| Restaurant
Guide
Dragon-baiting
Could it be? An eaterie that’s found the magic formula
to succeed at 101 Trafalgar St? Jan Goodey thinks so
MRS HOLMES is a very
genial woman. As the owner of the Golden Dragon at the foot
of Trafalgar Street she needs to be. The restaurant must
occupy the site of some serious ley-line disturbance, because
in the last year alone there have been three or four other
eateries which have opened and closed here faster than the
revolving doors at The Grand. Now, with the efforts Mrs
Holmes (and her staff) are putting in – making sure
all the food is fresh, catering for vegetarians and vegans,
and even coming in on her night off to meet The Insight
reviewer – you’d have to say she’s going
to make a go of it. The restaurant runs a buffet service.
Lunch offers a choice of 15 dishes for £5.80 (takeaway
tray £3.50), then in the evening the dish count rises
to 25 for the price of £9.80 (takeaway tray £4.50).
Settling down with a bottle of house red, my companion and
I weighed up the options from afar before assaulting the
serving bay. A handy plan of the dishes sits above the bay,
so you’re not left having to guess what is your bean
curd and what is your spicy tofu. The dishes are indeed
fresh and, as my companion remarks, not too oily.
We plump for a mixture of crispy seaweed, Beijing-style
grilled vegetarian dumplings, Beijing shredded potato, fried
bean curd with chilli pepper salt, mixed vegetable Thai
red curry, vegetarian Singapore rice noodles and sesame
prawn toast. The two stand-out dishes for me were the shredded
potato which was a delicious novelty (sheltered upbringing)
and the vegetarian Singapore rice noodles, which were non-stodgy
and pleasantly spiced. My companion rated the sesame prawn
toast, which was crisp, fragrant, and done to a tee. Meat
eaters are catered for with a selection of dishes ranging
from crispy aromatic duck to satay chicken skewers.
My only annoyance is that I forgot about the mixed fruit.
Having spotted it at the beginning of my first sortie and
wondered quite what a bowl of diced apples, pears, etc was
doing sitting next to the hot plate, I promptly forgot it.
It was only later looking at the menu on the back of the
flyer that my eyes came upon dessert, mixed fruit. Would
have rounded it off nicely as well.
Essential Info
Atmosphere: Cool and minimal
Drinks: Selection of house wines £9.50,
bottled Tiger beers £2.40.
Food: Vegan, vegetarian and meateys catered
for.
Opening hours: 12-2.30pm, 6-11pm daily
THE GOLDEN DRAGON, 101 Trafalgar St, Brighton.
Tel: 01273 687064.
copyright The Insight 2004
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