Breakfast on the M4
 

We're driving down the M4 in the morning and wanted to find a place to stop for (non-English) breakfast. We're starting near Reading and will end in Wiltshire at some country hotel that only serves a typical English breakfast. We were hoping for something a bit more carb-y and sugary! Dreams of pancakes drenched in syrup are floating in my head but will settle for croissants or other pastry. I'm hoping to do better than a stop at the services Starbucks!

We have around 4 hours to make this trip so can venture a bit off the motorway but don't want to stay too far . . .

Any suggestions?

Interesting question. I worked in Reading for almost 5 years and had to head down the M4 countless times.

Afraid breakfast was usually a Costa coffee (I actually prefer it to Starbucks) and one of their pastries, they usually looked better than they tasted but again, I have had much worse. Most of thr M4 service stops have a Costa.

http)://motorwayservicesonline.co.uk/M4

http://www.motorwayservices.info/ (some funny reviews)

I never had time to get off the motorway to find a decent place for breakfast. Hotels are probably your best chance for finding pancakes but you're right, they aren't usual UK breakfast fare. I remember a place near my company's London office, My Old Dutch, they did sweet and savory pancakes but that doesn't help you much.

Do not go near the Little Chef chain.

"Pancakes drenched in syrup" would be a very odd item indeed to see on a breakfast menu in the UK. I once stayed in a hotel in the USA that was next to an IHOP restaurant - it sticks in my mind as one of the weirdest breakfasts I ever had (to my British tastes). Oddly enough, the dear old Little Chefs are the ONLY place I can think of that did pancakes, but it's a chain in terminal decline and most branches have closed or been converted into a Starbucks.

No to Little Chef? I thought Heston Blumenthal was going to transform that place!?!?

Ah Gordon -- on our first trip to England we were served a proper English breakfast and still think of it as "one of the weirdest breakfasts I ever had." Fried eggs, fried tomatoes, fried mushrooms, back bacon . . .

After scouring the internet I think we've landed on Bill's Restaurant. One in Reading if we wish to start with breakfast or one in Bath if we want to drive first.
http://www.bills-website.co.uk/index.html
We've had lunches and dinners there but never breakfast. Buttermilk pancakes are on the menu!!

Cheers!

how about a mcdonalds at some exit??

I suppose other nation's ideas of what to eat for breakfast always seem a bit weird. Americans seem to get especially freaked at the idea of cooked tomatoes - does anyone know why?

It works the other way too. Brits are always amused at the idea of biscuits and gravy. For them, biscuits = cookies, and gravy is certainly not a breakfast thing, being dark brown, thick and made with the juices of roasted meat. Ahhhh - Bisto.

On holiday in Germany, I realised that - for me at least - cheese does not go well with coffee.

I hope you are not disappointed by British buttermilk pancakes. For us, pancakes are thin, with a filling, like crepes. Eating a stack of thick American pancakes just seems gross.

You'll be okay in Bill's as they do US style breakfast pancakes. Bill's is a great choice for brekko, had no idea they had branched out as far as Reading, my rather unexciting alma mater.

American typically do not eat vegatables (I know tomato is a fruit technically) for breakfast.

And what we eat varies a lot by area.

In NYC it;s often coffee and a bagel with a schmear.

In the south they eat a lot of grits (ick!).

There are numerous chains that sell panacakes and waffles but I have found that most of htem are awful. (My dad made gret pancakes - small, thins, crispyr rond the edges with crunchy bacon - the big fat goeey ones made by change are hideous to me).

As for English breakfast - sorry I can;t eat so much fat early in the AM But half cooked eggs, strange rubbery bacon and hard cold toast served in special silver toast chillers (toat is supposed to be soft, warm and buttery) besides grilled vegetables - is just weird. (It's actually a lot like a really bad brunch - which should be eggs florentine or similar - but without the champagne or mimosa.)

>> Do not go near the Little Chef chain <<

I STRONGLY second this advice. The only time I ever had food poisoning in the U.K. was after a Little Chef "experience" - I can't call it food - toxic waste would be more accurate.

"American typically do not eat vegatables (I know tomato is a fruit technically) for breakfast."

You mean you never eat hash browns? (lol)

I live in the south and there are places here serving omelets filled with all sorts of stuff, including veggies, not to mention fruit on the side instead of hash browns if you like. See, e.g. - http://www.anotherbrokenegg.com/wp-c...orrisville.pdf

Won't help you on this trip BKP but for another time or other readers who are pancake lovers here is a place that serves apple pancakes with bacon and maple syrup. Yes, real maple syrup, not Aunt Jamima's Pancake Syrup.

Unfortuntaly, it's in Pitlochry, Scotland and you have to be a guest to eat there.
http://www.craigatinhouse.co.uk/breakfast/

Maybe it will provide a good reason to visit the area. ;-)

Well here's my mini M4 trip report.

Breakfast at Bills was okay. As chartley mentioned above the Brisith seem to prefer the thin pancakes over the fluffy ones. I think they think the toppings are the star of the dish and don't realize that the pancakes themselves should have a flavour and texture of their own. So, we ate thick and dense pancakes misted with maple syrup and then smothered in fruit. I prefer a lighter fluffier pancake drenched in syrup!

We also ate scrambled eggs on toast with streaky bacon so our tummies were definitely full but it did take ordering two meals to get the same amount of food normally served in the states!

No veg at breakfast?? I think catsup on hash browns should count as two of my five a day!

thursday -- I shouldn't have clicked your link! Now I'm even hungrier for American breakfasts!

Improviser -- your link looks delicious but probably too far off the M4 for today's breakfast. Another time I think!

For all the British that replied -- next time you're in the states find a good diner and order a stack of buttermilk pancakes. We may convert you yet.

" it did take ordering two meals to get the same amount of food normally served in the states!"

When I moved to the US from the UK in the 70's I could NOT BELIEVE the portion sizes! Never mind the amount my co-workers ate at all-you-can-eat buffets at lunch time. I'd eat one plate, and they'd go through three. And people wonder about the obesity epidemic. (Although I gather Brits have been fattening up too.)

No - I do NOT eat potatoes for breakfast. Breakfast is coffee, juice (fresh OJ ) and cereal or raisin toast or croissants. AT 7:30 or 8 in the am I can;t eat a big meal and a ton of fat.

I know some people do - but this is not the usual breakfast in the US.

I know some people do eat a cooked breakfast - perhaps if they have jobs requiring a lot of exertion and can burn off all those calories. But we eat eggs or omelettes only as brunch - so noon to 2 pm or so. Not on first getting up.

And don;t start on those chain pancake places. We got stuck eating in one near atlanta and they served them (giant fat, partly raw pancakes with MARGERINE instead of real butter and an assortment of colored sugar syrups. Nothing like real maple syrup anywhere to be seen. When I asked they offered me a "maple-flavored" syrup - again just sugar syrup with perhaps a teaspoon of real maple syrup in a whole jug. IMHO should have been closed for misrepresentation.

I agree that portions are way bigger in the US but I've never seen anyone clean a plate like a Brit! They attack their plates with a precise strategy -- leaving the last bite to perfectly wipe up any sauce or gravy. The plates could almost go back in the cupboards they are so clean. I've gotten used to telling waitstaff that I did enjoy my food even though I didn't finish it all. They always ask!

nytraveler - I think eating habits in the north of the US are quite different from the south (bagels and lox might be a bit hard to find, for instance). And quite likely from the west, too. Despite the proliferation of chains like McD's and Starbucks, the US isn't a monolith.

BKP - don't the French aim to finish the sauce, too? Why waste it?

Oh dear -- I didn't realize eggs could only be eaten between noon and 2! But I love scrambled eggs for breakfast and omelettes for dinner. Now when can a deviled egg be safely consumed?

thursday -- wasting sauce is silly -- but eating more than I want to just to avoid waste is silly too. In a perfect world a plate is filled with just the right amount of food but if not I prefer to eat until I'm finished rather than overeating just to clean my plate.

No to Little Chef? I thought Heston Blumenthal was going to transform that place!?!?>>

we made that mistake too last October on the way home from LHR. Instead of taking the hotel breakfast [OK it was £15, but at least it looked edible] we opted for an early start and a Little Chef. I know that we're spoiled by having eggs from our own hens, but what I was offered as scrambled egg on toast was appalling - a heap of eggs that had been moved around a pan without butter, salt or pepper until they were rubbery and over-cooked, surrounded by 4 triangles of unbuttered toast. that was it. DH thought I was a bit severe with the waitress who was unfortunate enough to come over to ask us if we were enjoying our meal, but honestly?!

as for the great british fry-up, we are presently debating whether or not to partake prior to the great Lions v Aus showdown on Saturday. The local rugby club is offering a "full english" for £5 comprising [wait for it....}

egg, bacon, sausage, tinned tomato, grilled fresh tomato, beans, hash browns, mushrooms, black pudding and toast or fried bread. And tea or coffee.

You are certainly very full at the end of all that [though it didn't stop many of the club members downing a pint or two during the match]. but you don't need to eat anything else all day.

Bargain!

PS - the first week some club members were accompanied by a chinese friend who managed to eat that lot with chopsticks! respect!

ann - anyone who can eat noodles with chopsicks should have no difficulty with a British breakfast, lol. It always amazes me that people who use chopsticks also eat noodles! (And you should try doing it with Korean chopsticks! Square and metal...)

I've tried buttermilk pancakes when in the US. Nice enough, but I fill up quickly on them, and then get hungry again quite quickly. I love Maple syrup, but find that carb OD all too much for breakfast.

I tend to skip breakfast now when in the US and find somewhere midday for lunch.

A (well cooked) British cooked breakfast is high in protein and the tomatoes provide lycopene so it is actually a very healthy was to start the day, and you certainly don't need any lunch after one.

On our recent trip back to teh UK we enjoyed teh breakfasts at the Jolly Brewers - especially as we didn't have to have vast quantities every day. Poached eggs were an option instead of fried - and delicious they were too.

We had breakfast with my SIL at their golf club before catching the ferry home, and that was massive, 2 eggs, 2 rashers of bacon, 2 fat sausages, tomato, mushrooms, fried bread(fried in dripping whats more yummy), with an option of baked beans and or black pudding. We didn't eat for the rest of the day.

annhig -- what a deal but two kinds of tomatoes and nothing sweet? I think I'd pass.

At my favourite breakfast place in the states they take a frosted cinnamon roll, slice it in half, dunk it in eggy mixture and turn it into French toast. Drizzled with syrup and dusted with icing sugar it's definitely a once in a while treat!

hetis -- just saw your breakfast -- all that protein!

On holiday on the continent, I really enjoy hotel breakfast buffets. For a day of site seeing, a breakfast a cold meats and cheeses, yogurt and a croissant with jam is perfect. Plenty of protein to fill my tummy but enough sugary carbs to get me moving.

I love a big American breakfast but not on days where I have a lot to do!

I'm an Anglophile but I stop at the British breakfast-continental all the way. Coffee/tea, orange juice and a croissant. Though I did fall in love with the Turkish breakfast in Istanbul and Turkey-the fresh, unsweetened yogurt, tomatoes, cucumber, olives and simit bread capped off. Yum.

I'll always remember my first visit to the UK with my father. He wanted to be nice and pick up breakfast for me so while I was getting ready he went and bought us some bacon, egg and tomato breakfast sandwiches at the local cafe. But you should have seen the look on his face when he realized the bacon was Canadian bacon not rashers.

Another thing I find interesting is that in the UK, french toast is eaten at lunch or dinner w/o syrup. My friend called it eggy bread. But what good is French Toast w/o maple syrup?!

annhig -- what a deal but two kinds of tomatoes and nothing sweet? I think I'd pass. >>

there's someone who's never had british style baked beans which are actually quite sweet.

emily - we always eat french toast for breakfast, and with maple syrup too.

"For all the British that replied -- next time you're in the states find a good diner and order a stack of buttermilk pancakes. We may convert you yet."

I did, you didn't

Neither did the US version of bacon - cremated strips of heavens knows what that disintegrate like shrapnel when you prod them with a fork! :-)

I've mentioned before, I am sure we will get consensus among Brits/Americans over privatised healthcare and gun control before we are able to agree on breakfast.

You're right that I've never had baked beans for breakfast. I actually associate them with burgers and BBQ so eating them in the morning seems a bit off. I should try them, I know. Do you think it will be a requirement for citizenship??

My South African friend eats Eggy Bread (French toast) with tomato sauce (catsup)!

Ah willit -- give us another chance! Did you have any maple syrup to soften the bacon? Use the last bit of sausage to mop up any extra syrup?

I gave up my right to guns and private health care but you'll have to pry my pancakes out of my cold, dead hands (which will still be sticky from the syrup).

"you'll have to pry my pancakes out of my cold, dead hands (which will still be sticky from the syrup)."

:-)

You're right that I've never had baked beans for breakfast. I actually associate them with burgers and BBQ so eating them in the morning seems a bit off. I should try them, I know. Do you think it will be a requirement for citizenship??>>

BKP - I wouldn't normally consider it, and have never much liked baked beans to be honest, but they provide the sweetness that all those pork products [sausages, bacon, black pudding] and fat require.

I do like pork with a bit of sweet! The Sensible English add a bit of brown sugar to the beans. The Americans create this:

http://www.voodoodoughnut.com/index.php

The top doughnut is a maple bar with strips of bacon. It's terrible and wonderful all at once.

The top doughnut is a maple bar with strips of bacon. It's terrible and wonderful all at once.>>

sounds a bit like deep-fried mars bars.

Emily71, it was not Canadian bacon on your breakfast sandwich. Canadian bacon is peameal bacon while British bacon is simply back bacon cut from another part of the pig.
http://www.thepauperedchef.com/2010/...h-rashers.html

For everyone else, now you can start on bread. I always remember a young girl in a hotel dining room responding to my request for brown toast with, 'all toast is brown'.

In Canada unbleached bread (whole wheat, 7 grain et al) are referred to as brown bread and you make brown toast using brown bread. In the USA, they generally refer to wheat toast. But white bread toasted is not called brown toast anywhere that I am aware of.

@Improviser-thank you for the clarification-to the untrained eye, it looked like the bacon used on an Egg McMuffin here in the States.

@annhig-So they finally imported maple syrup to Britain? Just kidding, though it seems American expats are always moaning about not finding real maple syrup.

As long as we are taking baked beans, beans on toast are one of my favorite comfort foods. I first tried them in college after a roommate came back from a semester in Manchester. I was leery at first but she had brought back Heinz Baked Beans(the airport people must have thought she was nuts) and with toasted bread and melted cheese on top..Yum! And very, very cheap. I still make it every once in a while though I can't convert anyone.

The first time we visited England (1972) we stayed at a hostel where among other things they served beans on toast and spaghetti (think it must have been Chef BoyRDee or something else out of a can) on toast. We've never forgotten it but we've never eaten it again, either!

<<As for English breakfast - sorry I can;t eat so much fat early in the AM But half cooked eggs, strange rubbery bacon and hard cold toast served in special silver toast chillers (toat is supposed to be soft, warm and buttery) besides grilled vegetables - is just weird.>>:

I find it strange that people would find eggs, bacon, sausage & tomatoes for breakfast as weird. I'm pretty sure I've seen all these items in every mid to high end chain hotel no matter where I've been in the world, I guess there must be plenty of weird people around or they wouldn't serve it.

At home a Full English is not something the vast majority of people would have everyday, as with most posters it would be coffee / tea / cereal / toast.

For us, pancakes or French toast with maple syrup are considered a treat, usually on a Sunday around 10:30 with no need/desire for lunch.

My Brit husband isn't a huge fan but will eat them occasionally. He's more a Shrove Tuesday pancake kind of guy.

Agree, beakfast is almost always cereal, coffee, fresh fruit or juice. Full English for us is hotel fare and after the 2nd morning it's time to back away.

BKP, I have never heard of some of those concoctions but believe they exist. Disbetes Type 2, here we come.

Beans on toast in the UK is like Kraft dinner in the US. Student fare, cheap and filling.


Even in countries where 'bacon and eggs' is a norm there are major differences. In the UK, the norm is to order a 'full English breakfast'. That's it, that's all they generally say and all the waiter/waitress wants to know. Generally, I am not saying it is an absolute.

In the US and Canada, they go through half a dozen decision making choices before the order is complete. How do you want your eggs, (boiled, scrambled, poached, over easy, sunny side up, well done) how do you want your bacon (what kind and crisp or not), what kind of toast would you like (white, wheat/brown, sourdough, multigrain,etc.) How about 'texas toast' who knows that one? Then, homefries? Yes/no?

For a N. American who first encounters a waiter/waitress in the UK and orders bacon and eggs and then have the server immediately walk away before they can tell them how they want the eggs, what kind of toast, crisp bacon or not, it can be very surpising indeed. You sit there thinking, but they don't know what I want yet!!!

Most annoying of all though in the years I lived in the UK was the hard eggs. I used to sing 'hard eggs, hard eggs, all I get for breakfast is hard eggs', to the tune of 'Heartaches'. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-f4FAny0d1c

I am coming out in defence of Little Chef. If you want a "full English", the Early Starter is a fine example. Sausage, bacon, fried egg, hash brown, baked beans and toast or fried bread, cooked to order. Absolutely don't have scrambled eggs - they're done in the microwave. But then scrambled eggs have no place in a full English anyway - fried, or at a push, poached. You need the runny yolk for the bacon and fried bread, mmm, the taste of heaven.

@annhig-So they finally imported maple syrup to Britain? Just kidding, though it seems American expats are always moaning about not finding real maple syrup.>>

then they can't be trying very hard, emily. we've been eating it for at least 24 years. I know that as we ate it for the first time when we visited Canada with DD who was then one. she's 25 now and we've always had some in the fridge since the day we came back from that trip.

<<I find it strange that people would find eggs, bacon, sausage & tomatoes for breakfast as weird. I'm pretty sure I've seen all these items in every mid to high end chain hotel no matter where I've been in the world, I guess there must be plenty of weird people around or they wouldn't serve it.>>

@geordie - how true. We had some of the best eggs and bacon ever in Sri Lanka last year. How they got bacon of that quality in the middle of a Sri Lankan tea plantation at 6000 feet I'll never know.

<<In the US and Canada, they go through half a dozen decision making choices before the order is complete. How do you want your eggs, (boiled, scrambled, poached, over easy, sunny side up, well done) how do you want your bacon (what kind and crisp or not), what kind of toast would you like (white, wheat/brown, sourdough, multigrain,etc.) How about 'texas toast' who knows that one? Then, homefries? Yes/no?>>

@improvisor - life's just to short for all of that. the only choice you get at the rugby club is toast or fried bread and that's fine by me. BTW I've never been asked how I want my bacon in the US - IME it always comes burnt to a crisp whether I want it that way or not.

@anicecupoftea - I didn't want a full english, just scrambled eggs on toast. that's eggs scrambled gently with some butter, salt and pepper served ON the toast. make it in the microwave if you like but make it properly. How hard can it be?
and i have absolutely no idea what you mean by "hard eggs". boiled, fried, poached? the one time they DO ask you how you want your egg/s is when you ask for a boiled egg.

Crisp bacon may be another regional thing. I like mine really crisp - just short of black - and here in the US south they like to serve it limp. Getting it crisp AND arriving at the same time as my omelet doesn't always work out, despite a very clear request....