My husband and I just returned from England yesterday. My husband is the type of guy who can't start the day without a full, hot breakfast. That was more of a challenge in France & Italy, but the English breakfast was just fine. You just have to specify what you want, because they offer lots of "extras" we typically don't eat at breatfast i.e. baked beans. We always had eggs (scrambled, poached or fried), bacon (which is more like canadian bacon or ham) and toast. English breakfast is a full, hot breakfast, as opposed to Continential breakfast (which is just bread & coffee).

I've very much enjoyed reading these contributions. Is it too late to join in? What surprises me is the aparently commonly held American view that eating tomatoes at breakfast is a little odd. A Sydneysider such as me would find it odd not to be served a grilled tomato as a garnish with a traditional style bacon or sausage and egg style breakfast. It is also common for to tomatoes to be a feature in their own right - how about slow oven roasted tomato and sliced avocado on toasted turkish bread or the same with a pile of corn fritters. And how about a piece of warm baguette with too much butter and sliced fresh roma tomatoes tomatoes?

Depending on where I've stayed, I've had three kinds of English breakfasts: <BR>When we stayed at a B&B in private home, the hostess laid out a spread that included fresh cherry tomatoes, ham, hard boiled eggs, toasted toast, croissants, a variety of cereals, and yoghurt. She also made a hot dish, like a quiche. We chowed down enough to last through lunch. <BR>When I stayed at a hotel B&B, I got fried eggs (runny, but that's the way I like them), toasted toast, and that cross between ham and American bacon. <BR>In Northern Ireland, every B&B served two fried eggs, two fried sausages, two pieces of that bacon cross, a broiled full-sized tomato, sauteed mushrooms, beans, and bread fried in bacon grease. When one of the girls had her annual checkup after she returned, the doctor thought the cholesterol reading was wrong, because it was so high compared to her previous readings. She told him "let me come back in two weeks and take it again" - and it was back down to where it should have been. <BR> <BR>We didn't get any lager, though - damn.

I am English and I have absolutely no idea where most of these respondents have been eating. There is nothing disgusting about the 'English' breakfast - in fact there is nothing particularly English about the 'English' breakfast and from experience I would say it is remarkably similar to the 'American' breakfast. Perhaps the only real difference is that we serve baked beans and sometimes black pudding and we don't have a stack of pancakes & syrup on the side. <BR> <BR>And having had an 'American' buffet breakfast, I would say that perhaps people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. It should go without saying that the quality of your food depends largely on where you eat. There is good and bad on both sides of the Atlantic. Live with it.

Two years ago my wife and i took a 23 day tour of UK and Ireland. Some of the people we were with, from the US, are still talking about "those breakfasts". <BR> <BR>We are just back from 10 days in Scotland at the upper end of the market and the breakfasts and the dinners were out of this world. Sure you have to be prepared to try something new. <BR> <BR>One of our meals was enlivened by yet another US type who asked what a dish consisted of. On being told it was lamb, he said “Hell I never eat sheep” and promptly ordered haggis. The waitress kept a lovely straight face! <BR> <BR>

Wow, I guess my husband and myself are in the minority, we actually like English Breakfasts. At some b & b's they are better then others. Since I don't eat meat, I always just request an English breakfast with scrambled eggs and tomato and nearly always they triple the amount of eggs to compensate for the lack of meat. My hubby is a die hard carnivore and he loves the bacon, the only thing he is not too keen on are the sausage thingy's which he claims are too mushy.

English, Scottish and Irish Breakfast. <BR> <BR>We found the same breakfast with different names.. eggs, bacon, sausage, tomato, juice, coffee or tea, toast, cereals and fruit. <BR> <BR>The fried bread there was what my family calls Texas Toast. had somewhere a potato cake as well... I loved fried toast and the tomatoes! <BR> <BR>We had to leave early from a B&B to catch a bus, and told them we would only want the toast (plain) in the am. The hosts were shocked. No one had ever just requested toast! <BR> <BR>

A long time ago, we had breakfast in a B&B in Portsmouth. The owner, wanting to do something special for us, served heaping plates of...(get this!!!)... <BR>Spaghetti-O's. She left us for a moment while her big Boxer dog watched over us from the other side of the table. Guess who ate the Spaghetti'Os!

Went to London last summer, my husband and I both agree...stick to muffins or croissants for breakfast. Brit bacon is thick and greasy, not thin, smoky like we are used to. Our eggs were fried in (I think) olive oil. Usually they throw in a tomato, and sometimes beans on the side. We both dislike the clotted cream (used like butter, but doesn't taste like it at all). If it weren't for the small Greek deli across the street from our hotel,I think we would have starved.

Your basic B&B English breakfast is a heart attack served on a plate. <BR> <BR>Just got back from the mother land (I'm Australian) and this is what I was served at most places. Eggs done any way you like, pan fried bacon, baked beans, mushrooms, shallow fried toast and tomato. If you're lucky you'll get Back Pudding. Make sure you ask for tomato sauce. Yumm! <BR> <BR>A big helping of that will set you up for the day! <BR> <BR>Matthew

What ever it is called, you should not eat it, every day that is. After a week, you can probably hear your left vertricle snapping shut from the cholestral. Anyway, doesn't sound much different than a "farm" breakfast,a but they ate that back in the days when they got up at 5 to milk the cows, then slaved like a horse the rest of the day--take my advise and go for the toast and yogurt.

It's the best thing in the world to cure a hangover!

Normal Scottish breakfast - black coffee, asprin.

If all you Americans eat so healthily, then why has America statistically got the highest obesity rate in the world?

breakfast, anybody?

Al: Spaghettios! LOL, I love it! Complete nutrition in a can! Judy

UUGH! where's the pancakes with syrup, waffles, cinammon toast, grits, and hashbrowns. If my bacon (obviously the streaky kind) isn't so crisp that it crumbles into a million pieces when you bite into it, forget it I'm not eating it. whoever heard of baked beans, kidneys, tomatoes, and broccolli for breakfast? Guess I'll be at the McDonald's!

I must say I do not know why people travel if they are not willing to experience the culture. Do they eat at McDonalds when they are at home,would they recommend it to travelers as a good place to eat?

We found the pubs & supermarkets good places to eat but be advised that "lemonade" is something like our Sprite, "jacket potatoes" are baked & ice is scarce. Our main problem in the UK is finding places to eat if the time isn't a "meal" time. I tend to stick with ham sandwiches & get fruit at the market. I'm not impressed with English meals but Americans are kind of spoiled with everything being so accessible any time we want it. The lovely & funny English people make up for the meals.

I agree with you Pam, why travel at all if you want everything to be just like home? And talking about everything being fried in England, it's better than the greasy food in the states: fries, cheeseburgers, pizza etc. Get a life or don't go out of your house!