A few steps from Brighton’s pebbly beach, Terre à Terre’s fare is a million miles away from the British seaside staple of fish and chips.

The food is so seductive that meat-eaters often don’t notice that it’s exclusively vegetarian. And even London foodies have been known to make the one-hour train journey to eat here.

Founded in 1993 by chefs Amanda Powley and Philip Taylor, Terre à Terre‘s inventive cuisine revolves around food combinations so intricate that it can be baffling to work out what’s actually on the menu. But the mind-bending descriptions of the dishes are part of the fun.

One starter, for example, was listed as “chilled soba noodles, piled with crisp raw vegetable spaghetti, bean shoots and mizuna leaves, surrounded by umboshi plum, white miso and mirin dressing, served with toasted smoked tofu, spice satay, toasted sesame oil, red ginger, pomegranate beads and wasabi cashews”.

We were unable to resist this and ordered it as a part of “Terre à Tapas”, a mini smorgasbord of starters.

Here, on one plate, were titbits of Japanese, Mexican, Greek, Indian and even British food. Portions are generous and, when our main courses arrived, we already felt full.

My main course consisted of halloumi cheese given a fish-and-chip-shop twist by being deep-fried in batter. It was served with a chunky caper sauce on a bed of seaweed and a delicately sweet cake of minted peas topped with vodka-spiked cherry tomatoes.

My partner’s choice, “Elephant and Rocket Oil”, was Jerusalem artichoke baked in a soufflé, wrapped in filo pastry and accompanied by rocket and brassica. This hit a hearty note, with its contrast between the strongly flavoured greens and the buttery texture of root veg in pastry.

For dessert, “Ladies of Seville” was a dark chocolate torte with ice-cream and, best of all, slices of candied orange that retained an intriguing bitterness. Meanwhile, the creaminess of a Portuguese pastel de nata was sliced through with a sharp rhubarb confit and roasted rosehip.

For all its global influences, Terre à Terre prides itself on using local produce. We drank a crisp Horsmonden dry white wine, made from grapes grown on the Sussex Downs. We were lucky, the waiter told us, it usually sells out. Its reputation clearly precedes it, just like Terre à Terre’s.

Terre à Terre, 71 East Street, Brighton, tel: +44 (0)1273 729051, www.terreaterre.co.uk (closed Mondays)

More restaurant reviews at www.ft.com/arts-leisure/food-drink