THE PAVILION, BROADSTAIRS. Breakfast is the topic, was I impressed with the sausage?

I've not found much to get excited about in my previous reviews of Thorley Taverns showcase venues in Broadstairs.

The heir apparent The Charles Dickens fell wide of the mark of a Gastro pub. The Tartar Frigate was frankly a floundering excuse of a seafood restaurant, But thankfully there is another.

Mindset. Expectations. Reality. This is where I had justified my distaste for its siblings. For all their fanfare, they are just the pretenders.

Enter ANIMAL. AKA The Pavilion.

The pavilion was a project piece for the TT legacy, bought as an experiment I suspect, it wasn't a pub, restaurant nor a hotel, it was a random hall heralding from Victoriana, a place of dancing with a garden upon the sands. 

They bought the Pavilion from a mini multiple venue operator that lacked the vision and passion. Their hall by the sea was a laborious hit and miss kind of place, despite its enviable position.

Thorley Taverns smacked their lips, sensing the opportunity.

The location, idyllic. The opportunities, endless. What was the threat? Climate change. Let's go!

The last 25 years as key holder to the Pavilion in Thorley Taverns hands has seen huge changes. It started with a room and a bar. It was then a bar with a balcony. A balcony with bar underneath. 

A wedding venue, an event destination, a pub garden on the beach, then with a huge conservatory with bar, and now with beach hut pods lining it's garden boundary. This is where seaside meets garden, and garden meets fermented things in glasses. This place has it all.

But today I come here without high expectation. I felt almost as if I was going to an airport restaurant and expecting reasonably priced delicious food, and finding it doesn't exist. 

You know you will have to pay lots, you hope it's not going to be bad. When you get your overpriced slops you just say fuck it, we are on holiday. I hoped this wouldn't be one of those moments. 

So was it any good? 

Nope. It wasn't good at all. It was outstanding.

This is what happens when Thorley Taverns gets everything right with Broadstairs' erogenous spot, and I am a grateful recipient.

Today I am sat in the conservatory which enjoys a gloriously elevated view across Viking Bay and towards the Jetty. 

It is a bright spring day, only 10 degrees but people are in shorts. Every table is full. I look at the breakfast menu. 

I can't find fault, it is a crowd pleasing menu of breakfast items which if delivered correctly at the price they proclaim would put it at less than half the price I paid for my bitter experience at a place that somehow got awarded the best breakfast in Thanet... You know what, I won't even give them the credit of naming them here, but you can read my review.

I've got confidence here, staff are well drilled, the system for ordering clear, including a modern QR code online ordering system if you preferred. Top marks for innovative thinking! 

All the seats are full... There are loads of dogs, but I guess we have to be inclusive..but even the dogs know that the sausages are banging here...

And that's important, because it is the quality of the ingredients which elevate you to the heights of the best breakfast in town. As I look at my plate, and I remind myself the price, I am thinking that TT have nailed it.

This is piled thickly with avacado on top of warm, crisp bread, finished with a sprinkling of mixed seeds. £6.50 it is worth every penny. Very fairly priced indeed. Now lets be honest, this isn't food porn, but it will excite a sausage dodger make no mistake,

Next bod had the full English and this plate of food is as fiercely protected as the invasive badgers in the Cotswolds terrorising Diddley Squat Farm. You can't mess with a fry up.

I would align a British cooked breakfast with the humble Sunday lunch. Keep to the rules, you can't lose.

£8. 

This plate demonstrates it's duty of care is attended to. Runny fried egg, a sausage with flavour and meat content higher than Ron Jeremy on Viagra. 

Even the hash browns are good, and they are note worthy given that the award winner for the best breakfast went to somewhere that charged double for half as many. I cited in my review of that place that at the price they charged it was shameful they didn't make their own hash browns, but when you get 2 and it is still half the price, I can only look at the food and smile. 

I'm actually thinking this quality is going to be hard to beat for the price.

Back to the price and this is important, as a plated meal with 7 different components, 8 if you include the butter portions (never marg thankyou) which includes a meaty delicious sausage (local butcher it says...well which one I say, but enough nit picking) There is a fair amount of work needed to present all the elements, and things like the eggs really need to be made to order or at least a well greased production line. So there is way more graft that goes into a commercially cooked breakfast than people appreciate.

Redemption.

As we left the Pavilion team were busily preparing for the next service. The hall was laid, the effort exemplary. And this is what separates TT (when they get it right) because when they put on an event, it is done with precision, professionalism and passion.

So, hurrah to Thorley Taverns, you've made a believer out of me.

HOW DOES IT SCORE

1) Is it to the expected standard?

The pavilion exemplifies what TT does best, on this form they are unbeatable ONE STAR AND ONE BONUS STAR

2) Does it do something that you have always wanted to try?  

This is about diversity and temptation, The Pav packs it all in ONE STAR AND ONE BONUS STAR

3) Is it fairly priced? 

Never famous for being cheap, but without a doubt this was a fantastic plate of food in glorious surroundings. ONE STAR AND ONE BONUS STAR 

4) Cleanliness, including customer toilets 

Perfect. ONE STAR AND ONE BONUS STAR 

5) Service 

Pleasingly attentive, Jugs of free water for the table, no problem.. ONE STAR AND ONE BONUS STAR 

CONTRIBUTING EVIDENCE  

A) Does it have a clear and relevant identity?

YES

B) Does it stand out for quality and standards?

YES

C) Is there areas of the business that someone else does better?

NO

D) Does it diversify?

ABSOLUTELY 

E) Will customers return without hesitation?

YES

THE PAVILION, BROADSTAIRS.

Harbour St, Broadstairs CT10 1EU