Fat boys Versus Beefeater.

19/6/24

We had a month off in May as I was in Spain so we were all chomping at the bit for our first Fat Boys of the Summer.

It was also the first time Keith had been master of ceremonies since he joined the group a few months ago. Given he was still on probation, he needed to pass induction with flying colours in order to get his FBB Wings.

The first problem we encountered was one of communication.

When my phone was stolen in Spain I lost all communications, so once I got a new phone up and running ( I bought a reconditioned I phone 13 from a firm called Loop for less than 400 quid) I had to try and reload all my old data back onto the new phone. However, Some info was just missing, including lots of What’s App contacts.

If I looked at Contacts there was some info but not everything.

I found an old message to/from the Fat boys and sent a message on 30th May telling the group I was setting up my new phone. Strangely on the 17th Pete realised Keith was missing from the group and apparently that was ‘my fault’ as I had set up a second Fat boys What’s App group that didn’t include Keith.

Problem number two was transport.

Keith picked us up in his VW Van. How was I to know it had electronic sliding door’s !

So I sensed a certain amount of hostility when I eventually got in my seat and Keith was able to fix his sliding doors which I had jammed when I tried to open one manually.

I blame the early start, usually we pick up about 1015 but this morning we had an early start for some reason which made it all the more exciting.

We drove to Stoke Gifford and we were all trying to guess the venue. Was it going to be some where we had been before ?

As it turned out Keith pulled a Rabbit out of the Hat.

He had learnt about the opening of a brand new Beefeater restaurant in the new Premier Inn and had sent one of his chums on a recce to see what it was like. Once the news came back that it was indeed suitable for the Fat boys, he had decided to take us there.

This brand new restaurant was in pristine condition and positively gleamed with new-ness.

Every surface was shiny, every carpet springy and fresh. Seats were unblemished and comfortable. The whole place looked, new. It was also very big with plenty of seating for diners and a large bar area.

We were shown to a table in the dining area and given the menus.

The Menus are fairly straight forward.

There are two options. The ‘all you can eat’ Continental Breakfast (£8.99) or the ‘all you can eat’ Full Breakfast (£10.99) which includes the Continental and all the cooked food.

It was a no brainer.

We all chose the full version including the hot food and unlimited drinks.

Pete graciously set off to the drinks station and supplied us all with Tea and Coffee plus Orange Juices whilst we settled in. Then he went off to get our toast order. This entailed putting your chosen slice on one of those rotating toasters. There only appeared to be the one machine so I imagine at peak times in the morning, when the Hotel is busy, this will become the usual Bun Fight with people stealing other folks toast.

I did notice they also had Crumpet’s available which might make a nice change.

Once the Tea and Toast were sorted Pete produced a spare plate that we used to collect all the debris a Buffet breakfast generates, which was a nice touch though why Pete was doing all the running around when Keith was Master of Ceremonies?

He has been in touch with his ‘Feminine side’ since his old Tory boss got replaced by a Female (Labour) Police Commissioner, which might explain it?

Then it was time to visit the hot food counter and see what this bad boy had to offer.

It was a fairly small offering in comparison. I remember going to Circus Circus in Las Vegas many years ago for the all you can eat breakfast Buffett [24 hour version of course] and they had over 100 different items available.

It was gluttony on steroids.

People were piling food a foot high onto the huge ‘tray sized’ breakfast plates then discarding it and going back for fresh supplies.

Awful.

Yet on our trips to the USA we used to love the Denny’s Buffet Breakfast, It was so typically American. The smell of Maple syrup, the Pancakes and crispy Bacon with the promise of a whole day in the Theme Parks still to come. It was truly magical.

However, back to the Beefeater:

There were fried eggs, slightly undercooked so they were a bit runny and hard to scoop up followed by scrambled eggs.

Some nicely cooked Tomatoes, soft and scorched.

A bowl of Hash Browns that looked crisp and dry.

Some really nice Mushrooms, cooked perfectly so they kept their shape and consistency.

A bowl of Baked Beans (which I forgot to serve so I had to go back and get on a separate plate).

Some of the dishes were a bit depleted and they always look a bit unappealing when they have been decimated by hungry customers. But they were soon topped up and back to their best.

Then the best bits.

Small but tasty, well cooked Sausages.

Back bacon, cooked just how I like it and Black Pudding that was actually cooked on both sides.

Result!

Clearly there is a risk these items will dry out if they were left on the heated counter too long but on this occasion, they were perfect.

I have to say, when I sat down with my Full English in front of me, I was delighted with its appearance and when I tucked in, it didn’t disappoint. It was really very good.

We still could have done with some extra plates to put the toast on but that was down to us as this was self serve. The Plate we used for the Butter wrappings and the old Sugar sachets soon got filled up as this type of breakfast does generate a certain amount of waste and we soon found our table was a little congested, especially when we got more Teas and Coffee’s.

The staff were all presumably new so were still learning the ropes and they could have perhaps cleared away some of the debris a bit quicker but they were friendly, helpful and still enthusiastic.

I went for more Bacon to accompany my last bit of toast and Keith managed to force down an extra egg and some additional Bacon whilst Pete tried the Continental menu with a few over cooked pastries. He couldn’t finish the last one so wrapped it up and took it with him. He was driving to the Brecon Beacons to collect a bus load of kids from Clifton High School.

Another of his many part time jobs.

When it came time to pay the bill we were pleasantly surprised to find they had given us a 25% discount (presumably an opening offer) and gave us all a voucher for 25% off our next visit.

Given the quality of this one and the value for money , I’m sure there will be another visit.

But not for the Fat Boys Breakfast Club.

The next outing will require a new venue so Peter will have to get his thinking cap on.