Burgess Hill Middle Eastern café expands into Brighton

Opening originally in Church Road, Burgess Hill, Zaitoon now have a café at 16 Duke Street, Brighton.

Diana Al-Hanakta, who runs the café with her husband Rami Al-Hanakta, said: “We have some exciting news to share.

"Zaitoon Brighton has become official.”

They had a soft opening on Monday, December 9th.

The menu is inspired by traditional family home cooking.

Mrs Al-Hanakta said: “All the recipes come from my mother-in-law – she is behind all the cooking.

“Rami and I thought ‘this is great’ – and the food tastes so much better over here.

"So that’s where it all started.

“We wanted something to be proud of and we wanted to set up something with the kids.

“It is what our families did for us.”

They say each dish represents a ‘lovingly prepared and authentic taste of the Middle East’, catering for meat eaters, vegetarians and vegans.

Zaitoon offers brunch, lunch and evening meals accompanied with a glass of wine or a beer.

They also have fresh fruit smoothies in a wide range of flavours and options.

For dessert, Zaitoon offer a variety of ice cream, traditional Baklawa and authentic Kinafeh deserts.

For coffee lovers, you’re in luck - the Middle East is known as one of the world’s great coffee centres and visitors to Zaitoon won’t be disappointed with their offer of cardamom enriched Arabic coffee.

Zaitoon opened in Church Walk, Burgess Hill in April.

The couple refurbished the café themselves and also have a 1960s food van called George.

They plan on going to events in the district with their food van.

Popular dishes at Zaitoon include chicken shawarma, lamb shawarma, falafel and knafeh desert.

The cafe is open from 9am to 10pm Monday to Saturday and 10am to 10pm on Sunday.

People can also order from JustEat online.

To find out more about Zaitoon click here, or follow them on social media.