What should a 'farmhouse breakfast' consist of?
Discussion
I and Lady SC went to a farmhouse breakfast today, at a farm even, one that produces and sells their own meat and meat products.
We weren't sure what to expect, but we do see these breakfasts advertised from time to time so thought we should go along and try it out. £7.50 each, BTW.
It turned out that the breakfast consisted of sausage, bacon, black pudding, tomato, fried egg and fried potato, with roll and butter on the side. Fair enough, thought we, but what we were a bit disappointed with, me more than her ladyship, was the quantity, one of each. Or, in the case of the tomato, one half, and the potato, one desertspoon full. Service was cafeteria style, with a staff member by each dish, keeping hold of the tongs and asking each customer if they would like 'a' (IOW single) whatever.
We rarely eat out, so have lost touch with what one might expect to get for £7.50. I thought the breakfast wasn't really complaint-worthy, but didn't think they had been generous either. Any thoughts?
We weren't sure what to expect, but we do see these breakfasts advertised from time to time so thought we should go along and try it out. £7.50 each, BTW.
It turned out that the breakfast consisted of sausage, bacon, black pudding, tomato, fried egg and fried potato, with roll and butter on the side. Fair enough, thought we, but what we were a bit disappointed with, me more than her ladyship, was the quantity, one of each. Or, in the case of the tomato, one half, and the potato, one desertspoon full. Service was cafeteria style, with a staff member by each dish, keeping hold of the tongs and asking each customer if they would like 'a' (IOW single) whatever.
We rarely eat out, so have lost touch with what one might expect to get for £7.50. I thought the breakfast wasn't really complaint-worthy, but didn't think they had been generous either. Any thoughts?
singlecoil said:
I and Lady SC went to a farmhouse breakfast today, at a farm even, one that produces and sells their own meat and meat products.
We weren't sure what to expect, but we do see these breakfasts advertised from time to time so thought we should go along and try it out. £7.50 each, BTW.
It turned out that the breakfast consisted of sausage, bacon, black pudding, tomato, fried egg and fried potato, with roll and butter on the side. Fair enough, thought we, but what we were a bit disappointed with, me more than her ladyship, was the quantity, one of each. Or, in the case of the tomato, one half, and the potato, one desertspoon full. Service was cafeteria style, with a staff member by each dish, keeping hold of the tongs and asking each customer if they would like 'a' (IOW single) whatever.
We rarely eat out, so have lost touch with what one might expect to get for £7.50. I thought the breakfast wasn't really complaint-worthy, but didn't think they had been generous either. Any thoughts?
at our hotel, breakfast is included in the room rate, but if we sell them as cash, theyre 8.50We weren't sure what to expect, but we do see these breakfasts advertised from time to time so thought we should go along and try it out. £7.50 each, BTW.
It turned out that the breakfast consisted of sausage, bacon, black pudding, tomato, fried egg and fried potato, with roll and butter on the side. Fair enough, thought we, but what we were a bit disappointed with, me more than her ladyship, was the quantity, one of each. Or, in the case of the tomato, one half, and the potato, one desertspoon full. Service was cafeteria style, with a staff member by each dish, keeping hold of the tongs and asking each customer if they would like 'a' (IOW single) whatever.
We rarely eat out, so have lost touch with what one might expect to get for £7.50. I thought the breakfast wasn't really complaint-worthy, but didn't think they had been generous either. Any thoughts?
the choie consists of.
cereal
fruit
fruit salad
grapefruit
fresh juice
yoghurt
croissants
followed by
Full english
2 x Bacon
2 x Sausage
1 x tomato
1 or 2 eggs
1 or 2 hash browns
1 x black pudding
some mushrooms.
toast
tea and/or coffee
that my friend is breakfast! and IMO reasonable at £8.50
for what you were given £7.50 is outrageous.
Bullett said:
Depends on the quality.
Price sounds ok to me, more than a greasy spoon less than a hotel.
The sausage was alright, very nice in fact, I declined the bacon in favour of another sausage, which the serving person could hardly refuse. We both declined the black pudding, so can't comment on that. I forgot to mention the mushrooms, they were bascially sliced and boiled.Price sounds ok to me, more than a greasy spoon less than a hotel.
Overall I would have said the quality would have been good for a Little Chef, but somewhat below our expectations for a farmhouse breakfast in an actual farm that produces its own meat products.
singlecoil said:
The sausage was alright, very nice in fact, I declined the bacon in favour of another sausage, which the serving person could hardly refuse. We both declined the black pudding, so can't comment on that. I forgot to mention the mushrooms, they were bascially sliced and boiled.
Overall I would have said the quality would have been good for a Little Chef, but somewhat below our expectations for a farmhouse breakfast in an actual farm that produces its own meat products.
So, it was below your expectations of a farm producing its own meat products, even though you didn't try the bacon or the black pudding? Overall I would have said the quality would have been good for a Little Chef, but somewhat below our expectations for a farmhouse breakfast in an actual farm that produces its own meat products.
Seems a little unfair. miniman said:
singlecoil said:
The sausage was alright, very nice in fact, I declined the bacon in favour of another sausage, which the serving person could hardly refuse. We both declined the black pudding, so can't comment on that. I forgot to mention the mushrooms, they were bascially sliced and boiled.
Overall I would have said the quality would have been good for a Little Chef, but somewhat below our expectations for a farmhouse breakfast in an actual farm that produces its own meat products.
So, it was below your expectations of a farm producing its own meat products, even though you didn't try the bacon or the black pudding? Overall I would have said the quality would have been good for a Little Chef, but somewhat below our expectations for a farmhouse breakfast in an actual farm that produces its own meat products.
Seems a little unfair. So, fair enough in the circumstances, I reckon.
They only do these breakfasts every couple of months or so, so I don't suppose they are doing it as a regular money spinner. I would guess that what they are really trying to do is to increase the local awareness of where they are and what they do.
From their point of view they probably feel that they are doing it right, there were plenty of people there and I think many of them must have been there before. My purpose in starting this thread was to get an idea as to whether they were a) providing good value and b) providing what an average person might think of as a 'farmhouse breakfast' regardless of the asking price.
My own opinion is that they failed to maximise the benefits of the opportunity they created by doing it in the first place. The impression they gave me is one of some not particularly friendly people offering reasonable quality products for as much money as they could possibly get for them. That being the case, I certainly wouldn't make the effort to go there and buy any of their sausages etc, which I might well have been inclined to do had they shown themselves to be a bit more generous, and a bit more interested in keeping me (and the others who must have found it a mediocre experience) as a customer.
It's one of the things that I have noticed about this sort of local business over the years. They are usually run by amateurs and quite often they have quite a bit of business and so they are encouraged to feel that they don't need to make the effort to improve.
From their point of view they probably feel that they are doing it right, there were plenty of people there and I think many of them must have been there before. My purpose in starting this thread was to get an idea as to whether they were a) providing good value and b) providing what an average person might think of as a 'farmhouse breakfast' regardless of the asking price.
My own opinion is that they failed to maximise the benefits of the opportunity they created by doing it in the first place. The impression they gave me is one of some not particularly friendly people offering reasonable quality products for as much money as they could possibly get for them. That being the case, I certainly wouldn't make the effort to go there and buy any of their sausages etc, which I might well have been inclined to do had they shown themselves to be a bit more generous, and a bit more interested in keeping me (and the others who must have found it a mediocre experience) as a customer.
It's one of the things that I have noticed about this sort of local business over the years. They are usually run by amateurs and quite often they have quite a bit of business and so they are encouraged to feel that they don't need to make the effort to improve.
The fact that they were not particularly welcoming doesn't do them any favours. I think you are right that as a marketing exercise they have missed the mark with their price point and approach. I suspect their budget doesn't run to offering everything for free but if the intention was to persuade people to come back to buy more goods they could perhaps have made the charge seem more nominal.
singlecoil said:
It's one of the things that I have noticed about this sort of local business over the years. They are usually run by amateurs and quite often they have quite a bit of business and so they are encouraged to feel that they don't need to make the effort to improve.
Like many cafes and B&Bs that serve cheap sausages for instance. I'm sure all they see is the overhead figures with no aim to expand or improve.Eggle said:
They would probably appreciate your feedback.
Hmmm, maybe, although they don't make it easy. No website, and there was no attempt to gather feedback at the actual event. If I'd been running it I would have had someone going from table to table asking people if they were enjoying the meal, and being ready to deal with any complaints people had (that might be why they weren't asking!), and I would have been telling people about the products that were available. At the very least there would have been a leaflet on each table.I'd be surprised if they really would appreciate it, though, I didn't form the opinion that they were actually trying to improve their business as opposed to simply operating it. The breakfasts were a good idea I believe, they are just not following through and maximising the potential benefits, they are just carrying it out as a task.
As a small business owner myself I take a keen interest in this kind of thing, and it makes me ask myself whether I'm doing everything I can to enhance my own business.
whoami said:
OP - don't take this the wrong way but what was your expectation of this?
I would have thought that that was evident from what I had already written.In brief, though, that having created the opportunity to showcase their business and products, that they would have taken the extra trouble and expense to have made a good impression, and to have converted curious visitors into regular customers. We are no longer curious, but certainly won't be going again.
It takes extra effort on the part of consumers to buy from this type of business, and if they want customers, or rather, more customers, then that really isn't the way to do it.
singlecoil said:
whoami said:
OP - don't take this the wrong way but what was your expectation of this?
I would have thought that that was evident from what I had already written.In brief, though, that having created the opportunity to showcase their business and products, that they would have taken the extra trouble and expense to have made a good impression, and to have converted curious visitors into regular customers. We are no longer curious, but certainly won't be going again.
It takes extra effort on the part of consumers to buy from this type of business, and if they want customers, or rather, more customers, then that really isn't the way to do it.
In fact from what you had already written in your first post, we weren't sure what to expect, neither were you.
As you didn't want the black pudding and had already decided that all bacon tastes the same (which is incorrect), was this just a quantity Vs price based complaint?
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