We will be staying in travelodges several times during our upcoming trip (I really like spending 30 pounds a night for a family of 4).
But I also really like a full English breakfast! One of my kids refuses to eat breakfast so we may just buy coffee or a light something on the way to the day's activities but is a full breakfast generally something we could look for as a non-guest at an English hotel? I hate to give up breakfast several days in a row!
yes, and there are many places not just hotels but many cafes that will serve it and you will often see it advertised as an All Day Breakfast so you can indulge at anytime even getting the addition of chips to make it an even fuller meal.. I usually find when staying in a Travelodge (and I have stayed in quite a few) there is usually a place within very short walking distance but in most places throughout the country I very much doubt you will not find somewhere for a breakfast.Actually supermarket cafes are a good and cheap place for this type of offering as well as some of the bigger chain stores cafes like BHS and Marks & Spenser
You might find it easier (and cheaper) to find a local 'greasy spoon' as we call them. Basically a traditional café serving simple cooked (fried) food, not the new breed of fancy coffee shop cafe's. I wouldn't try asking for a Cappuccino or a Latte, it's tea or coffee, white or black... simple.
The key phrase to look for is 'all day breakfast'. These are where you tend to find the 'workers', so expect them to be rough and ready (not dangerous by the way, just simple with no glitz and glam). You will get a good traditional 'full English' for around £3-£5 depending on how big it is. Even the smallest towns usually have something like this. They can be harder to find in London as tend not to be in the tourist hotspots due to sky high rents.
Get a bacon butty (bacon sandwich, ask for well done, no fat) with red or brown (ketchup or brown sauce) and a mug of tea, sometimes called 'builders tea'. Chances are the tea will be included with the breakfast.
Mike hits the spot with "greasy spoon" ask any local and they should be able to direct you to one.
the ever present Wetherspoons pub chain open early 8am ? and do breakfasts
And if you want any version of "whole grain" bread or toast, ask for "brown" bread or toast?
forgot about Wetherspoons, when I was staying in a Travelodge in Bristol 2 years ago I had my breakfast in Wetherspoons a couple of times, very good it was too
Thank you! You are all awesome!
Travelodges generally serve a hot buffet breakfast so maybe you can sneak down early.
Maybe it is just my limited experience with English breakfasts, but your kid may have the right idea. The best English breakfast I had during a week in London a while back was an Egg McMuffin at McDonald's in Victoria Station. It was far superior to the beautifully sculpted scrambled reconstituted egg mixture, bland sausages with sawdust-tasting filler, white-bread toast and slice of steamed tomato at my hotel. Even McDonald's Canadian bacon was superior. Are there any Waffle Houses in England?
Roy, no Waffle Houses but KFC, Burger King, and Pizza Hut. Can't believe you missed them. Sounds like it would have been old home week for you!
One place that does a good cooked breakfast on the go is Tesco if the branch has a cafe attached to it.
If you find yourself around Victoria or Westminster, try the Regency on Regency Street. Excellent, and a cup of tea you could cut with a knife. Superb.
Eef,
Does the Travelodge provide a full English breakfast? In that situation, I'd probably tell the kid that doesn't eat breakfast that he can sit quietly and have a glass of juice or something, while the rest of the family has breakfast (and that wouldn't be negotiable).
Mike J,
I chuckled a bit when I read your comment about the Bacon Butty. One of my sons lived in the U.K. for awhile, and to this day he still enjoys a Bacon Butty / Sarnie on a regular basis. I gather the "brown sauce" is HP Sauce?
I'm really looking forward to the next time I can enjoy a full English breakfast!
Thank you for all the responses! They are very helpful and I had no idea there would be so many options!
We are staying in several Travelodges as well as other similar chain hotels on this trip. One Travelodge does have breakfast but the others serve a "breakfast box" which doesn't sound very appetizing to me.
My kid who won't eat breakfast, maybe he would go for a bacon butty! He really is quite hopeless and, being someone who adores breakfast, I just can't understand what his problem is! His refusal to eat breakfast is an old battle. If he doesn't want to eat, that's up to him. Of course, about 11:00 he's asking about lunch...if he would eat a bacon butty, at least his stomach would be on the same schedule as the rest of us!
A pukka bacon butty from a descent greasy spoon is a thing of joy! Up there with a good roast, and crackling!
