So, to get into the spirit of the season, the reporters at the Herald and Gazette decided to break away from their old favourites and bring in the new year with a new choice of lunchtime venue.
Fancy Coffee on High Street, Worthing, may often be overlooked for its slightly-out-of-town location, but it was well worth the extra five-minute walk.
The atmosphere inside the venue was cosy and welcoming, and the café offered a range of paninis, sandwiches, jacket potatoes and salads – accompanied by the option of a well-brewed coffee.
Our reporter Catrin Shi opted for the Mexican panini, a mouth-watering combination of spicy beef, peppers, chilli, tomato and cheese.
Although possibly too spicy for those with a more sensitive palate, the warming lunchtime choice was exactly to Catrin’s taste.
At £3.40, the Mexican panini may seem slightly dear, however, the portion size was not to be sniffed at, and offered a filling and satisfying lunchtime choice.
And what’s more, the cheese inside the panini was properly melted – there’s nothing worse than a lukewarm lump of cheese for lunch.
In addition to her lunch, our reporter also opted for an Americano coffee with milk, which was flavourful and rich – for £1.40, Starbucks couldn’t have topped it.
Multi-media content editor Sheena Campbell left her salad box behind to plump for a curry from the Royal Jaipur’s lite-bite express menu in Brighton Road, Worthing.
Customers are asked to choose a curry, two side dishes and a drink from the menu, which costs £4.95 for a takeaway.
Our reporter chose the prawn dupiaza, accompanied by an onion bhaji, pilau rice and a lemonade, and was pleasantly surprised by the generous size of the portions – offering great value for money.
In addition, the dupiaza was well-flavoured and the prawns tender, with the onion bhaji being crispy and lightly spiced, without being greasy.
The lite-bite express menu is available Monday to Saturday from 12.30pm until 2pm, and is a good option if you are looking for a filling, value-for-money meal.
Reporter Alex Therrien decided to visit Jidapha’s Thai restaurant and café, in Bath Place, Worthing, to try something exotic for lunch.
The restaurant offers a wide range of Thai food, as well as standard English café fare, but Alex decided to have the Beef Tornado, at £5.50, which combines peppers, garlic, onions, mushrooms and rice with beef.
He felt the cost of £5.50 for a meal-sized portion offered good value, and the dish had the right balance between spice and flavouring.
Not wanting to be left feeling bloated or short-changed, our reporter felt the dish was the perfect-sized portion – something few places manage to get right.
Full but not stuffed, our reporter would gladly return to Jidapha’s in the future, either for another take-away meal or to have a sit-down eating experience.
Deputy content editor Katherine Hollisey-McLean headed down Warwick Street to try out what Café 33 had to offer. In the spirit of the season, she opted for something she had never had before – a meat pizza panini.
And we’re happy to report it was a good choice, as the panini had a bit of a spicy kick and was nice and warming on what was a cold day at the office.
Not yet having started the new year healthy eating kick, it was washed down with a slice of the café’s finest lemon and blueberry cake, which can be summed up by saying it was a tasty delight.