During our lives we have to keep discovering new avenues of pleasure. As a very recent convert to the whole ‘morning’ idea I’m chuffed as punch that the best breakfast in Winchester, at the Westgate Hotel, is 2 minutes and 40 seconds away from my front door.
[image image_id=”6061″ align=”left” size=”medium”]There is no reason why all meals should not be cooked with quality ingredients. The Westgate, proudly displaying the Hampshire Fare logo on its menus, realise this and are also aware that joyful excess is a great way of pleasuring people. The Full English may be debased in a lot of establishments (see Capt. Peter’s article), at the Westgate it is a shining star of delight.
[image image_id=”6062″ align=”right” size=”medium”]The Full English is a great place to start. You want to order it large and with black pudding. Have a glass of their sweetly delicious orange juice whilst it is being prepared then leap into a massive plateful of joy. Everything about it is spot on. The sausages are flavoursome and meaty, really high quality. One of the most brilliant things I’ve heard over breakfast was a chap at the next table asking if he could swap his grilled tomatoes for an extra sausage (cool move but the tomatoes are great too). The bacon also is well up there, and these are all sourced from the best butchers in the area. The black pudding is so good that I’m almost tempted to swap bacon for another slice of it in future – hell’s bells, I love bacon! That’s some black pudding! But everything in the Full English is at the screaming end of brilliance and you’d do well to order this.
[image image_id=”6063″ align=”left” size=”medium”]You’d do well to order almost anything else as well. Editor Daniel is partial to the Welsh Rarebit, which he comments is happily themed on ‘Welsh’ with less emphasis on ‘bit’. I take this to mean the staggering quantity of lewdly good melted cheese (with mustard and beer mixed in) on top is a celebration of all that is enjoyable in life. There certainly is one hell of a lot of cheese on it. Good! Do as he correctly does and order yours with extra bacon (bums, it’s good bacon) and fried eggs.
Every other dish we’ve seen going to other tables looks irresistible. I saw someone having the eggs benedict for the first time today and instantly drooled all down my front. Bloody hell, even with the toast and jam the jam is home made and your toast is made from a variety of flavours of bread. Maybe the granola might make you less completely chuffed with life, but I’d wager even that has the potential to pleasure.
When you wake up feeling rested and happy, which I do these days, what more could you ask for than someone giving you an obscenely good meal and serving it with a smile? At every trip to the Westgate I feel I’ve got more and leave so happy I can feel fun police from hundreds of miles around fuming with sanctimonious irritation. Sod those who think enjoyment is something to feel guilty about, get to the Westgate and have a really brilliant time.
Contact Details:
The Westgate Hotel, 2 Romsey Road, Winchester SO23 8TP
01962 820222
What a brilliant start to the new year! We hope you have a great new year too!