Expectations of an 'English breakfast' abroad

[mysparkleismissing]

Hubbie had an English breakfast in France yesterday and was grumpy that the sausages and bacon weren't what you'd get at home

Would you expect what you'd get at home?

Or allow poetic licence given the frankfurter type sausages are what they see as a sausage

It's a haggis.

Well I’m going to be a lone voice in the wind and not insult your dh for ordering a full English in France because sometimes if I’m staying in a hotel in England I go for French pastries for breakfast!

I don’t like a full English so wouldn’t order one abroad but if I did, no, I wouldn’t expect the sausages and bacon to be ‘the same’ as the ones we have in this country.
One of my best things about being abroad is to try the new foods I’ve not had before but it sometimes bites me on the arse 😂
Also, andouilette is a crime to food, it both smells and tastes like sewage 🥴

I'm French and I can assure you that there are many types of sausages in France and they are not all frankfurters!

We had 'English afternoon Tea' in the Maldives. It was curry, pistachio sponge cake, and some nuts. With a cup of tea.

It is, more of less - offal and herbs, but no oatmeal in the andouillette. I'd already eaten haggis and liked that too.

Typo

andouillette is more ... bummy .... than haggis though.

Sounds like friends of my parents.

They all went to Italy together (christ knows why, ma and pa knew what they were like) and the husband in particular was appalled that "All the food is foreign!" My father pointed out that its not foreign to the Italians, but he was disgusted that he couldnt get "proper" food. This was a man who refused to eat spag bol or lasagne when in the UK, and still chose to go to Italy! Day three and the friends were delighted to announce that they had found and a british pub that served cooked breakfasts and roast dinners every day. They were blown away that ma and pa didnt want to eat every meal there with them and actually wanted to eat the "foreign stuff".

Blows my mind, why bother travelling?!

I had to intervene for Mr Monkey at a rather rustic french grill restaurant as he nearly ordered andouilette as the waiter assured him "c'est saucisson monsieur"

"Hubbie" got grumpy did he
What Age is this giant man baby ?
Seriously
Leave him at home next time

This made me lol!

I was going to say something like this. A friend is married to an Italian and it is a total nightmare getting his family to eat anything other than Italian food (they live in the UK). She said once that Italians are the reason that Aberdeen Steakhouse is still going - they will sometimes eat there because how bad can a steak be.

You can get a good Irish/English breakfast in the US if you go to an Irish pub. But you can’t get a nice cup of ordinary tea as they don’t boil the water.

I wonder if the same thread exists on French mumsnet. What your husband ordered a croissant for breakfast in London? Of course it was awful and not like in France! He should have got the local fry up, much better. Trying local food is the whole point of travel.

I used to live in Italy and have learnt that food is regional rather than national, down to motorway service stations selling local dishes made from local ingredients. The Italians I know are full of praise for English (British ) food, and critical of the narrow-minded attitude some of their compatriots demonstrate when travelling abroad. So it's not just us.

I have very low expectations when it comes to an English (well I’m Irish but anyway) breakfast abroad therefore I never ever order one

Ummm, I wouldn't try and find one shrug

Nope, I’m saying that of if I had been born in France, I would be familiar with the types of dishes I could eat over there but that for a weeks long holiday that would take a level of research and trial and error that isn’t worth it when I can choose the foods I am familiar with and still have a brilliant holiday.

He could have stayed home and gone to Wetherspoons.

Was he also expecting tattie scones, hash browns, haggis and black pudding???

I think I would be more surprised if the bacon and sausages were the UK type to be honest, it’s his own fault, who goes to France and orders an English Breakfast?

@Mumsntfan1 I think the reasons is different. Breakfast is not really a big thing in France - so there aren't lots of places that put effort in to serving you a wide variety of foods - a lot f small French hotels just serve coffee, pastries, juice and yoghurts - if that.

Whereas in the UK, for various reasons, breakfast is a much bigger deal so there are a lot of restaurants, cafes and hotels that will feature a variety of beakfast foods, often from different cultures.

It is not is much misunderstanding the food but the culture around the meal.

It would be moee like a French person complaining about the lack of apero culture here.

I’d have low expectations, and that should have been obvious before he ordered.

Clearly enough people for a French restaurant to bother offering it on their menu!

given the frankfurter type sausages are what they see as a sausage

France has a wide range of excellent regional sausages, many of them nothing like "frankfurters".

My Dad was once apparently served peas and broccoli (and iirc beetroot) on an English breakfast as the host (trying to kindly give him a taste of home while away overseas for a long time) has interpreted the mushroom/bean/tomato element as any vegetable