Franco's Osteria

One of the best meals I have ever had, absolutely fantastic,perfectly cooked food matched with a lovely wine, can't wait to go back. Service was excellent, very friendly and efficient.

When I booked and I was told no menu, they serve what's part of the deli that day, I was worried I had made a bad decision, especially that my husband wanted to carb load ready for Brighton marathon 🤦‍♀️ Complete opposite, what a diamond find, an absolute must try., fantastic food and service, we will return. I've seen a few negative posts, they are not in context and unfair. If you are looking gor a fab Italian, this is the place for you 😀

A unique dining experience - mixed unspecified antipasti ordered and followed by a choice of 2 or 3 verbally described pasta dishes. I think there may be a third meat/fish course available, but there was no printed menu or proper explanation from staff. The dishes comes to the table in quick succession, again without explanation, served by the harrassed-looking owner (I'm guessing). Everything was fresh and delicious, with flavours ranging from butternut squash in orange citrus sauce, to pumpkin ravioli in sage butter, and delicate pasta shells with rich Ragu sauce, all washed down with a perfectly decent house white, in a tiny intimate dining space. Overall fantastic food, but I would've enjoyed the experience more if I'd had a clearer idea of what to expect. They could do with a calm, knowledgeable person to wait on the tables really, but even so, I'd definitely go again.

The food was amazing. Best Italian meal I have had in years!! If you are wanting a massive bowl of mediocre pasta go to a chain, if you want loads of delicious dishes come here!! Also tiramisu and pistachio gelato were fabulous!!

Word has got round about Franco's on Hove seafront near the old King Alfred's Leisure Centre, so it's essential to book of an evening or you'll be turned away - it doesn't take many to fill the place,.which has a buzzy, funky, down-home vibe without the need for the usual overbearing pop music to attempt "atmosphere". Franco himself is in the thick of things and is dead serious about what he does - and some have found his attitude arrogant and dictatorial. That's possibly because he's proud of his standards, and the format is what it is - and he has little patience with those who don't "get it". It's an Osteria, not a restaurant... The format, then, is quite rigid: you have antipasti, pasta and mains (with a specials board) More than two people have to take a sharing menu - two sizes, two prices. The bigger option at £28.50 brings you all the antipasti on the board, a couple of pasta dishes and a main of either fish or meat, a delicious array of dishes arriving one after the other, whatever it is they're preparing that night.. In a sense, you put yourself in their hands - you'll probably have to ask if you want to know what the meat or the fish are, but unless you eat like a horse you won't go hungry. And the flavours! The produce is clearly of the highest quality and everything has a depth of flavour that is quite stunning, on top of which lovely notes of lemon, mint and herbs dance across the palate. On this recent occasion, with four of us opting for the meat, an odd note was struck by a plate containing four pieces of steak, four pieces of sausage, yet three lamb chops - so someone went short. The steak was rump, which if you don't mind chewy meat, was flavoursome, but I find it too much like hard work. .Another criticism would be that a bottle of Puglian red wine (a Primitivo - also known as Zinfandel elsewhere) was of distinctly average quality, and at £33, overpriced, when for example, there is an excellent Primitivio di Manduria at Waitrose, with balance, structure, complexity and length for about £11.They could buy something like this in and sell it on at £33 a bottle, for a better food pairing.and a handsome mark-up. Having said this, it was great evening, in what felt like an authentic atmosphere, the busy kitchen in plain view producing a cornucopia of wonderfully vibrant dishes of an altogether different standard than the usual high street Italian restaurants.