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SuffolkNews reporters reveal their favourite breakfast locations in the county to mark National Breakfast Week





Bagel? A simple coffee? Porridge? Or what about a full English fry-up?

Whatever route you take to kick off the day, there's no doubt that our breakfast habits have changed enormously since the 1970s when kids were sent to school glowing with a bowl of Ready Brek.

One in three of us now regularly starts the day with a bacon sandwich, while 31 per cent opt for toast with jam or marmalade. And it seems expensive brunch items, such as avocados, are falling out of favour, with cheaper items such as cereal (40 per cent), scrambled egg (35 per cent), tea with milk (35 per cent) and porridge (34 per cent) gaining popularity.

Do you opt for the traditional fry-up? Picture: iStock
Do you opt for the traditional fry-up? Picture: iStock

But a new report from Milk & More to coincide with National Breakfast Week, found some breakfast foods are falling out of favour. Croissants, Danish pastries, waffles and American style pancakes seem to be losing their popularity.

We asked Suffolk News reporters for their favourite breakfast haunts - and what they would want to eat.

Camille Berriman - The Corn Exchange, Bury St Edmunds

Corn Exchange Wetherspoons Bury St Edmunds. Picture by Mark Westley
Corn Exchange Wetherspoons Bury St Edmunds. Picture by Mark Westley

With its headline offer of unlimited tea/coffee refills for the bargain price of £1.45, Wetherspoon pub The Corn Exchange, in Bury St Edmunds, has to be near the top of the list for a budget-friendly breakfast.

Prices may have risen in recent years - which is true of pretty much every eaterie - but the national chain still packs a punch when it comes to its breakfast menu.

The Corn Exchange caters for pretty much every breakfast taste. Want pancakes and maple syrup? They're on the menu. Fancy a full English? The Corn Exchange can do that, while beans on toast, vegetarian options, porridge and plain old toast and butter are all available too.

Or, for just over £3 you can enjoy a hot drink (with unlimited refills) with an egg and cheese muffin (or egg and sausage, egg and bacon, egg and Quorn sausage . . . you get the idea).

Fine dining it is not, but for value, speed and convenience I'm not sure it can be beaten. But you might want to get there early to bag a table on busy Saturdays.

Granola bowl from FOLK Cafe
Granola bowl from FOLK Cafe

Barry Peters - FOLK Cafe, Fornham St Martin

I love the House granola with passion fruit, apple and Greek yoghurt at FOLK Cafe, just outside Bury St Edmunds.

You can eat it in, or out (£7.95/£6.50) but the atmosphere at this peaceful yet vibrant cafe adds to the whole breakfast experience.

There are also fry-ups for the hungry days - the full FOLK version is £12.95 while there's a veggie version, too.

Barry said the atmosphere of the cafe adds to the breakfast experience
Barry said the atmosphere of the cafe adds to the breakfast experience

The toast is all from Wooster's and if you pair whatever you plump for with a filter Butterworth's Coffee of the Moment (£2.75), you've got a real taste of Suffolk right there on your plate.

Kaia Nicholl - Prado Lounge, Sudbury

When it comes to breakfast, I am a big fan of variety and at Prado Lounge in Market Hill, Sudbury, they offer this in abundance.

My go-to dish is the veggie breakfast which, for just £9.50, comes heaped with cheddar and sweetcorn fritters, greens and peppers, hash browns, a pot of baked beans, half a roasted tomato, button mushrooms a friend egg and sourdough toast.

Veggie Breakfast at Prado Lounge
Veggie Breakfast at Prado Lounge

Lounge eggs with bacon (£7.75) are a favourite of my partner, who has praised the hollandaise sauce, while the berries and maple mascarpone triple-stacked buttermilk pancakes (£8.75) are another common choice of mine.

With its quirky interior and delicious but reasonably-priced brunches, Prado Lounge certainly gets my vote as a breakfast go-to.

Cameron Reid - McDonald's, Fiveways Roundabout, Barton Mills

I must admit, I’m someone who only has McDonalds in the evening normally and I don’t actually think I’ve had a breakfast from the fast food chain before, so I wasn’t too sure what to expect.

I am not a morning person in the slightest, so my first priority was a hot chocolate (£1.45) to help wake me up a little that I got with my breakfast meal. As someone who considers themselves a bit of a hot chocolate connoisseur, I was pretty satisfied with the drink as it tasted simply pretty good - no complaints.

Cameron's McDonald's feast. Picture: Cameron Reid
Cameron's McDonald's feast. Picture: Cameron Reid

On the food front, I was quite hungry so I ordered a few things. I kicked off with the Bacon and Egg McMuffin (£3.54) which was cooked well. This was followed by a hash brown (part of the meal), and as someone who thinks hash browns are just very average and are a little bit overrated, I was pleasantly surprised by it.

My cheesy bacon flatbread (£2.09) was a little disappointing to be honest, as although the combination of the two was good, the cheese needed to be more melted in my humble opinion. Finally, my three pancakes with syrup (£3.59) drizzled over them were very tasty and I particularly enjoyed how soft they were.

Where is your go-to place to grab breakfast in the county? Let us know in the comments.