Embers, Meeting House Lane: what to order and when to go

Embers is a wood-fired restaurant and cocktail bar at 42 Meeting House Lane, in the heart of the Lanes. The tagline is "Fire & Friendship", and the room lives up to it: cooking happens over a medieval-style metal fire cage suspended above a fire in the middle of the room, with 42 covers arranged around the action.

What it is

The food is small plates plus bigger shared centrepieces, and the small plates arrive as and when they are ready, so it suits a table that likes to pass things around. The wood comes from Sussex timberman Mark Salanson, who supplies only ash and beech, kiln-dried on site. Burnt-wood discs hang on the walls in place of art, and food is served on slabs of grey rock.

It was opened by chefs Dave Marrow and Isaac Bartlett-Copeland, who met at The Grand Hotel, where Marrow mentored Bartlett-Copeland in his first kitchen job. Marrow later spent four years as head chef at Terre à Terre, and Bartlett-Copeland founded Isaac At in North Laine in 2015. Embers was their first joint venture, announced for an April 2023 opening. The room was designed by Bartlett-Copeland and his wife Hannah with Marrow and local carpenter Paul Bethell.

It is listed in the Michelin Guide (Selected, good cooking, two pound signs), which is a listing and not a star. It has also done well in the Brighton Restaurant Awards, taking Best Sunday Roast in 2025 and 2026, according to Restaurants Brighton, which also reports it as third best restaurant in both years.

What to order

The menu changes with the seasons, so check the live menu on the Embers website before you go. Dishes that have appeared include cured sea trout, barbecued quarter chicken, flamed beef heart, hand-dived scallop, smoked lamb rump with salsa verde, hake with pil pil and prawn butter, and cauliflower with kimchi barbecue sauce.

Reviews keep coming back to the same few things:

• Sourdough with dripping butter, an easy opener.
• Bonfire potatoes, described by Salty Plums as a signature.
• Ember aubergine with carrot kimchi.
• Wood-fired sea bream, a regular mention.

A reviewer's rule of thumb for two people: three or four small plates plus one or two large dishes. There is also a Feast offer of six plates for £35 per person, shared between two, listed on Restaurants Brighton. Vegetarian, vegan and gluten-free options exist, though a few reviewers find the vegan choice limited.

For drinks, the house cocktails are El Fuego (rum, passionfruit, pineapple), the Embers Old Fashioned (Embers rum, bitters) and the Cadillac Jo' Margarita (mezcal, chilli, lime). Older menu prices were around £13 each.

Sunday roast and breakfast

The roast is the award winner. It comes as wood-fired sharing platters and the Three Beast feast. Listings mention pork loin, Sussex beef rump, smoked whole chicken and ember baked onion, with skillet potatoes and cauliflower cheese purée. Check the current menu for prices. Roast rooms across Brighton tend to peak around 1pm, so book earlier or later if you can.

Breakfast runs on Saturdays and Sundays from 9am to 11:30am, with walk-ins welcome and booking recommended, especially between 10:15am and 11:30am, according to the Embers website. Look for the Embers Breakfast with smoked sausage and bacon, steak and eggs, chicken and waffles, and Svamptoast with Billington mushrooms. Coffee is Skylark.

When to go and how to book

Embers is closed on Tuesdays, and evenings run until 11pm. Weekends are the long days. Sources disagree on Monday and on the Sunday closing time (9pm or 11pm), so check the website before you set out.

Book on 01273 869222 or through the Embers website. TheFork also takes bookings, and walk-ins are accepted. Joinpearl suggests booking a Friday or Saturday dinner one to two weeks ahead and asking for counter seats when you do. The high counter facing the chefs is the seat reviewers rate most. Reviews mention slow service at peak times, and one says the seats by the door can be draughty. Groups of 8 to 18 can book one table, with group menus from £30 a head.

As for the bill, TheFork puts the average at about £40 a head, while one reviewer reported roughly £50 without cocktails. Major cards are accepted.

Finding it

Meeting House Lane is a pedestrian lane in the Lanes, a walk from Brighton station. It began as a small twitten named after the Presbyterian meeting house in Union Street, according to My Brighton and Hove. One 2023 review says finding it can be tricky, so keep an eye out for the number 42.