JosiesWineCoffeeDeli Bishops Waltham

Highly recommended visit this week! Trip up to Bishops Waltham, which is a lovely little town to wander round - lots of little gift/card/curiosity shops to meander in (not the cheapest though).

Wonderful brekkie menu choice this week.
 Josies opens Mon-Fri 0700-1800, and 0800-1800 Saturdays, 0900-1600 Sundays. Lovely lunch menu too, and the deli has a huge selection of coffees and wine on show to buy (some at >£70 bottle!)

Variety of healthy options, vegetarian and full cooked breakfast between £5.95 - £7.95. They also do american style pancakes with fruit/creme fraiche and maple syrup or bacon for £5.95.

The couple next to us had a Breakfast sandwich - which looked yummy. Big slices of fresh bloomer bread, with a choice of any two of bacon, egg, sausage, tomato or cheese, for £4.95.

We both had the Eggs Benedict (poached eggs on a toasted muffin with ham and hollandaise).
To die for!
 £6.95 each, with 2 white coffees for £2.00.  See Margarets picture below!
They also have Eggs Royale - with smoked salmon not ham, or
                         Eggs Florentine - with wilted spinach not ham.

                                    

 

 

                                         Jan x

 



 

 

(and you must visit The Sweet Corner on the High Street - HUGE choice of old retro and american sweets and chocolates. Yum Yum Yum)  

 

 

 

 

MacDonalds Newgate Lane Fareham

Quick visit to MacDonalds last Wednesday en route to look at plants at B&M .

Bargain brekkie - £6.78 for 2 x white coffees and 2 x pancakes/sausage/maple syrup.

Drive through if required. Service a bit sluggish considering there was no queue. But.... you get what you pay for. Tasty though.

Quick visit for quick (ish) food.
But everyone knows Maccy Ds....

Jan

Donny's at Stubbington

Today we went to Donny's at Stubbington for our breakfast and we were joined by Barbara, one of our doggy friends who used to have the pet shop along the way. It is a very attractive little cafe with lots of things on the wall to look at and read. It is waitress service and we were well looked after. When it is warm enough there is some outside seating as well.  We sat in the window which looks out over the green. Take a look at the website where there are lots of pictures and all their menus.

We were spoilt for choice really but in the end Barbara and I decided to go for the 'Village Breakfast' for £5.99, which as well as the usual bacon, sausage, egg, tomato, mushrooms and beans also came with sauteed potatoes which made a nice change. it also came with a round of toast.  Jan chose 'The Stack' which are real pancakes served with lemon and sugar and maple syrup. Jan asked for whipped cream on top as well which made it look really wicked.  That cost £5.99 as well. It was all freshly cooked and served very hot.  We felt it was good value for money and a very pleasant experience .

The Stack

The Village Breakfast

There were a lot of people around in Stubbington today as the village was celebrating St George's day so after we had finished our meals we went across to the green to take a look. There were lots of stalls selling things and competitions and plenty of things to amuse the kids.

And weren't they lucky to have such a sunny day.  

                                                                                                                   

Well that is it for this week, we will check in again soon.

Margaret

Dean's Diner

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Today we took ourselves over to Port Solent to try breakfast at Dean's Diner. It takes you right back to the 60's with an American feel. It's like being on the set of 'Grease'. Unfortunately at 9.30ish this morning we were the only ones in there so I suppose it lacked a bit of atmosphere.It has a juke playing in the background with 60's music which was really nice. My era! 

      I would imagine that it would get a lot busier later in the day and evening, probably when the cinema is open. They have a really nice menu, not the cheapest but a nice treat. We both opted for the Early riser pancakes, which were lovely.  Two pancakes, two griddled eggs, crispy bacon and maple syrup. These were £5.50 each, you get bottomless coffee for £1.95.

 If we had stopped there it would have been quite a reasonable brekkie but we were naughty girls and we got tempted by the milk shakes.  We decided to take out banana shakes and by the time we had added on the extra malt, whipped cream and caramel syrup they came to £4.10 each.  But, they were to die for!  We would like to go again in the summer (if it ever comes) as there is plenty of outside areas to eat. Altogether we paid £23.10 for the two of us, so next week we are looking for a budget meal and low calorie!

We had a bit of a wander around Port Solent but to be honest it was like a ghost town. When we were in Pavers and carrying our take out milk shakes we had a couple of customers come up and  ask us where we got them so maybe they got some more custom.  We didn't say how much they cost though.  Later on we did try to burn off some of what we had eaten. We picked up our dogs and walked round the farm in Posbrook lane. We did nearly two miles in the pouring rain and cold.  Hope the dogs enjoyed it.

                                                                                                                                   Margaret


                                                                                                             

The Oast & Squire

Today we invited Matthew, one of my Grandchildren who is twelve years old, to join us for breakfast and try out a vegetarian option for us.  This review is all his work.                                         Margaret

Today we visited the "Oast & Squire" for breakfast. The Oast & Squire is situated at No.2 Peak lane, Fareham, Hampshire, PO14 1RJ.

The Oast & Squire's breakfast menu consists of 4 items, including a vegetarian breakfast and an ultimate vegetarian breakfast, the ultimate vegetarian breakfast is more or less a larger version of the normal vegetarian breakfast.

The normal vegetarian breakfast consists of a Hash Brown, Baked Beans, either a Grilled Tomato or a Tinned Tomato, 2 eggs cooked in a way of your choice, mushrooms, and 1 delicious vegetarian sausage. Whereas, I presume, the ultimate vegetarian breakfast simply consists of larger quantities.

The Hash Browns were cooked to perfection - they were lovely and fluffy and moist on the inside with a beautiful crispy coating cooked to perfection under the grill. Similarly, the Baked Beans were deliciously fluffy and cooked perfectly over a low heat. Personally, I opted for the grilled tomato s I personally think they are EPICally delicious, (sneaky little youth word there) have your own opinions, but I LOVE grilled tomatoes. Anyway, the grilled tomato was grilled to the extent that the juice started to come out but was whipped off the grill so that it was lovely and juicy to eat. It was also cooked so that there were lines on the skin from the grill but grilled so that the skin was moist from the juice about to seep out. It was DElicious! As I said, I did not have the Tinned Tomato, but they looked fairly large and very juicy. As for the two eggs, you had a choice of how you wanted them cooked, so, for the purpose of the review, I decided to have them scrambled as I'm pretty sure everyone knows how a fried egg tastes and it is hard to go wrong with a fried egg, whereas a scrambled egg requires more skill. And I DEFINITELY did NOT choose scrambled because I adore them......

Anyway, the scrambled eggs were lovely and fluffy, although they could of used a little longer on the hob as they were still quite moist. Never the less, they were delicious and a joy to eat. Unfortunately, as I can not eat too many mushrooms, I could not eat the mushrooms, so you will have to see for yourself about the mushrooms, but they looked moist and in a decent amount. Leaving the best 'til last, the vegetarian sausage was divine! It was a delicious blend of vegetables and and a slight kick of a spice or about a gram of light chili, all coated in a thin crispy layer of breadcrumbs that tasted delicious with the vegetables.
The restaurant itself was fairly quiet when we arrived at about 10am, but it soon started to draw a crowd by about 11:30am. Also the waiters and waitresses, one waitress in particular, were fantastic and served us to our every need, she was also always up for a chat and was everything you want a waitress to be!
Matthew

The total cost for the three of us including meals, coffee and juice, and toast & jam was £14.25.  Very good value.  Thank you Matt for doing this, you did great.  It is the best description of a brekkie I have ever seen.
Margaret

Manor Farm

Today we went for a walk around Manor Farm Country Park  After our walk we stopped off at the cafe. This is not strictly a breakfast review as we only had a cup of coffee and a tea cake but it was so lovely there I thought I would talk about.

We went with a friend of ours Barbara with her dog Rosie and Ria who she is looking after, Jan had Peggy with her and I had my two little monsters Jake and Jessie. The outside eating area has been greatly improved, it has all been block paved and fenced.  Part of it is under cover, plenty of tables and water for the dogs. We really enjoyed our walk and most of the mud has gone.  There is a hose round the back of the cafe but today we didn't need it. When it gets warmer we will try out something for breakfast and take some more pictures around the Country park.

Rosie, Jake, Jessie, Ria and Peggy

There is also the farm to visit, not with dogs but with the children.  I've been there with my Grandchildren in the past and they love it.

                                                                                                            Margaret

              

Hilliers Garden Centre Coffee Shop, Botley

Trip out this chilly morning for breakfast at the coffee shop within the Hillier Garden Centre at Botley. A map is attached as it can be difficult to find if you come up through Botley.

Opening 9am - 5pm Mondays to Saturdays (11am - 4pm Sundays), this is a lovely place to go for breakfast or lunch. It is all homemade with friendly service, and a huge choice of cakes temptingly on display.

We both had the 'all day' breakfast, of bacon, 2 sausages, beans (or tomatoes), fried egg, toast and coffee all included for £5.95. You can get bigger or smaller breakfasts from a limited choice, but its was really good for the price. And the dogs get a sausage to share.

 


Well worth a visit, as next to the garden centre is a great  pet shop (not commercial), with packed shelves to browse around, plus outside aviaries.
 On the other side of the garden centre is Grange Aquatics, which again is a great home run large centre for all indoor/outdoor pond requirements. The guys who run it are great, and I got my pond/pumps and fish from here.

Another perk is a well stocked fruit and veg stall outside.

Good size garden centre, but too cold to buy anything until spring arrives.......

Until the next time..... Jan x