The Swan

We’d come down from London town for a day on the Beach at Brighton. Of course, it being July and not October I ended up huddled into my mate’s sleeping bag and shivering on my pebbled bed. However, warmth was to come and sunshine was to brighten our day in the form of the delicious food, delectable selection of wines, liquers, coffee and the delightful hospitality and witty repartee of Gary and Chris at the Swan.
One of my friends was a Greek gal in her mid 40s with a whole host of close relatives in the restaurant trade. When she led the compliments on the bread, olives, garlic & oil we ordered as an appetiser we knew we were onto a very good thing. For main we shared a delicious fish pie and green beans and, much to my amazement, my friend who hasn’t gained an ounce in 35 years of friendship ordered two portions of a rich chocolate dessert with raspberries removing it from my grasp after two spoonsful saying he was doing me a favour – cheeky mare! Great food and ambience in an originally designed venue at value for money prices: if you’re looking for sunshine on a grey and cloudy day in Brighton – head for the Swan.

Thanks to The Swan for a wonderful evening! Great decor, lovely vibe and fresh cooked food. Their events / entertainment are top notch. Great place to meet / eat and be entertained. Highly recommend.

The Swan can not be beaten for it’s warm hospitality, I have been enjoying both the food and entertainment since it opened. We even chose the venue to host my mothers 70th birthday our 80 or so guests were very well catered for and we had a fantastic day and evening. If you want the personal touch and want to feel special and well taken care of this is the place to eat. I am aware they have had a few teething problems but what new business does’nt. A lot of care time and attention has been paid to every aspect, with interesting and comfortable decor, menue and entertainment. Well worth a visit if you are in town and if your local what a gem on your door step.
Im a big fan of The Swan…..

A lovely, cosy and cool neighbourhood bistro, discovered this bank holiday week-end on a brief visit to Brighton. Funky decor and candle-lit tables; an imaginative specials menu with interesting twists on comfort-food favourites and old classics like boeuf bourgignon (enjoyed by my carnivore friends) and a layered omelette cake, much like a Spanish fritata, equally pleasing to the eyes and tastebuds of the veggies among us. We also loved the cheeses on the cheeseboard. Chris, the owner, is a sweetie who gave us his personal attentention and mixed a mean caiphirinha. Wish the Swan were on my doorstep!

I visit The Swan regularly, but would be even more of a regular if I actually lived in the Kemp Town village area. It’s got a lovely ‘local’ feel to it – many regulars from the neighbourhood and lots of events e.g. local history and performance nights. But you’re guaranteed an equally warm welcome, wherever you come from and it’s even becoming a good place to ‘celebrity spot’: one recent visitor was the ‘Chatty Man’ himself, Alan Carr.
The Swan is a bistro/bar that gets it all right: it’s a great place to come, whether you are in a group, a couple or just want to have a quiet drink and/or meal by yourself, without feeling self-conscious. Menu-wise, it offers very good quality food and drink – e.g. wines come from Henry Butler’s – everything from imaginative pastas and salads to Sunday roasts and pies, with veggies well catered for. The desserts are worth a visit themselves, as are the monthly live events, which include The Swan Players’ musical nights and the ‘Up Your Street’ local history supper clubs. It’s a great place for a special occasion, a romantic dinner or lunch with the Sunday papers.

I normally rely on my family to serve anything near a decent roast! So it was fantastic to go to a bistro where I left, having to admit that this was better than home!
The vegetables were cooked freshly with not even a hint of the ’I’ve sat obediently waiting for 10 minutes to look up at you from this plate and I apologise for not looking/tasting my best’, and instead were colourful, piping hot and suitably crunchy.
And then the joy of being offered Eton Mess as pudding! It was utterly delicious from first hearty guzzle to finally having to stop myself licking the plate.
The service was friendly, but not intrusive; laid back, but efficient.
I thoroughly recommend the Swan for great food and relaxed atmosphere.

June 2010
I agree with hartingale. Nice little find in Kemp Town. Very sophisticated and drink prices are reasonable.
Used to be a nasty pub with gobbledegooks and ne'er-do-wells hanging around outside. Lovely to see it's changed hands..

August 2010
Right! eaten their food now. Well actually at The Rock pub (opposite). They have a thing going, food-wise (not for too long, I hope).
A few of us went to the quiz night at The Rock, great night. We decided to eat too. The food came from The Swan over the road. My pasta was ok, quite good tho' nothing too special and a reasonable portion for the price but,,,, a couple of us had 'Bangers & Mash'. Tasty but two sausages and an embarrassingly small portion of mash with onion gravy for £8 something! Hardly touched the sides!! We had to ask for bread (to try and bulk it up a bit), you shouldn't have to ask at those prices. Us, who chose the pasta felt we had to share ours with the poor B&M victims. I've said it before, London, please keep your pretentious gastro-pubs to yourselves. Please, please don't bring 'em down here. Bad value for money.. Sorry, food-wise, I can't recommend. Pretentious load of old nonsense!
The sooner The Rock starts to do it's own food, the better.
Sorry, Swan. You've just lost 2 stars.. :-(

Fresh on the scene, only 10 weeks new, this place is going to become a corner stone of regeneration on this side of town. The manager told me that he was deliberately avoiding publicity for his new venture. I ain't gonna question his business sense but use it to your advantage, make it your own little secret place.

The Swan comes from good breeding stock, being run and managed by the people responsible for the five-star "Hudson and Bridges" just around the corner.

The decor is a clean and bright, funky-chunky - the designers have elevated the use of plastic chairs to a new level. Lime greens, oranges - I could lick the walls.

The Swan is aiming to be a bistro in the true sense of the word; not a bar, not a cafe, not a restaurant but a place where you will be just as comfortable drinking as eating as sitting-chatting.

Main courses start at seven pounds so eating out doesn't have to be an event. If you are lucky enough to live in the Sussex Square area then I suspect that this place is going to become your new local. For the rest of Brighton you can use the Swan as another reason to be jealous of this part of town.