Jenny's Cafe - Northampton

32 Gold Street

Northampton

Open 7 days a week

Breakfast served all day

Jenny's Cafe is on Gold Street not far from the central Travelodge.

 The Travelodge on Gold Street was offering this for breakfast, I was not impressed and decided Jenny's Cafe would be a much better option for breakfast.

The picture of the breakfast on the front of the menu didn't fill me with much hope but I figured economy sausage aside it should be ok.

7 breakfasts served all day, 7 days a week.

The tables were nicely spaced out and the cafe was really big inside.

 See what I mean, this place had no shortage of tables.

 

The long counter to the right is where the food is cooked and the orders are placed.

 The cappuccino cost £1.85 and arrived first.

 Next to arrive was the bill.

The slice of fried bread costing 40p arrived next lacking crispiness and with an oily soft centre.

Finally the Old English breakfast arrived, thankfully I am a fan of baked beans.

A hammer and chisel would have come in useful with the overcooked hash browns and black pudding.

The excellent fried egg was slowly drowning in the sea of beans.

The bacon was chewy and the sausage an air filled economy let down..

I always finish my breakfast usually but halfway through I admitted defeat, I just couldn't do it to myself.

My wife chose the vegetarian option, She liked the eggs and tomatoes, thought the mushrooms were really slimy, wasn't too impressed with the veg & mashed potato sausages and was horrified by the oil drenched deep fried potato waffles.

Northampton is becoming a very familiar place and this was my 16th time I had been here, It was Bedlam Breakout time again! By far the best UK Psychobilly event that takes place twice a year in Northampton. We were staying at the Travelodge on Gold Street this time and breakfast was not included. On Sunday morning we didn't make it out of the hotel until 2pm so we ate lunch at the excellent Oriental Garden Chinese Restaurant, well worth a visit and the best Chinese food I have ever eaten! I left the Roadmender venue around midnight on Sunday having witnessed another excellent Bedlam Breakout, seeing some top bands and chatting with some great people. I decided to resist the urge to get a kebab on the way back to the hotel as I wanted to have a huge appetite for breakfast the following morning. Over the weekend Jenny's Cafe had been mentioned a few times, some saying they liked it and one person saying it wasn't up to much. We were up quite early on Monday morning and decided to try Jenny's Cafe out and find out for ourselves..

Upon entering - My first thought was how big it is inside, plenty of tables to chose from and a well lit and clean dining area. Each table has a menu, salt and pepper. There is full table service so just take a seat and somebody will be over to take your order. Cutlery, sauces, your bill, drinks and finally your food are all brought over for you, at the end simply pay at the till. Towards the rear there is an open plan kitchen area at the end of the long counter with a customer toilet opposite. Certainly a nice enough place to sit and eat, so far so good! 7/10

Service - The staff here were great, efficient and really friendly. The lady taking our order came over shortly after we had sat down and was more than happy for us to change things within the breakfast such as eggs and ordering fried bread was not a problem despite it not being on the menu. We were asked which sauces we would like and everything arrived in good time. We were liking this place and it was seeming like we had made the right decision to come and eat here. 8/10

Contents - 1 sausage, 2 bacon, 2 slices of black pudding, 2 hash browns, 1 fried egg, 1 slice of tomato and beans (Fried bread was ordered as an extra) 7/10

Presentation - First to arrive was the fried bread looking undercooked but in some places burnt. When the rest of the breakfast arrived it filled the oval plate quite nicely, though this was mainly down to bean overload. The egg that was struggling to pop its yolk out from the top of the bean lake did look nicely cooked. Everything else though was looking overcooked and dry, the bacon was looking purple in places. The economy sausage was looking at me from the other side of the plate making me think that the Travelodge Breakfast Box may have actually been a much better option. Things were suddenly not looking so rosy.. 3/10

The food - The sausage was easily the worst I have ever eaten, mega cheap and awful tasting. When I first cut into it the air seeped out and it deflated into a sorry looking heap on top of the bacon, the second cut made the inside squirt out leaving my wife horrified as she watched on in disbelief. This took economy sausages to a level that I didn't realise existed and what made me finish eating it is a mystery I may never know the answer to. I tried some bacon which was seriously tough and overcooked but spent so long chewing it I simply gave up on it, it tasted ok but I just didn't have the time to spare. The black pudding was a similar story to the bacon but tasted really oily and wasn't something I had time to hack away at. The hash browns were overcooked with oily taste too and shattered as I attempted to cut through them, not good. The slice of tomato was ok and the beans seemed fine but with so many on the plate I left quite a few. The fried bread was holding far too much oil and soggy through being undercooked in oil that was not hot enough. On a positive note the fried egg was fantastic with a lovely runny yolk, just a shame that everything else was so dire.. 2/10

Value for money - The old English breakfast with fried bread and a coffee cost £7.50. The coffee was nice enough but the breakfast was seriously disappointing.. 3/10

Veggie option - 2 veggie sausages, eggs, potato waffles, tomatoes and mushrooms - £4.95

Overall - A nice looking cafe with a welcoming atmosphere and friendly staff. Such a huge shame that the food is so awful.. 5/10