pasta was freshly cooked. The portion size was just right too.
Unfortunately when the meals for the kids and I were brought out the waiter didn’t ask if we were missing a fourth meal, and after 5 minutes of Sam sat with no pizza in front of him we had to call over a member of the waiting staff to ask where it was. After some looking on the till she came back to ask which pizza we had ordered, then went off back to the till, and came back to tell us it was her fault and she’d forgotten to order it, but the kitchen were making it now. At no point was Sam offered a drink or anything else whilst he waited.
His Napoli pizza did arrive, after the children had finished their meals and I was on my last couple of forkfuls of my own meal, which meant that he felt he had to rush his meal. His pizza was a good size and had a really delicious and crispy base. The toppings of capers, olives, anchovies and basil with plenty of mozzeralla.
When our dishes were cleared nobody asked about deserts or drinks at that time, but very shortly after a new waiter seems to have started his shift and he came over and asked if we needed anything else. Arlo piped up and ordered doughnuts for us all to share (from the adult menu) and ice cream for each of them from the kids menu.
The kids ice cream came in bright plastic bowls which felt a bit ‘fast food’ and more suited to toddlers. The nutella-filled mini doughnuts were hot and tasty, with five in a portion. As we were eating desert another couple was sat down right next to our table (the edges of which were very close together) despite there being plenty of other free tables in the restaurant, which felt intrusive for both us and the couple – who actually left before they ordered anything!
When the bill came it had a service charge added already, of 10%. When the server asked if everything was okay we explained about the missing pizza and he gave a pretty vague apology (to be fair he wasn’t working when it had happened) but there was no offer of a reduction of the bill, a free drink, to send a manager to talk to us etc, any of which would have gone some way to make up for how it was handled at the time.
Overall I wouldn’t recommend a visit here as the staff just weren’t very attentive or on the ball. The food was fine but there are plenty of other Italian restaurants in Brighton which a much nicer vibe and much friendlier staff. Perhaps they were having an off day, but as the restaurant wasn’t busy and there were plenty of staff working there really was no excuse for not dealing with a mistake properly – mistakes happen of course but it’s the way they’re handled that makes such a difference to a guest.
Thankfully OpenTable has a huge range of restaurants in Brighton that you can book at. Some of the other’s that we’ve enjoyed great meals at previously are Olive Grove (in the heart of The Lanes with a great outdoor seating area), Food for Friends (Vegetarian and Vegan), The Coal Shed (amazing for steaks) and China Garden – for wonderful traditional Chinese cuisine. You can find previous diner’ reviews and photos, along with a general rating of each restaurant, as well as view availability for specific times in your chosen area on a map before booking. Plus booking with OpenTable lets you earn points per booking, which can be traded in for rewards.