Celebrated table

No No Please

Sibling-run No No Please brings bookish charm and bold Southeast Asian flavours to Brighton's Preston Street, earning a Good Food Guide award for its inventive small plates and in-house cocktails.

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The story

No No Please Brighton: Southeast Asian Small Plates and Craft Cocktails

The siblings behind the counter

Euan MacDonald and Mel Culcross established No No Please as a sibling-run venture on Brighton's Preston Street. Executive chef Bookie Mitchell directs the kitchen, applying a Southeast Asian lens to a menu that balances crowd-pleasing favourites with deeper cuts. The approach focuses on small plates with potent flavour profiles, ensuring every dish lands with impact while maintaining a relaxed, neighbourhood rhythm.

Flavours that stick

The kitchen serves signature Asian plates that play with texture and dipping sauces. A standout 'egg and soldier' pairs sesame prawn toast fingers with cured egg yolk and soy sauce, designed for sharing. Bang-bang chicken offers a crisp, spicy contrast, while the 'No No Slow' delivers comfort through beef cheek simmered in a rich coconut curry based on Culcross's own family recipe. These selections highlight how the team translates home cooking into a polished, shareable format.

Design and drinks in the cellar

The interior features a dining room that flows into a lounge and bar area, fitted with modern mid-century furniture and whimsical accents. Custom cutlery holders mimicking soup cans display Brighton street names, and scattered owl ornaments add character near the service area. The beverage programme prioritises quality over speed, with staff preparing batch cocktails in the cellar to maintain precision. Signature mixes include the Supagrass, combining tequila, vermouth, lemongrass, and salted coconut, while the venue welcomes dogs to reinforce its relaxed local identity.

Recognition

Awards & accolades

2026

The Good Food Guide

Good

Details

At a glance

The Good Food Guide 2026 — Good

Cuisines Asian

Services Dinner, Lunch, Takeaway

History

On the record

2026

The Good Food Guide — Good

The debut restaurant from the brother and sister team of Euan MacDonald and Mel Culcross has brought something new and distinctive to Brighton’s already diverse dining scene. This stylishly conceived space seamlessly combines elements of a dining room, lounge and bar but has been tastefully fitted out with modern mid-century design flourishes. It’s full of delightful details ranging from bespoke Warhol-like 'soup can' cutlery holders labelled with Brighton street names to a random collection of owl ornaments by the bar. The short but wide-ranging menu devised by executive chef Bookie Mitchell (who also runs Namo Eat at the Eagle pub) is an equally agreeable prospect. Expect anything from a crowd-pleasing ‘egg and soldier’ (a sesame prawn toast finger served with cured egg yolk and soy sauce for dipping) to a faithful rendition of bang-bang chicken or ‘No No Slow’ – a deeply satisfying, beef-cheek and coconut curry made to Culcross’s recipe. NNP's list of original cocktails – all batch-made in-house – is worth the visit alone and includes a sprightly ‘Supagrass’ involving tequila, vermouth, lemongrass and salted coconut. Although there are just 10 wines on offer (including a Portuguese sparkler) each one has been carefully chosen and all are keenly priced, with small glasses of the house pours from just £6.20. It's no reservations so you can just drop in and do what you fancy - a few drinks and snacks or go all in for a proper blow out. No No Please feels like a proper, convivial neighbourhood place.

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Established

Location

Find us

30-31 Preston Street, Brighton, East Sussex, BN1 2PG
Brighton, United Kingdom
bookings@no-no-please.co.uk
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