Cheap London Breakfast

I've been MIA and so busy with life that food writing has taken a back seat.  If you've come back since my last post to find nothing, I'm sorry.  Though I doubt there are any fans of this blog.  I digress.

Cora's Bluberry Pancakes

Recently I was told that I should write about great places to eat breakfast in London.  Then I walked into Winks hungover one morning and realized that There definitely needed to be categories in what I am tempted to call The Great Breakfast Debate, scratch that, it needs to be The Great, cheap, Breakfast Debate as we're students who want good food, dirt cheap.

I've decided that the categories that I will use to rate the breakfast joints are as follows: Eat only after hangovers, Eat after you spend $100+ on a bottle the night before, Acceptable to bring your one night stand to, and breakfast with the parents. 



Let's start with the lowest category on the the breakfast totem pole; Eat only after hangovers. Be honest, how many mornings have you (and every other Western student) woken up feeling like you needed something in your stomach stat to absorb all the alcohol- that's what I thought. The best place I've found to cure that intolerable feeling is Winks. Don't get me wrong, I go to Winks sober sometimes too, but its their copious options from breakfast sandwiches to french toast and fluffy pancakes that make it so comforting the morning after a black out night on Richmond Row. Winks has two very distinct things going for it. The first is the fact that breakfast there stretches on all day, with a full breakfast selection until the joint changes over to pub fare at night and the second is that it offers a tonne of seating. This alone makes me more inclined to check Winks out on a weekly and sometimes daily basis compared to some of the other downtown breakfast establishments; throw in the new Winks VIP Card which gets you your 6^th Breakfast (or lunch) free and you can't beat Winks for mediocre food at a cheap price. I highly recommend the Peameal Bacon BLT.

Moving up the chain to the next category we come across the overall cheapest breakfast join in town. When I feel like I broke the bank the night before I usually try to head up Richmond to Christina's Pub. Get there before the 11am rush does and you'll walk right in and sit down on any day but Sunday and treat yourself to a potential breakfast under $5, or go all out and order the Linebacker for $9.99- its guaranteed to rid you of a hang over in one of two ways, I'll let your imagination figure that part out though. Christina's downfall is its size, its much too small to handle the demand of students from both Main and King's in the morning as it is walking distance from three residences and the surrounding student area of King's University College. The plus side is, the majority of students live by campus, so it shouldn't be a far walk to Christina's from your one night stand's place in the morning- i didn't say that. I like the Linebacker, but if you're on a budget from the night before go with the Basic.

Next on the list is a joint I would say is acceptable to bring your one night stand – i mean significant other to. I'm talking about Campus Hi-Fi. If you come from a long line of UWO relatives, you've probably already had this place suggested to you by your parents; or grandparents. In the mornings you can try a wide variety of food at very affordable prices from a few different cultural points. I usually go with the Ukrainian; fried kielbasa and perogi. Now that's a filling breakfast that will definitely hit the spot. The reason I say this is a great place to bring that lucky someone in your life- or at least in the morning- is because its a quieter place with a great family diner feel to it. I'm almost certain the restaurant is run by a family of Greek decent so you know the food must be good. Again though, the downfall at campus Hi-Fi is the lack of seating. Get there before 11 to walk right in and expect a wait any time after.

Last is the breakfast place you can bring your parents to when you want them to indulge you away from the hungover students. Cora's would definitely be my pick for cream of the crop breakfast restaurants in London, if all the locations weren't so far away. Not to mention the amount of people who frequent on weekends. That being said I love Cafe One on Richmond row between Jacks and the London Taphouse. The restaurant is definitely more expensive but well worth it when you aren't footing the bill. It'll make you feel healthy and your mom feel like she's taking care of you.  Get the Bagel and Lox if you love smoked salmon.