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James Walshe celebrates the great British roadside eatery
Recently, some friends of mine revealed they no longer frequent motorway services. Before leaving home on a long distance journey, they instead spend ten minutes researching potential stop-offs in the areas they reckon that their children will most likely begin to leak.
Usually, the target is just off a motorway sliproad – sometimes a village pub, but quite often a traditional roadside eatery. They love the transport café and despite the quirks of some establishments (they aren’t always the most modern), my pals enthuse about the plentiful portions and a sense of nostalgia.
We at PC love the atmosphere, too.… being surrounded by people going places. And unlike most chains, you can get a decent cup of tea or coffee without being asked if you want foam latte and sprinkles of cinnamon with kale and vanilla syrup. Yes, I DO want milk in my tea.
There are some chains we like and one of the survivors, born in 1958, Little Chef deserves a mention. I’ve always preferred an Olympic Breakfast above anything your average motorway service station offers. And let’s not forget that there are some great independent services like Tebay on the M6 and that new one on the M5 in Gloucestershire. But most are hellish places, especially on Saturdays, when hoards of pensioners spill off coaches and dither their way to the toilets and noisy football fans infest charmless fast food outlets.
No, we prefer the independent roadside café and PC will be championing them all in 2017.
To join the PC team, go to practicalclassics. co.uk/bestcafes and cast your vote. We’ll be on the road in our classics this spring and we’d love you to come along and share a cuppa with us.
‘Unlike most chains, you can get a good cup of tea’