What is it about British holiday makers and full breakfast?

[MonaLisaDoesntSmile]

The other day I was wathing randomly Four in a Bed. The hosting B&B had an amazing (for me) choice of breakfast foods- loads of nice cereal, yoghurts, fresh fruit, cold meats, cheeses, freshly baked bread, most locally picked/made, seasonal whenever possible. Every couple on the show complained that there was no cooked breakfast option and rated the B&B really low on the breakfast front because they didn't get to have their fry-up.
Another time I watched snippets of a programme showing people to travelling around France, again all complaining that they don't get to have their bacon and beans, but were offered French breakfast instead. There was a time when I worked in a hotel abroad over the summer and likewise saw plenty of British tourists who would refuse to have breakfast if they didnt get their fried eggs and would moan there was no bacon or fried beans. Now mind you, I love eggs for breakfast, but I also ate plenty of other stuff that are available.

Asking here as I am a foreigner and back home we are not really religious about our breakfasts- sometimes we have cooked breakfast, sometimes a sandwich, sometimes cereal, and I have never in my life met a fellow countryman who would complain as much about not having specific foods on offer, especially when abroad. And out of all the British people I know, very, very few actually have a fry up for breakfast, not mentoning having it every day. I didn't get that vibe to from tourists from other countries, not the same extent at least.

I know that while abroad or generally on holiday you sometimes want to eat something familiar, but don't really understand why people are so upset to not have the food they don't even eat at home every day offered while away every day?

I don't understand why a cooked breakfast would make people fart either.

Our family are British Indian and it's traditional to have a cooked breakfast in both cultures so sometimes on the weekend we have a good old sausage/egg/tomatoes/beans fry up or chai with Indian omelette & puri. A cooked breakfast is a must for us when choosing a hotel for a holiday.
There are a few chains of Indian cafes around the UK offering traditional Indian breakfast with proper masala chai and using traditional tea sets. 😋

Bread sauce hmmm game changer. That sounds delish

“Sorry, my post above was meant to say why would you fart all day?“

I preferred the first version...

Tinned grapefruit all the way!

I never make a cooked breakfast at home. Just me, and I can’t be bothered/don’t have the time. I like to have a selection in a hotel or B&B - but that can be fruit, yoghurt, eggs, bread, pastries, cereal, whatever. It doesn’t have to be a fry up. You wouldn’t want that every day.
I’m just back from Finland, and the place we stayed had lovely rye bread, cream cheese and smoked fish as part of the breakfast. It was delicious, and I think I’ll see if I can get the bits to do it here.

I presume for most people, they need 2 "full" meals and 1 light meal a day. If they are paying for 1 meal, they expect that to be a bigger "full" meal, and feel rather cheated to be offered a light option meaning the 2 meals they are paying for separately will be the big meals.

British culture has grown to assume for most days the mid day meal will be the lightest (and therefore cheapest to buy out).

They feel cheated to have to buy a proper meal at lunchtime because they've not been offered a substantial breakfast.

all the grease & beans maybe that's just me

I love a good fry up, but wouldn't dare if I had to be in closed rooms or public transports a few hours after.

Yeah that’s just you

You don’t always have beans with an English breakfast. Many cafes will do 7/8 breakfasts but only a couple include beans. Usually the rule is beans or tomato not both.

At our guest house we always have tomato- quicker easier and looks nicer. Less messy.

I’m not a fan of cooked breakfast anywhere
Most important for me is decent coffee and fresh fruit
In fact most mornings that’s what I have with sometimes porridge in winter
I don’t mind a boiled egg n will nibble cold meat and cheese if on offer

i think its just part of being treated whilst away.and i think it will somehow stem back from the first opening of places like b&b when i think it was more staple of a b&b so part of its tradition.
so its nice to have it when away.especially in Britain.
but in places like europe the best breakfast are the baguette vans or the bakerys first thing surely! first thing we do when we go is look up where the nearest village and bakery is.or the hypermarche we have to get there early enough for the baguettes.
and in norway its bread meat and jam when we go.
our english breakfast comes from the victorians when the breakfast time was a time to show off their riches.so then when certain foods started to get status for being only what the rich could have they useed to produce the large breakfast.though back then they had more tongue meets etc.so i guess its still from back then and treated as a nice thing to have.

I don't eat breakfast anyway but the idea of a plate full of greasy fried bacon, sausages, hash browns and eggs makes me feel sick.

And I eat like a pig in shit. I'm a fat toad and eat heaps but the idea of grease in the morning is just boak.

I run a naice BnB
Everyone wants a cooked breakfast, ( well , most people anyway )

Grilled bacon , sausages , mushrooms , tomato , baked beans ( I put them in a ramekin as I think they’re disgusting ) eggs ( the current in egg is poached , not fried )

It’s a treat , you’re on holiday , you don’t want to shove a piece of toast in and dash off to work ( full up nicely , and you won’t need lunch )

our local cafe only allows the breakfast five.so it stops people going overbaord on all the options you can have.but when youve got the eggs bacon and sausages you sometimes struggle with the final 2!

English here and not into the full English either especially not on a morning, yuk grease 🤢

Doilooklikeatourist i know the answer buuuut where!? i want to google and look at your naice place.i love googling places to stay...

@BreadSauceHmm
Our family are British Indian and it's traditional to have a cooked breakfast in both cultures so sometimes on the weekend we have a good old sausage/egg/tomatoes/beans fry up or chai with Indian omelette & puri

This is why I love these types of threads, I love hearing about different culture's foods!

Love chai

As long as you’re just nibbling jacelancs, Don’t want to be mistaken for a fat uncultured Brit, do you?

To be fair the sort of people you see making such demands are the sort of people parodied on shows like Benidorm, crude pasty Brexity types who solely live for holidays and stuffing their faces and getting drunk on them.

@BreadSauceHmm Mmmm puri is delicious.

DH has Caribbean heritage (Jamaican/Trinidadian) and they also go in for big, cooked breakfasts at the weekend or on holidays. Fish is popular. Ackee and salt fish, fried white fish or mackerel.

I love all the stodgy Caribbean breads and dumplings. Hardough bread , fried dumplings, bammy (a delicious flat bread), roti. Yum.

DH and I went to a 'boutique' hotel in Paris. They had scrambled egg on their breakfast menu so decided to order it. They were short staffed and the waitress was furious when i ordered it. I heard banging and crashing and swearing in the kitchen. The waitress brought out the shrivelled offering and slammed it down in front of me. It was clear she had to cook it herself. Clearly I was very uncouth in ordering this. I should have nibbled on meat and cheese instead
So much snobbery on this thread

Brits like drinking and eggs cure a hangover

Surprised no one has turned up yet to say a full English is way too carb heavy and full of sugar. (Any food anyone wants to eat on MN is usually carb heavy and full of sugar.)

My American DH adores a full English and will have one every day when we spend time in the UK. When we holiday abroad he'll happily have a variation on the full English theme (egg, sausage, beans, toast etc).

The best breakfast ever is, imo, Sri Lankan and I still dream about egg hoppers with the little pots of sambal and curry to go with it. Oh my!

A full cooked breakfast is an expensive luxury and a treat. We rarely cook it at home because it takes ages, requires about a tenners worth of ingredients and dirties half a dozen pans. So when I stay in a hotel I absolutely expect to have the big expensive breakfast cooked by someone else. I’m not getting my money’s worth if I only eat a cheap bowl of cereal!

In fact at a hotel breakfast buffet I have an absolute feast - porridge or cereal, a cooked breakfast, maybe a slice of toast with cheese and ham, a croissant with jam, yogurt and fruit to finish, at least two types of juice and two or three coffees. Then I probably don’t bother with lunch. Doesn’t everyone stuff themselves at a buffet? You’re not getting value for money if you don’t!