Frankie Vaughans, Brighton. Brielicious

Frankie Vaughan's is a great little deli/coffee shop combo found on Edward St in Brighton, virtually opposite the Royal Pavilion. Depending on how fussy you are you can either go into the coffee shop and pick up one of their prepared sandwiches, or if you're a bit fussier and like to see your sandwich being made, like me, then you can just pop next door to the deli. Upon entering you are welcomed by a huge cabinet full of ingredients, and numerous chalk boards with various tantalising specials and suggestions. Truly overwhelming, but in the best possible sense.
After a long, long deliberation I opted for one of their specials, a brie and pastrami ciabatta with sweet onion pickle. There's a lot going on in this sandwich, lots of big flavours coming from the pastrami, the brie and the sweet pickle, but despite my fears it's actually a combination that worked well together. The brie was fairly mild and so didn't overpower the pastrami, the creamy cheese complemented the salty spicy beef, and the pickle brought a welcome sweetness in the background. The crunchy salad added a freshness and the lovely soft floured ciabatta tied the whole sandwich together perfectly.

BagelMan, The Lanes, Brighton. You can keep your bagels, sir!

BagelMan is situated on Bond Street, one of the streets that makes up Brighton's fantastic, uber trendy 'lanes'. After a morning perusing the record shops and vintage stores (or not), BagelMan makes a great lunch spot. But as you may have gathered, I was not there for a bagel. I had heard that word on the street (or should that be lane) is that Bagelman makes a mean falafel - so naturally this had to be investigated. The street did not lie, this was a falafel and a half. Lovingly crafted, the falafel balls were carefully arranged with the tomato and cucumber inside a soft, slightly toasted pitta, and covered with just the right amount of chilli sauce and tahini. The careful arrangement ensured every bite was a treat; the perfectly cooked falafel (crispy on the outside, nice and soft in the middle) made spicy by the chilli sauce, was deliciously cooled down by the fresh tomato, cucumber and the cool savoury tang of the tahini. And for around £3 it's also a bargain. So Mr Bagelman can keep his bagels, the falafel is king!