Restaurant in Brighton and Hove, United Kingdom
Seven tables, one sitting, book early.
The Set is a seven-table, Michelin Plate-recognised tasting menu room in Brighton operating out of a space that doubles as a café by day. With a fixed 7pm communal sitting, 15 courses over three hours, and Japanese-inflected cooking that punches well above its surroundings, it is the most distinctive special-occasion dinner in the city. Book three to four weeks out minimum.
If you have been to The Set before, you already know the drill: arrive by 6.45pm, surrender to the menu, and leave three hours later having eaten around 15 courses that had no business being as coherent as they were. The question on a return visit is whether the formula holds. Based on a 4.7 Google rating across 358 reviews and a Michelin Plate (2024), the answer is yes. This is one of the tightest operations in Brighton, and it earns its £££ price tag by doing something genuinely difficult: running a high-ambition tasting menu out of a seven-table room with a team of four.
Book this for a special occasion, a date, or any dinner where the experience itself is the point. Do not book it if you want flexibility, a la carte choice, or a short evening. If you are weighing it against etch. by Steven Edwards, the other ££££ option in Brighton, The Set is the more intimate and atmospheric choice; etch. offers more formal polish. For most special-occasion diners, The Set wins on personality.
By day, 50 Preston Road operates as Café Rust. By 7pm, the cake stands are cleared, a red neon sign goes up, and the room transforms into something closer to a supper club with serious cooking credentials. Exposed plaster walls, parquet flooring, bare-topped tables, and a pumping soundtrack give the space a low-key energy that is easy to mistake for casual until the food arrives. The address is on a stretch of Preston Road that does nothing to prime expectations, but once the hand-carved grey door closes behind you, the outside world genuinely recedes.
The atmosphere is leading described as late-night dinner party rather than formal restaurant. The sound level is part of the experience: this is not a quiet room, and it is not designed to be. For a date or a celebration, that energy works in its favour. For a business dinner where you need to talk through documents, look elsewhere — try Gingerman or Flint House for a quieter register.
Head chef Dan Kenny runs a menu built around what he calls big-flavoured, umami and fat-led food. That framing matters because it explains why the menu moves in unexpected directions: Japanese-inflected seafood dishes sit next to beef béarnaise, a tom yum broth appears as the savoury closer, and a pig's trotter croquette opens proceedings. The through-line is flavour intensity, not geographic consistency. Japan carries the heaviest influence — tempura, short sushi servings, dashi-based broths , but the kitchen is not running a fusion concept so much as a personal one.
Around 15 courses over roughly three hours is the standard format. Every table is served simultaneously, which means the pacing is set by the kitchen, not by you. That communal rhythm is part of what makes the room feel like a supper club. The wine list is short relative to the ambition of the cooking, and bottle prices climb steeply, which makes the wine pairing , featuring bottles not on the main list , the smarter option if you plan to drink well. For Brighton dining at this level, the value holds up; comparable tasting menus in London at equivalent ambition (see Restaurant Gordon Ramsay or similarly credentialled rooms) cost considerably more. Within the UK's broader tasting-menu tier, venues such as L'Enclume or Moor Hall operate at a different scale, but The Set is not positioning itself in that conversation , it is a sharper, smaller, more personal proposition.
Three hours at the table means you will finish well past 10pm on most evenings. The Set does not operate as a late-night drop-in , the 7pm communal start time is fixed , but as a destination for an evening that runs late by design, it delivers. The atmosphere after 9pm, when the kitchen's pace quickens through the dessert courses and the room's soundtrack fills in the gaps, is closer to a good private party than a conventional restaurant experience. If you are building a full Brighton evening, plan dinner here as the main event and skip a separate bar booking; the experience is absorbing enough to anchor the night. For bars worth adding before or after, consult our full Brighton and Hove bars guide.
Booking difficulty is rated Hard. With only seven tables and a fixed communal sitting, availability is tight at all times. Book a minimum of three to four weeks out for a weekend table; weeknight slots may open with shorter notice but should not be assumed. There is no walk-in option in any practical sense , the format does not accommodate it. The 6.45pm arrival time for pre-dinner drinks and the 7pm start are firm; arriving late disrupts the communal pacing for the entire room, so treat the time as a hard commitment. Check the venue's current booking channels directly, as phone and online availability can vary. For a broader view of what Brighton's dining scene offers at different price points and formats, see our full Brighton and Hove restaurants guide.
If you are travelling to Brighton specifically for dinner at The Set, pair the trip with a hotel booking using our Brighton and Hove hotels guide. Preston Road is north of the central Lanes area; factor in travel time if you are staying near the seafront.
For other strong options in the city, Furna, Embers, and 64 Degrees each offer a different entry point into Brighton's more ambitious cooking. 64 Degrees in particular shares The Set's counter-dining DNA and is easier to book. Internationally, if the supper-club-meets-fine-dining format appeals, Frantzén in Stockholm and Maison Lameloise in Chagny represent what this format looks like at maximum scale. Closer to home, Hand and Flowers in Marlow and Gidleigh Park in Chagford offer different takes on high-ambition cooking outside London. For local wine and experience pairings, see our Brighton and Hove wineries guide and experiences guide.
No. The Set runs a fixed communal sitting at 7pm across seven tables, and the format does not include a bar counter for dining. Every guest is seated and served simultaneously. If you want a counter-dining option in Brighton, 64 Degrees is the closer comparison , it operates an open-kitchen counter format with a more flexible booking structure.
There is no ordering at The Set. The kitchen runs a set multi-course tasting menu for the whole room. The format spans around 15 courses over three hours, with Japanese-influenced dishes (tempura, sushi, dashi-based broths) alongside more European preparations. The wine pairing is worth considering over selecting individual bottles , the main wine list is short and climbs steeply in price, while the pairing includes bottles not otherwise available.
At ££££ pricing, The Set is in the same bracket as etch. by Steven Edwards, Brighton's other top-tier option. For the format , Michelin Plate recognition, 15 courses, a team of four operating at high efficiency in a seven-table room , the price is justified. Comparable tasting menus in London cost more for equivalent ambition. If your priority is value per course and a personal, atmospheric setting, this is the stronger spend. If you want more formal service or a la carte flexibility, etch. is the alternative.
The 6.45pm arrival time is firm, not approximate. The restaurant asks all guests to be seated for pre-dinner drinks before the 7pm communal start; late arrivals disrupt pacing for the whole room. The address is on Preston Road, which is north of central Brighton and not particularly atmospheric from the outside , that is by design. Expect three hours at the table, no menu choices, and a room that feels more like a well-run supper club than a formal restaurant. The Michelin Plate (2024) signals the kitchen is operating at a serious level despite the relaxed setting. Book well in advance: with seven tables and no walk-in option, availability is consistently tight.
Yes, if a long, immersive meal built around one kitchen's very specific point of view appeals to you. Around 15 courses over three hours, with a throughline of umami-driven, fat-forward cooking that moves between Japanese and European reference points, is a genuine experience. The Michelin Plate (2024) and a 4.7 Google rating across 358 reviews support the quality claim. It is not worth it if you want choice, a shorter evening, or a quieter room for conversation-heavy occasions. For a shorter tasting format, Furna or Cin Cin are alternatives worth considering.
Book three to four weeks ahead for a weekend table as a baseline. Popular dates , Friday and Saturday evenings, holiday periods , can go faster. Weeknight availability is less constrained but should not be assumed at short notice. There is no walk-in option given the fixed communal format. If the specific date matters to you (anniversary, birthday), book as early as the booking window allows. Check current booking channels directly via the venue.
| Venue | Price | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Set | ££££ | Hard | — |
| Palmito | ££ | Unknown | — |
| Burnt Orange | ££ | Unknown | — |
| Cin Cin | ££ | Unknown | — |
| Dilsk | £££ | Unknown | — |
| etch. by Steven Edwards | ££££ | Unknown | — |
How The Set stacks up against the competition.
No. The Set operates seven tables only, with a fixed communal sitting at 7pm — there is no bar seating or walk-in counter. Everyone is served simultaneously, so the format is table-only from the start. If you want a more flexible drop-in format in Brighton, 64 Degrees operates a counter with à la carte ordering.
There is no ordering to do — The Set runs a single multi-course tasting menu served to the entire restaurant at once. Head chef Dan Kenny's kitchen decides the menu, built around what he describes as big-flavoured, umami and fat-led cooking with strong Japanese influence. The wine pairing is worth considering given the short main list and steep price jumps on bottles.
At ££££ for around 15 courses over three hours, The Set delivers Michelin Plate-recognised cooking in a seven-table room with a team of four — that ratio of ambition to scale is hard to match in Brighton. If you are comfortable with a fixed menu and a communal sitting format, the price-to-experience ratio holds up. If you want flexibility or à la carte choice, it does not suit the format regardless of price.
Arrive by 6.45pm — latecomers disrupt a room where every course is served simultaneously to all seven tables. The evening runs approximately three hours across around 15 courses, finishing well past 10pm. The venue is on an unremarkable stretch of Preston Road, sharing its address with daytime café Café Rust, so do not mistake the door. The Set holds a Michelin Plate (2024).
Yes, if you are booking specifically for the format. The Set's Michelin Plate recognition and the precision of Dan Kenny's kitchen make the extended tasting menu genuinely defensible at ££££. The Japanese-influenced, umami-forward cooking across 15 courses is coherent rather than scattered. For a shorter or more casual multi-course experience in Brighton, Embers or Furna are closer alternatives.
Book three to four weeks ahead at minimum — seven tables and a single nightly sitting means availability disappears fast, particularly on weekends. There is no walk-in option given the fixed communal format. Booking difficulty is rated Hard, so treat a confirmed reservation as the priority before planning anything else around the evening.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
