insideSUSSEX Magazine Issue 17 - July 2016 | Page 45

FOOD+DRINK

Exciting, inventive
Thai food at Cafe Chilli
Thai is my favourite food, which makes me a bit of a discerning diner when eating at Thai
restaurants. Sadly, so many seem to throw all of the right adjectives at you - ‘authentic’, ‘modern’,
‘fragrant’ - ramping up your hopes, only for you to see those hopes rapidly dashed by a greasy
spring roll, or worse still, an apparently spicy curry that fails to excite a single taste bud. Not so at
Cafe Chilli – a recently revamped and much improved version of its old self that promised Polly
Humphris an authentic, flavoursome Thai meal and didn’t disappoint.

In the beginning, Cafe Chilli was The Green
Mango, an inviting enough looking restaurant
on Hove’s Church Rd with a brightly coloured
façade, but one that I always considered to
be more of a lunch option. And I ate lunch
in there too, quite often, which was never
disappointing, but for some reason I never
thought of The Green Mango as an evening
meal destination. Fast forward to this year,
however, and it’s all change – Cafe Chilli is a
reinvention of its former Green Mango glory, but
made much more glorious and morphed into a
fantastic eatery for both dinner and drinks.

falls flat on delivery. Not this time though.
The owner, Sebastian, knows his gin and the
choice of premium brands available alongside
locally sourced brands is fantastic. I opted for
Brighton Gin (naturally) and was presented
with a proper Spanish-style gin and tonic glass
containing a heavenly blend of gin, Fevertree
tonic, mint, lime and basil; the perfect pairing
for strong Thai flavours.

The interior has changed for starters and is
now a sleek looking space with dark wood
flooring; lots of bamboo; gorgeous dark green
plants that add that sense of life that only
plants can while looking incredibly stylish too;
and soft lighting, tucked away behind modern,
gold shades. It looks Thai, without screaming
an identity at you, which is the welcome sign
of a thoughtful interior as opposed to one that
looks too dressed or, worse still, themed.

Sebastian and his team have made a huge
effort with the menu to include traditional Thai
offerings alongside those that we all too often
can’t resist. And for good reason – the Pad Thai
and red and green curries here are delicious,
but we wanted to try something new – so,
we opted for the Thai sausage. Pork sausage
packed with sweet and salty Thai herbs, fresh
chilli, coriander and garlic, it really was a taste
sensation; reminiscent of the flavour of steamed
Thai dumplings, but with more bite. We also
chose an entire, lightly battered golden crab,
which came topped with a punchy garlic sauce
and was so soft that we ate every last bit of it.

I’ll happily admit that, food aside, what first
made me jump at the invite to visit Cafe Chilli
was the promise of an authentic Thai gin and
tonic. There’s that word again: authentic;
one that promises so much, but sometimes

I am a big fan of spice, so if something claims to
be hot, I want it to be really hot. On Sebastian’s
recommendation, I chose the house special,
the Cafe Chilli curry (with prawns), which is a
variation of the classic red curry served with

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morning glory, a riverside Thai vegetable, and
plenty of fiery red chilli. It was everything I
had hoped it would be: hot, but with bags of
deep, herby flavour. We also chose the Crying
Tiger: strips of grilled beef sirloin served with a
spicy jaeo dip (a hot, smoky accompaniment)
and a tamarind dipping sauce. The beef was
beautifully tender and neither of us had tasted
the divine regional sauces that it came with,
which was exciting in itself, although they more
than delivered in taste as well as authenticity.
It’s fair to say that the best thing The Green
Mango did was go into hiding for a bit and
come back as Cafe Chilli – a bolder, braver
and better version of itself. If you like Thai food,
you’ll love it here, and if you like gin and tonic
too, you’re in for an even bigger treat.
Cafe Chilli
8 Church Rd
Hove
BN3 2FL
01273 710390
www.cafe-chilli.co.uk
@cafe_chilli