Greasy spoons, pubs, restaurants, tea rooms and cosy cafes... whether it's cheap and cheerful or something more fancy, you'll be spoilt for choice when it comes to sitting down for a full English in Nottingham. Over the years I've tucked into hearty breakfasts at the GB Cafe, Bill's, the Warsaw Diner, Cosy Club, The Roebuck and long lost cafes like the Granby Kitchen, a proper old-school cafe in Station Street, where a fried slice preceded today's hankering for hash browns.
For my latest expedition I decided to go down the 'posher' route, heading to Binks Yard at Nottingham's Island Quarter. Part of the impressive looking building that blends old and contemporary architecture that sprung up on London Road, the all day food, drink and entertainment venue sits beneath the fine dining restaurant Cleaver & Wake by the side of the canal.
If it's your first visit, a tip. It's easiest to access around the back, rather than the steps next between the Premier Inn Hotel and the water's edge. As we arrive the giant outdoor screen is showing footie news and although it's starting to get warmer we decide against sitting outside.
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Inside is everything you'd imagine from a venue overseen by a MasterChef: The Professionals champion: slick, beautifully presented and perfectly executed. Laurence Henry, who won the BBC culinary competition in 2018, is executive chef and clearly has an eye for the aesthetic as well as a plate of food.
Inside big arched windows let in plenty of light, while the wooden flooring is practical but stylish. Around the corner from the bar is an open kitchen with a wood-fired oven. If you're in any doubt, there's a pile of logs artfully stored near the bottles of wine.
Decor and furnishings are smart, not fussy, but well thought out with a number of booths next to the kitchen and well-spaced out white and wood-topped tables with comfortable chairs.
Binks Yard opened just over six months ago for all-day food, drinks and entertainment. Since them reviews have been hit and miss, ranging from brilliant to bang average and even the "worst service ever experienced."
Breakfast is only served on weekends from 9am to 11.30am and when I saw you could book online I decided to play it safe with a reservation rather than turning up spontaneously. After a warm greeting, we're invited to select our table. All but one of the window tables by the canal are taken, so we head there. The music is chilled, the kind of laid back tunes you want on a Saturday morning to ease you into the weekend.
Laurence Henry designed the menu but isn't the one cooking our food. He leaves that to his team of chefs while focussing on Cleaver & Wake upstairs, which incidentally has just been named as one of the best waterside restaurants in the UK by The Times.
The Binks' breakfast menu has everything from breakfast sandwiches in a brioche bun for £4 to pancakes £8 and eggs Benedict £9. We both go for the Henry Binks full English for £11. If you're wondering who Henry Binks is, he's not a chef but the Victorian brewer and shopkeeper who used to do a bustling trade serving workers at the site in the 19th century and proved the inspiration for the venue's name.
One of the criticisms in reviews has been about the standard of service but we can't fault it. We're served by two young waitresses who are both efficient and pleasant and our drinks and food arrive in a timely fashion.
We could have ordered a breakfast cocktail, a Bloody Mary, Bucks Fizz and Grapefruit Mimosa are an option, but we stick to Fairtrade breakfast tea. The teapots arrive on individual wooden trays - the orange and blue pots and black mugs all matching the colour scheme of the decor.
It takes around ten minutes from ordering for our food to arrive. It's a proper full English with everything that should be on a full English. The two sausages are good meaty ones - not the cheap bangers with more filler than pork - and they're evenly cooked.
Lincolnshire sausages are the best (and I'm not just saying this because I'm Lincs born and bred) because (a) they're made from coarsely ground meat instead of mince and (b) the herby taste.
Having been given a choice of how we'd like the eggs cooking, it's always got to be fried for me when having a fry-up. The free-range eggs come with yolks as yellow as the morning's sunshine.
I wouldn't normally choose smoked streaky bacon but it adds flavour and a crispy texture. The slab of black pudding is triangular and generous in size. I know some people can't stand it but it's probably the tastiest black pudding I've ever had.
The breakfast comes with all the accompaniments you'd expect from a full English - not that either or choice you sometimes have to make or a supplement if you want extra. A lovely plump field mushroom is served, with a nicely charred fresh tomato and a small ramekin of baked beans - being a teeny weeny bit picky I wouldn't have minded a few more beans.
A crispy golden hash brown completes the picture along with a round of sourdough toast. Well almost, a pouch of Stokes' brown sauce is the finishing touch, added a sweeter punchy taste than HP Sauce.
I don't know where any of the produce is sourced but you can certainly taste the difference and this is quality. I appreciate £11 isn't a price point that everyone can afford, but if you can and venture to Binks I hope your experience is as good as mine.
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