Belcher’s Cafe

Belcher’s is a good old greasy spoon, serving the greasiest of fried breakfasts from early til late. Buried away in the mess on town-​houses to the west of Churchill Square, it can be a bit hard to find, but what a find it is: good, hearty, massive breakfasts, along with some other British classics, all in a traditional greasy spoon set-​up. Sure, there’s better breakfasts available, but no greasy spoon I’ve found in Brighton has been as… unapologetic as Belcher’s. If you fancy a decent plate of grub and a builder’s tea, this is the place for you!
Living in the town centre, I often feel a bit spoiled for choice when it comes to food. Nearly every type of cuisine is only five minutes away, and it is sometimes hard to remember that Brighton wasn’t always the food mecca that it is now. In the early days, the food will have been either store-​bought, or found in a seaside greasy spoon, which Belcher’s is the splitting image of. Everything seems to have been here forever: the checkered table-​cloths, the greasy equipment… As such, the food on offer here is nothing that special: big, greasy fry-​ups. Nothing wrong with a fry-​up, just don’t expect to find anything more enterprising here.
Belcher’s is the kind of place you’d go to occasionally, and that’s only if you live in the area. It’s really not worth going out of the way for: there are plenty of greasy spoons all over Brighton, but if you live in the area, you could do a lot worse than a fry-​up from here!

The days of the seaside café are surely numbered, with Starbucks and Costa making very nice bacon sarnies and club sandwiches, hermetically sealed and not flecked in grease and spit. But isn’t that half the charm? One day we’re going to miss these little havens of cholesterol and none more so than aptly named Belchers, hidden down a road from the Mad Hatter leading to the sea-​front. With its checkered tables and no room to swing a rat interior, it’s the perfect café, the whiff of bacon and eggs forming a canopy over your head, the tea swimming with intrigue and grease. I love this place for hangover breakfasts, the staff are appropriately gruff and it’s the kind of place Michael Caine would have eaten at as Alfie — except he never came to Brighton.

The Belchers Café is a proper greasy spoon situated on Montpelier Road. It’s the kind of place that’s fantastic when it’s local and your hungover, but otherwise you would probably not venture in. It has the menu selection you would expect with full Englishes, sandwiches and traditional British mains. Frequented by workman and local old fogies its not the coolest caf in town, but its clean and friendly so worth grabbing a tea if your passing.

As you can probably tell from the name Belchers Café is a proper greasy spoon. The caf attracts hungover locals and seafront revellers all year round and does a killer full English. Its right off Western Road so its a great place o grab a bite after a shopping session. The menu consists of the usual on-​toast selection, along sandwiches, salads and traditional Brit mains.
Its not the most impressive of venue so maybe not the place to take your rents for tea, but it a pretty perfect version of a town centre greasy spoon.