12th Jan 2008 - Part 2 - Drakes Coffee House, Exeter

Following our short 'fuel' stop at the Little Chef we headed for Exeter and met up with the rest of the clan and headed for central Exeter.

Now having visited Exeter on our last trip, we were hoping to have a rough idea where to head, but in the end we ended up having a little wander and finding an independent cafe.

When you are looking the for the ideal cooked breakfast you cannot beat a independent cafe. This one, Drakes Coffee House, was just off the main road in a little alley with just a sign outside. It was small and cosy, probably only able to seat 20 people or so, but it was ideal.

There was a good choice of breakfasts and the one being reviewed here was the 'Brunch'.

So what did we get. Well it was a good range, 2 x fried egg (runny - extra point) hash browns, beans and two sausages and bacon.

All the correct ingredients!

And too the score, well it hits a very good 8 out of 10. Why not ten, well no view, no drink included.

An excellent start to the week with a high scoring breakfast that did not leave you too full up and ready the for the lunchtime Guinness !!

12th Jan 2008 - Part 1 - Little Chef

Ok, so here we go!

We had a trip to Cornwall in January, a full family outing, and of course this included an early start and a breakfast stop. Well in fact, two breakfast stops for us!

We set out at about 6am, heading for Exeter with the plan of meeting up with the Berkshire Butler's to find a suitable breakfast establishment. However along the way, at around 7ish we got a little peckish and decided to squash in a 'small' breakfast to keep us going.

So we stopped at a Little Chef en-route to Exeter. Now i have reviewed Little Chefs before, and they are never going to score high on the breakfast scale so we kept it simple. It was toast and two poached eggs. Healthy eh!

As this is not a true 'cooked breakfast' it does not really deserve a rating, however it would of scored a 5 out of 10. Very average all round!

Onwards to the real breakfast in Exeter!

Wot no breakfasts!

Not true, i have sampled a few breakfasts since our last post, but have been extremely bad at posting them online, so breakfast followers, sorry if you have been starving, waiting for your next breakfast tip ... here they come, i am trying to catch up now!

Sugar Bar/Cafe, Bank Street, Newquay

We had not planned on a breakfast today, but the 'urge' came over me to have a cooked breakfast and having seen the 'A' board outside this cafe/bar we decided to go in. We had visited this location before but since we had it has been 'done' up and now fits in to the 'trendy' bar scene during the summer. No doubt to earn extra money during the summer and to keep the business going during the winter they serve good and offer breakfast in the mornings.

A number of options existed on the menu, i went for the 'full breakfast' which included bacon, tomato, sausages, sautéed potatoes, beans, toasts and if you like them, mushrooms.

This was never going to be a 10 out of 10 breakfast due to the sauteed potatoes - i just don't get it, i like them, but they just don't work with a cooked breakfast.

Having said that, it was a good breakfast. Two sausages, which were really good, nice runny egg, and toast which was warm.

Location was ok, and despite having Sky News playing when we went in, they turned over after us hearing about 'The Wally with the Brolly' !!! and we had the radio playing in the background.

Tea/Coffee was included in the price (£3.99) and overall it was a good breakfast, not the best in the world but good.

8 out of 10.

The Holy Grail ?

For those who have been following this blog from the start they will know that this rating of cooked breakfasts started in a cafe in Newquay many years ago! Well, we are back, and we today visited the location of the famous 10 out of 10 breakfast!

Firstly, we have to point out that the original establishment is no longer there, the cafe, although maintaining its name, has no doubt changed hands and has certainly been refurbished. The 'surfie' look of the original cafe has gone and now it is 'young' and 'trendy'. I actually think it is ok, and although the seats are a little tight it looks good and no doubted was well overdue for a face lift, but for some, it might not be that perfect cafe anymore!

So, to the breakfast. Well there as a number of choices but the three of us went for the 'Number 1' breakfast which included - sausage, egg, beans, hash browns, fried bread and bacon. And, for the first bonus point, a free cup of tea or coffee!

Tea / Coffee was good and the Orange Juice was also fresh.

Breakfast was cooked from fresh and was quick to arrive. Fresh egg, well cooked hash brown, well cooked bacon, and plenty of beans to 'gel' the breakfast together, and the toast was still warm.

It filled you up just right, you did not feel over full or bloated, it was just right.

But did it reach that magical 10 out of 10?

NO! - Why not, well for a number of reasons - too many beans, they swamped the plate, for the £4.75 we paid, a bottomless cup of tea/coffee would of been nice. Although a tomato was included in the bigger breakfast we think it should of been on our plate too (or mushrooms for those that like a mushroom or two!).

Also as a side note, and this did not loose the breakfast points, Sky News was playing on the TV Screens, nice to have some background music/noise - but not Sky News, who cares what politicians are doing when we are doing important things like having a cooked breakfast and planning the rest of our day!!!

The weather was foul and it prevented us being able to sit outside, i think in the past being able to sit outside and watch the world go by added an additional point.

9 out of 10.

Little Chef, Axminster, Devon

As is tradition when setting off for a Butler holiday, a cooked breakfast is required. Well not being one to buck the trend we headed for a breakfast establishment on our way to Cornwall.

We ended up at a Little Chef, more out of hunger than choice!

Little Chef's have a large range of breakfasts, as long as your arrive before 11am, after 11am you have a choice of two, the Olympic Breakfast or the Early Starter. We both went for the 'Early Starter' which was 1 sausage, 2 x hash browns, bacon, baked beans and toast.

Well the service was very quick, the breakfasts arrived before we had really got started with our coffee. Beans, sausage were good, bacon a little under cooked and then the hash browns. Hash browns would normally earn a bonus point from me, and especially with two, but not on this occasion, this was due to the fact that they were fried or dipped in cooking fat as they did not taste very good at all - no bonus point!

Finally, a serving error caused another point to be dropped - we ordered orange juice, it did not arrive!

The view or location could not save the breakfast, so a very average 5 out of 10.

John Lewis, Southampton - Return visit!

When we started this blog i had not thought that we would repeat any of the entries, in terms of locations visited, but - i was wrong!

On this occasion two judges (there can only be two!) visited the John Lewis store in Southampton and tried out there breakfast. (Saturday 10th November 2007). To refresh you memory, on the first visit the breakfast scored 6 out of 10.

Well, i have to report that John Lewis have lost a point!

It was always going to be hard with two judges, but what it came down too was the following:

Sausages undercooked! Although they still offer two sausages as one item, they were not brown and it was as if they had been cooked in the microwave!

The fried bread was a little over cooked making it too crispy.

The bacon was again undercooked and had a lot of fat on it this time.

Still no hash browns!

On the plus side the tea pot was big and allowed for two cups of tea.

Lastly, if you've had a good breakfast, you know it, and you feel as if you enjoyed it, this one just left you feeling bloated and regretted having it!

So, John Lewis have dropped a point!

5 out of 10.

Hilton Hotel, High Street Kensington, London - 27th October 2007

Now, this is an interesting one, in terms of does this breakfast fall into the true cooked breakfast category. Why i hear you ask? Well slow down, and i will tell you!

As per a lot of London hotels, they tend to either do a continental breakfast or a buffet style cooked breakfast. Yes you have to do the hard work and go up to a buffet and make your own decisions on what you want on your plate! To some, that might not be acceptable, however, on this occasion i have let it pass, mainly because it was a good breakfast!!

The breakfast was hot, they had hash browns, and the egg was freshly cooked and runny! Black pudding was available, an optional extra in terms of scoring, but again on this occasion i think it deserved a point!

The coffee was poor, weak, but it was bottomless. The bacon was a bit stringy and not as cooked as we would like it, but it was ok. Location, well it was ok, and only a few 100yds from an Mac show (ok ok, that does not deserve an extra point!)

So, the score, well i am going for an 8 out of 10 ! Yes the highest scoring breakfast so far in this blog!!

A trip to Cornwall is getting close for us, so keep an eye out on this blog, you never know, that 10 out of 10 is out there!!

City Cafe, High Street, Southampton - 17th October 2007

Its been awhile since i have sampled an 'independent' cafe breakfast, so how could i turn down the opportunity of trying a local cooked breakfast! So on a recent day off i did, and it was not too bad, not great either, but ok!

The cafe was fine, thank god for the No Smoking law! Service was good, coffee was not so good - weak and not enough of it! (A bottomless cup of coffee scores extras points, if i have not mentioned it before).

The breakfast itself, well again, it was ok, i forgot to ask for no mushrooms, so they appeared on my plate - now although i cannot dock them a point for mushrooms, just because i don't like them, they must of been out of a can and were still swimming in a bit of the water on the plate - a clear case for docking them a point!

The sausage was also poor, probably one of those processed ones, just not very tasty. Hash browns were also missing.

Toast was good, and the inclusion of the 'gel' for all breakfasts, baked beans, were present. The egg was small but nice and runny.

Cost: £4.00 for the regular cooked breakfast.

Overall - a standard 6 out of 10.

Vegas Breakfasts!

Well first of all, yes i know, i am late, in fact very late in posting this entry, seeing as it relates to our breakfasts in Las Vegas. But that was our first dilemma, does a breakfast in Vegas constitute as being able to make the great pages on this blog! So after a lot of soul searching (or a boring Thursday evening with nothing else to do) we decided to 'comment' on our breakfasts in Vegas!

Mixed, i think is the best way to sum it up. But i hear your scream, give us details, give us details ... ok ok!

Well if you ask Jo, she would say she had some 10 out of 10 breakfasts - and in some categories she would be right - the way the Americans cook there bacon is great, nice and crispy! They would also score highly if pancakes could be included in the 'cooked breakfast' category, but they currently don't!

So that is where it goes wrong, they don't actually do a traditional English breakfast, Hash browns are good but different, eggs are ok - but you get a little confused after trying to work out if you want them sunny side up with the egg white stirred not shaken!!

So, can we score the Vegas breakfasts out of ten, well not really, but if we could, well we reckon a 7 out of 10 would be a good score.

Gatwick Flyer

4 out of 10

So never one to miss an opportunity to rate a breakfast, and of course it would be rude not to try a cooked breakfast on holiday we decided to start our Las Vegas trip off with a cooked breakfast at Gatwick's south terminal. The terminal was jammed packed and with it being breakfast time seating was at a premium.

We managed to get a seat at the Wetherspoons pub and ordered our Gatwick Flyer breakfast! Thats where it started to go wrong .. breakfast menu was good, the price was reasonable (for an airport - £5.49 each) but what lost the breakfast its first point was having to order a breakfast at the bar with the smell of stale beer wafting around your nostrils. Saying that, beer (and Magners) was flowing well. I don't think i have mastered the drinking before 9am yet !!!

Ok so for the breakfast - well it was ok, but again points lost for having plastic cutlery. Another point went for the tomato not being cooked, yes i know tomatoes are not always the preferred choice but if they are on the plate, then they should be cooked! On the plus side the egg was good and runny, but thats about it!

Bella Italia, London - 26th August 2007

One of the things that totally puts me off a cooked breakfast is if the only choices on the menu include 'sautéed potatoes' or chips - they are just not meant to be with a cooked breakfast!

So what do you do then?! Well this morning in London i had to make that choice, and i went for the panni with bacon and egg. I cannot score the breakfast as it does not come into the 'cooked breakfast' catergory, however if it did, it would of scored high!

The food was cooked fresh and it was damn good. The price was also not bad (for London)!

Fifteen - Jamie Olivers Restaurant - 26th Nov 2006

7 out of 10.

Only 7 out of 10 for a Jamie Oliver breakfast!!! Well let me explain.

Beans, mushrooms and Sausages and the main reason that Jamie did not get a ten out of ten.

But lets first describe the setting, as that is worth a bonus point! Fifteen in Cornwall is the second Jamie Olive restaurant and is in Cornwall just around the corner from Newquay. It is a new building built in to the back of the beach in Watergate Bay. The view from the windows are great - you look out onto the beach and you could not ask for much more.

The breakfast, well it aint cheap! For the cooked breakfast it was £9.50 each. You do get the best of local produce and its all cooked freshed, which again is worth an extra point, but i guess does boost the price!

Beans - well as you would expect it was not Heinz. They were like butter beans and did not do the important job that normal beans do, which is gel the breakfast together.

Mushrooms - this is a personal one, but i hate mushrooms, and the bigger the mushroom, the more points get knocked off!! I do concede that they were fresh and i am sure if you were a mushroom lover you would like them.

Although bonus points were award, points had to be deducted for no hash browns and having to pay extra for each drink!

Great location, great staff - just not a ten out of ten breakfast!

Click on this link to visit the Fifteen Website:

http://www.fifteencornwall.co.uk/samplemenus-breakfast.htm

John Lewis, Southampton - 25th Aug 2007

6 out of 10.

The John Lewis store in WestQuay, Southampton serves a reasonable breakfast for £4.50. This includes toast but no drink!

The breakfast fell down in a number of areas - no hash browns, the bacon was under cooked and the tomatos although nice and large were served with a lot of the watery tomato juice being 'sloshed' on the plate making your brown sauce become watery!

On the plus side the toast inclusion is good and the two sausages as one item was a good deal!

The surroundings were good, with a good view of the docks with three cruise liners being in when we were eating.

Lastly, although not included in the points system, the latte was far too hot!

Breakfast Blog

Welcome to the breakfast blog!

A long time ago, in a South West town (Newquay) we found the ultimate breakfast - or as we know it - the 10 out of 10 breakfast!

Since then we have always rated our breakfasts, cooked ones of course!

As this blog continues you will see some of the breakfasts we have had, all rated out of 10. We will also attempt to explain how we rate them .. which is going to be interesting as we have never really drawn up any rules before!

If you have had a breakfast, good or bad, then send a pic, send us a review and we will add it to the site!