I am a huge fan of seafood and craft beer, so when I was looking for somewhere to go for my birthday dinner, The Urchin was recommended to me time and time again.
The Urchin is a pub tucked away in Hove that serves simple, fresh shellfish and craft beer that they brew on site. Literally my dream pub!
I am a little late uploading this as my birthday was in January, but one thing I noticed was how busy it was on a random Wednesday in January. We had to book, and pretty much every table in there was full! So great to see a pub doing so well. I would recommend booking if you decide to try it out.
To start, I had a smoked mussel pate with pickled blackberries and gherkins. I am a huge pate lover and the flavour was super strong but not overpowering. It was creamy and delicious and weirdly went well with the blackberries. It was a special so I’m not sure if it will be available anymore, but it was super tasty.
For mains, I HAD to go for the Moules marinière with a side of fries. IT’s my absolute favourite seafood dish and it was INCREDIBLE. Really big juicy moules with a really garlic-ey creamy sauce. Completely delicious. Great value for money as well, there was a huge amount of food.
The sauce was so delicious I ended up pouring all of my fries into it… don’t judge me. Do it next time you have Moules marinière, you won’t regret it!!!! We also got a side of halloumi fries because… it was my birthday and why not? They were super tasty although I’m not sure we needed them as the mains are very generous portions.
The beer selection was amazing – on tap, plus this big shelf they had full of bottles and cans. A really good range of breweries on offer.
Overall I would say the Urchin is the place to go if you’re looking for a seafood dinner that isn’t crazy expensive. The food is extremely good value as the portions are generous and it’s all super fresh and locally sourced. Plus an excellent beer selection. The perfect birthday spot.