Doughbo: Brighton’s only gourmet dough ball restaurant

Doughbo sell gourmet stuffed dough balls and have recently set up shop at The Hobgoblin on London Road. They claim they could be “the only gourmet dough ball company in the world”, let alone Brighton, and have some pretty impressive reviews online.

I went down to meet with one half of the company, James, to see what all the fuss was about and try out the dough balls for myself.

Spoiler: they’re delicious.

Doughbo’s menu

James and his business partner David met at a job interview, and after both being sadly rejected decided to bond over a few drinks down the pub. After perhaps a few too many, the pair found themselves ordering some takeaways; a chicken tikka, a Domino’s pizza and, you guessed it, some dough balls. At around five in the morning, “in true man style”, David came to the conclusion that he could do better than Domino’s dough balls. That is when the ‘Doughbo’ was born.

The friends then realised this could be the start of something special and decided to give it a go, hired a van, and ran a food truck in Shoreditch. Within an hour they were swamped with queues and were a raging success, so decided to come to Brighton to continue the success with a more permanent residency. Located in the beer garden of The Hobgoblin, Doughbo is the perfect spot for an afternoon lunch catching up with friends or delicious drunken food on a Friday night.

James informed me that all the dough balls are made fresh in the morning, with locally sourced ingredients. They can also be cooked on sight in as quickly as three minutes thanks to the wood-fire oven, which gives them their rich and smoky flavour. Even more amazing than this, they’re not pricey. They currently sell six dough balls for a fiver if you head there for lunch, or six dough balls for £8 at dinner.

The ‘doughbos’

I went ahead and ordered myself all of the balls from their lunch menu, and honestly they all blew my mind. Although I was slightly disheartened that none of the Biscoff spread dough balls were available, it did mean I could order two of the pulled pork; and they were really bloody good. As a foodie myself I would say that for the price and the quality of food you receive, I couldn’t recommend it more.

Overall James and David pride themselves on their human approach to business. Doughbo get to know their customers on a first name basis, and their business is expanding. They also sell their produce at Twin Pines in St. James Street, will have Deliveroo set up in a week or two’s time and are hoping to have their own restaurant within the next six months. If you’re at the pub on the weekend it’s worth having a chat and trying a dough ball. See what they’re about and you won’t be disappointed.