SUPER WAY TO START
We put four supermarket cafes to the test on their breakfasts
IF you work nine to five, Monday to Friday, then one of the best opportunities to get the shopping done is during the weekend. And if you’re like me, you’ll probably enjoy mixing business with pleasure and grab some breakfast while you are there.
To save you the trouble, we’ve tested out which of the major supermarkets serves up the best fry-ups.
The cafes that I visited were Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury and Tesco.
All of the breakfasts I tried were under £5 each.
Asda At Asda, in the Cardiff Bay Retail Park, I chose the nine-item breakfast. It consisted of two rashers of bacon, two Cumberland sausages, one egg, one hash brown, one tomato, beans and mushrooms – all for £4.50.
The service was fast and quick, as it only took four minutes for my meal to arrive; however, that was the best part of the overall experience. The breakfast itself was OK. On the menu, it says a choice of fried, scrambled or poached eggs are available, but I wasn’t asked this when I placed my order. Actually I don’t think the person serving me said a word to me at all.
It is rather basic and while it mostly does the job, I could have easily eaten another. The sorriest-looking egg I have ever seen was over-fried – as I do like my fried eggs to be runny, but that was not the case here at all.
The sausages were the tastiest items on the plate, as the rest was rather bland. Staff friendliness – 6/10 Speed – 8/10 Value for money – 6/10 Cleanliness – 8/10 Menu variety – 6/10 Food/drink – 8/10 Atmosphere – 7/10 Overall rating – 6.5/10
Morrisons At Morrisons, I could see that the Big Breakfast – which included two sausages, two rashers of bacon, two hash browns, one fried egg, beans, mushrooms, half a tomato and half a slice of fried bread – was calling my name. At £4.80 it was the most expensive of the four that I would be sampling.
This time, the woman who served me was a cheery ray of sunshine, explaining everything to me and making me feel valued.
The cafe, in the Ferry Road store in Cardiff Bay, was clean and with a few people already eating away, the atmosphere was nice and relaxing.
The breakfast came within five minutes from ordering and I was more than happy to get stuck in.
The food was hot and tasty, my only criticism would be that there was too much juice with the mushrooms. Apart from that, I loved everything about it.
The egg was runny and the hash browns weren’t overdone, which can sometimes be the case. Staff friendliness – 10/10 Speed – 8/10 Value for money – 8/10 Cleanliness – 9/10 Menu Variety – 8/10 Food/drink – 8/10 Atmosphere – 9/10 Overall rating – 9/10
Sainsbury’s At Sainsbury’s, on Cardiff’s Colchester Avenue, I ordered the Big Breakfast which, for your hard-earned £4.50, will let you feast upon a fried egg, two sausages, two rashers of bacon, hash browns, fresh tomato, baked beans and a slice of toast.
The cafe was immaculate when went in.
The food was warm and the egg was the way I like it – runny – so I was happy with that. The beans felt as if there were mid range and not cheap, which is always a bonus.
However, one of the sausages was burnt, so while the inside was OK it did leave a funny taste in my mouth – that said everything else was lovely, especially the egg and hash brown. A very good selection. Staff friendliness – 9/10 Speed – 8/10 Value for money – 8/10 Cleanliness – 8/10 Menu Variety – 8/10 Food/drink – 8/10 Atmosphere – 7/10 Overall rating – 8/10 I
Tesco At Tesco I chose The Breakfast – which is a pork sausage, two bacon rashers, fried egg, hash brown and a choice of fried bread or toast. Which is well worth the £4.30 that Tesco are asking for.
I selected fried bread to match the previous entries.
Finding my seat was easy as apart from myself there was only another one person in the cafe itself, not including the staff. The overall appearance was clean and tidy.
Within five minutes I was tucking away on the most important meal of the day.
The food itself was nice and hot, the egg was 50/50 between runny and hard – which I suppose is the best way to please everyone. So I didn’t mind that at all. The meats were tasty, although the bacon could have been a tad crispier. The hash brown was perfectly cooked, but it was a very pleasant breakfast overall. Staff friendliness – 9/10 Speed – 8/10 Value for money – 8/10 Cleanliness – 9/10 Menu Variety – 8/10 Food/drink – 8/10 Atmosphere – 7/10 Overall rating – 8/10
And the winner is... If I had to choose a winner then I would happily pick Morrisons over the others. Although I would be more than happy to eat at Sainsbury’s and Tesco, I would have to think twice about the breakfast in Asda.