If I can take one positive from the Internet going off, it is the fact that I wasn’t tempted to do any work today. Mandi had volunteered to go to work for a few hours and had chosen to finish at one o’clock, (I wouldn’t get time-and-a-half for working on a Saturday unless people reflect it in the PayPal donations), so I met her in town after I had spent a lazy morning, (part of it anyway, I didn’t get up until eleven) doing very little apart from taking Jack to the park. Despite Mandi’s research on the matter, the shop in Beeston that apparently had series four of Frasier had sold it, so much for setting something aside, shame on you CEX. It did at least give us the chance to have a look round Beeston as Mandi had never been before and I had only been at night for gigs.

We were treated to a blank canvas of charity shops but the pickings weren’t great; I managed to buy a clown ornament for my slowly growing collection and Adam Ant’s autobiography Stand and Deliver. My main priority though, was a decent breakfast.

Next time you are in a café waiting for a fry-up, judge how long it takes between ordering and receiving your tea. They bring it straight away in order to get you to stay, (I came very close to walking out having got fed up of waiting for our food, if Mandi hadn’t been with me I would have done) and order another one. As I don’t drink boiling hot tea I was quite happy to beat them at their own game. Besides, the teapot held three cups worth so I could win this stand-off.

The service was not up to scratch; I was constantly reminded of Julie Walters trying and failing to deliver two soups. Mandi ordered a brie and mango panini with a fresh orange juice, and I went for the Big Breakfast, which came with tea. It was table service and you didn’t have to pay until you were finished and ready to go, a brave move from this place.

Quality wise, I can’t complain about the breakfast. Although it was the largest breakfast option I didn’t feel bloated afterwards and felt as though I could have eaten it again. Almost everyone in the café was eating a breakfast so I can’t understand why they didn’t prepare for what is obviously a popular choice and have more ingredients cooking.

Despite the fact that the staff seemed to be operating in one gear (two if you include ‘stop’), and that they had an inferior brand of brown sauce that wasn’t HP, there was nothing else to find fault with. Cleanliness and quality was first class and the fact that there wasn’t a vacant table for longer than one minute spoke volumes for the reputation of the café within Beeston. I can only assume that people in Beeston have a lot more patience than I.

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