Arcobaleno in Brighton offers brilliant brunches in a chilled courtyard garden

LGBTQ+ café bar Arcobaleno has been open for less than a year, on the site of the Old Bank steak house on St George’s Road and is building on its growing popularity with a new brunch menu.

It’s a unique offering to the neighbourhood – a Maltese-Mediterranean-inspired menu created by Luciana - owner and founder of Arcobaleno, and her son Nick.

The ingredients are locally-sourced, the bread is freshly baked, and an ABBA-themed cocktail which hints at the activities and fun to be had at Arcobaleno when the sun goes down…

When we visited on a bank holiday Saturday afternoon the old currant bun was very making its presence felt, so we passed straight through the airy bar and into a sun-trap courtyard garden.

There was plenty shade to be had but your reviewer likes to bask in the sun like a lizard, so we made a bee/gecko-line for an uncovered table.

A cocktail seemed the most sensible to do in the blazing sun (accompanied by plenty of glasses of water of course) and the choices were many.

The drinks menu cover features pictures of a sun and a glitter ball which seems to cover two priorities at Arcobaleno.

Your scribe’s taste in cocktails is similar to his approach to skin-care in the sun and is distinctly ‘70s.

I like them big and blousy, long and creamy, and ideally with a liberal splosh of coconut.

As luck would have it the Take A Chance On Me, was all of the above, and compromises Cazcabel Coconut Tequila, lime juice, Coco Re’al Coconut purée, coconut syrup, Velvet

Falernum, and strawberry syrup.

The resulting pink creation was a sweet boozy nectar with a cloudy, frothy head.

My brunch-time companion’s taste are a tad more sophisticated, and generally leads to smaller vessels and fewer fripperies.

Her glass of Does Your Mother Know? was a more adult affair featuring Mezcal and Triple Sec, offset by citrus, bitters and blood orange syrup.

Brunch for me was a superbly satisfying, and very substantial, plate of crispy belly pork.

Golden, dry-brined, rolled, pan-fried piggy perfection on a big old chunk of black pudding rosti, topped with a fried egg, and a crunchy chilli oil, with a salad of rocket and sweet pickles.

An all-round ace dish with a good combination of textures, and a feisty, but not too aggressive, chilli edge.

My brunch buddy’s eggs in purgatory was a nice looking Mediterranean favourite of eggs poached in a slightly spiced tomato sauce, flanked by big chunks of melting creamy feta.

Similar to the African dish Shakshuka, it was served in the skillet it was cooked in and with a big home-baked slice of focaccia, made Shipton Mill organic flour and extra-virgin olive oil, and ideal for mopping-up duty.

A number of hefty fry ups came past our table, and lodged themselves in my mind as future breakfast/brunch, and the Timpana, a Maltese pasta pie of beef and pork in tomato sauce and Parmesan, wrapped in puff pastry, sounds worth a return trip.

We shared a bowl of Italian ice cream made with a bevy of surprise little treats – who doesn’t want to find pistachios, Lotus biscoff and chocolate chunks in their pudding?

Last up, after a couple of lovely hours in the sun, with a sweet nip of Bajtra, a Maltese liqueur made from local prickly pears.

A glance at the Arcobaleno website reveals all sorts of live night-time entertainment, this month alone includes jazz, blues, country music open nights, Queer I am Podcast Live, and Dick Day's Hairy Fairies (an evening of fan-stache-tic drag).

The venue offers an awful lot and looks as if it’ll become a Kemptown favourite, daytime and night.

https://www.myarcobaleno.com/