Duke's at Komedia

As readers may or may not be aware Brighton is home to the country's oldest continuously operating cinema - the Duke of York's Picturehouse. The Duke's is a much-loved institution within the city, I love the big comfy seats, the eclectic programme and the fact that you can take a slice of home made cake into the screen with you. In fact the only downside is that they only have one screen so films are usually only on for a few days and often sell-out.

So earlier this year I was very excited to hear that the Duke's was going to be teaming up with another fabulous city centre venue - Komedia. And finally the wait is over, the Duke's at Komedia is open for business. The new cinema has two screens and has all the things we love about the original Duke's including a few sofa seats. Of course one of the things the Duke of York's is most well-known for is the stripy legs on the roof, well thanks to local artist Jamie McCartney (of Brighton Body Casting) Duke's at Komedia also has a rather splendid pair of pins.

So Monday night we decided to go and put it to the test. Having already seen Seven Psychopaths at this year's Cinecity Festival (fantastic film, a definite must-see) we decided to go and see Sightseers - another black comedy featuring a cute dog! The film features a couple on a sightseeing holiday who start killing people, trust me it's a lot funnier then it sounds although it is quite bloody so be warned.

Photo taken from the Duke's at Komedia Facebook page - photo credit Jim Stephenson.

We decided to go for the full experience so before we saw the film we popped into the bar for a drink and a bite to eat. As at the Duke of York's you can still get homemade cakes and other tasty snacks but in addition to this you can also get Hot Dogs. There are some suggested combinations or you can create your own dog, using either pork or tofu sausages or fish goujons plus lots of sauces and sides. The food was delicious and there's a good selection of drinks, plus the bar itself is very stylishly decced out with a retro feel.

So I'm relieved to say the Duke's at Komedia is just as good as it's big sister, bringing all the things we love about the Duke of York's to the North Laine and with more screens - hooray!

Charlotte