After completing my cat feeding duties for a friend in Victoria Park 'Village' (so called), we were rather short of mid-morning breakfast options. Thankfully we didn't have to settle for fish and chips, and happened upon the final minutes of morning service at The Empress of India.
With chickens roasting in the corner for lunch half an hour later and lots of smartly dressed staff busying themselves for the post-Christmas crowds, we were very pleased to find a the menu left us with plenty of options. These included kippers with watercress, pastries, eggs as you wish and even buttermilk pancakes. Drinks covered the breakfast favourites, albeit at cocktail bar prices with a bloody mary clocking in at a slightly excessive £6.50
Naturally, I opted for the 'Traditional English' which came with the usual components, plus the added bonus of white and black puddings! The eggs were perfectly poached, sausage extremely tasty and puddings as rich as could be without entering the realms of sickly. While the hash brown was more like a hash beige (being slightly undercooked) and the bacon a little too crispy for my liking, the tomatoes were the best I've had with any breakfast (appearing to be a hybrid between sun dried and roasted, with all the flavour of the former and lacking the excessive juiciness of the latter) and the mushrooms were spot on.
I liked the fuss made over the beans in the middle and thought that overall presentation and service was very good, even though the place was in late morning limbo between lazy breakfast and early lunch. Certainly one I will visit again in the future, and maybe even with the added luxury of a bloody mary to boot.
Scoring: 8/10
Visit It The Empress of India
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Pay For It £8.50
