Brighton’s Best Dish - Smoked Lamb Ribs at B’Neen

To be honest, we could have picked any one of the sharing dishes from a lunch earlier this year at the now closed B’Neen at The Star pub for this feature. Husband and wife team Sarah and Salim describe their food as ‘Middle Eastern x North African x Mediterranean inspired small plates’; we’d describe it as uniformly delicious. Za’tar fried chicken with spicy mayo was crunchy and tender in all the right places; mushroom and celeriac shawarma tacos were a revelation and an absolute flavour bomb with smoked tomato confit, pickle, lemon tahini sauce and B’Neen’s own chilli crisp; and courgette, feta and chickpea fritters with preserved lemon and herb yoghurt were a very superior riff on falafel.

But we’ve chosen the smoked lamb ribs because, according to a recent post on their Instagram account, the ribs have been one of their most popular specials since day one and they’ve now earned their place on B’Neen’s new summer menu. It’s easy to see why: meltingly tender, subtly smoky meat, layered with flavourful fat, contrasting with a sweet pomegranate glaze and whipped labneh for lactic freshness. Sweet smoky meaty dreams are made of this. At £14.50, the ribs were the most expensive thing on the menu, with nearly everything else priced at £10 or under. Oh, and the sticky toffee pudding with clotted vanilla ice cream (we shared one between two) was ace. B’Neen will return somewhere soon. Check their Instagram for updates.