breakfast club – Pheebz Eatz

The Breakfast Club’s Pancake Day Challenge 2014

It’s Pancake Day! Rejoice! Finally, we can give these simple floury, eggy, milky creations the full appreciation they deserve.

Why then, am I looking so anxious at the giant stack of pancakes in front of me? Because I had to eat them ALL in 15 minutes – that’s why.

Every Mardi Gras, The Breakfast Club really does take the day at it’s literal meaning – ‘Fat Tuesday’ – and presents customers with an ego-massaging, or ego-destroying, Man V Food eating competition. The rules are as simple as the ingredients: eat all the pancakes within the time limit and pay nothing; fail and pay £17.50 to Rays of Sunshine children’s charity (so basically, it’s a win-win situation).

Last year, I wolfed down 12 pancakes in 20 minutes, earning myself some applause and this wonderful footage of me ~~gagging~~ bravely struggling.

This year, the challenge was tougher: just 15 minutes for 12 pancakes. And they were definitely bigger and eggier than before.

I knew before I started that defeat lay ahead of me, but how much did I enjoy getting dirty?!

By ten minutes in, I settled for defeat. Quantity was not the problem so much as sweetness and dryness, and swallowing pancakes mixed with water was not agreeing with my stomach. By taking the sensible decision to quit, I a) didn’t feel ill all afternoon and b) got to take away what I didn’t finish – win! Pancake Day is lasting that bit longer for me and I’m looking forward to breakfast!

Apparently, there is no such thing as too many pancakes…

The Breakfast Club, Spitalfields (revisited)

For the uninitiated, The Breakfast Club is a trendy breakfast chain, which will not only sort you out with good and proper breakfast/brunch items until 5pm, but it will also fix you up with cocktails and drinks when it gets too late for bacon and eggs (although, in my humble opinion, it is never too late for bacon and eggs).

I previously enjoyed their Full Monty, but this post is a shout out for their Boston Beans (£8.30). These are some deliciously smoky pulled pork and beans with a mild sweetness, topped with a fried egg and served with eggs breads. It’s a gloriously rich, gooey and filling breakfast. Convince any friends with small appetites to order this, and then take home their leftovers for breakfast the next day. #winning

Alternatively, eat everyone’s breakfast at once.

Leftovers? Pfft. I don't understand the meaning of that word! — Leftovers? Pfft. I don’t understand the meaning of that word!

Website: http://www.thebreakfastclubcafes.com/ (check this out for an awesome, retro gaming theme. Super Mario land anyone?)
Where: Angel, Hoxton, Spitalfields, Soho, Battersea Rise
When: Various. See website.

The Breakfast Club’s Pancake Challenge

12 pancakes, whipped cream, blueberries and maple syrup

So yesterday was Pancake Day / Shrove Tuesday / Mardi Gras!

I’m going to call it Fat Tuesday for a very good reason. I got fat.

The Breakfast Club was running a challenge: eat 12 pancakes in 20 minutes and have them for free; or lose and pay £17.50 (which they then give to the charity Rays of Sunshine).

Given that I’d very much enjoyed my previous visit, and given that this challenge was so ridiculous, I just had to give it a try.

I have a confession though. I don’t like pancakes that much and I can’t eat tonnes of sweet stuff (even chocolate). This was going to be difficult and I had lots of pre-eating nerves. Plus I had a craving for bacon, and was trying hard not to back out and order a bacon-pancake lunch instead.

However, I hate losing – I didn’t want to be thought of as some silly girl who thought she could take on some manly pancakes in her puny stomach. So, on behalf of my gender if nothing else, I was gonna bloody well eat my hardest!

Oh my! That's a lot of pancakes! — Oh my! That’s a lot of pancakes!

Watch the video of how I got on. (I didn’t have time to edit it so use the annotations to skip to relevant parts. If you want a summary, watch from 18 mins onwards.)

It was a struggle but I tried to remain cheerful through my chomping.

However, having made it with seconds to spare, I ended up a little like this:

The main problem was not the quantity but how the pancakes absorbed all of my saliva leaving me unable to swallow them, hence the copious amounts of water I drank. For the first five, this wasn’t an issue. But the next seven were tough. On completion, I didn’t feel euphoria. I felt zombiefied. And I really wanted something savoury. In fact, I still fancied some bacon.

Whislt I’d like to pretend I was triumphant all afternoon, I actually crashed and sat around in a sugary stupor until 8pm at night, when I dragged myself to muay Thai and tried to sweat those pancakes out of myself.

Review: The Breakfast Club, Spitalfields

When I own a house, I shall display this in my kitchen.

Some places have such a reputation that their names seem to drift in the wind, snatches of overheard conversations on the street. The Breakfast Club is one of those places.

I first encountered it when a man approached me in the street to ask its location. After that, I heard The Breakfast Club mentioned everywhere. I couldn’t escape it.

It grew in my mind until I could resist it no longer, and decided to seek it out. I love a good breakfast. Or brunch. Take your pick.

As it happens, if you want to head to The Breakfast Club, it’s advisable to get there before 10am. The queue can get pretty long. We arrived at just before 10am on a Sunday and we had a queue of 10 minutes, which is bearable, especially when checking out the esoteric décor.

The Breakfast Club has an American diner style aesthetic, but don’t panic! English breakfasts are on the menu.

We were seated at a high table and our order was promptly taken. Our waitress was polite and efficient, but had to fight the urge to give me the veggie breakfast instead of my male co-diner, as often happens when dining out (for my post on food and sexism, click here).

Of course, I wasn’t eating any veggie stuff; I took the Full Monty English Breakfast (at £9.80 if my memory serves me well). This includes: bacon, sausage, black pudding, eggs, home-style fried potatoes, mushrooms, beans, grilled tomato and toasted multigrain bloomer. However, I wimped out and got two bacon instead of black pudding.

I’m a self-confessed food snob, so I was pleasantly surprised by the meatiness and herbiness of the sausages. The eggs were cooked spot on – still runny when broken – and the bread was tasty and thankfully far-removed from white cardboard that seems to grace breakfast plates all too often. Special mention goes to the potatoes, which were simply fantastic – not dry, not mushy, not too salty. My only criticism would be the tomato. Who wants to eat a raw tomato with a cooked breakfast?! Tomatoes should be grilled until soft. Please, Mr. Breakfast Club, don’t do a hotel-effort; get the tomato right.

My partner-in-breakfasting ordered the American veggie, which includes pancakes. I believe he was very satisfied with the choice.

Hot chocolate - way too sweet! — Hot chocolate – way too sweet!

In-keeping with my search for the best hot chocolate in London, I ordered one here. It took me back to my childhood when any kind of sweet, chocolate powder with milk was great. Now, very sweet, mildly chocolatey milk is not so great.

The Breakfast Club – 4/5

Overall, I left very full and satisfied. The Breakfast Club is hip so it’s perhaps a little overpriced for what is is. But the quality is good, and for a buzzing atmosphere, it’s hard to beat.

Food 4/5
Service 4/5
Value 3/5
Ambiance 5/5

Find The Breakfast Club at Spitalfields (2-16 Artillery Lane, E1 7LS) or three other locations.