MATTY'S BEST CHEESY TOAST

So Christmas is over for another year. Hasn't it just flown by? Did you have a nice time over the festive holidays? I did but once again I've eaten far too much. After all those sweets, chocolate and the massive mountains of cheese, ham and turkey you would think there wouldn't be any room left for anything else but come lunchtime today I had a right craving for some proper lush cheese on toast. What happened next? Well it just so happened that I made the best cheese on toast ever, so good in fact that I knew I had to share the recipe with you as soon as I could. Well, Christmas is all about giving isn't it! 

MATTYB'S GREAT BRITISH CHRISTMAS CAKE

It's Christmas Eve ladies and gentleman! You know what that means; it's time to ice your Christmas cake ready for the big day tomorrow. When I said I was preparing my cake in October a couple of guys in work looked at me like I was crazy but if you make your cake early and then soak it with the booze of your choice once a week until the 25th, you'll have a fantastically boozy fruity treat to serve as part of your Christmas spread and if you're anything like us, enough leftover to last till new year! Marzipan, icing and apricot jam at the ready? Lets go!

MATTY'S HOMEMADE MINCE PIES

So you have made your homemade mincemeat  and it's been brewing away for a while so now, in the last few days before Christmas it's time to make those mince pies. Obviously if you haven't made your own mince meat you can use a ready made variety but for me, making your own pastry, filling it with your own mince meat and baking them so that your kitchen is filled with those incredible festive smells is what Christmas is all about! My recipe below will make 8 mince pies but you can scale the recipe up if you want to make a bigger batch.

THE DELAUNAY LONDON (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

Let me get straight to the point with this one and tell you that I think The Delaunay is a brilliant restaurant. A proper fancy dining experience that we have visited two Christmas times running now as a post theatre treat and hopefully, fingers crossed we'll be back for a third time next year. Let me take the time now to tell you all about why I think The Delaunay is so special and why you need to visit them the next time you are in the capital.

FLAT IRON SQUARE LONDON (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

This is a recommendation that's a bit outside the norm now as its not so much a restaurant that I'm writing about but more a foodie venue. We strolled past the Flat Iron Square on Union Street in the Southwalk area of London last weekend and it was packed full of people drinking and generally having a good time. Intrigued as to what was going on we gave it a quick google and found out that as well as hosting weekly flea markets, many small vendors sell their foodie wares here as well. Looking for somewhere to lunch the next day, we decided to stroll over and see what was on offer.

CHAMPOR CHAMPOR LONDON (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

Nestled away under the shadow of the Shard is Champor Champor. Much like the time we visited Grafene in Manchester, we had no idea how we found out about this Thai-Malay restaurant but we had bookmarked it for a visit next time we were staying in Southwalk. That time was this weekend so with a reservation made for 9pm, off we trotted! The entrance to Champor Champor is very unassuming but once you walk through the door you are instantly transported to the east. An array of Malaysian/Thai inspirations decorated the red walls; Buddhas, masks and even the cow that acts as their emblem was brought to life right above us.

FRNZY AMSTERDAM (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

Last weekend we went to the beautiful city of Amsterdam. It was my first time in the Dutch capital and I was surprised by the amount of South Asian restaurants that were knocking about. One day whilst exploring the area of De Pijp, close to the Heineken Experience south of the city, we stumbled across Frnzy, a Vietnamese street food restaurant nestled down one of the more quieter side streets. A quick glance of the street food style menu and we decided to give them a whirl.

LION AND LOBSTER BRIGHTON (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

When Sunday rolls around and you can't be bothered to cook there is only one thing left to do; head on over to the local pub and get that Sunday roast cooked for you instead. When we discovered that The Lion And Lobster was just a stones throw from our hotel and was indeed serving this traditional British feast we just knew that we had to go and check them out. Painted bright red, Lion and Lobster's quirky exterior is hard to miss. With its traditional cartoon pub sign it really couldn't get any more quintessentially British. Stepping though the door is like stepping back to a time when the pub landlord was king and everyone came down for a sing song and a gossip down at the local boozer.

THE CHILLI PICKLE BRIGHTON (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

Sometimes when your googling a city to find out the best places to eat you'll get the same places popping up time and time again. "Award winning" you will hear or "best in the city" but it's when even friends start telling you about somewhere that you start thinking that this place could be particularly special. That is what happened with The Chilli Pickle in Brighton, we kept hearing such amazing things that we knew we had to give them a visit.

LUCKY BEACH BRIGHTON (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

You can't really visit a British seaside resort without taking a stroll along the prom and treating yourself to a portion of battered fish, chips and mushy peas. During our recent weekend break to glorious Brighton and having walked a gazillion miles hunting the brilliant Brighton Snow Dogs we decided to take a little break to enjoy a lunchtime nibble. The arches under the prom that line the seafront is home to  Lucky Beach and as we strolled past we couldn't help but be enticed in by their tasty looking menu.