Breakfast with a bite, part 2: return to The Bombay Café, West Bute St, Cardiff

('Breakfast with a bite, part 1' is here.)

Two cooked breakfasts 'out' in two days. Both with their own spin on the classic English version.

I've had dinner (and lunch) at  The Bombay Café and been rather impressed- the thali trays are a fairly new idea, with both The Bombay and Dabbawalla Club offering them- and let's face it: anywhere that will serve me a rich, thick, glossy, spicy stew of mutton is always going to score heavily on this chap's Clap-o-meter. This visit though, was all about the breakfast I had heard so much about.

An Indian spin on the classic full English sounded too good to pass up. Eggs, sausages, bacon, tomatoes, toast. Except these are bhurji eggs, chicken sausages, beef bacon, vine tomatoes and 'fire' toast.

While we waited for the kitchen to quieten my rumblings (the ladies of the family run the breakfast shift, and the men the lunch and evening) a chance to combine a Sunday morning coffee (my wife's spiced chai was a hit) with a spot of moral philosophy. Standard.

 

The menu promised the Bombay omelette would be a 'crazy paving' of tomato, onion, green chilli and coriander. This was a fairly gentle heat, less than expected, with the red onion and chargrilled tomatoes providing sweetness. All in all, a winning breakfast with the 'fire toast' (bread which is buttered before being browned on the bars of the grill) judged a welcome change from the fried alternative.

The tricky question remained- how do you replace pork in a cooked breakfast? And how do you sneak the substitutions past someone who is fully paid-up, card-carrying Pork Obsessive?

Well, pretty much like...this.

The eggs- as with the omelette- were subtly warming. The beef bacon was a pretty decent substitute for your normal rasher- crispy and with the right texture and a deep flavour that didn't have me missing my 'real' bacon fix to any real extent. A more than passable substitution, without usurping The King. The sausages were a real bonus- surprisingly spicy and dark, while the light, crisp 'fire' toast had just the right combination of crunch and 'give'. Chargrilled tomatoes were a sweet note and again hit the spot.

A hit, then- a palpable hit. It's good to know- in conjunction with the Fat Pig Deli, Bar 44 and others- that there are some interesting twists on the typical cooked breakfast; and it's good to know the excellent meals I've previously had at Bombay Café were just business as usual.