Starfish & Coffee won Brighton's public vote for best cafe again in 2026. 13 Brighton and Hove cafes with hours and hygiene ratings, checked October 2026.

The cafes with the strongest public record in Brighton start with Starfish & Coffee by Queen’s Park, which won Best Cafe in the 2026 public vote for the fifth time. Then come The Flour Pot Bakery, second in that vote; Oeuf in Hove, fourth; and Redroaster on St James’s Street, which has roasted its own coffee for over 25 years. Every entry was checked against the cafe’s own website on 26 October 2026.

We have not visited these cafes for this guide, and nothing here is a review. Each entry sets out what the cafe says about itself and what it publishes about hours, booking, dogs and laptops. It then adds the public record: placings in the Brighton Restaurant Awards (the BRAVOs, a public vote run by Restaurants Brighton) and the Food Standards Agency hygiene rating. All 13 hold the top hygiene rating of 5.

The public-vote winners

1. Starfish & Coffee, Egremont Place, by Queen’s Park

Starfish & Coffee calls itself a “multi-award winning independent neighbourhood cafe”. Former radio presenter Tony Marks founded it in 2017 in premises by the Egremont Gate to Queen’s Park.

It won Best Cafe in the 2026 BRAVOs, and its own page lists earlier Best Cafe wins in 2019, 2020, 2024 and 2025. Its brunch page names its suppliers: eggs from Mac’s Farm in Ditchling, bread from The Flour Pot and pastries from Fika.

Laptops are restricted on weekdays and not allowed at weekends.

Food brunch 9am to 3pm; last orders 2pm Mon to Thu, 2.30pm Fri to Sun
Booking only for people eating from the brunch menu
Call 01273 230635
Address 32 Egremont Place, BN2 0GA
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 19 December 2024
Website starfishandcoffee.cafe
Listing Our listing
Good for brunch, local suppliers, by Queen's Park, Best Cafe 2026

2. The Flour Pot Bakery, Sydney Street

The Flour Pot describes itself as “an artisan Brighton bakery, with stores across Brighton, Hove and Worthing”. It has run a wholesale bakery since 2012.

Its first shop is at 40 Sydney Street in North Laine. Its locations page also lists shops in Elm Grove, Seven Dials, First Avenue, Fiveways, Portland Road, Hangleton, Kingsway and the King’s Road Arches on the beach.

All the coffee is roasted in Brighton by its sister company, The Milk Shed. The bakery came second for Best Cafe in the 2026 BRAVOs.

Its homepage says the Financial Times named it one of the UK’s 20 best bakeries. The website does not give shop hours.

Price online from £3.20 for a seeded sourdough and £4.15 for an almond croissant
Address 40 Sydney Street, BN1 4EP
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, at Sydney Street (FSA, 20 August 2024
Website theflourpot.co.uk
Listing Our listing
Good for sourdough, pastries, Brighton-roasted coffee, shops across the city

3. Oeuf, Third Avenue, Hove

Oeuf describes itself as a cafe “offering breakfast, brunch, local coffee, local tea, cocktails and wine”, a few steps from the seafront. It came fourth for Best Cafe in the 2026 BRAVOs.

It seats 65, with outside tables at the front looking towards the sea and a “secret garden” behind. It says its coffee is delivered by bicycle.

Food breakfast and brunch 9am to 4pm, seven days a week
Booking walk-ins always welcome, or book through the website
Call 01273 945885
Address 8 Third Avenue, Hove BN3 2PX
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 22 July 2025
Website oeuf.cafe
Listing Our listing
Good for dogs welcome, outside tables, secret garden, cocktails and wine

4. Black Mocha, Gloucester Road

Black Mocha opened in 2014 in North Laine, four minutes from Brighton station. Its name is its signature drink: 70% Madagascan chocolate with espresso.

It serves speciality coffee and single-origin chocolate with seasonal food, cakes and savoury snacks, and says it uses compostable or recyclable packaging where it can. It came eighth for Best Cafe in the 2026 BRAVOs and tenth for Best Coffee in 2024.

Open Mon to Fri 8am to 5pm; Sat 8am to 6pm; Sun 9am to 5.30pm
Price £12 menu on Tuesdays
Booking walk in or book online
Address 103 Gloucester Road, BN1 4AP
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 13 June 2025
Website blackmocha.co.uk
Listing Our listing
Good for speciality coffee, single-origin chocolate, cakes, seasonal food

The roasters’ own cafes

5. Redroaster, St James’s Street

Redroaster calls its St James’s Street cafe “the UK’s original roastery cafe”. Its cafe page says it has roasted its own beans on the site for more than 24 years.

It quotes the New York Times book 36 Hours: 125 Weekends in Europe, which calls it a “go-to destination”. By day it serves coffee and brunch, at weekends it is known for bottomless brunch, and in the evening it serves Thai food and cocktails.

Open Sun to Thu 8am to 5pm; Fri and Sat 8am to 6pm
Booking recommended at weekends; walk-in tables kept; groups of seven or more use a separate form
Call 01273 000202
Address 1d St James's Street, BN2 1RE
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 29 January 2025
Website redroaster.co.uk/st-james-street
Listing Our listing
Good for roastery on site, bottomless brunch at weekends, Thai food in the evening, cocktails

6. Small Batch, Goldstone Villas, Hove

Small Batch began in 2006 and calls itself “one of the pioneers of speciality coffee in the UK”. Its first coffee shop, on Goldstone Villas next to Hove station, is still its flagship.

The roasting now happens at Wellington House in Portslade. The Goldstone Villas page lists it as dog friendly, with free wifi, food and outdoor seating, and laptops welcome.

It came 13th for Best Coffee in the 2024 BRAVOs.

Open Mon to Fri 7am to 5pm; Sat 8am to 5pm; Sun 8am to 4pm
Address 70 Goldstone Villas, Hove BN3 3RU
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 16 July 2025
Website smallbatchcoffeeroasters.co.uk/pages/goldstone-villas
Listing Our listing
Good for dog friendly, laptops welcome, free wifi, outdoor seating, next to Hove station

7. Pelicano, Sydney Street

Pelicano opened on Sydney Street in North Laine in 2014. It calls itself “Brighton’s pioneers in specialty coffee” and roasts its beans in the city.

The Sydney Street page describes the original cafe’s “cosy, rustic charm”. It is dog friendly, with a front terrace, a back garden and two floors “for coffee, meets and laptop works”.

Its other cafes are on Circus Parade, Lewes Road and The Level. Pelicano came fifth for Best Coffee in the 2024 BRAVOs.

Open every day from 8am
Address 28 Sydney Street, BN1 4EP
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 22 July 2026
Website pelicanocoffee.com/pelicanocoffeesydneystreetbrighton
Good for dog friendly, front terrace, back garden, laptop work

8. Trading Post, Kensington Gardens

Trading Post Coffee Roasters has several Brighton coffee houses. Its Kensington Gardens house in North Laine has three floors and a roof garden, where it serves breakfast and brunch with views over North Laine.

Only service dogs are allowed. It came 16th for Best Cafe in the 2026 BRAVOs.

Open every day 7.30am to 7pm
Food Mon to Fri 7.30am to 3.30pm; Sat and Sun 7.30am to 4pm
Address 40 Kensington Gardens, BN1 4AL
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 13 June 2025
Website tradingpostcoffee.co.uk/pages/trading-post-coffee-roasters-brighton-kensington-gardens
Listing Our listing
Good for roof garden, three floors, breakfast and brunch

In The Lanes and the city centre

9. Cafe Coho, Ship Street

Cafe Coho’s Ship Street cafe fills three floors of a Grade II listed building in The Lanes, two minutes’ walk from the beach. Inside, it says, are exposed brick, Victorian church seating and reclaimed wood.

Coho also has cafes in Hove and at Brighton station.

Open every day 7am to 6.30pm
Food brunch 7.30am to 4pm; sandwiches and cakes on the counter all day
Booking not needed
Call 01273 747777
Address 53 Ship Street, BN1 1AF
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 13 June 2025
Website cafecoho.co.uk/brighton
Listing Our listing
Good for Grade II listed, tables inside and out, two minutes from the beach

10. Café Domenica, Jubilee Library

Café Domenica is run by the charity Team Domenica, which trains young people with learning disabilities for work. Its cafes page calls them training cafes that are “open to everyone”, and its candidates roast the coffee.

The cafe inside Jubilee Library is described as “a calm and peaceful space” for studying, writing or a quiet coffee and cake. A second cafe at the Plus X Innovation Hub on Lewes Road opens Monday to Friday, 7.30am to 3.30pm.

Café Domenica came ninth for Best Coffee in the 2024 BRAVOs.

Open Mon to Sat 10am to 4pm
Address Jubilee Library, Jubilee Street, BN1 1GE
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 24 June 2022
Website teamdomenica.com/eat-drink-shop/team-domenica-cafes
Good for quiet study, charity training cafe, coffee and cake

11. Pavilion Gardens Café, Royal Pavilion Gardens

The Pavilion Gardens Café is a family-owned, open-air cafe in the gardens of the Royal Pavilion. Its history page tells how Herbert Tennent ran a refreshment hut by the Palace Pier.

In 1940 he was ordered off the seafront as the beach was fortified, and he got permission to put the hut back up in the Pavilion grounds. The present Art Deco building went up in 1950, from a Brighton Art College student’s winning design.

Tennent’s grandson David Sewell now runs the cafe with his wife Vanessa. It still sells his homemade rock cakes.

Open every day 9am to 5pm, weather permitting
Address Royal Pavilion Gardens, New Road, BN1 1UG
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 11 June 2025
Website paviliongardenscafe.co.uk
Good for open air, Art Deco building, family-owned, homemade rock cakes

Neighbourhood coffee in Hove

12. 44 Poets, Rutland Road

44 Poets opened in 2018, bringing what it calls “Melbourne style community coffee” to Poets’ Corner in Hove. Since 2020 it has roasted its beans in partnership with Craft House Coffee in Sussex.

The pastries and cakes come from local suppliers, and beans are on sale to take home. It came second for Best Coffee in the 2024 BRAVOs and 11th for Best Cafe in 2026.

Open Mon to Sat 8am to 4pm; Sun 8.30am to 4pm
Address 44 Rutland Road, Hove BN3 5FF
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 9 February 2018
Website 44poets.co.uk
Listing Our listing
Good for Sussex-roasted coffee, local pastries and cakes, beans to take home

13. Little Bruce Coffee, Portland Road

Little Bruce opened in 2023 in west Hove and describes its coffee as “New Zealand inspired”. It uses Allpress espresso, a roaster that started in New Zealand.

The pastries are baked daily, and there are drinks for children. It says it is dog friendly.

A free 5km run club leaves the shop at 8.30am every Sunday, open to all paces. It came 15th for Best Cafe in the 2026 BRAVOs.

Open Mon to Fri 7am to 2pm; Sat and Sun 8am to 2pm
Address 432b Portland Road, Hove BN3 5SJ
Hygiene rating 5, Food Standards Agency, 11 January 2025
Website littlebrucecoffee.co.uk
Listing Our listing
Good for dog friendly, drinks for children, pastries baked daily, Sunday run club 8.30am

How we chose

This is a list of the cafes people search for, chosen on records anyone can check, not on taste. We started with the 2026 Best Cafe and 2024 Best Coffee results from the Brighton Restaurant Awards, a public vote. Then we added the city’s longest-running names: Redroaster, Small Batch and the Pavilion Gardens Café. We left out Komodo Coffee in Brighton Square, the 2024 Best Coffee winner, and FIKA, third for Best Cafe in 2026, because we could not check their hours and details on a website of their own. Nothing rated below 3 by the Food Standards Agency was considered.

We checked every cafe’s own website on 26 October 2026 for hours, booking rules, dog policies and closure notices. Hygiene ratings come from the FSA register on the same day. Hours change, especially in winter, so check with the cafe before you go.

For somewhere to eat later in the day, see our guides to Brighton restaurants, Brighton pubs and Sunday roasts. For more ideas, see things to do in Brighton and what’s on in Brighton this month. You can also browse every cafe in our Brighton business directory.

Run a place that should be here, or spot something that has changed? Email newsdesk@brightontimes.co.uk.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best cafe in Brighton?

In the 2026 Brighton Restaurant Awards (BRAVOs), a public vote, Starfish & Coffee by Queen’s Park was named Best Cafe, its fifth win in that category. The Flour Pot Bakery came second and Oeuf in Hove fourth. In the 2024 Best Coffee vote, 44 Poets in Hove came second and Pelicano fifth.

Which Brighton cafes allow dogs?

On their own websites, Oeuf in Hove says dogs are welcome, Pelicano on Sydney Street and Little Bruce Coffee in Hove say they are dog friendly, and Small Batch on Goldstone Villas lists itself as dog friendly. Trading Post in Kensington Gardens allows service dogs only.

Can I work on a laptop in a Brighton cafe?

Small Batch on Goldstone Villas says laptops are welcome, and Pelicano on Sydney Street says it has two floors for meetings and laptop work. Starfish & Coffee restricts laptops on weekdays and does not allow them at all at weekends.