A delicious memory, and quite often a disgrace. <BR> <BR>Not that long ago, you would ask for scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, tomato, kidneys, kippers or whatever, and it would be cooked fresh and brought to your table. In anything other than privately owned establishments, that is now gone. English dinners have improved out of all recognition in the last twenty years, while breakfasts have shot the other way. Some of the egg dishes left lying around in hotel restaurants really defy description. Maybe it's some elaborate form of pest control - no self respecting rat would eat the stuff. <BR> <BR>In terms of what you pay, it just means you get a "hot meal" rather than a selection from a cold buffet. <BR> <BR>For a trip down English Breakfast memory lane, try Anglesea Town House in Dublin. <BR> <BR>What's this about kidneys and fried bread (the technical term for bread cooked in fat)? Lamb's kidneys sauteed in butter till you get that syrupy, slightly lumpy goo, poured onto fried bread. Die happy. Fry some bacon in a dry pan, letting the fat render. Take a piece of bread and soak up the fat in the dough. Offer the bread to an English person standing close by, and watch the silent battle between conscience and desire. <BR> <BR>While we're on the subject of breakfasts, is it me, or has the great American breakfast suffered a shocking fall from grace in the last ten years? Campaign for real breakfasts.

I agree with Terry; I too am puzzled by these responses. We have been in England at least 4 times in the past 6 years, and I am not at all "disgusted" or even slightly put off by the typical English Breakfast provided by our hotels. Yes, there is a substantial amount of food available, but you certainly do not need to take it all. There is normally a good selection of breads, cereal, fresh fruit and yogut in addition to the eggs, bacon, kippers, blood sausage, bangers, fried bread, mushrooms and tomatos. The bacon is more in the nature of ham -- not nearly as fatty as the American variety. Normally I pass on the blood sausage, fried bread, beans and tomatos; but I have no complaint with regard to the rest. What and what types of restaurants, may I ask, do the people "disgusted" by English breakfasts normally eat in the morning?

Yes Rand, I quite agree, it is difficult to find the old Scotched Eggs or Banger & Mash anymore in the pubs. I was referring to the variety of great food you mentioned, we esp enjoyed the lamb curries and broccoli chseese bake along with many others. <BR>I was also distressed to note the passing of the pub towel, luck was with me and I was able to pick op a couple from gracious bar tenders. This was in May of 1998 guess they are all gone by now.

A short time ago, I stayed at a hotel in Edinburgh as my partner was on business and I fancied a free excusion to visit my mates up there. I had breakfast at the hotel, which was listed as a Full Scottish and included much the same things but had haggis as well. <BR>It was very good and so thought most of the Americans, Spanish, Japanese etc. who were digging in. You could have fruit, yoghurt, juices and cereals as well as a full breakfast and toast too. Basically, I just wanted to say that this was a rare chance for me to live as a tourist in my own country and I have no awful stories to recount. Perhaps some of the awful breakfasts have been had at less reputable places than my 4* hotel.

I agree with Terry and cannot imagine what you people are talking about. English breakfast I have had from B7Bs to 4-star hotels has been wonderful with a variety of eggs, hot toast, cheese, juice, delicious English bacon (like canadian bacon), cereal, pastries, milk, coffee, tea, jams, etc. Are some of these posters just TROLLS?

SIMONE: <BR> <BR>So, if we disagree with your own personal opinions, we're trolls? <BR> <BR>I'm glad you had good food experiences in England, but that does not bar the people who have had bad experiences from posting here as well.

I think this whole thing depends on where you are talking about. I used to stay at very nice hotels in London and found the English breakfasts to be wonderful. Now that I rent a flat and don't do cooking there, when I'm missing the good English breakfast, I sometimes venture out to some very nice restaurants for one. Have had great ones at Simpson's in the Strand and at Fortnum & Masons. But if you are talking about staying at a super inexpensive hotel where they throw in an "English breakfast" to help try to get you there, then I would suspect it to be pretty vile. It just stands to reason. I don't expect a Ritz Carlton breakfast at a Motel 6 in the US either.

I don't know about inexpensive hotels, or expensive hotels either for that matter, but in my experience in British B&Bs, which stretches back a fair way, breakfasts are getting better, not worse. And I stay in pretty normal B&Bs, not the upscale version. I almost never see fried bread anymore (thank goodness), and instead of the hard eggs fried in indefinable grease of days of yore, I usually get nicely cooked eggs: poached, scrambled, or fried. At a number of places I've had good homemade preserves -- I've even picked up some recipes. <BR> <BR>If you don't like sausages or any other part of the spread, nobody ties you down and makes you eat them. I've always been asked what I want, and it's easy enough to say "just one fried egg, one slice of bacon, and toast" or whatever. I can't eat a cooked breakfast every day, so a lot of the time I just opt for cereal (usually a choice, that includes at least corn flakes and something with bran, for the non-Weetabix fan), juice, and fruit or yogurt. No problem.

The English breakfast we were served when in London consisted of: eggs, baked beans, toast, and bacon (which was really ham to us Americans). I had never eaten baked beans for breakfast before that.

We were invariably served eggs, bacon (Canadian type in the U.S.) grilled cherry tomato, grilled mushrooms, toast and gooseberry preserves, which I'd never heard of before. I have never been a breakfast eater at all, just drink coffee, so gave dear hubby my plate to eat. If a finnicky eater like DH ate two plates of it every morning, it must have been pretty good.

Personally, I think that most department store restaurants or supermarkets restaurants offer fairly good and cheap English breakfasts, cafeteria style, where you can usually pick 6 or 10 items of your choice for under £3. I would pick bacon, eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms (I dont think anyone has mentioned mushrooms but they are quite common) and toast. I dont like baked beans or sausages very much, basically you should be able to choose what you want. I have never found an English breakfast to be overly greasy. In fact the most greasy thing I have ever eaten is probably a burgar from McDonalds. And I'm surprised no-ones mentioned the ultimate British breakfast treat..... a bacon sarnie!!! yum.

I lived in England for 1 1/2 years back in the 70s and grew to love the English breakfasts. At first I thought it VERY ODD to serve eggs with baked beans, tomatoes, mushrooms , and sometimes chips! However, I grew to love it and now that I live back in America, serve breakfasts to my own family the same way and we are all slim. Not every day, of course, but on a Saturday morning when it is great to have a nice big breakfast. I like the English bacon because it is so thick and lean. I also love the sausage because it is bigger and not as spicey as American sausage. The bed and Breakfasts that we stay in when we return to England don't make it greasy! I think it depends on where you stay. A big breakfast is good to start the day on. We walk off all the calories anyway while traveling. I also love the HP brown sauce that the English serve with their eggs and bacon. It's called steak sauce in America! When I went north to Lancashire, it was common to have black pudding with breakfast. I HATED the idea of pig's blood mixed with barley but I was surprised to find that it tasted good! Maybe I'm wierd, but I also like the kippers with eggs too. This posting is making me hungry!

Has anyone ever had pancakes in England? We were there 10 years ago and never could locate them, even at the big glossy international hotel on the ring road where we stayed before flying out. Does this relate to what my English roomie once told me: it truly turned her stomach to see syrup or jam on the same plate as a cooked breakfast meat, she said no one in England would think of eating them together. We loved the big English breakfasts, which weren't greasy in our experience, but our children (9 and 6 at the time) really missed pancakes.

Pancakes, in Britain, are what Americans would call crepes -- they're almost the same as French crepes, with lemon and sugar being the fave flavor. Most people eat them just once a year, on 'Pancake Day' (Shrove Tuesday . . . not like Anglicans really get into the guilt thing during Lent.) <BR> <BR>Funny thing is that my British husband *was* revolted by sweet flavors on the breakfast plate, but I've since converted him to real US-style hotcakes, with a pat of butter inbetween each one, stacked high, with real maple syrup (which costs about 3 pounds for a tiny container!) on top. <BR> <BR>This is the same lovely husband who can't stand me using ketchup with my eggs & bacon, but who's perfectly happy with a fried tomato for brekkie (btw Bill Bryson described these as 'blood clots' . . . and I agree)!

Just to second Jeff, we had baked beans w/ our English b'fast. We also had the broiled tomatoes, which I found curious but b/c I love tomatoes, happily munched on them too. But I'd rather have my thousands of calories in the morning (esp. if I know I'll be walking all day) than right b/4 bedtime!

Yes, in answer to Marilyn, English people (who I know anyway) think the American breakfast of pancakes with syrup and some sort of cooked meat on the same plate is disgusting. No one would dream of mixing savoury and sweet in that way for breakfast. And you think WE eat strange foods..... :-) <BR>We dont eat pancakes for breakfast, I had these in the US once (IHOP) and they were nice but they were way too filling and I couldnt even manage half. Pancakes are thought of as more of a dessert with lemon and sugar and are quite thin, as already mentioned. You wont find pancakes very often in restaurants but people will make them at home. <BR>As far as the average persons breakfast, it would most likely be toast and jam or some sort of cereal (which I think are pretty much all the same ones as in the US). Some people like fruit for breakfast, like half a grapefruit. The full English breakfasts are mostly a weekend thing, when people have time to sit down with their family. <BR>

Yes, I found the food in England to be ABSOLUTELY horrible for the most part. I too, am a &lt;&lt;picky&gt;&gt; eater having lost 95lbs. Let alone did I find the &lt;&lt;English Breakfast&gt;&gt; to be &lt;&lt;unappealing&gt;&gt;, it struck me that the English are NOT very big on eating green vegetables. I even had a hard time finding green vegetables in Chinese restaurants in London. <BR>Thank goodness for France right across the Channel!!! :-) <BR>Food, Glorious Food!!! Vive la France!!! <BR> <BR>No offense to my English cousins across the pond. <BR> <BR>Ross. :-)

Yes, the food is terrible, and you can hardly see for the fog. It rains all the time, and they all have bad teeth. And they eat grilled tomatos for breakfast! At least, that's what it says in my Fodor's London guide, 1953! <BR> <BR>Sure, there is still too much bad food in London. But there is no excuse for eating it. All it takes is a little research through any one of numerous guides dedicated to dining, and the cuisine of the world is there to be sampled. Hey Ross.... wonder how many of those 95lbs you put back on in France?

To Nota: The question was 'what is an english breakfast'. It was not an invitation to express every ancient sterotype regarding English eating habits. <BR>

YuuuuuuuuuM! <BR> <BR>1) English Breakfasts vary a little depending on teh tastes of who cooks them but mine usually include: Sausages, streaky bacon, toast (fried bread is just toooo indulgent for me when I am cooking but I do love it occasionally when staying at hotels), eggs, beans, tinned plum tomatoes (I love those much more than grilled fresh ones) and plenty of mushrooms... In Scotland and North of England I have often found black pudding, haggis etc included, as I said variations abound... <BR> <BR>2) Most Brits do not eat the above for breakfast very often, and those that do tend to die very early of high cholesterol heart problems. <BR> <BR>3) American style pancakes are found in some parts of the UK, I find that Scottish dropcakes are very similar and very delicious. But in general they are not a typical UK thing to eat at brekkie. Both my hub and I enjoy them when we visit US though. My hub does have that british thing about not mixing sweet with meat but I love it. Infact he even moans when I put apple in with chicken a la normandie or any other combo... <BR> <BR>4) In B&Bs (unless particular classy ones) you tend to get one plate of breakfast, you can usually ask to exclude some things and have an extra egg instead or whatever but its only in classier B&Bs or hotels where you would get a breakfast buffet with the pastries ,yoghurts, fruits etc as well. <BR> <BR>5) Best place to find a cooked breakfast at any time of the day is to ask someone where the "local greasy spoon" is. This is the way we refer to the small and very cheap cafes offering english breakfast fodder all day at low prices. They are not pretty, just cheap formica tables and no fawning service but you do get a good fry up (forget the decent OJ though). They also do great sausage or bacon sandwiches which are great to fill that gap of an afternoon of touring. <BR> <BR>OK I better stop now, I just know the site's going to burp at such a burbling long post....