Its safe to say that Worthing isn’t short of Italian restaurants, writes Nick Mosley. A meander along Warwick Street reveals more pizza and pasta options than you can shake a packet of spaghetti at from traditional family trattoria style through to the big boys including Ask and Pizza Express.
So perhaps an interesting choice for the Perch group – who also operate on Worthing Pier and cafés in Lancing and Eastbourne – to have initially opened Perch Pizza a year back only then to rebrand and refurb as Perch on the Parade last month.
Located in the shipping container structure on the promenade that once-upon-a-time hosted Kenny Tutt’s short-lived Bayside Social dining concept, the refurb maintains the striking yellow metal awning exterior whilst the interior has a distinctly more industrial feel with exposed metalwork, simple furniture and bold geometric tiling. Outside, the terrace has a more coastal feel with natural wood and planting that reflects the wild grasses and sea greens that grow on the beach itself.
The welcome is warm with the staff exuding an impressive amount of energy for a Monday. I’d say the feel is comfortable and not too showy – think unpretentious dining with your flip-flops kicked off – which very much fits the clientele on the lunchtime I visited; a combination of youngish couples who’ve clearly made Worthing their new home, ladies who brunch and a smattering of day-tripping families. For a dry but overcast and windy August Monday, the restaurant and terrace was about half full – we counted around 45 diners – at 2pm which I’d say was a pretty impressive number.
The menu is straightforward – extensive enough without being unnecessarily overwhelming – with a choice of breakfast options that runs into lunch: eggs and avocado, bacon butties, hash browns, cheese melts and the like. There are three hearty salad options which I’m guessing are the same tried-and-tested recipes that have proved successful at the other Perch cafés; the Middle Feast Bowl certainly sounded familiar.
We started with their Epic Sharing Board – a wooden plank of Italian aperitivo charcuterie, cheese and sundried vegetables accompanied by a ridiculously generous bowl of garlic bread that could easily have fed an entire table. It’s all too easy to be fobbed off with cheap imitations of Italian meats but the quality was undoubtably there. The soft gooey heart of the burrata cheese screamed provenance. On a future visit then I’d happily share this with a friend for lunch as its more than enough.
Now, despite the rebrand, its clear that pizza is still the star of the show and with prices ranging from £10.50 for a classic margarita to £13.50 for a more loaded option, it’s mighty fine value and considerably cheaper than the competition up the road.
Over the past few years, I’ve been reducing my gluten intake for health reasons – in a nutshell wheat flour and I are no longer friends – so it was great to be able to order a non-gluten base. As most restaurants will tell you, although the base is completely gluten free, the kitchen clearly uses flour so they can’t guarantee the dish is 100% allergen free for coeliacs but its a risk I’m usually willing to take. And thank god I did as my ‘Angry Pepperoni’ pizza with pepperoni from Brighton’s Curing Rebels and soft spicy Nduja was superb – it stayed thin and crispy to the end rather than turning into either a soggy tomato sludge or a tooth-breaking frisbee.
For those with more robust constitutions, my dining partner reflected that his sourdough base topped with torn chicken, peppers and a dusting of cajun spices was also excellent and – much like the earlier aperitivo board – genuine care has been put into sourcing ingredients and also ensuring the balance on the pizzas themselves was perfect; there is always a fine line between too little and too much.
With perfectly acceptable house wines starting at £5.65 for a 175ml glass, you can easily enjoy an informal meal of pizza and a drink for less than £20. In this day and age, I think that is exceptional value for the quality of the experience making Perch on the Parade the perfect package.
Perch on the Parade, 1 Beach Parade, Worthing BN11 1FG
Comments