After our very popular breakfast reviews back in 2017, we were delighted to be welcomed into The Black Horse last weekend to test their new breakfast menu. The reputation as a restaurant speaks for itself, but would their quality food be replicated in their morning menu?
We were greeted by friendly and very professional staff, who gave us the option of three different areas to sit. With it being a very sunny day, we opted for the quaint garden area. Presented with two menus full of great choice (if you weren’t just looking for a full English there is plenty to choose from). We opted to go for the Full English Breakfast, which came with sausage, bacon, eggs, hash brown, mushrooms, beans, tomato, black pudding and toast. The price being £11.95, which may seem steep, but compared to other pubs / restaurants in Thame it isn’t that expensive.
The waiter was very good, efficient, brought our drinks out quickly and asked for our preference of eggs. Before too long (in fact very quickly, around 8-10 minutes) the breakfasts arrived, on a large plate and what a pleasant surprise to see a glowing huge plate full of food. There were two bits of bacon and two poached eggs which is always a bonus for us greedy folk!
The sausage was of the Cumberland variety, and the quality of the meat was very noticeable and worthy of the £11.95 price tag. Equally the quality of the bacon, which had a lovely crisp to it, added great value to the meal. When you ask for poached eggs, you want the yolk to run straight out as you slice through, and that it did! Both eggs cooked perfectly – we were delighted there were two, as an egg that good would leave you wanting more!
The hash brown (don’t you just love it when you get a hash brown with your breakfast??) was not greasy, crisp on the outside with a soft centre, seasoned beautifully. The beans were piping hot (as we discovered back in our breakfast reviews, there is nothing worse than cold beans with your fry-up!). Despite black pudding and tomatoes not being a particular favourite of ours, both were cooked to perfection, the black pudding in particular had a very fresh and authentic taste to it, of the highest quality. There were also wild mushrooms on the breakfast, which is a nice variation to the standard full English that you usually receive.
The last part of the breakfast was the toast (sourdough bread) which again was hot, with a little bit of fresh butter to sit on the top and melt through. A lot lighter than the normal bread / fried bread you may get with a breakfast – a nice touch.
The staff continued to check up on us, offering extras and top ups of drinks. They swiftly moved away our (very empty!) plates and offered hot drinks to finish off. We both fully agreed this is a top breakfast, matching the evening reputation of the restaurant. A clean, fresh, vibrant breakfast at a very fair price for what you get. To get a breakfast with that much on it, at that quality, is hard to find.
The only thing we found disappointing was how few people were at the restaurant for breakfast. BUT this is a new feature at The Black Horse which will explain why, because once you’ve been there you’ll definitely be wanting to go again!
Overall, an extremely tasty meal and well worth popping in the next time you are going out for breakfast. At £11.95, you can certainly find cheaper breakfasts in Thame, but you wont be able to find many with more quality.
You can check out the full Black Horse breakfast menu here.
You can check out our previous breakfast reviews by clicking here.
