In Search Of A Breakfast

~ beetleypete

My car had to go in to a workshop early today for the annual MOT check, and a full service. Julie followed me down, and brought me back in her car. I took Ollie out early for his walk, in case of the forecast thundrstorms hitting us later, then we decided that we would both like to go out and enjoy a traditional English Breakfast.

We could cook this at home of course, but it is a nice treat to let someone else do it for you.

Our first choice was the cafe at Corners Farm Shop and Garden Centre. Very close to the house, we could walk there. But it is on a fast road with no pavement or walkway, so we made the short drive.

However, we found the whole place closed and locked up, even the separate cafe in an adjacent building. There was no sign on the fencing to say why it was not open.

Never mind, we could try our second choice. Yaxham Waters restaurant, four miles south. We have enjoyed breakfasts there in the past.

Once again, we found it was closed, with obvious work in progress that coud be seen through the windows. A man saw me looking, and informed me it would re-open on the 1st of September, after what he called ‘extensive renovations’. That was an added surprise, as it was already a very attractive restaurant, in pleasant surroundings.

Undaunted, we drove back into Dereham town centre, parking the car in a car park that is free for three hours. A short walk took us to a relable cafe on the High Street.

You guessed it, closed! At least this one had a sign in the window, ‘Closed today due to unforeseen circumstances’. Third time unlucky, we decided to walk to the far end of the High Street, where we were sure that the restaurant ‘Tall Orders’ would be open. Luckily it was!

Unluckily, it was full.

The waitress told us she might have a table free in 20-30 minutes. But it was now past 11am. Breakfast menus might stop being served, and lunch menus begin. We said we would let her know, and tried the final choice across the road, Norfolk Kitchen.

Success! We got a table, and ordered our breakfasts from a very pleasant waitress.

After well over an hour travelling around, and having driven some 12 miles, we finally ate the breakfast we had been searching for.

65 thoughts on “In Search Of A Breakfast”

  4. This is painful to admit, but McDonald’s has a sausage biscuit for $1.00 that beats most any expensive breakfast. We always eat at home because our cooking is better than what you can buy, but when traveling, the sausage biscuit is the choice of champions.

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  8. My father always said, that breakfast out was the most expensive meal. Yet, whenever he could he had breakfast out. Then while eating breakfast out he always made two comments: “this sure beats cold cereal.” And as we walked out the door “this beats cleaning up after.” Warmest regards, Theo

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  9. We’ve only ever been out for breakfast once when Phil wanted eggs benedict, he didn’t like it so we’ve never been again! 🤣 glad you got yours eventually though it would have been technically brunch by then.

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  12. I think a lot of places no longer have the staffing they need after covid or didn’t manage to make it through at all. Glad you were able to get your breakfast at last

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    1. Thaks, Beth. Yes, staffing problems here have been an issue since we left the EU because many of the waiting staff were from Europe.
      (In the area I live, Portugal provided a lot of the workers.)
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  13. (1) The French have a word to say about that MOT check.
    (2) I went to the kitchen for breakfast. The cabinets were closed. But I was able to open one of them and grab a box of cereal.
    (3) Corners Farm Shop and Garden Centre is not cornering the breakfast market today.
    (4) Yaxham Waters specializes in serving Yak’s ham and cheese sandwiches with ice water.
    (5) The High Street café was closed due to unforeseen circumstances. Based on the title of your blog post, I saw that one coming.
    (6) Tall Orders was full because other breakfast searchers beat you to the punch.
    (7) The Norfolk Kitchen was able to take more customers because they had just hired an extra cook. (The cook had just quit his job at the High Street café after a row with the owner, leaving the owner without anyone to cook breakfast.) #UnforeseenCircumstances

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  14. And when you got back to the workshop there was sign that said CLOSED – GONE FOR LUNCH.
    so you walked backed to the workshop an hour later and the sign was replaced with
    CLOSED – CAN’T FIND ANYWHERE FOR LUNCH YET

    PS is the story one of your cereals??

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  15. We’ve had similar experiences lately! On our recent trip to Mt. Rainier, we stopped by the place we’d hoped to eat lunch and it was closed. Oh well, we said, we have a nice dinner coming at the Inn tonight, we’ll make do with snacks till then. That was the night the dining room was closed as the boiler broke. We settled for hamburgers cooked outside. On our way home the next day the place we wanted to stop for lunch was also closed. So surprising during the tourist season! Seems like restaurants can’t get enough help!

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    1. We got to the first place before 10, which I consider to be a late breakfast. It was only after all the running around that we finally got to eat it after 11.
      It is rare for us to eat breakfast in a cafe, perhaps only three times a year now.
      Best wishes, Pete.

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  18. Reminds me of a dinner date I had once with a dear friend that I seldom see. We happened to be in London at the same time so he picked me up and we went to find an evening meal. Then realised it was Valentine’s day which apparently is a big thing. We ended up with a good curry. Anyway it was the company that was important. Glad you got your breakfast before it became lunch!

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    1. Thanks, Carolyn. I once took a lady out for dinner forgetting it was Valentine’s Day. After driving halfway across London and being turned away by 8 restaurants, we finally had a very ‘average’ Italian meal near Paddington Station. 🙂
      Best wishes, Pete.

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            1. Here is a description, Shaily. (It’s a big meal!)
              ‘Sometimes also called a ‘fry-up’, the full English breakfast consists of fried eggs, sausages, back bacon, tomatoes, mushrooms, fried bread and often a slice of white or black pudding (similar to bloodwurst). It is accompanied by tea or coffee and hot, buttered toast.’
              Here is a link to a photo of what it looks like.
              https://iamafoodblog.com/a-breakdown-of-the-full-english-breakfast/
              Best wishes, Pete.

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  20. We enjoy having breakfast / brunch out occasionally. It makes quite a nice and relatively inexpensive treat. Lunch and dinner outings are much more expensive nowadays (since the pandemic openings). Glad your car passed its MOT – I was able to collect my car from the garage today – only 7 weeks since the breakdown. Luckily the ECU was able to be repaired. Unluckily it cost me just over £600. Still better than a new ECU at £2000, and most definitely better than a new car!

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    1. Glad to hear the ECU could be repaired. I was lucky to get away with a pass, I suspect. I had a few ‘amber warnings’ for minor things that they could have failed it on.
      Best wishes, Pete. x

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