Saturday 6 August 2011

King's Lynn's Best Cafe Sausage

What kind of sausages do you find in your local greasy spoon cafe?  Universally rubbish ones is my experience.  So, on your behalf, I boldly sampled the cheapest breakfast that included a sausage in four local cafeteria-type establishments.


Of course there has to be a way of deciding which is the best, so I judged on four criteria; Sausage Quality, Price, Meal Quality and Service.  All except Price were scored with four points for the best, three for the next best, etc.  Price was judged against an industry standard brekkie - Little Chef's Olympic Breakfast.  This costs £7.49, so points were awarded by subtracting the cafe price from this sum....e.g. if the cafe breakfast cost £5.39 it would score 2.10.  Nice and complicated, just the way we like it.  The result surprised me:




The Winner - Pedlars Hall Cafe


The "Pedlars Breakfast" costs £3.95, and includes fried egg, bacon, sausage, beans OR tomatoes, toast and tea OR coffee.  The cafe is located on the bus station and is very popular with drivers and passengers, offering a very friendly welcome.


The sausage was not as bad as expected, and although it was finely chopped it crumbled quite nicely when cut.  Rather over seasoned though.


Sausage = 4
Price = 3.54
Meal = 2
Service = 3
Total = 12.54


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In second place - The Clock Cafe


"Breakfast C" costs £4.00, and includes 2 x bacon, sausage, egg, fries OR hash brown, beans OR tomatoes and 1 slice buttered toast OR buttered bread.  A mug of tea costs 70p extra. The cafe is located on Lynn Road, Gaywood, right next to the Gaywood clock tower.


This meal was a very good plateful which looked nice and appetising.  There are lots of good choices on the menu.  Everything was cooked well, except the overdone sausage, which was a shame.  The sausage may be a low cost butcher's sausage or a premium wholesale one, it's hard to tell.  Better than most cafe bangers though.  I felt full after eating at the Clock Cafe.

Sausage = 3
Price = 2.79
Meal = 4
Service = 2
Total = 11.79



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In third place - Carousel Diner



The "Small Breakfast" costs £3.50, and includes egg, sausage (jumbo OR Lincolnshire), bacon, beans and fried bread.  A mug of tea is 80p extra, and bread and butter another 50p.  The cafe is situated off Edward Benefer Way, right next to a new Asda store - pop in for some food after doing your shopping!



The food was nice, and the fried bread was perfect, not overdone as you sometimes find.  The sausage was jumbo sized (I wasn't offered a choice of Lincolnshire as per the menu) and was sadly a stereotype cafe banger - fine chopped, salty and not great.  The staff were exceptionally friendly and chatty.


Sausage = 2
Price = 2.69
Meal = 3
Service = 4
Total = 11.69




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In fourth place - The Silver Spoon Cafe




The "Small Breakfast B1" costs £3.60, and includes egg, 2 x bacon, sausage and fried slice.  A large mug of tea is £1 extra.  The cafe is in Norfolk Street, is very large and has a range of tables to suit all parties, from one seater up to eight.  The staff wear a nice uniform of navy blue cap, white shirt and black trousers and apron.


The sausage was poor, another low cost wholesale budget specimen, that merits no further description.


Sausage = 1
Price = 2.89
Meal = 1
Service = 1
Total = 5.89



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So where can you find the tastiest breakfast that offers the best value for money?  Scroll down to find out......











....keep going, I'm building the suspense......












That's right - at my place!



Sausage was a beauty from a top notch King's Lynn butcher, and cost 36p
Bacon from the same butcher - 25p per rasher, total 50p
Free range egg from a friend - 21p
Black pudding (supermarket, sorry) - 16p per slice, total 32p
Mushrooms - approx 31p
Mug of tea - maybe 5p?

Total £1.75

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