I tried the full English breakfast once ranked among the UK's best
On weekday mornings I'm strictly a cup of tea and cereal girl. But come the weekend, when I've got more time to spare, I love a good cooked breakfast. Sometimes, only a full English will do, and with the recent Biblical weather chilling my bones, I wanted something warming and substantial.
I'd been meaning to try the Dale Street Kitchen's full English ever since it was listed among the top 25 full English breakfasts in the UK a few years back. Big 7 Travel said of the Liverpool city centre restaurant in 2020: “We’re calling it – this is one of the best presented and tastiest English breakfasts you will ever set eyes on."
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Dale Street Kitchen is a specialist breakfast and brunch restaurant, serving all manner of breakfast dishes, from eggs benedict to American-style pancakes. There is also a range of smoothies, hot drinks and breakfast cocktails to choose from. The restaurant is housed in a grand-looking building on the corner of Dale Street and Crosshall Street. The entrance is bedecked with a colourful and distinctive floral display.
I went there with a couple of friends late last Saturday morning. They don't do reservations at the restaurant, so we joined the queue of people waiting outside. We got there at around 11.30am, and around 15 minutes later, we were seated at a nice table in the centre of the restaurant.
All three of us were keen to try the mythical full English breakfast, so that's what each of us ordered, along with fresh orange juice, two flat whites and a cup of tea. We were told by our friendly waitress when she brought our drinks over that there "might be a wait on the breakfast". However, within ten minutes, she'd served us our food. It didn't disappoint.
First of all, it's big. The breakfast is served on a long rectangular plate in order to fit everything on. You get the full Monty: one sausage, two slices of back bacon, baked beans, two eggs cooked to your preference, grilled tomato, button mushrooms, one hash brown, black pudding and a slice of toast with butter.
Presentation-wise, I couldn't really fault it. It was all nicely arranged on the plate. I'm not a huge fan of beans being placed in a separate bowl, but I know some people are fussy about bean juice contaminating their breakfasts, and it certainly does look easier on the eye.
We all agreed the food was cooked to perfection. The bacon was well done, the tomatoes were nicely grilled and my eggs were just right (I asked for fried eggs, over-easy). The highlight, for me, was the mushrooms. Sometimes they can be a bit soggy and underwhelming on a breakfast plate, but these were nicely browned and well-seasoned.
I didn't have a cocktail because I was heading to work later, and boozy lunches are sadly frowned upon in the newsroom these days. Our flat whites were excellent, though - a nice size and not too bitter.
It was an excellent breakfast, and very filling. I didn't start to get peckish again until around 8pm, so all that protein fuelled me for the day. If you're in Liverpool city centre and you fancy a good fry up, I'd wholeheartedly recommend it.