The Full English brekkie and other tasty morsels

Let us now consider the curious case of the full English breakfast. It is one of the most mysterious things you will encounter during a visit to Great Britain. You’ll find the “full English” offered at bed and breakfasts, hotels, pubs or just about anywhere breakfast is served. And more and more there are restaurants that offer the meal all day long.

Now there isn’t anything odd about breakfast or even an all-day-long breakfast. What’s strange are the components that comprise the traditional full English. They are: eggs, bacon, sausage, baked tomato, baked beans, mushrooms and black pudding (also known as blood pudding).  And I’ll also grant you that, with the exception of the pudding, which is not well-known to American palates, all those components are perfectly acceptable comestibles, including at breakfast. The baked beans particularly have a certain American cowboy allure as a morning meal.

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A lovely meal on Tap

I thought we’d begin this edition with a lovely Sunday brunch, although, going against theme, it is not a buffet.

I stopped my Tap Room at Dubsdread last Sunday to sample the brunch. It was a gorgeous day, so when the hostess asked “inside or out” I didn’t even hesitate. We were shown to a table on the wraparound porch on the side that faces the Dubsdread Golf Course (the other part of the porch largely looks over the parking lot, so try to get the course side if you can).

The brunch menu is short but hits all the right notes. I selected the classic eggs Benedict while my companion chose the southwestern omelette.

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Welcome to a new feature: Sunday Buffet. It’s a sumptuous spread of tasty morsels, newsy nuggets and leftover scraps. Today we’re serving up a first-time burger at Seasons 52, a new downtown restaurant in an old location, new locations for existing eateries and a few more tiddly bits. Pace yourself.

Buffalo on a bun

Stopped in at Seasons 52 on Sand Lake Road for lunch the other day and discovered something that has never been on the menu there before: a burger. The reason there hasn’t been a burger on the tony eatery’s menu is because of the restaurant’s mission to serve no entrees with more than 475 calories. If they’d had a burger it would be smaller than their dinky desserts.

And the only reason they can offer one now is because they’re using buffalo meat, which is leaner than beef. And it’s a smaller burger than most places would serve.

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