Dingwall
Tesco in Dingwall contains its own café which is open every day from
8am until the evening. The café is the standard supermarket layout and the
breakfast items are laid out under hot lamps. We didn’t wait long to be
served and it took around 5 minutes from start of serving to reaching the
till to pay.
The Great 8 breakfast advertises a pre-selected choice of items, 2
sausages, 1 bacon, tomato, beans, fried egg, mushrooms and a hash brown.
However you don’t have to choose these items and you can choose 8 of
anything, including; lorne sausage, fried bread, scrambled egg, plum
tomatoes, black pudding and a tattie scone. The only thing they didn’t
include was a slice of haggis. If you want more items you can pay 65p extra
for each of them. We opted for all the ingredients that are included in the
Ultimate Full Scottish Breakfast, minus the haggis, which was a total of 9
item plus toast.
The bacon was very dry due to the hot lamp it had been placed under
for who knows how long. The lorne sausage looked dry too but was actually
quite moist and the links sausage was also ok. The black pudding was ok but
they ran out of it by the time the whole review team could grab a piece, with
no option of having more freshly cooked, with an hour of breakfast time still
to go. The fried egg was freshly cooked but if you wanted scrambled egg, it
was stored in a dish under the hot lamp. The tomato that was served was a
little on the small side but you are served a good portion of beans and
mushrooms. There was no complaints on the quality of the tattie scone. Some
of the team opted to have some fried bread but were extremely disappointed,
as it was like “plywood”, not cardboard but plywood!
Unfortunately the breakfast doesn’t include toast and you have to pay
99p for it but you do get the choice of white or brown. You also have to pay
£1.19 extra for tea. In total for 8 items with tea and toast it will cost you
£7.17. If you add all the 9 items minus the haggis for the Ultimate Full
Scottish Breakfast it will cost you £7.82.
In the points review, the breakfast starts with the base of 2 stars
as it contains all the ingredients for the basic breakfast and also gains
marks for extra items such as lorne sausage, tomatoes/mushrooms. It doesn’t
gain any further marks as they don’t have the option of a poached egg or
haggis and the produce was only average. The bacon was also dry so it loses a
mark there. After weighing up the positive and negative points, this
breakfast scores 3 out of 5 stars.
Overall a decent sized breakfast only let down by the food not being
freshly cooked and missing haggis. Not bad for a supermarket though.
Recommendations for the Owner
to achieve Full Scottish Breakfast Greatness:
(In order of priority)
1. Include haggis in the breakfast.
2. Option of a poached egg.
3. Don’t leave food under the hot lamp for too long as it becomes
dry.
|
 |
|
Breakfast served at times
|
8am - 11.30am Mon - Sun
|
|
Breakfast advertised as
|
Great 8 Breakfast
|
|
Price
|
£4.99
|
|
Breakfast contents
|
2 Sausages
1 Bacon
Tomato
Beans
Fried egg
Mushrooms
Hash brown
OR Pick 8 for £4.99 from the above plus
Lorne sausage
Fried bread
Scrambled egg
Plum tomatoes
Black pudding
Tattie scone
Extra items 65p each
Toast brown or white – 99p Extra
|
|
Tea/Coffee Included
|
No
Tea/coffee £1.19
|
|
How cooked
|
Fried
|
|
Service Time Queuing
|
5 minutes
|
|
Service Time Waiting for Order
|
5 minutes
|
|
Star Score
|
3/5
|
|
Points deducted for
|
No haggis, charging toast and no option of a poached egg.
|
|
Website
|
||
Facebook
|
||
 |
||
Tesco
Crazy Horse Coffee Shop
Invergordon
The Crazy Horse Coffee Shop is located in Invergordon High Street and
seems popular with local residents. There is nothing striking or memorable
about the décor but the setting is pleasant enough. We were seated
immediately and service was instant.
The toast arrived quickly and the bread used was nice, however we
weren’t given the option of brown or white bread. We did hear the other
customers being offered the choice between brown or white, so the waitress
must have forgot to ask.
The breakfast is served on a large plate which was maybe just slightly
too large for the contents, as it looks empty in places, however this is
deceptive and the breakfast is filling. The breakfast was fried and some of
the items were slightly over cooked. This breakfast came with 2 fried eggs,
we weren’t given the choice of poached or scrambled. The eggs were cooked
just 30 seconds too long and half the yolk was runny and the other half not.
They were also too greasy and some of the oil should have been allowed to run
off before plating. The 2 sausages were good and the 2 rashers of bacon were
slightly burnt on the edges – but still edible. Unfortunately the black
pudding served was probably the worst we have tasted and could only be
described as a bit rubbery. The tattie scone was ok but the hash brown wasn’t
the greatest tasting. The final item on the plate was beans, which were fine.
The breakfast did lack one of the basic ingredients for a full Scottish,
there was no tomatoes or mushrooms.
Tea and coffee aren’t included in the price and cost £1.50 extra.
This takes the cost of the breakfast up to £7.95, which is working out at
about the average price of breakfasts we have reviewed so far. The Crazy
Horse also offers the Mini Rig Breakfast for £4.95 and includes all the
ingredients listed above, but with only one of each item (you get more than
one bean though).
In the points review this breakfast loses a point for not including a
basic ingredient, tomatoes or mushrooms. Including either one of these would
allow this breakfast to start off with a base score of two stars, but
unfortunately it drops to one star. The breakfast is also missing a lorne
sausage and haggis to meet the ultimate Full Scottish Breakfast requirement.
With no choice in how you would like your eggs cooked, is another reason this
breakfast would fail to be the Ultimate Full Scottish Breakfast. This
breakfast did nothing to gain any additional points as the produce wasn’t the
best – the sausages were good – but everything else remained average and the
food was slightly over cooked.
Overall this is a disappointing review and can read a bit harsh, but
it is our honest opinion after sampling many, many breakfasts. This is our
first breakfast to score below the base level score of the basic Full
Scottish Breakfast. With this score we would say that the breakfast is
overpriced for the quality of food and should include tea and coffee to
justify the price.
Recommendations for the Owner
to achieve Full Scottish Breakfast Greatness:
(In order of priority)
1. Included mushrooms or a tomato – preferably both.
2. Include tea/coffee in the price of the breakfast.
3. Find a better supplier of black pudding.
4. Include lorne sausage and haggis.
|
 |
|
Breakfast served at times
|
9.30am – 3.30pm
|
|
Breakfast advertised as
|
Big Rig Breakfast
|
|
Price
|
£6.45
|
|
Breakfast contents
|
2 Sausages
2 Bacon
2 Egg
Black Pudding
Tattie Scone
Beans
Hash Brown
Toast
|
|
Tea/Coffee Included
|
No
Tea/Coffee £1.50
|
|
How cooked
|
fried
|
|
Service Time Queuing
|
0
|
|
Service Time Waiting for Order
|
15min
|
|
Star Score
|
||
Points deducted for
|
Lack of mushrooms, tomato, lorne sausage and haggis.
|
|
Website
|
||
Facebook
|
|
|
 |
||
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)