What: A low-key-yet-intriguing Indian kitchen on the western edge of Hove. On Portland Road, The Spice Circuit Kitchen is to the rear of recently-launched cocktail bar Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead and serves up food to drinkers as well as offering takeaway and delivery. But - very unusually (perhaps even uniquely) for what is essentially an independently-operated food venture within a drinks-led venue - The Spice Circuit Kitchen also has a six-seater chef’s table within it.
Who: The chef in question is Kanthi Thamma. Originally from the south Indian city of Hyderabad, Thamma has been cooking in Brighton for the past 15 years or so at progressive Indian restaurants including The Chilli Pickle, Easy Tiger and the now closed Curry Leaf Cafe (he ran the kitchens at the latter two). In 2022 he launched Palmito on the Brighton-Hove border with fellow chef Diego Ricaurte to considerable critical acclaim, attracting rave reviews from The Guardian’s Grace Dent and The Times’ Giles Coren. Last year, he stepped away from Palmito for health reasons. Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead is operated by Harry Petrakas, Raf Tetich and Albert Traczyk, who are also behind Brighton fish and chips restaurant RYBKA.
The food: Priced at £38 a head, Thamma chef’s table menu changes each month and is always themed around a region of the Indian sub continent. The current menu is billed as an exploration of regional Sri Lankan dishes. The meal kicks off with steaming little bowls of pineapple rasam before progressing to isso vadai (lentil fritters with prawn); mussel hodi (a moreish and rich coconut milk-based sauce); hot butter squid; and jaffna lamb chops served family-style with kaha bath (yellow sambal rice); aubergine moju; and coconut dahl curry. The bar menu doubles up as the takeaway and delivery menu and includes masala lentil vadas; Darjeeling-steamed chicken momos; Hyderabad bhagara courgette and aubergine curry; and black pepper and coconut lamb curry. Prices are reasonable, with most small plates around the £7 mark and generous portions of curry averaging out at £14.
To drink: Thamma is operating a BYO policy at his chef’s table for the time being. Options on the cocktail list at Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead include Naked and Famous (yellow chartreuse, aperol and lime); Cherry Amaretto Sour (amaretto, Campari, lemon, cherry soda); and Black Forest Gateau (Cognac, Chambord, creme de cassis, strawberry, cream). Thamma recently launched his own gin in partnership with Brighton Gin. Used in all gin-based drinks at Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, Chef Kanthi’s Spice Circuit Gin is made using Indian spices including curry leaves, which are added to the spirit in a separate distillate to preserve their distinctive aroma.
The vibe: The chef’s table takes up a little under half of Thamma’s kitchen. Family pictures compete for space on the wall with shelves full of boxes of the obscure spices its chef picks up on his regular travels to Indian and Sri Lanka (he has a side hustle running food tours). The kitchen setup is simple, consisting of little more than a six-burner stove, flat top and oven. Attempting to run a chef’s table experience singlehandedly from a tiny strip-lit kitchen sounds like a mad idea - and frankly it is - but Thamma is personable, calm and gracious enough to somehow make it all work.
And another thing: The Devil Knows You’re Dead - which takes its name from a 2007 film directed by Sidney Lumet in which two brothers plan to rob their parents' jewelry store - has taken part of the former site of venerable curry house Curry Mahal. Thamma and the team from the cocktail bar have had a few issues with former regulars disappointed to find that the premises no longer serves chicken tikka masala and pints of Cobra. In some more extreme cases, people have even progressed some way into their experience before realising that the management has changed. But in their defence the Curry Mahal sign does remain.
171B Portland Road, Hove, East Sussex BN3 5QJ
