Friedbreakfasts

The Dreadnought Hotel - Callander, Scotland

Possibly the most impressive thing about breakfast at the Dreadnought hotel is entering the breakfast room itself. The large airy space is almost perfect for a civilised Scottish breakfast. The smartly dressed Polish waiters were the first sign that all was not as Scottish as one may have hoped.

Further inspection quickly revealed greater worries.

The first was the large aluminium flasks containing tea and coffee - on the central breakfast table. So, it seems that we were to fetch our drinks, rather than have a nice pot of tea at the table. More detailed inspection showed that these flasks of tea were left with up to eight tea bags each in them.

The result was some of the most stewed tea I have ever tasted. I quickly gave in and resorted to the coffee - surely more suited to sitting in a flask. It was reassuringly strong, and just barely drinkable. By now, serious warning bells were beginning to ring.

A word about the orange juice. Surely this was safe? Sadly no. It was watered down with what I can only assume was water.

I must confess to a certain sense of betrayal. Not only had they used the cheapest concentrated orange juice to offer us, but they had seen fit to dilute it to taste - their taste for cheapness.

A note about the central breakfast table which housed all the cereal: It was boxed in with breakfast tables so that patrons struggled to access it. Bear in mind that all the hot drinks were on this table and you'll see that almost everyone needed regular access. The result was a constant traffic jam. Doubly vexing for those unfortunate enough to be seated jammed up to the table, as people were constantly knocking into them.

The poached egg was a revelation. Whilst it looked horrible, it was soft in the middle, and I am told that it tasted just fine. The bacon was a bit thick and “cheap” tasting, but it tasted OK, and really it is unfair to complain too much.

At last, I can offer you a fried breakfast, in all its glory.

It has all the basic stuff, plus a potato scone and some fried bread. I have to start by saying that the potato scone was disgusting. Completely soaked with fat and not the slightest bit appetising. It was even cold. The same goes for the fried bread - except that instead of being cold and slimy, it was cold and as crispy as a china tea plate.

I quickly discarded both and surveyed the rest:

Bacon: As described before - thick and pretty flavourless, but edible.

Sausage: A revelation! Wonderful sausage. Pork all the way through, nicely cooked and a joy to consume.

Fried Egg: Obviously done alongside a great many others, but none too bad for all that. The yolk was soft, although it tasted of little.

Beans: Clearly not any recognisable brand - these “catering” beans were OK. Nothing more.

Black Pudding: Crispy on top and soaked with fat and soft underneath. It was OK, but if a little more care had been taken, it could have been really lovely.

So, a mixed message really - but quite near to being a nice breakfast. It just wasn't.

The room wasn't great either, so only go there if you have to, I'd say.

Rating: 41%

The Copper Kettle, Ashington

Just on your left as you drive up from ASDA in Ashington

Simple, but tasty. Great ingredients expertly cooked

The Copper Kettle is an all-day cafe and an all-day breakfast to match. Inside, the place is clean and bright and when I went in, it was filled with friendly chatter.

The breakfast comes with options - toast or fried bread - beans or tomatoes. I went for the beans-fried bread option as I judged it to be the most filling of the options. As far as i could see, there was no facility for ordering extra eggs or bacon etc.

My breakfast: Egg, bacon, sausage, beans, fried bread, fried potato. All for £2.70 (75p for a pot of tea)

I'm told that sometimes they have mushrooms, so you might get lucky.

I'm happy to report that Ashington has a breakfast cafe to be proud of. The breakfast was excellent.

Here's why:

Egg: Sunny side up and beautifully cooked. Mine had a large and tasty yolk - not even a hint of being "hard boiled".

Bacon: Well done and nice quality. I don't think it was Danish, but it was thin-cut and had enough fat to be tasty. Good enough for me to suggest you try a bacon sandwich if you're passing.

Sausage: Big surprise here. The sausage is nice! This is so rare. Chipolata size and tasting as if it has real meat in it. No need to drown it in brown sauce to get it down, I actually enjoyed the taste.

Beans: Nothing special to report here. They were fine. Not hard. Obviously not the cheapest or nastiest by a long way.

Fried Bread: Slight disappointment here. It seemed more like toast that had experienced a short trip to the pan. That said, it was crispy and formed a nice platform for that excellent egg.

Fried Potato: Like bubble, without the squeak. A delightful and original addition to the breakfast.

Not the biggest breakfast I've ever had, but one of the tastiest. Very friendly service as well.

I felt welcomed, and I'm glad I discovered this great little café right on my doorstep.

The score is a cheery: 84%

Nevin's Nibbles - Newbiggin-by-the-Sea

A disappointing breakfast

Newbiggin-by-the-Sea is now my home town, so when I saw this new place open up, I decided to give it a go.

It always feels wrong to judge a cafe by one breakfast, but that's what is required, and this one came up short on a few scores.

The people in the shop were amongst the friendliest I have encountered. The service was not the quickest, but no complaints.

Bacon, Two Sausages, 2 Hash Browns, Black Pudding, Beans, Fried egg an two toast for £3.10.

A good value breakfast, but here's my report on the items:

Bacon - Not very tasty and a little undercooked for my liking.
Sausages - Pale, uncoloured by cooking - sticky in consistency.
Mushrooms - Uncooked, literally raw and hard.
Hash Browns - Not crispy and soaked in cooking oil. Inedible.
Black Pudding - Not bad, but not my favourite kind of black pudding.
Egg - Friend on both sides, but still with a small amount of runny yolk.

I left the majority of this breakfast, just eating the bacon an some beans. No comment on this was made.

This has to score a lacklustre:    39%

I hope that I need to amend this in the near future.

Ambrys - Almondbury Huddersfield, West Yorkshire

A very special breakfast, this one.

Ambrys is a small cafe in the main village high street of Almondbury near Huddersfield. It is manned entirely by volunteers and the profits are used to fund good causes in the area.

Today was TL's last day of working there, and she cooked me this lovely feast.

It's a pretty standard breakfast. Not shown is the excellent filter coffee and multi-grain bread toast. The coffee was flavoursome without being bitter, and the toast was delivered hot and crispy, just the way most of us seem to like it.

The sausage was clearly pork, and seemed like a butcher's sausage - firm and meaty. The tomatoes were fresh and lightly grilled/fried. The egg was just about perfect, and I was delighted to have a whole (not sideways cut) slice of toast to place it upon.

The mushrooms were not great, suffering from being cooked, I think, in not the greatest of fats. Mushrooms soak up so much of what is around that is is quite a challenge to make sure their surroundings are pleasant enough to compliment their taste.

The bacon was requested and deliver well done. Full marks for that, and it was tasty bacon too. The black pudding was fine, but I prefer mine un-minted, and so I was personally a little disappointed. The beans were Heinz original, and it showed.

Overall, a good portion and very well cooked. I was honoured to be one of the last to receive a breakfast cooked by my partner Lizz at Ambrys.

I'm sure other teams with replace their once-a-month volunteer slot, and that good breakfast will continue to be available in Almondbury high street. So, probably still worth a visit.

Rating: 78%

Hadrian Lodge Hotel, Wallsend, Tyne & Wear

A disappointing hotel and a disappointing breakfast. The hotel is easy to find, but that's where the good stuff ends. The rooms are sparsely furnished and important messages are written by the management on the walls in permanent marker.

Breakfast is served in the bar eating area by two very cheerful and pleasant ladies. The breakfast table has the usual fruit juices available as well as cereal, this part was fine.

And so to the brekky itself...

The beans were fine, although not warm enough for my liking. The mushrooms were cooked in the chip fat, I think, and tasted awful. The egg was OK. The sausage was the cheapest possible Turkey-based thing. It was also inadequately cooked. I took one bite and left the rest, and had a dicky tummy through the night and the next day.

The tomato was pretty much uncooked, although it tasted just fine. The bacon was not great at all. Very fatty and appearing to be cooked in a large tray in the oven with many other pieces of bacon. This cooking method has the effect of boiling the bacon. Really not great.

The toast was cold and bendy, barely toasted, although there was a generous supply of jams and marmalade. The tea came in a very small single-portion pot and was barely adequate.

Overall, a poor effort on the back of a low-quality experience. It's easy to see how this hotel lost it's second AA Star and is now merely a one star establishment.

Rating: 42%

Garreg Lwyd Guest House

Garreg Lwyd Guest House,

Bow Street, Aberystwyth

Always a full plate - with allsorts on it...

...including some fruit.....KIWI fruit!

This is a normal bed and breakfast in every respect, a family home which gives a comfortable and very reasonably priced bed for the night. I've stayed here on many occasions now, and have always been served an excellent breakfast.

Mrs Edwards is happy to serve breakfast at whatever time is required by her guests, and she is as pleasant and friendly at 6.30am as she is at 9.30am.

The Grand Hotel, Scarborough

The Grand Scarborough

St Nicholas Cliff, Scarborough
Yorkshire, England
YO11 2ET

The Grand is, arguably, Scarborough's most imposing landmark. Once a great hotel, offering the best in luxury, it survives today as a budget retreat for those who fail to see the sense in going abroad. It offers old fashioned cabaret entertainment in its ballroom, and a great many smelly, dirty bedrooms in dire need of a makeover.

So what is the brekky like?

Boiled bacon, dyed tomatoes, burnt and mushy toast...

Crutherland House Hotel

Crutherland House Hotel
Strathaven Road
Glasgow (East Kilbride) Strathclyde G75 0QZ

Crutherland House Hotel clings to its Four Star rating by a thread. The rooms are just about good enough, the facilities are just about extensive enough - but it fails to exude the effortless quality of some of our nations finer establishments. Nevertheless, it's a clean and well presented place with a large and comfortable dining room. As breakfast time approached, I was full of enthusiasm.

Day One Brekky

Nice Brekky

[click on picture for a mammoth sized version]

Welcome to the breakfast blog!

It seems arrogant to start with one of my own creations, and it is. I suppose it is worth doing, if only to demonstrate that a really good breakfast is not hard to produce. All it takes is some good, fresh,  ingredients, a half decent frying pan and a little know-how.

That said, it never fails to amaze me how the hoteliers of Britain manage to make a complete hash of the job. There are some excellent breakfasts out there, and I plan to describe them and let you know where they are, but all too often they are a little too well hidden.

So why is the above breakfast good?