TRATTORIA CAPRICCIO, DUBROVNIK (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

For the last day of our holiday to Croatia we decided to spend the night in Dubrovnik to really take in the sights rather than just passing through on the way to the airport as we had done last year. There are hundreds of restaurants up and down the alleyways of the old town so it can be quite overwhelming trying to decide on one place to go and eat. After consulting Tripadvisor we decided to head over to Italian restaurant Trattoria Capriccio located behind the aquarium on the east side of the city. Being highly rated on Tripadvisor we had high hopes as we headed over late to take in one last meal in this beautiful country.

KONOBA TAURIS, SIPAN (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

One day on holiday we decided to take a short ferry ride over to the adjacent island of Sipan to go and have a little wander and check out the sites. After hitting the island and exploring the south side we took the bus over to the westerly port of Luka to hit the beach and enjoy a couple of beers. After a hard days swimming in the crystal clear ocean and sunbathing we headed back round to the port and sat down at Konoba Tauris, looking for a bite to eat.

LA VILLA, LOPUD (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

Time for dinner at the pretty little konoba known as La Villa which stands out against the other restaurants along the Lopud sea front with it's beautiful terrace decorated with green vines which twist and turn all around the walls and roof. It's a gorgeous place to sit down and enjoy dinner but does the food match up to the setting?

RESTORAN DUBROVNIK (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

Don't be fooled by the name! Restoran Dubrovnik is not actually on the mainland of Croatia but is actually another restaurant (or "konoba" to use the local lingo) on the beautiful island of Lopud, just under one hours ferry ride away from Dubrovnik. Restoran Dubrovnik is one that always pops out when you google up about the island. They seem to have the biggest social media profile as well as featuring quite highly on sites such as Tripadvisor. We did stop by when we visited last year after a day at Sunj beach for a quick lunch but this year we decided we would take a relaxing dinner there to really take the time to sample what they had on offer!

A RETURN TO MANDRAC AND TO BLOGGING! (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

After a long month of difficult times coupled with holidaying in Croatia as well as moving into a brand new home I am finally back ready to share some of my latest dining experiences and some brand new recipes. What better way to start this next chapter than with a return to an old friend. Last year we visited Mandrac on Lopud and instantly fell in love with the amazing setting, friendly laid back staff and most importantly, the incredible food. Would they be able to work the same magic 12 months later when we visited again this September?

AZUL BALI (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

I initially didn't want to go into the Azul Tiki Bar when we first passed it the previous day whilst walking along the beach in Legian, Bali. I don't know why but maybe I just thought that by having the mantle of being the island's first tiki bar that it was just going to be a bit cheap and nasty. I gave the menu another look the next day though and decided to give them a whirl. Well, they did have barramundi on the menu (which I've always wanted to try!) and there were cocktails ahoy so even if it was bad I could get bladdered on those. Off we trotted to see if my feelings would be correct or if I needed to eat my words.

HOLY GUACAMOLE BAR AND GRILL BALI (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

So at the beginning of this month I was very lucky to go for two weeks holiday exploring Bali and Singapore. I love Asian food in all its forms so I couldn't wait to try all the delights of these two regions. You might be surprised to see then that for our first meal away we actually ended up in Holy Guacamole, a Mexican bar and grill near our hotel in Legian. Well, when you're still adjusting to a country's time zone, temperature and culture sometimes it's best to stick a little too what you know.

REFUGE MANCHESTER (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

It's funny how you can walk past somewhere fairly regularly and not even notice it's there. When we travel up to Manchester for concerts and theatre visits we often get off at Oxford Road and we'd never noticed Refuge before. We spied this offshoot of "Volta", a successful Manchester restaurant by chefs Justin Crawford and Luke Cowdrey (also know as the Unabombers - according to their website anyway!) online when planning a birthday meal in the city and we loved the sound of the menu so we decided to give them a try. Off we popped on the train to Manchester once more ready for a delicious celebration meal.

THE EVERYMAN BISTRO LIVERPOOL (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

A theatre wouldn't be my first point of call when looking for somewhere to eat but when looking for somewhere to eat after going to see a matinee performance of the Everyman Theatre's Company production of Fiddler On The Roof (which was stunning btw!) we saw that they had their very own Everyman Bistro offering up food prior to evening performances. Somewhere to eat right where we were spending the afternoon? Made perfect sense to give them a try and so we made a table reservation and after enjoying the show we headed down into the Everyman's basement to take our seat.

BISTRO PIERRE LIVERPOOL (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

So having enjoyed the £12.95 pre theatre menu at Bistro Franc in my previous post and being lucky enough to have tickets to go and see Sheridan Smith star in Funny Girl at the Liverpool Empire last week, we decided to give their sister restaurant, Bistro Pierre a whirl. Their pre theatre menu offered a different selection of starters and mains so it's practically like visiting a completely different venue isn't it? Could Bistro Pierre offer a tasty trio of courses similar to that of Bistro Franc? We headed off to go find out.

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.

GRAFENE MANCHESTER (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

Why we booked a table at Grafene earlier this month is still a mystery to us? Not in a bad way you understand but its just we can't remember where or how we discovered it! Having booked said table weeks in advance for a pre-theatre dinner we ventured up to King Street in the Deansgate area of Manchester city centre on quite a wet and windy Friday evening to see if there was method to our apparent madness.

ALBERT'S SCHLOSS MANCHESTER (MATTY B RECOMMENDS)

A Friday night visiting Manchester for a little boogie at it's famous arena meant that it was time to give another of the city's new food and drink offerings a whirl and this time it was the turn of Albert's Schloss in the trendy Deansgate area of the city centre that caught our eye. Inspired by the Bavarian and Bohemian areas of Europe; it boasts on its website of being the first Tankovna in Manchester as well as having its very own bakery and "cook haus". I didn't know what what a Tankovna was but it sounded intriguing so off we went to go check it out.

PANORAMA RESTAURANT DUBROVNIK (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

Our adventures in Croatia continued when we took the ferry from our base in Lopud over to Dubrovnik. When we got there we took a trip up the famous cable car and little did we know that at the top we would find Panorama Restaurant And Bar. Lunch now seemed like a no brainer.

MANDRAC LOPUD, CROATIA PART 1 (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

So I've just returned from a week away sunning myself on the beautiful island of Lopud, just off the coast of Croatia. During this week of rest and relaxation I had some of the best food of my life including two meals at this little restaurant called Mandrac. Situated on the same stretch of seaside strip as our hotel we discovered this little beauty on our first day and enjoyed it so much we went back on our last day. Let me tell you in this post about our first meal and exactly what made us fall in love this amazing restaurant.

PER TUTTI MANCHESTER (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

I'm up in Manchester a lot for concerts and gigs and normally I have an idea about where I'm going to eat before each visit. This week however I traveled up sans schedule and stumbled across Per Tutti as I got off the train at Deansgate. I didn't know anything about the place or what I was in for so with zero expectations I headed through the door ready for some food.

MOOSE AND MOONSHINE LIVERPOOL (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

Moose Coffee have been operating in the North West for some time now and the success of their

American/Canadian diner breakfast experience has led to the opening of Moose and Moonshine on Liverpool's trendy Hope Street. With tickets booked for the Philharmonic hall just a few doors down, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to go and try out their preview menu to see if that passion for producing a great North American brunch could be transferred to an evening offering.   

THE MUSSEL AND STEAK BAR EDINBURGH (MATTYB RECOMMENDS)

When you're planning a trip to a new city you can spend a long time looking on the internet for fabulous places to eat but sometimes you just stumble across places when you're walking around and that is what happened on a recent trip we took to Edinburgh. Hunting out a place for a birthday dinner, we saw The Mussel and Steak Bar and the menu looked really tasty and special and so later that evening we walked from our hotel with empty bellies and high expectations ready for some of Scotland's finest seafood.

BECAUSE YOU KNOW I'M ALL ABOUT THE (THAI SEA) BASS

I'm not really a fan of fish but having sampled some delightful sea fare whilst on holiday in Sardinia I'm becoming a bit more adventurous. I am a big fan of Thai flavors so by combining those with two beautiful Sea-bass fillets this weekend I create a little taste of the east that is slowly pushing me over toward the side of full blown fish foodie fanatic. It's quite simple really! All you need is some butter, garlic, chili, ginger, spring onion and a big juicy whole lemon and your on you're way to Sea-bass parcel paradise!