Casalingo

Food is fairly good. Service is slow but friendly. Somewhat of a limited menu. Good location, clean.

Casalingo competes well against the array of foreign cuisine establishments it seems to be surrounded with, offering a traditional Italian menu that’s fantastically cheap and cheerful, considering its relatively central location. You can get a main for around £9. You can’t really go wrong with an Italian menu but the ‘family run’ atmosphere and friendliness make it stand out against the rest of the cheapo Italians the city is riddle with.

This is one of the top Italian restaurants in Brighton in my book and do the usual Italian dishes with great skill. Its a very comfortable joint with a very homely but still classy interior, and although quite small, you will often get a seat and its not crammed in. The prices are very decent considering the quality of the food, and they have some top meats on the menu such as the Swordfish which is a lovely meaty fish and compliments Italian flavours very well.

We’ve had a couple of really nice meals in this place — nothing that would really stand out in my memory but then there isn’t really any Italian places around that push the boat out that far. This place is a lot better than some of the bigger establishments in the center of town as the staff are genuinely friendly and the food does taste that little bit fresher.
Try the lasagne, I know its an old classic but they really do cook it well here and I’m pretty sure they use fresh pasta which makes a huge difference with this dish.
Great house wine on offer which isn’t too pricey at all!

Preston Street is another little restaurant area in Brighton, a great little place to just go into town for if you live westwards, or head slightly out of town for otherwise. A nice mixture of restaurants, combined with a little nightlife, makes Preston Street a great place for an evening out. Casalingo is one of the cheaper restaurants in the area, and, although it specialises in upmarket Italian food, the prices are quite low. Consequently, the quality isn’t too brilliant, and neither is the décor. A couple of slight adjustments, though, and Casalingo could be one of the nicer restaurants in the area; shame it isn’t quite there yet!
Casalingo is, surprisingly, one of the few Italian restaurants in the Preston Street area; with that many restaurants around, I’m surprised there aren’t more of your typical, bog-​standard Italian pizzerias and the like. In either case, Casalingo is much more than just a pizzeria: they specialise in Italian ‘delicacies’ and thus are going for more of the specialist dishes than your average Italian restaurant. These are all very interesting, but my party all noticed a distinct lack of any kind of flavour. It seems there’s a reason these dishes are all under a tenner!
It’s a shame, because I would gladly have paid more for higher quality food, and I felt that wasn’t too far out for the location or restaurant to be slightly more upmarket. Offering upmarket food at discount prices often worries me, and in this case it has also affected the décor: traditional Italian décor that is a little on the crumbling and stained side. This whole place could do with a spruce up, and the prices are currently low enough and the ambition here high enough to warrant a slight price increase. This little change could make all the difference for Casalingo: as it is now, I’m not rushing to go back!
Casalingo doesn’t quite seem to have its priorities in order, and the food (the one thing that shouldn’t) suffers for it. A look at how they’re doing things might do this restaurant some favours: as it is, it’s perfectly fine, but all just a bit bland.

Italian food and restaurants have become so common in English culture that I actually rarely have them anymore, such is the familiarity of the dishes on offer. At Casalingo however, I was shocked to find that there is still much room for Italian food.
I had a swordfish dish that was certainly an experience; that makes me sound like i’m being sceptical, but in all honestly, that is more because I don’t think swordfish is for me. The dish itself was cooked very well, seasoned with a hint of garlic, butter and olive oil.
The biggest problem with Casalingo is that the décor is just a little bit too dated to make the evening entirely pleasurable. That said, if you’re less shallow then me, look no further.

Casinlingo is in a little hub of restaurants and cafes a little off the beaten track, still very central sitting in between Western Road and the seafront Preston Street has a surprising array of culinary delights.
It’s a cosy Italian restaurant with a menu that as cheap as chips, they offer mains for around £9 and gorgeous deserts for a fiver. Its has traditional décor and a nice atmosphere, although i’m dinging so close to the seafront I want a seaview which this venue is distinctly lacking.

A friendly, long-​established family-​run Italian in a street of restaurants (most of which are not so great). It’s my in-​laws’ favourite place to eat out when they come to Brighton.
The fare is standard Italian, but the quality is streets ahead of your average lumpen pasta and heavy pizza often found elsewhere. Everything is freshly prepared, and the menu features a wide range of fish dishes, as well as the more familiar meat, pasta and pizza choices. There’s also a decent wine list, featuring French and New World wines alongside Italian. Expect a meal for two with wine to cost £25-£30 a head.
The staff are mostly young and enthusiastic, and service has always been very good, even when they are busy (which they often are). Booking ahead is advisable at week-​ends. The only downer is that they occasionally have live music — something I’m not a fan of when I’m eating, and in this small restaurant I find it too intrusive. Others love it, of course!