Community Corner

Kensington Circus is a Bacon Rasher Short of Going 'Full English'

The new breakfast menu at the Kensington Circus Pub just over the Berkeley border includes an almost traditional British "fry-up," but the pub is playing to its American crowd.





By Emily Henry


The great "Full English": the breakfast of kings and commoners, known fondly in England as a "fry-up."

No self-professed British pub like Kensington Circus would be complete without a "Full English" on the breakfast menu. So, of course, they have one. But achieving the authenticity of a "Full English" breakfast is often a struggle for British-American eateries. 

Kensington Circus has a few things right: they use Heinz baked beans for starters. Unlike the sticky-sweet and sometimes meaty baked beans of the U.S., baked beans in the U.K. are savory and tomato-flavored. They're also extremely cheap — at about 9p or 15 cents per can for the no-frills varieties. "Beans on toast" is one of the cheapest meals you can get, and it's an English staple. While Kensington Circus doesn't have beans on toast on the breakfast menu as yet, beans do of course come with the "Full English." However, more is more when it comes to beans — a proper fry-up should be quite literally drowning in a tomatoey pool, and the beans should never be separated from the plate. Part of the joy of a fry-up is soggy toast and bean-flavored everything.

As for what's on the plate, the fry-up at Kensington Circus is a pretty good rendition of a "Full English:" baked beans, an egg, fried tomato, bacon, a sausage, toast and fried mushrooms. 

The sausages are impressive; they're not the skimpy links typically served with American breakfasts. Instead, Kensington Circus goes all the way to San Leandro for these sizable sausages, which much more in line with English fare.

The bacon, however, is the biggest challenge for anyone attempting a "Full English" stateside. It's just not the same over here — the meat is thinner, fattier and crispier than British bacon. In fact, American bacon is what the British would call "streaky." It's cut from the fat-streaked side belly of the pig. British bacon is a combination of loin and belly, giving it a hammy "rasher" with a crispy finish. Without the proper cut of bacon, the "Full English" can only ever be a "Full American-English."

The cost of the fry-up at Kensington Circus is $10.95, which is about double the cost for half the amount of food typical of the cheapest, cafe-style "Full English" in the U.K., which would also always include a mug of tea — served with milk, of course. 

Equally important as what's included in the meal is what's not included in the meal. The British rarely have sweet foods like pancakes and muffins for breakfast. In fact, these items are more likely to be dessert foods than breakfast choices. 

Kensington Circus seems to be wary of excluding its American crowd and has kept the menu safely stateside, with British touches here and there, rather than going "Full English." For example, the traditional British dessert item, "sticky toffee pudding" is called "sticky toffee sponge cake" at Kensington Circus, and staff say it's because Americans who ordered it were confused by the word "pudding," which simply means "dessert" across the pond. Also, the bulk of the breakfast menu at Kensington Circus is, in fact, not British fare at all. They have French toast, pancakes and corn cakes as well as huevos rancheros and a "tortilla scramble" — none of which would be found on a typical pub menu in the U.K.

But all in all — Kensington Circus put together a good British breakfast meal with its "fry-up." And there's even HP Sauce to go with it.

Have you tried the breakfast at Kensington Circus? Share your experience in the comments.


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