Street food focus: The Breakfast Club

Henry Norman samples the hottest dishes on the high street, are they more than just a flash in the pan?

What?
The Works.

Where?
The Breakfast Club serves up “comfort food” from 17 mainly London-based locations.

How much?
£17.50.

The menu says:
“Our veggie and vegan fry-up. Redefine Meat sausage, La Vie bacon, tattie scones, homemade BC beans, scrambled tahini tofu/eggs, mushrooms and roasted tomatoes.”

The hype says:
“Does excellent all-day breakfasts”: The Infatuation; “Serves indulgent portions of all your favourite breakfast items”: The Handbook”; “Possibly the best breakfast in London”: TripAdvisor.

We say:
With the monickers Whisky Business and Desperately Seeking Sushi sadly currently unclaimed, The Breakfast Club remains, for my dollar anyway, the king of the casual-dining-outlets-that-happen-to-be-named-after-classic-American-teen-movies-from-the-1980s. Bringing things bang up to date, one of its Soho-based outlets went fully vegetarian for the whole of January, launching the retro chain’s new partnership with Redefine Meat in the process.

The deal sees the food-via-3d-printing-pioneer’s products being added to the menu via the Posh Sausage Sandwich, The Redefine Meat Burger and The Works. The latter comprises a full English, including ‘bacon’ and the company’s ‘sausage’. For my money, the former manages to retain the compelling crunch that is so important, while the latter tastes better than it looks. On first inspection the sausage may appear a tad anaemic, but once combined with ketchup and the delicious tattie scones, it is indistinguishable from the ‘real’ thing.

This all adds up to an overall experience that will be extremely satisfying for veggies/vegans who are onboard with products that specifically and intentionally mimic meat. And for those who find the £17.50 price tag a tad steep, I would personally recommend the Club Burrito, which is also vegan/veg-appropriate but comes in at a mere £11.

Should you believe the hype?
With its on-point structural integrity, this sausage substitute is currently leading the market.

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