Brighton

Went to Food for friends in Brighton today. Haven't been there for years, so it was quite fun to see how much the place has changed. If I recall correctly, it claims to be the oldest veggie place in Brighton and I remember it (from probably ten years back) as being quite a virtuous sort of veggie place, all soya beans and fresh juice drinks sort of thing. In the mean time, Brighton has acquired the fantastic Terre a terre, which has really pushed the envelope in terms of veggie food. So I was curious to see if Food for friends has responded to the challenge in anyway.
Being a a cold New Years Day bank holiday thing, everywhere was busy and buzzing, but luckily we got a table for two whilst other larger parties seemed to suffer a much longer wait. The short menu with about 8 mains seemed at first appearance suggested that vast steps had been taken towards modernising the menu. Closer inspection though reveled layers of tofu buried in some dishes and an alarming preponderance for brown rice. It's all nicely done and listed with fashionably long titles for the dishes but there still lurks the heart of an 80s wholefood cafe inside.
For instance, my "crispy feta cutlet in spiky japanese breadcrumbs, served with a brandy apple sauce and silky caper and white pepper mash" (£9.45) was machine cut square with perfectly applied and even breadcrumbs. I sort of expected something a bit more casual and less converyor belt, a rough lump of feta half oozing out of its coating.
Ah well, not bad, especially for vegetarian food. Maybe I'm being too fussy, but the prices are not cafe style, and the food didn't quite meet expectations. Shame.