On Saturday after the chore of waking up early on a weekend to go to the bank, stand in line for what seems like ages, being told that you have a lot less money than you thought, the boy and I trudged towards home when my eye lighted upon my perennial favorite. Tsui Wah.
Yes, it’s not high end and may not be the cleanest or the best food about but the whole range of options on their incredibly extensive menu, the speed of their service and the fact that it is open 24 hours a day, is located not 5 minutes from my house, and delivers makes it a favorite.
So we sat down and ordered the set breakfast which came with two eggs, a bowl of abalone and ham macaroni, a small crusty (crusty as in lots of crust, not as in gross crusty stale) roll and a drink.
Simple but very effective. I know macaroni soup is not something eaten frequently by those in the West but to me, it’s always been a comforting bowl of breakfast, prepared by my mother in times of upset tummies, cold weather and when there’s nothing much in the house except leftovers and frozen vegetables.
My ice coffee was traditional cha chan teng coffee with evaporated milk, again, a Canto version that is not unpleasant in the least.
On the Sunday, we finally had a chance to try the Flying Pan. Now I love English breakfast so had been wanting to go for a while. The boy was reluctant, worried of being let down by bad breakfast in Disneyfied English surroundings (we take our food, including ambiance, seriously). It too is a 24 hour restaurant (got to love that) and when we walked in at 3pm, there were quite a lot of people, including some which I'm sure just rolled out of bed.
I knew I would love the place as soon as I walked in. No, it wasn’t the cheery atmosphere, nor the comfy lounge couches, nor the huge platters others were eating. Nor was it the fact that there were booth seatings all around the windows, games scattered and happy customers. All these were good things but what caught my eye was that on every single table there were a platter of condiments including a shaker of cinnamon sugar!! Absolutely brilliant. Cinnamon sugar should be on EVERY breakfast table! I was happy not to have to ask for ketchup and Tabasco but it was the cinnamon sugar that got me. Needless to say I sprinkled it on everything.
(Pictures to come...but you get the drift, large plates, eggs bacon, the odd blood pudding and lotsa cinnamon sugar....)
7 comments:
Well if you want a real english breakfast then I know a couple of marvelous places in Cardiff, next time you're here. One is called Ramones and is a studentville favourite on the weekend. You can literally feel the grease under your feet as you walk in!
The service is terrible and the woman smokes as she takes your order at the main desk: nice. Once you have picked out one of the 30 or so options - and nothing else - then you go and sit at your table, which will also be greasy to the touch.
Your food will arrive uncomfortably early, leaving you to feel a bit like it was made hours ago and simply selected rather than prepared. It is a dream come true for the greasy spoon enthusiast.
Plus they do vegetarian breakfast which its great for me.
Hey there Veg-head,
I've actually been there. Love the stewed tomatoes oddly enough.
What I didn't like was the view of the overflowing butt of the 300 ton man sitting in front of me...
reminded me too much of where my wai sik ness can take me...
Oh I LOVE breakfasting.
it's an art that my boy has learnt "happy breakfast outing happy viv" and so we, who live in Sydney, go breakfasting on as many weekends as we can.
^^
I also love making a pretty breakfast at home, putting it in nice cutlery etc etc...
Love eggs benedict with salmon/ good scrambled egg (Bills@ Sydney is so good!)/ good coffe/tea/ pancakes/ marscapone and fruit with a think lovely french toast...
yum...
correction - not putting breakfast in nice cutlery. i meant prettily prepared and presented prettily. u know what i mean.
and more... ricotta pancakes with honeycomb butter/ good bannana bread (preferably with choc chip)/ good bacon/hashbrown/fry-up....and always, always - a perfect piece of wood-fire bread
Viv, you had me at honeycomb butter...
I'm so glad you've been to Ramones! That's marvellous. There are fears of it being shut down, don't you know... Would be a sad day for Cardiff, even if it were in fact a day that staved off a few heart attacks too.
Well not be outdone, may i Recommend another unique food experience in Cardiff: the truly awful Pillars. This place is Queen's Street and is as close to a motorway service station as you can get without going on a motorway. It might be one of the wierdest places to eat ever and again the service is awful.
I think I might be a food masochist! Seriously there are lots of great places to eat in the area too - I just find the ba dones funnier.
Flying Pan? Absolutely 100% American. The LA born and bred owner would be horrified to hear that someone thought it was English.
Post a Comment