Brighton | Franco Manca at Brighton Marina

With Brighton's growing food scene it is not a surprise that we are getting some top London exports. Last spring, we were buzzed to get a Franco Manca in the Lanes, Instagram was taken over with mouthwatering shots of Sourdough pizza's and it was THE place to go.

A year later and our Franco Manca has sprouted a sibling at Brighton Marina. There's been a major rejuvenation of the Marina in the last years, with a burst of great restaurants, and some not so great (I'm still not convinced we needed a second Las Iguanas or a third Bella Italia) and I have to say the Franco Manca is a welcome addition.

I personally don't often go into Brighton to eat, we've become true 'Hovites' and spend most of our lives in one of the local pub gardens, all of which serve great grub. But Joe and I often go to the cinema at the Marina and make a bit of a day of it by going for a walk and grabbing some food.

We were invited to down to try the new restaurant, which in case you are wondering, is located on the Boardwalk, giving it the bonus of a fantastic view and making it the perfect people watching spot. There is the option to sit outside, but the weather wasn't on our side during our visit, instead we took up a table at the window at the front.

The decor is the same style as the other restaurant, but I like the consistency and the style in general, the vintage mix and match tiles are a dream. I will say that the Marina Franco Manca is more airy, and spacious while keeping that homely feel.

The staff are super attentive, coming up straight away to get our drinks. They don't serve labeled beers or cider so Joe got the no logo larger, and I got a small glass of their Rose and an organic lemonade.

To start we got a platter of cured meat, served with rocket, parmigiano reggiano and fresh bread, which was lovely and surprisingly light, which was good as the pizzas are always really filling.

The Pizza menu consists of 6 standard sourdough pizza, with a meat and a veggie special on the board. Although, this seems like a small offering, I really do prefer going somewhere that has a few small dishes that they do well. Who needs the stress of trying to choose a pizza from 15 possibilities?

Joe (AKA the pizza fiend) ordered the tomato, mozzarella and basil adding the chorizo and I went for the Gloucester Old Spot Ham, mozzarella, buffalo ricotta and wild mushroom pizza, with a little bit of tomato.

The pizzas that come are a good size, not ridiculously big as some can be, and the base is great - often the main culprit in pizzas attack on my stomach, but sourdough seems to be my friend. The toppings are generous, without over loading the pizza. I like the fact that you can get a white and creamy pizza sauce if you are tired of the standard tomato too.

The pricing is very reasonable, so perfect for a quick lunch or pre-movie dinner. Not to mention on the second Tuesday of the month they actually hold a Pizza making class, for just £20, which I'm actually going to this week so will let you know how it goes.

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Food | MOD Pizza Brighton Marina

Brighton Marina has just had a much-needed make-over, although we didn't need a third Bella Italia, a second Las Iguanas, or another GBK, there are a few additions that I was happy to see. One of them was M.O.D Pizza.

Joe is a Pizza fiend, boy loves his Pizza. I once went away on a family holiday without him and he ate nothing but Pizza for two weeks. I, on the other hand, have a love-hate relationship with Pizza, my mouth loves it, my gut hates it. I find that big chain Pizza places nearly always make me really ill, the independents tend not to cause me the same trouble.

My pizza issues did make me feel about worried about trying MOD, but I had nothing to be worried about. The way MOD is set up is similar to Subway, they have a small selection of pizzas you can order, or you can create your own beast, whatever you go for, no matter what you add it all costs the £7.47 (or £10.47 for a double base).

I had the Lucy Sunshine, which is artichoke, mozzarella, parmesan, red sauce - to which I added blue cheese and olives. Your pizza goes straight into the pizza oven when you order and then your name is called when it's ready.

Joe decided to get the Mad Dog (red sauce, ground beef, pepperoni, mozzarella and mild sausage) with added extra jalapenos. Being the huge pizza fan that he is, Joe decided to get a 'mega' pizza (£10.47) which has a double base. It is fair to see he was extremely pleased. They also do salads and sides, although the pizzas were more than enough for us. To drink, they have wine and beer, as well as iced tea, pink lemonade and the usual soft drinks. No doubt we will be back for a post-cinema meal soon.

Have you tried a MOD pizza? Would love to hear what you thought!

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Lifestyle | How to Host a Big Family Christmas

Christmas is, for many of us, the most important family event of the year. Whether we live hundreds of miles away from our loved ones or just around the corner, Christmas is the time when we put aside our busy lives and really dedicate ourselves to our families. Of course, for some of us this can be much more difficult to organise than it is for others. For those of us who have the joy of having a large family, Christmas can be both a wonderful and chaotic time, when we often feel rushed off our feet with the crowds of people surrounding us!

If you’re hosting a big family Christmas this year, it can be quite a daunting task to organise all those people. From cooking what seems like the world’s biggest turkey to entertaining a house full of people, it can sometimes appear to be an impossible task. But with just a few tweaks to your Christmas plan, you’ll be surprised at just how easy it can be to host a Christmas dinner for all the family.

Plan Ahead

Planning is one of the most effective things you can do to make Christmas dinner run smoothly, and when you have a big family to feed this is all the more important. If you’re one of those people who loves to make lists, you can use this skill to full effect by making lists of all the tasks that need to be done and all the food that needs to be cooked, in the order in which they need to be done. Of course, you won’t be doing all of these tasks yourself, so make sure you write down which ones you’ll be delegating to other members of the family.

If you really want to get organised, you can use a planning app to input all of your tasks, and set alarms to go off when you need to do them. This way you can be sure that you won’t forget a single thing, and you might even be able to relax a little bit. It’s important to do your planning a few days before the event, once you’ve got all of your food and presents. Leaving things to the last minute is likely to result in you forgetting something vital!

Stay Calm

It’s very easy to become stressed on Christmas Day, when there seem to be hundreds of people running around and thousands of things for you to do. However, the whole point of Christmas is to enjoy yourself and spend time with family, so make sure that you remind yourself of this whenever you start to feel overwhelmed. If you’ve planned ahead, you’ll know exactly what you need to do and when you need to do it, so there really is no need to panic.

In the run up to Christmas, it’s a good idea to undertake some stress management, so that you don’t become burnt out by all of the shopping and preparations. Taking some time out for yourself to relax might seem like a luxury in the busy world we live in, but it really is important to maintain your physical and mental health. Whether you take a walk, have a bath or take ten minutes to enjoy a meditation app, these little breaks will help you to feel calmer and enjoy your holidays all the more.

Prepare Your Home

If you have a big family coming round for Christmas, it can be difficult to know where to put them all! You might have just about enough chairs for everyone, but fitting them all in the same room can be a challenge. You can make it much easier simply by moving your furniture around and putting unnecessary items in a different room, or you could think about treating yourself to a bit of a home makeover.

Clever space solutions such as internal bifolding doors like these allow you to open up your home, making two smaller rooms into one large room with plenty of room for everyone. This can create a much more festive atmosphere, as the family isn’t split up into different rooms, and also allows you to take part in the fun while you are getting everything ready. However you decide to prepare for your big family Christmas, make sure you prioritise spending time with family, and remember to enjoy yourself. It only happens once a year, so try to relax, stay calm and appreciate the opportunity to see all of your loved ones in the same house.

Would love to hear your tips on hosting the family at Christmas, please share them below :)

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FOOD | Jaime's Brighton Super Lunch Menu

In the last year, I have been doing a lot of treating myself. We have gone to expensive restaurants, binged on cocktails and definitely over-indulged ourselves. Our savings aren't growing as fast as it should, it's time to get back to being wiser with our money. But does that mean that we can't still treat ourselves? Of course not.

Normally we tend to go to independent Brighton and Hove restaurants - we have a lot of them and they are really good, and not all are costly.... unless you have all the margaritas... Guilty!! This means that we very rarely go to chain restaurants like Jamies Italian.

I used to work right above the Brighton restaurant on Black Lion Street and did pop to lunch on the rare occasion with colleagues, but that was before the Jamies Super Lunch menu came out - 2 courses for £10.95, or 3 for £12.95 - total bargain.

Joe and I ordered the Fritto Misto (crispy fried seafood and squid) and Pâté Bruschetta (chicken liver). Fried squid is a standard order of ours, but it's often a hit or miss dish, depending on the freshness of the squid. The few bits of squid were well cooked and not chewy, also the fennel was not too overpowering - we recently discovered Joe is not a fennel fan, but he didn't notice it. The Pâté was also lovely, and rich.

For main we both had the Gennaro Chicken Club, which is chargrilled chicken in a brioche bun with pancetta, spicy mayo, tomato, and lettuce. It was tasty, but not too filling. You could easily carry on with a shopping trip after this, without feeling like you need to sleep. If you want something a bit more filling, I'd say either order some fries or go for dessert... Which of course is what I did!

With a name like an Epic Brownie, you just can't say no. Restaurant brownies can be hard, or not gooey enough, this one was perfect and served with salted caramel ice cream and caramelised popcorn. It was totally tantalising.

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Food | Azaros Dhaba Hove Review

I do love a good curry – this can’t be a surprise, there isn’t really a food I don’t like. Oh, wait, there is – who on earth created crab sticks and what did we do to deserve them? Anyway, here I am getting side tracked again.

Back to curries. I very rarely tend to go out to eat curry, in fact, I don’t remember the last time I went to one in the UK. We used to go to the one down the road from the villa in Spain once in a while. I guess for me it’s a takeaway food, you know what I mean, you order the same things from the same place every time.

A couple of months ago, things changed when I was invited to review Azaros Dhaba. I’d heard great things about the restaurant, but because I was stuck in my curry rut, it was never high on my list of priorities.

Tucked away on Church Road, in what from the outside, looks like a tiny space, is Azaros. In a traditional setting where female head chefs are almost unheard of, Azaro Dhaba is not only challenging the ‘norm’, but they are also changing the way we think of the much-loved ‘curry house’.

Head chef Kirti Patel and husband Az, who attentively sees to the patrons, followed their life-long dream of setting up a restaurant that represented them and offered proper Indian food and culture with a contemporary, Dhaba-street food twist.

Azaro Dhaba offers proper regional, locally sourced, desi-food that is carefully selected for a truly authentic, Indian experience with a gastro-meets-contemporary vibe. They also cater to everyone’s needs, whether you’re dairy-free, gluten-free or vegan.

Greeted by Az, we were shown to our table, and given a drinks menu – get a cocktail they are amazing – I had a Mangollini. Az is a great host, you feel like you are in his house, he talks to you as if he has known you forever and is filled with so much knowledge (he would be really good on your pub quiz team). The more you talk to him, the more you hear how passionate he is about his culture, the food they serve and the history behind Indian food.

We started our meal with poppadums and 6 amazing chutneys, all made on-site at the restaurant. They were all fantastic. These were accompanied by Chevra (Indian street snack) and Far Far (like Indian crisps). We also had some sneaky gluten free onion bhajis - these are my new favourite thing! I could just eat these all day and be happy.

For main, I chose the Meat Thali, which is a mixture of several traditional Indian and desi dishes. Although there was a lot on my plate, it wasn’t overwhelming, the dishes were incredible, most notably Dadi-Ma’s dhal makhani was divine – I am not a big lentil eater, but I could not get enough.

Joe went for their Award winning Hyderabadi Biryani which is cooked covered with parda (bread) to lock in all the flavours and fragrances. He was defeated by the dish, but found it delicious and would order it again.

Since going to Azaro’s, I completed Whole30 and as a result, will be cutting down on gluten and dairy – so I see myself making a few return visits!

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Competition | Win culinary masterclass with celebrated Spanish chef Omar Allibhoy

Next week I am attending a Spanish Cooking course with the acclaimed Omar Allibhoy, and now you can too.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Details of prize:

Olive It, are giving winners the chance to bag places on an exclusive culinary masterclass with celebrated Spanish chef Omar Allibhoy. Hailed by Gordon Ramsay as the “Antonio Banderas of cooking”, he will host an exclusive hands-on cookery tuition session teaching a variety of tapas inspired recipes using everyone’s favourite Mediterranean ingredient… table olives!

Winners will learn how to use the mouth-watering flavours of olives to add a twist to everyday dishes at infamous, culinary hotspot, The Brighton Cookery School, just a short stroll from the pier. 

The bespoke class will take place on Friday 1^st July either for a lunchtime or evening session with guests cooking up a variety of exciting dishes before sitting down to enjoy sampling a mouth-watering feast accompanied by carefully selected wines.

 To keep up to date with the Olive it! campaign visit www.oliveit.eu or follow on Twitter @OliveIt_UK, Facebook @OliveItUK or Pinterest @OliveItUK.

 Details of how the prize is claimed:

The winner will need to be available either at lunchtime or in the evening on Friday 1^st July and able to attend The Brighton Cookery School 63/64 St Georges road, Brighton, UK BN2 1E. All winners will be contacted to book them into the course of their preference.

Good Luck!

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BRIGHTON | Deliveroo Review - Aw that rhymes!

I love to go out for a good meal, but sometimes nothing beats a takeaway on the sofa, snuggled in front of the TV. Previously, we had a stack of menus for takeaway, the dodgy chicken shop down the road, the standard pizza place, that is guaranteed to give me pizza tummy, or the Indian that is always much better in your mind than in your mouth.

Brighton and Hove now has a better option - Deliveroo. Whether you use the website or the app - it is simple to use - just order from the plethora of places and watch its progress to your table in real-time. You can even follow the delivery driver as they cycle to you.

What I like the most is the places that you can order from - all firm favourites, or places that we have heard nothing but rave reviews from. I know I mention Coggins and Co. quite a lot but the thought of getting the Rarebit burger while binge-watching a series on Netflix with Joe is pure heaven. The only downfall is trying to keep Sega away!

Coggins usually has a longer waiting period than other places on offer, but for me, it is well worth the wait. I am a bit obsessive with checking the app and questioning the delivery drivers route, but what do I know! The burgers and chips are always hot when I get them and the delivery time (compared to the kitchen to table time) does not affect the quality of the food.

As well as, delivering delicious burgers to my doorstep for dinner, you can also order Breakfast from Langelees, ice cream and cake if you're in the mood for sweets, or treat yourself to the new lunch box from award-winning The Chilli Pickle.

Sponsored Post
Although I regularly use Deliveroo, on this occasion I received a free Coggins &Co, delivery in return for this review. Once you try the Welsh Rarebit burger you'll see why!

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Brighton | 5 Local places to shop in Brighton and Hove (actually)

A week ago I was at an event for The Body Shop, if you didn’t know It’s just been their 40^th Birthday. One thing about The Body Shop is that it started off as a small independent shop in The North Laines, Brighton. While at the event they ran a selfie competition for their new campaign #EnrichNotExploit which led me to pledge to support local suppliers. Seeing as I won the competition, the prize was an awesome Ben Eine print, I thought I should start at home, telling you about local businesses, that I love.

Wick Candle Boutique, 120 Portland Road, Hove

Located next to Joe’s Barber shop, Wick Candle Boutique, as the name sells a large range of candles and incense as well as luxury soap, bath oils and salts. The second you walk into the shop, you are engulfed in fragrances – not as overpowering as it sounds I promise. They stock several ranges that are exclusive to area, as well as locally sourced candles.

As well as stocking cute Scrabble Letter candles, they also have expensive and luxurious fragrances for both women and men – Joe often has a mandle (man-candle) burning in his shop for his clients. They also do beautiful gift wrapping.

Coggins and Co., 87-93 Dyke Road, Brighton

I have already reviewed Coggins, and am actually about to feature them again shortly. I love a good burger, a few years ago the idea of me ordering a burger in a restaurant was laughable. But along with everyone else, and likely their mums, I am now forever on a hunt for the BEST BURGER in Brighton. Or at least I was – I found my ‘best burger’ at Coggins. It is the Mushroom Tapenade burger, served with Beef dripping chips and their garlic mayo. I order it every time we get a Deliveroo, or if we go to the restaurant. Joe is also very partial to the Bacon Cheese Burger (my close second).

 

Posh Totty Designs, Sydney Street, Brighton

Again, another brand that I have featured before, which has grown massively in the last few years is Posh Totty Designs. Stocking gorgeous jewellery, home ware and gifts, this local brand opened a second shop last year and also open a pop up shop on Brighton seafront in the Summer.

They sell lovely items which can be personalised, adding that lovely special touch to a gift and also have a wedding collection – not only does this include wedding bands, but gifts for bridesmaids.

Their stock is available on Not On The High Street as well as their website.

Market, 42 Western Road, Hove

Joe and I dropped in for lunch here a few weeks ago after several recommendations – it was so worth it. They have tapas-esque menu, as well as a normal one, which is great for me as I often get FOMO when ordering food, which means I can order ALL the food – not to mention they make amazing cocktails and décor, stunning. Ordered the Welsh Rarebit, Pig Cheek (divine), Buttermilk Chicken with Blue cheese sauce, as well as the Blue venison fillet – it was all so delicious.

Considering the quality of the food and the ingredients Market is very reasonably priced.

The Ancient Mariner, Poets Corner, Hove

Now my local, and my favourite pub in Hove, or atleast one of them, The Ancient Mariner is great all year round – when the weather is nice it’s the perfect location for outside drinks, not only do they have a beer garden, but they also have booths outside the front of the pub so you can bask in the sun. In the winter, they have a lovely covered area so you can sit out if you are partial to a dirty cigarette as I am. The drinks are reasonably priced, especially at happy hour, or if you live locally and your street is listed as the street of the week!

The food is good too – the Sunday Roast is really good – but you must book in advance to secure a plate – it’s very popular. As well as allowing kids, the pub is a dog-friendly and even features some of its regular pooches in a really cute photography series.

Do you shop local? What's your favourite indy shop or restaurant?

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Brighton | Who's in the Dog Haus?

It must seem like an (almost) miracle, I actually got a post live! I know I've had a bit of a blip recently. After all my kidney issues towards the end of last year, I just never seemed to get back into the swing of posting. Then I caught this dreaded flu that is going around. 3 weeks later I am still tired and coughing my guts up, but luckily I am on the mend. If you haven't had it yet, pray you don't get it and stock up on vitamin C and echinacea.

Before I was struck down by the flu of death, I had surprised Joe with tickets to see Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes. They are one of the few bands that we both like and Frank Carter is the king of lives shows. With the exception of this particular night where he too had the flu of death.

We decided to grab some good food before the gig, and headed to Dog Haus at Patterns. Coincidentally, the club part of Patterns was where we first saw Frank Carter and The Rattlesnakes last year!

At the grand old age of 30, and having lived in Brighton my whole life, I have seen Patterns in a few of its former incarnations. Walking into The Dog Haus, there was a more chilled vibe than the previous bars that had been there.

I immediately spotted the photo booth. My teenage years were filled with photo booth pictures. Until, well, mobile phones got cameras. I had no idea that you could now get digital photo booth pictures.

We grabbed some drinks at the bar before taking our seats. Dog Haus has a an extensive drinks list, but most importantly they serve Margarita, even more importantly they are also included in the 2-4-1 drinks cocktail list. No prizes for what we got to drink!

The menu, not surprisingly, is full of hot dogs, including a vegetarian one as well as various types of fries and POTATO SMILEYS. This may not be exciting for you, but when I was growing up we didn't eat them so they really are a novelty now!

The Dogs used by Dog Haus are from the award-winning The Sausage Man, and are sort of healthy as they are made with 85% lean meat. These are then stuffed into delicious brioche buns.

Joe, being the chili fiend he is, ordered the Hot Mess - a chili dog, covered with chili, cheese, sour cream and jalapenos, with some Seaside Chips, which are covered in salty seaweed from the Cornish Seaweed Company and vinegar. These were majorly good - I would definitely recommend.

I finally chose the Acid Haus - a dog covered in BBQ bourbon pulled pork and potato smileys - two of my favorite things. To avoid FOMO and see how they compared to MEATLiquor, I ordered the Chili cheese fries.

Firstly, I will say that if you are the sort of girl to order a salad on a date, or get conscious of eating in front of your potential suitor, this really isn't your first date spot. Eating these delicious dogs is messy and requires HUGE wide mouth bites, chili on your face - they're basically the least graceful thing to eat ever, but ever jaw aching bite is worth it.

As for the chili cheese chips, they are great, if I am comparing them to the MEATLiquor ones, for me they win hands down. The Dog Haus fries have a great chili/chips/cheese ratio and I could eat the whole portion, I find that the MEATLiquor ones leave me feeling a bit overly full and uncomfortable.

We will definitely be going back there again, especially now that they have started doing brunch on Saturdays and Sundays. For £15 you get a dog and unlimited Prosecco (HELLO!!!!) or Bloody Mary available from 12-3.30pm with free refills until 4pm.

I also want to say how lovely the staff were, Mitch and Chantelle were so attentive making it an even better experience.

Have you been to The Dog Haus yet?

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