Monday 28 March 2016

Rockers Cafe at Krazy Horse - Bury St Edmunds

Lamdin Road
Bury St Edmunds
Suffolk
IP32 6NU

Breakfast served
Tuesday to Saturday - 9am till 3pm
Sunday - 10am till 3pm 

Parking available and free wifi



Rockers cafe can be found on the first floor of Krazy Horse in Bury St Edmunds.




You can get all day breakfasts here every day except for Monday when they're closed.




This really is a bikers heaven, the showroom downstairs has a vast selection of new and pre-owned bikes on display.




At the top of the stairs you'll spot a juke box.



In the far corner you will spot Rockers cafe.



There are plenty of tables and even a pinball machine.



We sat on the tables by the window.



If you fancy something to read whilst you wait there's plenty of magazines available.



The breakfast special seemed like a really good deal to me, my wife was delighted to see a vegetarian breakfast on the menu.



Menus and condiments are already on the table, quality sauces are always a welcome sight.




Free wifi is always a bonus, I got to upload my breakfast pic without using my own data.




Decent sized mugs and branded milk jugs, nice!



The breakfast was a good size and nicely presented.



A decent pair of eggs.



The beans were kept well away from the eggs here.



Nicely browned bacon.



Triple hash browns, black pudding and herby sausages.



My wife's vegetarian breakfast, she swapped the eggs for extra tomatoes.



I've been keen to try the Krazy Horse breakfast for a couple of years now but never seemed to find myself in Bury St Edmunds. When my wife said she needed to drop some supplies off to a shop in Bury I jumped at the chance to join her. We decided to have breakfast first so I guided her to Lamdin Road and we pulled up outside Krazy Horse...

Upon entering - Krazy Horse can be found on an industrial estate off Mildenhall Road just North of Bury town centre, parking spaces are available outside. You enter a large and beautifully laid out bike showroom, bikers may struggle to get past this point as there is so much to look at! Head upstairs and turn right at the jukebox to find Rockers Cafe, plenty of metal tables and chairs surround the impressive counter, there's even a pinball machine. Menus and condiments are on each table so once you've decided what you want just place your order and pay, food and drinks are brought over to you along with cutlery. I'm not really into bikes but I was still impressed with the vast amount of bikes, clothing and helmets available here. The cafe area is surrounded by clothing so you could always place your order and take a good look whilst you wait for the food to be cooked. If you prefer to stay seated you could always take a look at some of the magazines on the shelf by the window. Bikes being revved in the workshop below I thought really added to the feel of the place, my wife was mildly irritated by this though! Krazy Horse have certainly created a well laid out and impressive looking cafe, the breakfast menu is straightfoward and available all day. 8/10

Service - As we reached the top of the stairs we were greeted with a smile by a member of staff. We weren't too sure if our order would be taken at the table or not so we decided to head over to the counter where our order was taken and we paid. My wife didn't want any eggs on her breakfast, she was offered extras of something else instead, she chose tomatoes. The staff seemed on the ball and friendly, we asked for a wifi code and it was brought to the table. The drinks arrived first with a small jug of milk, the food arrived shortly after that and in an impressive amount of time. 7/10

Contents - 2 sausages, 2 bacon, black pudding, 3 hash browns, 2 fried eggs, mushrooms, beans, tomato, 1 slice of toast served with butter and a hot drink. 9/10

Presentation - Nicely presented on a large oval plate, very neatly positioned hash browns and impressive eggs. The butter sachet was looking a bit out of place over the egg though. 7/10

The food - Quite nice herby sausages and really nicely browned bacon, the black pudding was a standard slice. The fried eggs were really impressive, both with nice runny yolks, I ate them on top of the buttered toast. The hash browns were crispy and the sauteed mushrooms delicious. The tomato had a good flavour and the beans were nice and hot. A nicely cooked breakfast, I really enjoyed it. 8/10

Value for money - The breakfast special cost £7.95, an excellent price for this decent sized breakfast that included toast and a hot drink. 9/10

Veggie option - 2 vegetarian sausages, 2 eggs, sauteed mushrooms, beans, tomatoes and hash browns. £5.95 

Overall - Krazy Horse is certainly an incredible place if you're into bikes, everything's beautifully presented, the selection of bikes and clothing is vast and they have their own workshop too. Rockers Cafe is equally impressive and offers great all day breakfasts at an excellent price. It's a nice environment and the staff are friendly, definitely worth visiting if you're looking for somewhere to eat breakfast in Bury St Edmunds. 8/10


Friday 25 March 2016

Breakfast in Holt

Some places I have discovered in Holt.
I will add more places as I visit them.
 

Byfords. Read about it here




Horatio Mugs. Read about it here




No 28. Read about it here.



 
The Barn. Read about it here.


Tuesday 22 March 2016

The Barn - Holt

Appleyard
Holt
Norfolk
NR25 6AR

Breakfast served
Monday to Saturday - 8.45am till 11.30am
 

Free wifi available


You can find The Barn in Appleyard, just off Holt High Street.



 
I sat downstairs but there's also more seating to be found upstairs.




The breakfast menu is served until 11.30am and includes a vegetarian option. Both breakfasts include toast and a hot drink making them great value for money.



This is what I like to see, information on local suppliers and where to find a newspaper should you fancy reading one. I made use of the free wifi to keep me entertained whilst sipping my coffee, the password can be found on the front of the menu.




A bottle of Heinz ketchup is always a promising sign!




The filter coffee comes with the breakfast but you can choose tea if you prefer.




2 slices of toast and real butter also come with the cooked breakfast.




It was a nicely presented breakfast and served piping hot.




The sausage came from P & S Butchers of Holt, great texture and flavour.




Decent rashers of bacon and delicious mushrooms.




I usually choose fried eggs but scrambled eggs made with double cream was difficult to resist.




I was helping my wife at a Spring market in Holt for the day and decided it was the perfect opportunity to venture out for breakfast somewhere. The problem was finding somewhere I hadn't already tried though, The Lawns Hotel on Station Road was a possibility but they finished serving breakfast fairly early so the search continued. My wife looked online and spotted The Barn, it looked really promising and they served breakfast until 11.30am giving me much more time to get there. I did get a bit lost looking for it but eventually I spotted it as I turned a corner into Appleyard...

Upon entering - The Barn can be found inside a stunning building away from any traffic in a beautiful courtyard. Inside it's very traditional with nice chunky tables and a tiled floor, large windows ensure that plenty of natural light floods in. It's a nice relaxing environment covering two floors, newspapers are available for customers to read and there's free wifi too which is always a bonus. Choose where you would like to sit and decide what you would like from the menu, this is already on the table. There's full table service here so just sit back and everything will be taken care of, simply settle your bill at the counter on the way out. 8/10

Service - I was greeted as soon as I entered and didn't have to wait very long at all until somebody came over to see if I was ready to order. I'd already decided the night before whilst studying the breakfast menu online that I would be having the Full English breakfast. I was offered the options of tea or coffee, white or brown toast and scrambled, poached or fried eggs. I broke my usual tradition of choosing fried eggs and ordered scrambled instead, the fact it was made using double cream made it irrisistable. The coffee, cutlery and ketchup arrived first, next to arrive was the toast and shortly after this the Full English. With everything on the table I was asked if I would like another drink, I never usually have a second drink but thinking it might be a refill I accepted, when I settled the bill at the end I discovered it wasn't a refill though. The staff here were very friendly and welcoming, they worked together really well as a team and looked like they were enjoying their work. 8/10

Contents - 1 sausage, 2 bacon, egg, 1 hash brown, mushrooms, beans, tomatoes, toast and a hot drink. 8/10

Presentation - The breakfast was neatly laid out in the centre of the plate, toast was served on a side plate with butter satchets. A single sausage is always quite a lonely sight but the hash brown seemed to be keeping it company quite nicely. 8/10

The food - The Norfolk sausage and smoked back bacon from P & S Butchers were both delicious, it certainly makes a big difference when quality meats are used on a breakfast. The scrambled eggs were really nice with a creamy taste and good consistency. The hash brown was fairly standard but nice and crispy and the mushrooms had plenty of flavour. I didn't detect much taste from the tomatoes so I covered them in ketchup to make up for this. The beans were nice and hot and the toast was evenly browned. 8/10

Value for money - The Full English breakfast including toast and hot drink cost £8.70. 8/10

Veggie option - Fried, poached or double cream scrambled eggs, grilled tomato, flat mushroom, beans, 2 hash browns, toast and tea or coffee for £7.70

Overall - Nearly all of the places serving a Full English breakfast in Holt are including toast and a hot drink in the price which is always a good thing offering better value for money. I did spend a bit more than I wanted to here not realising my second cup of coffee wasn't a refill, not a problem though and I'll be more wary of this in future. The Barn has a friendly staff team that make you feel welcome, the environment inside is relaxing and it's a great spot to enjoy the delicious breakfast they are serving here. Being a bit hidden away from the High Street means you could easily miss it it, be sure to search it out though as it's well worth visiting. 8/10

Monday 14 March 2016

Dixie's Diner - Norwich

81 School Lane
Norwich
Norfolk
NR7 8TQ

Opening times

Monday 8am - 1.30pm
Tuesday to Friday 7am - 1.30pm
Saturday 7am - 12.15pm
Sunday 8am - 11.30am
 
Parking available
 

Dixie's may look small from the outside but inside it's quite spacious.




It's open every day.




There's plenty of tables to choose from, longer ones in the middle and smaller ones to the side.



 
 Place your order and pay at the counter in the corner.




Everything looked exactly the same as it did in 2011 including the prices!



 
Condiments and sugar are already on each table.



 
A nice strong mug of tea costs just 80p.



 
Back in 2011 I loved this breakfast but this time round I had some concerns.



 
The fried bread was soft and dripping in oil, on top lay a triangular fried egg.



 
I expected a runny yolk but discovered it was solid inside.



 
The mushrooms were quite nice and the hash browns deep fried and crispy.



 
Hmm... economy sausages.




I can't say I particularly enjoyed them.



Back in 2011 I visited Dixie's Diner and was really impressed scoring it 9/10, you can read that review here. Since then though I've discovered no end of breakfast hot spots in and around Norwich serving some amazing breakfasts, I decided to return to Dixie's Diner again to see if I still felt the same...

Upon entering - Everything looked exactly the same as it had nearly 5 years ago, even the prices were the same except for tea which had increased by just 10p. The seating area is quite big, there are long tables in the centre and smaller tables around the edge. Head to the counter in the corner, there's a large blackboard listing all the different breakfasts overhead. Place your order, collect your drink and pay at the counter, there's cutlery on the counter but don't worry if you forget to take some as I noticed they will bring cutlery over when the food is ready if you do forget. You will find condiments and sugar on the table, don't expect Heinz here though. It was really busy when I arrived, a few tables were empty but by the time I'd placed my order only one table was empty, I dashed to grab it trying not to spill my tea in the process. This seemed like a popular cafe for workers, I spotted builders and nurses tucking into a Full English. Green spotty table cloths covered the tables and classic black and white posters hung from the walls. It was a reasonably nice place to eat breakfast, nothing fancy and certainly very traditional. 7/10

Service - The lady on the counter was incredibly fast and efficient, there was a queue at the counter which rapidly reduced due to her sheer speed at processing orders. Efficiency is great but as well as this she was really friendly too making me feel welcome straight away. I placed my order and collected my hot drink, about twenty minutes later the food was brought over. 8/10

Contents - 2 sausages, 2 bacon, 2 fried eggs, fried bread, 2 hash browns, mushrooms, beans and tinned tomatoes. 8/10

Presentation - The oval plates that I'd been served my breakfast on previously had since been replaced by rectangular plates, I much prefer an oval plate. The presentation here wasn't great, the eggs were triangular where they'd been cooked as a batch and cut out when ready. The tomatoes were plopped into the beans, the fried bread didn't look crispy and the sausages looked fairly cheap. The mushrooms and hash browns were looking quite nice though. 4/10

The food - The sausages were an economy catering variety that tasted quite bland, I felt certain that a better quality sausage had been used here in the past. The bacon was ok but the fried bread was drenched in oil and lacked any crunch, on my previous visit I can remember the fried bread being golden and crisp. The triangular fried eggs looked slightly strange, initially I thought they would have runny yolks but when I cut through them they were solid. I like a tinned tomato so was delighted to see them on the plate, they were surrounded by a fairly nice sea of beans. The hash browns were crispy and the mushrooms quite tasty, these were the highlight of this otherwise slightly disappointing breakfast. 5/10

Value for money - At £5.10 the mega breakfast still cost exactly the same as it had five years ago, for the price you get a breakfast cooked using basic ingredients. The mega breakfast no longer comes with bread and butter but It seemed like a fair enough price, a mug of tea cost just 80p. 7/10

Veggie option - 2 eggs, 2 hash browns, beans, tomatoes, mushrooms, toast or fried bread and bread and butter for £4.30.

Overall - I was quite excited about returning here to write a more in depth review, sadly I walked away feeling quite disappointed. The sausages were bland, the fried bread was no longer golden crispy and the fried eggs lacked nice runny yolks. Dixie's is clearly a popular place and the service is very good, if you're looking for an affordable and basic breakfast then this could be the place for you. I demand a good quality sausage and decent fried eggs when I go out for breakfast these days though, a price I'm always happy to pay extra for. 6.5/10

 

Thursday 3 March 2016

Morning Glory @ Gonzo's Tea room - Norwich

(Now closed)

68 London Street
Norwich
NR2 1JT

Breakfast served
Monday to Saturday - 7.30am till 11.30am
 Sunday - 11am till 3pm


I'd been to Gonzo's Tea room a couple of times before, usually for cocktails.




Today we were heading here for a different reason though, Morning Glory were serving a Mexican breakfast menu.




The random array of things inside will give you plenty to look whilst waiting for the food to arrive.




We were tempted to sit at the arcade table, I had concerns about leg space though.




Perfect if you want to play Breakout over breakfast!




We didn't spend long at the bar before being told to take a seat as somebody will come over and take our order. Behind the bar Heisenburg keeps a watchful eye on what's going on.




I must confess to initially not being overly excited about trying a Mexican breakfast. There was plenty of options on the menu, I ordered Huevos Mexicanos and my wife ordered Huevos Rancheros.




Fresh flowers, cutlery and serviettes were already on each table.




A decent selection of sauces could be found on the bar.




As always I ordered a cappuccino, it came with a nice biscuit.




When my Huevos Mexicanos arrived I was impressed, it was much bigger than I was expecting and looked delicious!




It lay across a tortilla base.




I'm not usually a big fan of chorizo but these sausages were superb.




A nice firm texture and not too rich in flavour, delicious!




Crushed avocado, I found some nice big chunks in there, spot on!




Great salsa and refried beans.




Those egg yolks were eager to escape, the tortilla was equally as eager to soak them up.




I wasn't expecting diced and spiced potatoes but spotted some beside the eggs.




I lifted the egg to find more, nice and crunchy with a great flavour.




With an egg and sausage left I decided to wrap things up.




My wife thoroughly enjoyed her Huevos Rancheros, she swapped the avocado for diced and spiced potatoes.

I was reading through the newsfeed of Norwich Facebook group Secret Norwich when I first spotted Morning Glory at Gonzo's Tea Room. Not being a massive fan of Mexican Food I considered possibly visiting later in the year. Then I got a message from the chef asking me to pop along there at some point to see what I thought. A few days after receiving the message my wife and I decided to visit Gonzo's Tea Room for a Mexican Breakfast...

Upon entering - In my opinion Breaking Bad is the best thing to ever be shown on TV so I was delighted to spot the illuminated Heisenburg print behind the bar! Beyond the bar is a well lit and spacious seating area made up from a random array of objects and furniture. I spotted a grandfather clock, a tabletop arcade machine, cuddly toys, numerous rugs and a dj area. Gonzo's Tea Room is open till late at night serving an impressive selection of cocktails so the main room is perfect for this, as a breakfast room it seemed to work nicely too though. We chose a large table towards the back, there's full table service and cutlery is already on the table wrapped in serviettes. Once you've eaten you can settle your bill on the way out at the bar. It felt like a nice relaxing place to enjoy some food and spend some time chatting over a coffee. There's certainly heaps of things to look at here and the arcade machine works so you could always have a game or two whilst waiting for the food to arrive. 9/10

Service - We were greeted with a smile and told to chose a table as somebody would come over to take our order, we found a menu on the bar and sat down to take a good look through it. The service we encountered from everyone here was friendly, sincere and efficient. A few apologies were made for delays caused by there being no gas in the kitchen earlier in the day, we both thought the timing of everything seemed just right though. Whilst placing our order my wife asked if it was ok to swap avocado for potatoes, this wasn't a problem at all. The hot drinks arrived first, both served with a nice biscuit which was an unexpected treat. Within 20 minutes our food arrived looking really impressive. We paid on the way out having enjoyed our time here and been made to feel really welcome. 9/10

Contents - 2 chorizo sausages, 2 fried eggs, crushed avocado, refried beans, diced and spiced potatoes and salsa on a tortilla base. 8/10

Presentation - I find a green garnish either works well or looks out of place, here it worked a treat though in garnishing an all round excellent looking breakfast. Everything looked delicious layed out across a nice big tortilla base. I had initial concerns about the egg yolks being slightly undercooked on top but on closer inspection it became apparent that the chef was clearly a master at frying eggs. Unlike most breakfasts the wonderful thing about this one was the bit towards the end, you have the option to wrap any remaining items up in the tortilla for those final mouthfuls. 8/10

The food - I used to love chorizo but on some occasions have found it to be far too rich and over powering, this made me feel a bit apprehensive about trying these chorizo sausages. Thankfully I had nothing to fear though, they were not too rich and I thoroughly enjoyed them. The potatoes had a soft centre and spiced crunchy edge, delicious dipped into the chipotle and cola sauce. I'm no expert on refried beans infact I rarely ever eat them, I was expecting a mashed consistency but here they came served whole, I really enjoyed them. The fried eggs tasted great with their impressive yolks that hung on for dear life until I finally put them out of their misery with my fork. Although my wife often tells me she can't see the point of an avocado I have to disagree. The crushed avocado was really good and the mix of textures was spot on. Finally a nice tangy salsa finished off this impressive Mexican breakfast. 9/10

Value for money - When the food arrived I was really impressed with how good it looked and how much there was on the plate. £8.50 for my Huevos Mexicanos seemed like a fair price, I wasn't expecting to find potatoes on it either so this made it even better value for money. 8/10

Veggie option - Huevos Rancheros or a breakfast burrito, both £8 each.

Overall - I felt certain that a Mexican breakfast wouldn't really be my cup of tea but Morning Glory have totally changed my mind, I loved it! Every aspect of this visit from the impressive interior of Gonzo's Tea Room and the excellent service to the delicious food being served here has totally won me over. This isn't a full English breakfast and it's not pretending to be, this made it quite difficult for me to score it in places though so I based my score on the fact it was a Mexican breakfast. Not just any Mexican breakfast though, a seriously delicious one that you really should try for yourself, I will definitely be returning again! 8.5/10