Ok I get that the title gives away what I think about Little Aidan’s but bear with me as I explain what makes a great breakfast and why this one is the best breakfast in the world. This accolade gives me no real joy as Little Aidans is in Newcastle and I live in Leeds but the good news is that my daughter lives in Newcastle so I have a reason to go back and go back I must, as I made a massive error when I visited (more on that later)
Little Aidan’s – Where to Find It
Little Aidan’s is based at 2 Newlands Road, West Jesmond in a relatively quiet residential area. Why Little Aidan’s? I am lead to understand there is another Aidan’s somewhere in Newcastle and this is its newer and smaller but perfectly formed sibling. We arrived just after midday on a Monday and it was packed and we had to wait 5 mins for a table. No problem at all but if you plan to visit on a weekend I would recommend you book otherwise you might be looking at a long wait.
The Menu’s and The Food
Little Aidan’s markets itself as a brunch/lunch and from that perspective although the menu is not massive there is plenty to tempt you both from a food and a drinks perspective.
When it comes to breakfast there is only ever one consideration for me. If it is on the menu I am going Full English. I am always looking for that balance of quantity (I am greedy) and quality.
I often find that you can very often get a breakfast that ticks the box of quantity but nailing the quality is the holy grail. Sometimes the the issue with quality could be big things (cheap sausages) or it might be a little thing (cheap white sliced toast) but more often that not a good breakfast that is filling is not a great breakfast because it just lets itself down on some aspect of the quality.
So it will come as no surprise that I had the Full English, Mrs K had Meatballs on Toast, which consisted of Pork and Beef Meatballs, Spicy Rosso Sauce, Feta Cheese, Greek Yoghurt and Coriander on Toasted Sourdough. Junior K had Potato Rosti (Lighter Bites Section) which was served with Smashed Avocado, Scrambled Egg, Cheddar Cheese and Salsa served in a Brioche Bun and with a side order of 2 sausages. The Meatballs and the Potato Rosti both received a resounding thumbs up so feel free to order them when you visit. But if you want to know what you should order and why it is The Best Breakfast In The World read on, you know you want to.
So firstly they smashed the quantity component with two sausages, 2 bacon, roasted tomato, grilled mushrooms, beans, 2 eggs and toasted sourdough. As you can see I opted for fried eggs and eggs are the breakfast element that give me most to worry about. I love eggs or more specifically I love eggs that are cooked. There is nothing worse than runny scrambled eggs or fried eggs that haven’t been fully cooked and part of the egg white is still “snotty” (technical term.). So I always go for fried eggs as I feel that they are more controllable and by asking for a well done fried egg you are avoiding all risk of snot.
These eggs were perfect not only snot free but also the edge had a slight crisp to it and the yolk was still runny, this is egg heaven! But before I go on to explain why this is the best you can get, its worth outlining how so many other breakfasts let themselves down.
What Makes A Bad Full English?
As I mentioned quantity is the easy part of a Full English, quality with all its intangibles is where all other breakfasts fall short and the main ones are :-
- Cold Food – The cardinal sin of the Full English the usual culprits for the cold food are the mushrooms and tomatoes but sometimes it can be almost all of it and is often connected to the next quality issue
- Food Has Been Hanging Around – either under a hot light (film on top of baked beans anyone!) or the eggs can be used as Frisbee’s or on a hot plate where everything is over cooked.
- Quality Of The Food – a frequent issue and manifests itself in cheap sausages (the ones that leave a film on the roof of your mouth), thin cut cheap white bread, tinned mushrooms, I could go on but I am sure you know the usual suspects.
- Food Not Cooked Enough – insipid sausages and bacon rind pale, you want to be able to eat it not cut it all off!
Little Aidan’s Full English – What Made It So Good?
In simple terms everything was just done really, really well. As already mentioned the eggs were egg heaven, the sausages high quality. The bacon had crispy but not burnt fat. Everything was warm and cooked to perfection. The tomato (you can’t see it on the photo it is hiding behind the beans) spread perfectly over the toast.
And the toast was absolutely spot on. I hear you “its not hard to do toast,” I disagree it is. Sourdough toast is everywhere these days but for a toast the sourdough can be a disaster. Over toast it and you need a pneumatic drill to cut it and hope it doesn’t fly across the room along with a tooth when you bite into it! This was lightly toasted that gave a crunch but no dramas. You could argue that getting the big things right is not so amazing, but they also got all the little things right too.
How often is your toast ruined because your little rectangle of butter (butter if you are lucky!) is either rock hard or it melts over your hand as you try to open it? At Little Aidan’s they give you a perfectly sized room temperature artisan butter. Everything they do is just on a different level, they care and it shows.
The people working there are also high quality and super attentive. I remarked that I thought the toast was amazing and was informed that they get all their bread from Northern Rye in Ouseburn and there was another great bakery called Fab Bakery that had just opened in Gosforth.
Little Aidan’s – Is It All That?
It really is and more besides. I have been racking my brains since I had this Full English, to think of another of the hundreds if not thousands of Full English’s I have had, that is on a par with this and nothing even comes close. It’s a bold claim to say this is the best breakfast in the world, but if you accept that the only breakfast to have is a Full English this is the champion.
They even have nice background indie track vibe very quietly in the background, not loud so it’s too loud to talk but loud enough so you find yourself tapping your feet along to the background hum. This place is not my Inbetweener, She’s a Star.
Oh I nearly forgot – what was my massive error on the order? I didn’t order the intriguingly titled Doreen’s Black Pudding that was an option with the Full English. I will have to live with that regret until I can wangle another visit to see my daughter. Go to Little Aidan’s whenever you get the chance and don’t make my mistake order the black pudding.
ps they do a range of cakes as well I had to go for the Plum Crumble Cake to take away, which I had when I got back to Leeds – it was lush!