7/10

I may have finished writing my book but it doesn’t mean that the search for the ultimate breakfast is over. Oh no! We decided to take our toddler son on his first ever train journey and the short, 20 minute trip to Colchester seemed ideal. Colchester is Britain’s oldest recorded town and features a very pleasant town centre, castle and surrounding park – perfect for a day out. I also decided to take the opportunity to see what sort of breakfast was on offer for the town’s 100,000 or so inhabitants.

My wife, Gem, fancied something on the menu posted outside Yate’s. I was gutted when I read that the breakfast menu stopped at noon. It was now 12.30pm. Then delight. Breakfast was dead but long live the All Day Breakfast, featuring chips. As readers of The Great British Breakfast will be aware, I’m not a fan of chips with breakfast but on this occasion I would make an exception.

For a ‘wine lodge’, Yate’s has quite an extensive breakfast menu, featuring The Traditional Breakfast (1 bacon, 1 sausage, 1 fried egg, baked beans, mushrooms and half a grilled tomato) for just £2.45! Hungrier diners can opt for the equally good value Bigger Breakfast (2 bacon, 2 sauages, 2 fried eggs, baked beans, mushrooms, half a grilled tomato plus chips or hash brown) for £4.65 including a free hot drink! But as stated I had missed the noon cut off for the breakfast menu. My All Day Breakfast was exactly the same as the Bigger Breakfast but with no option of hash browns and minus the free drink…oh and for 60p more. Tip for the future – be on time for breakfast.

Since 2008 Yate’s have been part of the Town & City Pub Company. They operate a total of 228 pubs and bars including 66 Yate’s and 76 Slug & Lettuce venues with the remainder operating as traditional local pubs. The Yate’s name dates back a lot earlier, to 1884 when Simon and Peter Yates opened their first Yate’s Wine Lodge in Oldham. The brand name remained the same for many years until the Wine Lodge element was dropped a few years ago. The Yate’s in Colchester is a typical large and dark town centre pub/bar. By night, satisfying hundreds of beer thirsty youngsters but by day this is the sort of pub that converts into a family dining location offering a menu to compete with Wetherspoons.

We had the pick of a number of tables on our visit, which is always useful with a toddler. We always prefer to occupy a corner with high chair, pushchair, changing bag etc, giving other customers the option of avoiding us if they don’t want child interaction with their dining experience. Unfortunately, the staff seemed to be having a problem with the sound system and everyone’s dining experience was being constantly disturbed with the volume jumping from acceptable to annoying every five minutes.

Our food arrived quickly and the staff were extremely pleasant. It’s a shame that customers before noon get the option of chips or hash browns where as those after noon are stuck with chips. Don’t get me wrong, I am a big fan of chips (who isn’t) but not with a breakfast. Perhaps the European Court of Human Rights would be interested in this case of post-noon anti hash brown discrimination!
Everything tasted good considering the competitive price for this breakfast (would have been even better at the pre-noon price with a free mug of tea – more evidence for Strasbourg!). My only complaint was the sausages. They were incredibly tough and chewy and had a rather odd taste as if they were beef sausages rather than pork. It is always a shame when the sausage isn’t quite because for me it is the most important part.

Good effort though and very good value.