Coal Shed embraces a NY-Lon look at a new Brighton location

Opened in 2011 by restaurateur Razak Helalat, the beloved Brighton steakhouse Coal Shed is now a teenager and, as such, has outgrown its intimate location on Boyce’s Street. This weekend it relocates to a 142-cover location in The Lanes with interiors by Sara Fenn and Helalat himself.

Backed by the Black Rock Restaurants Group, the duo has created five distinct spaces within the venue, working in curved booths with more capacity and original art against an envelope of exposed brickwork, and black-painted walls. A New York steakhouse vibe prevails in visible industrial workings and original brickwork, complemented by charred-to-black wood.

In the main restaurant, meanwhile, leather seating, terracotta tiling and fresh foliage create an environment where the wood-fired menu is the focus.

There are three private dining rooms, dubbed The Flamingo Social, The Longhorn and The Grand Dining Room. Flamingo has space for 26 and will double as an event room with its own bar, ‘Experience Menus’, private entrance and dedicated sound system.

The Coal Shed’s Flamingo private dining room. Photography: Sam Morris

The Brighton restaurant gets its first dedicated bar area, too, seating up to 25 across leather stools and intimate banquette tables.

As for the menu, it’s international and more elevated, expanding on The Coal Shed’s fire-cooking techniques to unlock the depth of flavour in other proteins, hearty vegetables and seafood while drawing on Chef Lee Murdoch’s career in Japan, the Middle East, France and Germany. Dishes include miso aubergine with crispy shallots and toasted sesame; bluefin tuna tostada with rainbow radish, aji panca, avocado and corn; Bedlam Farm squash with tempura blossom, toasted buckwheat, smoked piquillo, whipped tofu and jalapeño chimichurri; and seafood ‘bonne femme’ with scallops, king prawns and wild sea bass.

Guests will also find one of Brighton’s first Himalayan salt-ageing rooms, The Salt Chamber, showcasing beef cuts from premium suppliers in the British Isles.

Clarence House, 30-31 North Street, Brighton, BN1 1EB