THE BREAKFAST CLUB AT CHRISTMAS
If I am honest one of the least exciting traditions of Christmas for me has to be turkey, but now I have changed my mind. Yes a trip to The Breakfast Club has done just that. But let me start at the beginning, It was a freezing cold December day but on entering the restaurant I had the warmest of welcomes and was shown to a booth. I rather like the privacy that a booth offers, especially when dining with Mr C, a creative chum who enjoys as much as I do a bit of bawdy banter and scurrilous gossip. I ordered a mocha, now a mocha is such a wonderfully warming drink on a cold day but in a city where coffee seems to be increasingly delivered in a disappointingly tepid form it can be a bitter disappointment. Mocha can also be strangely too sweet and unbalanced, not at The Breakfast Club, here it is piping hot and intense, just as I like it.
Mr C arrived and asked for an Americano, equally impressive and again piping hot. Last year I popped in alone and enjoyed one of the dishes from their Christmas menu and loved it, a huge festive feast of melted cheese, cranberries, red cabbage and more that was so generous that I took half home. So I happily recommended the deep fried Camembert sandwich, again with lots of festive goodies in it, to Mr C who declared a liking for melted cheese. It was huge and he loved it, and like me left with half to be eaten later, perhaps in part due to a very generous portion of excellent fries that came on the side. I know they were excellent because I pinched more than a few.
It was not that I needed the fries as I had selected their other xmas offering. Now I love waffles in any form but when built into a savoury dish they really hit the spot. This one came with buttermilk marinated and breadcrumbed turkey fillet, really very tender and tasty, but only the tip of a mountain of deliciousness. Piled high there were buttery Brussels sprouts, pigs in blankets, pecan nuts and maple syrup glazed crispy bacon, finally garnished with deep fried sage leaves and bathed in a very tasty gravy. It was monstrously huge and utterly delicious in a way that saw me devour every last scrap. It had all the best flavours of Christmas dinner and that key element, the turkey that I usually find disappointingly dry and bland, was succulent and full of flavour.
There are plenty of other options on the general menu but my word this was a treat. The drinks menu offers good cocktails, a properly made Aperol spritz, there are smoothies and cold pressed juices too, I loved the green juice which was so refreshing and after a feast of savoury waffle heaven allowed me to think that I had made a healthy choice.
Breakfast Club is comfortable and comforting, the service charming and unhurried and the coffee hot, and for those of us who have passed 65 they offer a 15% discount, a perk of getting just that bit older. I will certainly be back. Oh, one more thing, the place is dog friendly!
The Breakfast Club
16-17 Market St, Brighton, BN1 1HH 01273 947080
