Loading...
Bill's Produce Store
100 North Road, Brighton, BN1 1YE
Reviews for Bill's Produce Store
0 found this helpful
I had breakfast at bills today (25th September 2009) and it was terrible!!! We were a party of 9 and we went for one of my colleagues leaving do. When we arrived we were greeted by an obnoxious moron who promised that he would “take care of us” while suggesting that we sit at different tables (not so great at a leaving do) and then just standing around and doing precisely nothing. When we were eventually seated I ordered the full English breakfast and was hugely disappointed to find my bacon burnt beyond recognition and the sausage charred on one side. The tomatoes tasted like they came from a can and after picking at what was edible I found a HAIR!!! I stopped eating and didn’t complain because I really didn’t want to upset the occasion. The staff were not bad really but the guy who seated us was an a**hole! The place is really rather agreeable, pretty to look at but I’m afraid it’s a case of form over function and I will NEVER eat there again. It’s packed to the rafters with young, urban, hip parents, the cool crowd and old folks but in a place like Brighton where there are hundreds of restaurants I will not put myself through that again. Extremely good alternatives for breakfast are Tallulah’s, Billy’s and endless little cafes in the lanes (Inside Out Cafe does the best kippers and poached eggs). I paid but refused to let them leave a tip for the rude service, hair and burnt food. Oh and it is a chain – avoid if you can!!!!
1 found this helpful
Bill's, needless to say has a pretty good reputation in Brighton for its freshest of ingredients and lovely combinations if beautiful vegetables put together in slads, pizza's, you name it. The context is great with the shop front and the bustling cafe/restaurant surrounded by ingredients in the back. However, bustling it really is. I really do mean this as a warning, do NOT go here during lunch hour, especially on a friday because it can be chaos. You are very likely to queue for a good 10 minutes at times. The worst part of this queuing, is due to the lack of space, waiting customers are queued round the edge of the tables. Therefore, once you do get a table, which you often end up sharing with others, sometimes sitting opposite a complete stranger, you get gawped at with jealousy by the starving queue throwing daggers at you to shift. One time our table was right next to the queue: our conversation might as well have been heard by half of it!Also, the poor staff being rushed off their feet at these times do end up making mistakes. My dining partner had a wheat allergy which the waitress was firmly told of, only to be given a plate of mezze covered in the stuff. Oh dear. It is a real shame, not their fault theyre so popular, but rather than being so greedy they really should turn people away.
1 found this helpful
Bill's produce is fresh and delicious and much of their cafe menu is too (though it can get a little pretencious from time to time). Best doorstep sausage sandwich in town!
Most of all I love the feel of this place though. With the high ceiling, the mezzanine level, and the clattering of the canteen below it reminds me of some great deli places in NYC, and it's never a bad thing when a place reminds you of holidaying somewhere fabulous!
The service can be a bit patchy at their busiest times, and it DOES get mighty busy but as long as you're not in a rush the staff are generally friendly and helpful.
A greasy spoon for a hangover cure this is not, but a splendid place for a large, delicious breakfast or brunch. They are open in the evening too, though I've always preferred stopping in for breakfast or lunch.
For the marmite obsessives (like myself) you can pick up some marmite crackers, not to mention some beautifully fresh looking organic veg from the produce section whilst you're feasting too. Yum.
1 found this helpful
We needed somewhere to eat late afternoon before our visit to Komedia. Bill's was recommended, but as our taxi dropped us off one dark, wet Saturday at 5pm, we thought we must be in the wrong place.
Surely this was a shop front. Instead of a door there were vertical plastic strips to walk through into an area with vegetables and other groceries on display. Its a shop!
But wait, further in there are people sittings at tables eating, laughing & enjoying themselves. So we move in and take our seats. Its a restaurant!
Whatever you want to call Bill's Produce Store in Brighton, they certainly know how to prepare some unusual and very tasty dishes. From the evening menu I selected Braised Duck Leg. Now I'm not a great fan of red cabbage. But this was completely disguised by the dark, thick plum sauce and the combination was magic, it tasted great. We can also vouch for the haddock (which featured leek & mustard mash), Bill's moussaka & some kind of date, fig & toffee dessert which was just incredible.
We didn't suffer with noisy staff (as in an earlier review), but they did clear some of our plates before we had all finished (naughty, naughty!).
The place was absolutely packed which gave it a lively atmosphere, but probably not recommended as a romantic venue.
We managed to feed & water 4 adults for £100 (all had 2 courses and drinks).
You've got to try this place.
2 found this helpful
Wow what a venue! An old bus depot I think? Well you can barely tell its industrial past with that much colour and vegetation spanning in every direction you look.
I can't fault the food at Bills for it has always been superb – so healthy, and salads like you know you could never be bothered to make at home with about a million ingredients. The tomato salad alone comprises of fresh, sunblush and sundried tomatoes all in one salad (the sunblush are the best but sometimes they get left out and you have to ask for them). I agree it is pricey for a quiche/salad type lunch at around £10 - £15 inc. juice, but then having eaten there around 1.30 – 2pm, only a light dinner is usually necessary – even if you’re a big hungry guy! If you don’t fancy what’s on the specials board or if you have spent ages selecting something only to have it cruelly wiped off in front of you (sold out) then I can highly recommend the jacket potato with homemade hummous. It is, quite frankly, massive.
The juices and smoothies are delicious and you don’t mind shelling out the £3.50/£4 or whatever it is, in the knowledge that you will be drinking about a week’s worth of fruity goodness!
But….I’m afraid Bills loses 1 star for the sheer chaos and all the shouting. No, not by the noisy families, but by the staff! Is it truly necessary to have the equivalent waiting staff of 1 per table?! I’m sure it just adds to the mayhem when you constantly have red-shirted staff bumping into you and each other whilst hollering that “Tart 2 has sold out” and “Table for 4 over here” or “Table for 2!” – it’s like eating amongst a surreal 3D version of ‘Table Pit’!
2 found this helpful
I concur with the other reviews re the quality of the food. The lunch menu is nothing to write home about but it is the vast selection on the boards where this place comes into its own. The presentation of the meals was second to none - positively artistic - like the uniformity of the produce on the shelves. It's great for a quick snack or 3 course meal.
They also have an evening menu but can't comment on that.
Service was good and friendly.
So why not 5 stars? Well it's the place - being so popular the place is inadequate. People queue right next to the cramped tables looking pitiful at those lucky enough to be seated. Being a cafe too there are people just having a drink. They need at least double the area to cope with demand.
0 found this helpful
Bill's at Brigton & Lewes, are the best places for wonderful, healthy, tasty food, & a great atmosphere too.
2 found this helpful
If you're unprepared, walking into Bill's for the first time is quite special. The ceiling is high and your vision is filled from top to bottom with fruit, vegetables, and greenery of every kind.
Perhaps this is an odd thing to review, but the sound in the place is great. Even though Bill's is often packed, it's easy to converse with whomever you're eating with. Not sure why this is: do vegetables absorb sound? Maybe it's because the ceiling is so high? Anyway:
The coffee and croissants are delicious, and my takeaway sandwich was great. Very appealing to the health-freak veggie in me. The sandwich involved alfafa sprouts, some sweet jam, roasted vegetables, and for dessert, included in the package, a plum.
If that doesn't appeal to you, they had many other options including "mainstream" sandwich fillings like tuna mayonnaise.
It's a great place and very unusual. Worth a visit or three!
2 found this helpful
Bills is great for any meal, any day. It's a really nice place, and I believe mostly organic, etc. But what you *really* need to do, is tea/coffee & cakes at about 3-4pm. It's usually not too busy, and their cakes are a little special :D
3 found this helpful
This is an amazing store/cafe which prides itself on fresh produce, freshly prepared.
I had visited the original store in Lewes, and tried the juice bar here before (as per previous review!) however only recently managed to get into the Brighton one - due to it's overwhelming success and popularity!
We arrived outside on Sunday morning at 0930, only to find out that it didn't open until 10am. Given the gorgeous day we sat outside at nearby Carluccio's for a coffee, and wandered back down a few minutes after 10... to find out it was queued out the door.
After a minute or two's thought we decided to wait - and boy was it worth it! (The queue was staggered, so went down fairly quickly!)
By 20 past 10 we were comfortably sat in the upper seating area, with a fab view to the bustling floor below, a birdseye view of the food preparation area, and an all too tempting display of the produce that owner Bill Collison, sources from all over the world. Given our hunger levels we both went for the full breakfast - but I am very much looking forward to going back to try the rarebit, pancakes, vegetarian breakfast (none of your Linda McCartney sausages on this menu!) and eggs benedict! We also both ordered a fresh fruit juice of the day - I had passion fruit, pineapple and grape, my boyfriend's had watermelon and raspberry in it. After the slight excesses of the night before, the vitamins overload is just what was needed!
Breakfast arrived in good time: portobella mushrooms, herby grilled tomatoes, herby sausages, thick slices of bacon with crispy edges, creamy scrambled eggs (boyfriend has fried - over medium as requested) and toast. But it was the sheer quality of ingredients that made this memorable :)
Bills also serves evening meals, the menu looks great.
Don't forget to take a wander round the shop - particularly recommended is the freshly baked bread and cakes - YUM!!!
-
Vegetarian RestaurantsForget all the clichés about vegetarian food, this place is first... -
Cafes, Snack Shops & Tea RoomsYou'll find me popping in here for a cappuccino most mornings, not... -
Cafes, Snack Shops & Tea RoomsOK... I don't care if you don't like milkshakes, you will like this... -
-
Tourist AttractionsWe have been to brighton so many times and each time failed to visit...
More Cafes and Coffee Shops:
Cafes & Coffee Shops in Brighton
- Brighton Cafes, Snack Shops & Tea Rooms
Two links does not a chain make!!