12 St Georges Street
Norwich
NR3 1BA
Sunday breakfast from 9am till 1pm
I walk past Expresso everytime I walk into the city and have enjoyed a cappuccino or two outside in the past.
This sign was one I couldn't ignore.
The counter is in the centre.
There are plenty of tables to choose from in the cafe.
It's much quieter in the back room where there are a few more tables.
She looked like she was having a great time!
This menu is only served on a Sunday
If you want the Expresso Full English with both extras it does get expensive at £10.20.
The regular cappuccino cost £2.30, it's a decent size and tasted amazing!
Quality sauces were already on the table as well as sugar, salt and pepper.
For £10.20 it didn't seem like much breakfast for your money, I just hoped it was all about the taste here.
Both breakfasts come with toasted ciabatta, it seemed a bit stale in the centre though.
The plates were nice and hot ensuring the food stayed that way too, sadly the butter didn't cope too well with this..
The mushroom was excellent and the eggs close to perfect.
This is how I always eat my eggs, on top of the toast with the beans. Many can't bear to see the two touching but I love eating them both together.
When I popped the yolk it flowed beautifully.
Great bacon and a decent sausage.
Lovely texture and flavour but I would expect two on a breakfast costing over £10.
The tomato looked great but tasted of nothing at all.
A small portion of beans in quite a lot of sauce
The crispy hash browns were hiding under the eggs.
The vegetarian breakfast came with 3 veggie sausages (my wife got lucky as two are listed on the menu!) and double the mushrooms and tomatoes. With the beans and hash browns added as extras it cost £9.20 and I thought the presentation was much better than the Full English.
I walked past Expresso Cafe on St Georges Street the other week as I do on a regular basis on my route into the city. This time though I spotted the Sunday breakfast sign which stopped me in my tracks. I had drunk some excellent coffee here in the past so decided to return with my wife to see how the cooked breakfasts compared..
Upon entering - There are some tables outside which are perfect in the warmer weather but on this cold and windy day we headed inside. Much of the main room here is taken up with the counter area where drinks are prepared, sandwiches and cakes are displayed and orders are placed. Around the edge of the cafe are plenty of tables to choose from as well as the option to sit looking out of the window. We initially chose a table in here but later spotted a smaller back room which had plenty of natural light and was far more peaceful. With our order placed we relocated to the back room, salt, pepper, sugar, menus and sauces are already on the tables. The room at the back was a lovely peaceful environment to relax in with an excellent natural light to take photos of the food. Once you have placed your order and payed, everything including cutlery is bought to the table once it is ready. 8/10
Service - The person taking our order was being shadowed by another member of staff and seemed to be doing really well. Once our order was placed she bought our drinks over and a while later she returned with the food and cutlery. On our way out we were thanked and bid goodbye, certainly a friendly and efficient staff team here. 8/10
Contents - 1 sausage, 2 bacon, 2 fried eggs, 2 hash browns, 1 field mushroom, half a tomato, beans, two slices of toasted ciabatta and butter. 7/10
Presentation - It looked pretty good but the presentation of the vegetarian breakfast was much better and more evenly balanced. I was quite surprised to see how much of the butter had melted to a liquid in the pots, this was though due to how hot the plates were which in itself isn't such a bad thing. 7/10
The food - Nicely cooked good quality sausage and bacon and a near perfect pair of eggs were the highlight. The hash browns were delicious with a crispy edge and the mushroom was cooked beautifully and tasted excellent. The tomato looked really nice but I couldn't taste anything from it, neither could my wife. The beans were piping hot but way too much juice in that pot for my liking. The ciabatta was quite disappointing with a dry and fairly stale centre, thankfully the excess bean juice absorbed into it very easily. For the best part an enjoyable breakfast but let down in a few places. 7/10
Value for money - Many people say that beans are too modern for a Full English breakfast and hash browns don't belong on one. I disagree with this but can only imagine this is why they are sold as extras on this breakfast. With them added as extras you are paying over £10 for a breakfast that comes with just one sausage. I enjoyed it but felt it was overpriced for what it was, especially once a coffee was added bringing the total price to £12.50. 4/10
Veggie option - 2 sausages, 2 eggs (scrambled or fried), 2 field mushrooms, tomatoes, ciabatta toast and butter for £6.95. Add baked beans for £1 and hash browns for £1.25.
Overall - I've eaten so many decent breakfasts in Norwich with quality ingredients and double items including a coffee for under £10 now. For this reason I find this breakfast to be a bit overpriced for what it is. It's a lovely environment, the service is great and I enjoyed most of the breakfast but I can't see any point in paying more than you need to for a great breakfast, especially when so many others are doing the same or better for less money. 7/10
Not terribly impressive for such a high price.
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