| Restaurant
Guide
Kuisine at the Klub
The Komedia’s
Klub Magic offers a good night out without breaking the
bank, says Simon Hope
I’ve been going
to Komedia – mostly to see the Elevators play blues
or to the Treason Show, for the best laugh in town –
over the past 10 years, but this was my first Klub Magic
night in the upstairs theatre. Mostly I wanted to check
out the food. I mean, is this a ‘Theatre with Food’
or a ‘Restaurant with Entertainment’?
Kate and I got there early at 6.30pm. As per norm, we were
the first to arrive, but the theatre-restaurant steadily
filled to capacity by the start of the show at 8pm. I noted
about 25 per cent of people were eating, everyone was drinking
and the atmosphere was electric.
To order, you tick a box on the Komedia Night Out menu placed
on each table, then hand it in to the bar. Your food then
arrives suspiciously quickly – about 10 minutes later.
We chose from the outgoing Autumn-Winter Menu. The selection
is the Mediterranean/Mezze/Tapas/Anti-pasti Mix that has
gripped Brighton by the jugular for the past few years.
It’s casual food to suit an extremely casual situation.
I went for the Lamb and Stilton Koftas with Roast Veg, Cous
Cous, Yoghurt Mint Dressing and Bread (£6.95). The
Kofta and the Cous Cous were microwave-heated, resulting
in the toughest balls I’ve had my teeth into for a
long time, and the roast veggies in the cous cous just died
– but the yoghurt mint raita was fresh and delicious.
Kate’s Chickpea and Roast Vegetable Tagine with bread
(£6.95) was pronounced totally scrumptious, though
she would have preferred cous cous to bread. On the side,
we chose Fatoush salad (£3.45), Stuffed Vine Leaves
(£2.95) and Lime and Coriander Houmous Dip (£1.75).
Fatoush is a traditional Lebanese tomato salad usually involving
plump, ripe tomatoes, cucumber, loads of garlic, spring
onions, lemon juice, fruity olive oil, plenty of chopped
mint and parsley and, most important, left-over flat bread
for extra crunch and to soak up those gorgeous juices. Ours
was a cherry tomato salad with a few crumbs of bread and
no juice. The houmous dip, however, was superb and, while
the stuffed vine leaves were tinned, they still tasted good.
All this was washed down with a bottle of Pinot Grigio Venezie
(£13.95), which was good, clean refreshing and perfectly
served in a large ice bucket with lots of ice.
We ordered Chocolate Pistachio Torte to share for dessert.
It arrived after the show had begun under cover of darkness,
and was in fact Chocolate Fudge Cake with cream (£2.25).
But it tasted great and, as the show was so fantastic, we
didn’t bother to get up and change it!
Upstairs at the Komedia is definitely a Theatre with Food,
and I must say our eclectic audience thoroughly enjoyed
themselves. As an evening out it’s hard to beat. The
cost of a meal for two with wine is under £40. Shows
are often less than a tenner, so a great and entertaining
evening is up for grabs for very little outlay.
Atmosphere: “All the world’s
a stage” – Shakespeare
Food: “The Play’s the thing”
– Shakespeare
Drink: “Only dull people are brilliant
at breakfast” – Oscar Wilde
Komedia
Gardner Street, North Laine, Brighton.
Tel: 01273 647100.
copyright The Insight 2004
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