Do Brits make the best breakfasts in the world?

petergunn

plywood violin
Where does one get a good breakfast in Montreal? I've never come across anywhere decent yet. Of course, the croissants and pastries can be great, but they don't really qualify as breakfast unless you eat about 5 of them. No sir, while I've had great lunches and a couple of the best dinners of my entire life there, breakfasts have always been rather a let-down. Far too many eggs benedicts for my liking. And while we're at it, whose stupid idea was eggs benedict anyway? Was it something to do with that bloke out of the A Team? Either way, eggs are quite eggy enough thank you without covering them in more egg. People have been conned into thinking that they're a posh indulgence, but really the whole concept is about as ridiculous as serving chips with a mashed potato sauce or a sandwich in which the filling is more bread.

Eggs Benedict = Your Own Fault...

i cannot stand hollandaise sauce... once got in an argument w/ a friend in college who could not believe that i hated hollandaise sauce ("it's eggs and butter, who doesn't like eggs and butter!") and thus hated eggs benedict...

i actually only go out to breakfast once in a blue moon, so despite the large amount of time i have spent in montreal, i have only been out to breakfast there a handful of times... that said, i have never had a bad breakfast there...

Beauty's, Cosmo's, and the Eggspectations chain have all provided me w/ decent breakfasts... also, never discount the montreal bagel... possibly the best bagels in the world... St. Viatur St. is the bagel spot...

friends of mine swear by L'avenue in Mont-Royal as well for breakfast... never been...
 

stelfox

Beast of Burden
Beauty's, Cosmo's, and the Eggspectations chain have all provided me w/ decent breakfasts... also, never discount the montreal bagel... possibly the best bagels in the world... St. Viatur St. is the bagel spot...

friends of mine swear by L'avenue in Mont-Royal as well for breakfast... never been...

Ah, Montreal Bagels... now you're talking. Luckily I'm always based in an apartment maybe 2 minutes' walk from St Viateur and about 20 seconds from Fairmount Bagel Bakery. Given the choice I'd always go for St Viatuer, but there's not much in it and when it's minus-enough-to-kill-you degrees celsius, that 1 minute 40 seconds of exposure is a big deciding factor.
Go further up Avenue Du Parc and there is a killer Jewish bakery too that sells really shitty coffee out of a machine and the most awesome rugelach in a rainbow of flavours... chocolate, cinnamon, vanilla, strawberry and more. These are pretty good for an on the hoof breakfast, though the downside is that you can eat about haf a ton of them pretty easily.
You have to be kidding about the Eggspectation chain, though. It stinks! The menu options are all really bad egg-based puns, like Oy Vegg (something involving latkes), Yolk Around The Clock and the Eggstravaganza. Some people actually use these names when ordering things - it's horrible to hear... "I'll have the Uneggspected please..."
Good grief, that's just cruel and wrong. I don't want to feel mentally challenged when I'm ordering a meal, thanks. I can do that without paying for the privilege.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
once my girlfriend told me i got up and made a phone call at 4 AM and went back to sleep. she asked me about it in the morning and i had no idea what she was talking about. and then she went back to her place and got a message on her answer machine from me: unintelligible non-sense.

Ha, you think that's bad...my dad once went sleep-driving around Bristol city centre. My gran heard the garage door open and the engine start at some ungodly hour in the morning and went downstairs to find him and his car missing. When he got back some time later she asked him what he was doing, and he apparently said "You wouldn't understand" and went back to bed. He has no memory of this and only knows about it from what she told him the next day. Weeeird.
 

petergunn

plywood violin
You have to be kidding about the Eggspectation chain, though. It stinks! The menu options are all really bad egg-based puns, like Oy Vegg (something involving latkes), Yolk Around The Clock and the Eggstravaganza. Some people actually use these names when ordering things - it's horrible to hear... "I'll have the Uneggspected please..."
Good grief, that's just cruel and wrong. I don't want to feel mentally challenged when I'm ordering a meal, thanks. I can do that without paying for the privilege.

the two times i went to Eggspectations, i kept it simple and it was good...

when places have stupid names, i tend to do alot of pointing at the menu ("i'll have THAT")...
 

viktorvaughn

Well-known member
I think I have perfected it -

2 x egg (Fried/scrambled depending on mood; if scrambled deposit on toast. Poached if feeling austere. Yolks runny of course.)
2 x bacon
mushrooms
beans
loads of toast
loads of tea
brown sauce

No bubble, hash browns, grilled toms, sausages or black pudding although they are all lovely in their own right. If you include everything it's like Xmas dinner with 'all the trimmings' - looks amazing but turns into a salty meaty grease fest on the plate where your taste-buds get overloaded and you can't even distinguish things and enjoy them for what they are.

The eggs are the rich and wondrous centre-piece of the meal for me - if I were to forcibly strip away ingredients from my meal the eggs would undoubtedly be the last to go.

Mushrooms should not be too greasy. Bacon should be of a high quality and not too salty. Tea should be builders', potent and not over milked. Plate should be large and white and the whole thing should be accompanied by a jug of tap water (and a glass).
 
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viktorvaughn

Well-known member
http://londonreviewofbreakfasts.blogspot.com/2006/01/new-river-cafe-stoke-newington.html

Feeling this place. Food is a solid 7/10 but it's a nice little spot.

http://londonreviewofbreakfasts.blogspot.com/2007/01/leos-caf-and-restaurant-dalston.html

Also decent (and cheap). The guys working there very friendly and there was some nice community vibes I thought. I was party to an incredibly load conversation about how Obama will be assassinated if he become president as the US isn't ready for a black man in charge. Wicked bright red / yellow formica type appearance too.
 
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straight

wings cru
tarty posh breakfasts usually get slated by myself but i was taken to papa dels opposite highgate staton and they do an italian version of a full english with a soda bread sort of thing, and their own spicy baked beans and it was unbelievable. sausages were a bit herby but for £4 its peerless
 

swears

preppy-kei
I want crispy bacon and scrambled eggs made with cream and real butter on thick wholemeal toast with HP sauce.
 

viktorvaughn

Well-known member
More breakfast chat please.

I like toast with butter and a little marmite with poached eggs on, very nice.

Scrambled egg sandwich with cheese melted in also good.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Speaking of which, I tried a blue cheese called Stichelton last week and I have to say it surpassed both of these - very strong and quite similar to Roquefort but with a little extra oomph

http://www.stichelton.co.uk/

Wow, that sounds great. Did you buy it while you were away, or was it on sale in Broadway market?

There's a great cheese called Blackstick's Blue, which is actually orange like Red Leicester (though blue-veined, obviously) and it sort of midway between Stilton and Roquefort. Highly recommended.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
Got it in Hastings but it looks as though it is made in Nottinghamshire and should be available from Neil's Yard.
 
S

simon silverdollar

Guest
scrambled eggs with chilli sauce mixed in (preferably nando's peri peri). best hangover breakfast going.
 
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