Restaurant in Brighton and Hove, United Kingdom
Strong cooking, easy booking, fair price.
Amari is the strongest case for Spanish cooking in Brighton, with a 4.9 Google rating and a head chef whose CV includes The Pass at South Lodge and Pennyhill Park. At ££, the technical precision on the plate — croquetas, torched mackerel, suckling pig — is priced well below what it would cost at a comparable kitchen in London. Book ahead for weekend evenings; weeknights are easier.
Amari holds a 4.9 Google rating from 55 reviews — a score that places it among the most consistently praised restaurants in Brighton and Hove, and one that holds up against the food on the plate. At ££ pricing, this is one of the clearest cases of high-quality cooking priced for a neighbourhood audience rather than a destination-dining crowd. If you are looking for Spanish food in Brighton that goes beyond tapas-bar basics, book here first.
The red-painted exterior on Baker Street, a busy side street close to Brighton's Open Market and a short walk from the train station, makes Amari easy to find. Inside, the dining room is compact and simply decorated: porcelain wall tiles, framed prints, a semi-open kitchen. The aesthetic does not try to transport you to Andalusia, and it does not need to. The focus is entirely on what comes out of the kitchen.
Head chef Iain Swainson trained at The Samling, Pennyhill Park, and The Pass at South Lodge Hotel — three kitchens that sit at different points on the fine-dining spectrum but share a consistent standard for technical precision. That background shows in the cooking at Amari. A torched mackerel fillet with sorrel, Gordal olive dressing, and cod's roe mousse is the kind of dish that would sit confidently on a smart tasting menu at twice the price. Cep croquetas and patatas bravas both over-deliver on flavour and texture , dishes that are easy to get right in theory but rarely are in practice.
Front of house is handled by Justyna Maria Ciurus, formerly of The Little Fish Market in Hove. The service standard that implies , attentive, precise, without ceremony , matches what the kitchen is doing. Cutlery and crockery are replaced between courses, a small detail that matters when you are moving between a dish of crispy chipirones with fideuà and squid-ink velouté and a roasted skate wing pil pil. The format is flexible: you can order a conventional three-course meal or build a meal from snacks, starters, mains, and sides as a shared table.
The menu at Amari is Spanish-inspired rather than rigidly regional, which means the kitchen can follow seasonal produce without being tied to a fixed canon of dishes. The suckling pig, when available, is prepared with the kind of skill that earns it a standing mention in editorial coverage of the restaurant. Croquetas , the cep version in particular , are a consistent reference point across reviews, as is the crudo for lighter appetites. These are the dishes to anchor your order around, with seasonal additions filling in around them.
The sherry selection is the clearest expression of Amari's Spanish focus, and starting with a glass before moving to the wine list is a practical way to frame the meal. The wine list is concise and Spanish throughout, sourced from credible producers. Cocktails are available and well-made. This is not a bar-forward operation, but you will drink well here regardless of what you order.
For the food-and-wine enthusiast visiting Brighton, the seasonal rhythm of Amari's menu is worth planning around. The kitchen's strength lies in technique applied to good produce, which means the menu is at its most interesting when seasonal British ingredients sit alongside Spanish cooking methods , autumn ceps, spring crudos, and winter preparations of richer proteins like suckling pig. If you are visiting with specific dishes in mind, it is worth checking current availability before you go, since the menu shifts with what is available rather than holding a fixed list year-round.
Amari books as Easy difficulty, meaning you are unlikely to face the weeks-out lead time required at venues like etch. by Steven Edwards or Dilsk. That said, the dining room is small and the restaurant's reputation is growing, so booking ahead for weekend evenings is sensible. The proximity to Brighton station makes it a practical choice if you are arriving by train from London. No phone number or booking URL is listed in current data , check the restaurant directly or use a third-party reservation platform to confirm availability.
The ££ price point means a full dinner with drinks sits in a range that competes directly with casual Italian and Mediterranean options in the city. For what you get in terms of kitchen technique and service attention, it is among the better-value meals available in Brighton. See the comparison section below for how it sits against its nearest peers.
Quick reference: Spanish-inspired | ££ | Baker Street, Brighton BN1 4JN | 4.9 Google (55 reviews) | Easy to book | Short walk from Brighton station.
Against the ££ field in Brighton, Amari sits at the higher end of cooking quality. Burnt Orange offers Mediterranean sharing plates in a larger, more social room , a better call for groups who prioritise atmosphere and flexibility over kitchen precision. Embers runs a fire-focused modern menu at the same price tier and is the closer comparison in terms of technical ambition, though the cooking languages are entirely different. For Italian at ££, Cin Cin is the clear peer: similar neighbourhood-restaurant energy, similar quality ceiling. The choice between Amari and Cin Cin comes down to whether you want Spanish or Italian as your frame for the evening.
At £££, Dilsk is a step up in price and formality, with a Modern British menu that has drawn strong editorial attention. If budget is not the constraint and you want the most technically demanding meal in the city, Dilsk is worth the premium. But for most diners visiting Brighton on a normal evening, Amari delivers more cooking quality per pound than almost anything else in its tier.
Internationally, Amari shares a philosophy with Spanish-rooted restaurants like ZURRIOLA in Tokyo and Arco by Paco Pérez in Gdańsk , Spanish technique applied with precision in a context far from the Iberian Peninsula. That is useful context for understanding what Amari is doing: this is not a heritage tapas operation, it is a serious kitchen that happens to cook Spanish food in Brighton.
The venue data doesn't confirm a dedicated bar counter with seating, but Amari is a small, semi-open-kitchen dining room rather than a sprawling space. For solo diners or walk-ins, it's worth calling ahead to ask about counter or bar options, as the compact format sometimes allows for flexibility that a standard reservation flow doesn't advertise.
Go for the sharing approach rather than a traditional three-course structure — the kitchen's strengths show across snacks, starters, and mains eaten together. The croquetas, patatas bravas, and suckling pig are specifically called out for delivering on flavour and technique. The sherry selection is the right way to open the meal, and the Spanish wine list is tightly curated from quality producers.
Amari suits solo diners reasonably well at the ££ price point — the small-plates format means you can order two or three dishes without commitment to a full spread. The compact, neighbourhood-scale room is less intimidating than larger open-plan venues. Booking ahead is still advisable given the size of the space.
Burnt Orange offers Mediterranean sharing plates in a larger, livelier setting if atmosphere matters as much as cooking. Cin Cin is the go-to for Italian-leaning small plates with a similar neighbourhood feel. Palmito brings a different angle on produce-led cooking in Brighton. If you want to spend more for a step up in formality, Dilsk and Embers both operate at a higher price tier.
Yes, with the right expectations. Chef Iain Swainson's CV includes The Samling, Pennyhill Park, and The Pass at South Lodge — the cooking here is genuinely precise, and front-of-house attention to detail is noted across multiple reviews. It's a casual room, not a white-tablecloth setting, so it works well for a relaxed birthday dinner or a meaningful date rather than a formal celebration requiring private dining.
The database doesn't confirm a formal tasting menu format at Amari. What's documented is a flexible sharing approach — snacks, starters, mains, and sides ordered across the table with crockery changed between dishes. That structure functions like a self-directed tasting progression at ££ prices, which is strong value given the cooking quality.
At ££, yes. The kitchen is run by a chef with credentials from serious UK kitchens, and the food consistently over-delivers for the price bracket — technically precise dishes like torched mackerel and crispy chipirones sit alongside well-executed staples. Booking is rated Easy difficulty, so you're not paying a premium for inaccessibility. For Spanish-inspired cooking at this level in Brighton, it's a strong call.
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