21/30 Buckingham Garden Centre

Overall Score 21/30

Food               7/10
Venue             3/5
Service           3/5
Value              4/5
Cleanliness     4/5

http://www.buckinghamgardencentre.co.uk/

The biggest problem we had here was finding the cafe in the first place and working out how the system worked.  Signage wasn't always clear or easy to spot and the cafe was tucked away in a corner.  The breakfast menus were on the tables but you needed to go to the counter to order.  I found this rather strange.

The food was good but the beans were a little cold.  We both had poached eggs and have to say these were done really nicely.  Possibly the best we've ever had.

The service was good, very efficient but not very friendly.

I'd love to say more about this but I've left it too long to write up and can't remember it very clearly.  There were some fun pictures on the wall and the cafe was much bigger than it looked at first glance.

13/30 The Cock Hotel, Stony Stratford,

Overall Score 13/30

Food               4/10
Venue             3/5
Service           1/5
Value              3/5
Cleanliness     2/5

https://www.oldenglishinns.co.uk/our-locations/the-cock-hotel-stony-stratford/

To say that we were disappointed with today's breakfast would be an understatement.  It certainly isn't what we were expecting from The Cock Hotel in Stony Stratford.

Breakfast was advertised in the window at £9.99 for two.  Perhaps going in the door to find a teaspoon on the floor and no evidence of staff or clues as to what to do next should have been a clue.

When a staff member appeared we were gestured towards a free table that had obviously been used before.  We looked at the poorly folded insert that was the breakfast menu and both decided on the full english.  A waitress appeared and took our drinks order, returning later with clean cups to pour luke warm, stewed coffee and then take our order.

A long wait followed giving us plenty of time to look round.  The floor was quite dirty, particularly the rug and you could see the dust on the fireplace.  The staff kept charging backwards and forwards past our table and it was difficult to get anyone's attention to get our coffee changed.  When we did it was a bit like a comedy of errors with the coffee jug arriving and then being taken away when he realised we needed clean cups.  He returned with cups and saucers and went away to get the coffee again.  Coffee poured he then left the old cups as they were on the table!

Breakfast arrived after a long wait: 1 sausage, 2 rashers of bacon, 1 poached egg, 2 mushrooms, half a tomato and a few baked beans.    Credit where it's due, the sausage was really tasty but the egg wasn't fully cooked and it was all rather luke warm.  The toast was delivered to the table before the cutlery so the meal had time to cool even further.

At no time were we asked if we wanted any sauces to go with our breakfast or told where to find the jam.  I also think we could have expected to be provided with fresh milk on the table.

Asking for the bill we were presented with a bill for £13.50 and told that the price was still £9.99, very bizarre.  

The feel we had today was that the staff hadn't actually had any training on how to go about serving properly.  They were all fairly young and looked completely at a loss as to what to do next.

I don't think we'll be rushing to return here when there are so many good breakfast options within a short drive.