Sensational Food & Seaside Ease at Maré by Rafael Cagali, Hove
Maré isn’t the sort of restaurant you open by accident. Rafael Cagali, whose two-Michelin-starred Da Terra in Bethnal Green convinces Londoners to cross postcodes, could very easily have picked Brighton for his first venture outside London and watched the queues form. But he hasn’t. He’s chosen Hove – a decision that feels smarter and more measured – and he’s brought with him a culinary perspective shaped by Brazilian upbringing, Italian roots and a career built around flavour, not fuss. BY POLLY HUMPHRIS
Located on Church Road, mere minutes from the seafront, the restaurant’s modest 38-cover dining room immediately reflects that ethos; smooth pale wood and rounded-edge tables echo the pebbles on the nearby beach, while sheer white curtains billow gently, reminding you the sea is close. Stylish rather than showy, the space feels curated with the same care as the menu where subtle details reveal themselves slowly, which is pitched perfectly for Hove’s discerning diners – a crowd that rewards atmosphere as reverently as they do taste.
Even the glassware makes a subtle point, with tall elegant stems confirming that the standards are high, but the mood isn’t stiff. The soundtrack – a solid run of 70’s and 80’s classics veering from Iggy Pop to The Cure and The Stone Roses – links Maré back to older sibling Da Terra’s nostalgic energy while giving the room a relaxed and playful vibe that suits the city’s laid-back edge.
Front of house is led by sommelier-manager Jake Garstang, whose team – Frederik, Aga, Beth and Lauren – strike that ideal balance of warmth and professionalism. They know the food, they know the wine, and crucially, they know when to appear and when to let you relish the moment, all with a friendly confidence that’s never overbearing. Behind the scenes, head chef Ewan Waller (formerly senior chef de partie at Da Terra) leads the kitchen day-to-day, translating Cagali’s ideas into dishes with his own sprinkling of alchemic precision.
The menu is structured in four parts: One Bites, Small Plates, To Follow and To Finish. It’s a more relaxed format than Da Terra’s tasting menus, but the same DNA is there and is instantly recognisable in inventive, confident cooking that’s grounded in top-tier ingredients and expert technique, but without any sense of it being dumbed down for the seaside.
One Bites arrived in the form of toasted brioche topped with liver parfait, preserved cherries and winter truffle. A polished bite that delivered far more flavour than its neat proportions suggested, the brioche itself was warm and buttery, the parfait silky, and the cherries a sharp, sour-sweet hit that cut through the depth of the offal. Our recommended crisp, citrus-lifted glass of Rathfinny Classic Cuvée matched this richness so cleanly, and solely on the recommendation of Frederik, whose pairings were faultless the entire night.
Next, a fried market oyster with hot-sauce emulsion and pickled onions. Crisp on the outside, soft and saline within, it walked a wonderful line between fish-and-chip shop comfort and high-end canape, with heat, acidity and richness all present in a perfectly judged pairing. The third snack, an onion croustade with pickled walnut, was all about texture and sharpness. The pastry was thin and shatteringly crisp, the onion sweet and jammy, and the pickled walnut had that tangy kick that only umami can deliver. Together, the three bites defined the evening’s statement of intent – this is a relaxed setting, but the cooking is exceptional.
Next, a BYOT (build your own taco) small plate of pulled lamb shoulder with manioc tortillas, mole and house hot sauce, a plate that’s already achieving signature-dish status – and with good reason. The tortillas had a gentle chew and a nutty base for everything else to pile upon, and the combination of lamb (slow-cooked until just the right side of collapse), herbs, pickled onions, fruity mole and a house hot sauce all delivered in help-yourself pots, means you can take the flavour profile in whichever direction you choose. It’s tactile, it’s fun, and it’s also very clever in the confidence of its simplicity, as was its paired wine – an Alvarinho Vinho Verde that cut through the spice with a zesty minerality.
An extremely smart and technically tight plate, the aged Hamachi crudo is the dish that best showed the kitchen’s lighter hand. Hamachi, a Japanese yellowtail prized for its gently sweet and buttery flesh, arrived sliced thick enough for proper bite, accompanied by ajo blanco – a classic Andalusian blend of almonds, garlic and olive oil blended for subtlety over punch – fresh tomato adding acidity and brightness, and cobnuts that scattered crunch and a hint of praliné over the top.
Salt-baked beetroot with mackerel and whey followed and was far bolder than its description suggested. Salt-baking intensifies beetroot’s natural sweetness and earthiness, which, paired with oily, assertive mackerel and the lactic tang of whey, becomes something much more savoury. It’s a combination that makes sense once you taste it – the beetroot behaving almost like fruit, with the fish and whey preventing it from tipping into dessert territory.
The standout dish? Native lobster rice with ox tongue. Arriving looking deceptively straightforward (a shallow dish of rice with a gloss added by reduction rather than butter overload with a generous piece of local lobster resting on top), somewhere in the magical mix is ox tongue and oxtail fat, which runs invisibly through the rice, giving each grain a deep, beefy savouriness. The brilliance here is in how that flavour plays with both your mouth and your mind. There’s enough depth for your palate to recognise that lobster is a ‘meaty’ ingredient, and also to happily handle a Californian Tyler pinot noir alongside it, but not so much that the natural sweetness of the lobster is ever bullied. The rice has bite, the sauce is intense without being sticky and every mouthful differs slightly depending on the ratio of tongue, rice and fat you receive – really satisfying and very much of this kitchen.
We finished by sharing a choux bun with fig leaf ice cream, fig and Pedro Ximénez, the green vanilla and coconut notes of the fig leaf lifting the dish’s verdant depths, while the PX added warmth and jammy sweetness underneath. Balanced, interesting and a suitably thought-provoking finale, it was matched with the honey and apricot sweetness of a French Sauternes dessert wine in a parting reminder that nothing about Maré is left to chance.
What Maré offers is a sharp sense of focus. Deeply true to Cagali’s philosophy and technically masterful, it’s overseen by a young head chef and team who clearly care about what they are doing. The cooking is imaginative without being obscure, the atmosphere is relaxed without sloppiness, and the location in Hove feels not just convenient but correct. I got the sense that this is a restaurant that intends to be here for the long term; moving with the tides of season and produce, yes, but anchored in a clear idea of who it is and who it’s cooking for. And that, in a city of foodies that loves a new opening, is extremely exciting.
