The Terrace in Penzance is a rather nice, quirky and bright cafe serving excellent sandwiches, cakes, coffee and more on Market Jew Street right in the heart of the action.

We had parked up down by the harbour and as we worked our way up the slope into the town this attractive looking place was one of the first to catch our eyes.

I was hoping for breakfast perhaps a full English but it seemed to be all sandwiches on the menu and I was sensing I might have to just have a cup of tea and make do.

I was bereft of hope until the lady behind the counter sensing my disappointment as I perused muttering that ‘I was sure there must be a greasy spoon cafe‘ somewhere near said ‘oh you want breakfast? we do have a sausage and egg breakfast muffin‘ at least that was how I remembered it and not just for artistic license as I ponder how to tell this story

TERRACE BREAKFAST MENU

So it came to pass that we found ourselves looking at the Breakfast section of the menu (served between 10-12) happy that we had left early enough to drive down from Padstow to get here before they stopped serving it.

There really was just the one option that we were interested in and that was the aforementioned Terrace Breakfast Muffin described as ‘Sausage patty, smoky bacon pieces, cheese, egg, rocket and hollandaise sauce’

It sounded a bit like one of those well known breakfast muffins sold by a famous burger franchise and I like those a lot so I was almost giddy with excitement at the prospect of getting one, especially as we had past time to get the ‘real thing’ from McDonalds 🤣

BREAKFAST AT THE TERRACE

When the breakfast muffin arrived I was delighted to discover a great big hash brown alongside it and some baked beans in a pot!

I had failed to read the text in the footer of the menu below the main descriptions that said ‘Served with beans and hash browns’ so it was somewhat of a bonus to find them on my tray.

Why didn’t I spot that? well they stuck a description of the non-meat version of the muffin in between and I stopped reading at ‘Vegetarian Sausage…’ 😋🤐

Life was looking good!

THE TERRACE BREAKFAST MUFFIN

This was a quite fabulous breakfast sausage patty, thick and juicy, very porky and well seasoned. It had all the flavours you would expect from the version sold beneath Golden Arches but this just felt so much better

Either side of the sausage patty the rest of the fillings were doing their jobs, my egg was perfect with a slightly soft yolk. the white thick and solid lurking just beneath the top bun.The cheese layer on the lower bun, melted properly and covering every inch of muffin was just about enough more would have got in the way

Sauce wise the hollandaise sauce was very good, smooth and creamy with just a hint of lemon and cayenne pepper, not enough to be tart or spicy but enough to add a subtle background tone to the palate.

I even enjoyed the crisp fresh crunch of the rocket that they have snuck into the sandwich, the pepperiness was very welcome and allowed one to pretend once again at a mere modicum of healthiness with my choice of breakfast. If I say that often enough even I might believe myself

BREAKFAST MUFFIN – LOOK AT THE BACON!

The bacon pieces turned out to be a great big rasher of smoked bacon with a nice thick bit of well rendered crispy fat rind. I love my bacon like this although some fussy people might want it a bit leaner. I don’t know any of those people within my circle of food scoffing friends though.

The muffin was lightly toasted so that it was solid enough to hold everything together yet still soft enough to be nice and fluffy as you bit through.

All in all everything inside the bun worked seamlessly to truly produce an excellent bite of food. I can assure you that The Terrace have elevated the dish without losing any of the fun or joy.

Do I still love my cheap and cheerful chain version? of Course I do, but if I lived in Penzance I would be here every week for this one from The Terrace instead, I ain’t no fool when it comes to food! 😍

I love this place not only was the Breakfast Muffin a totally banging bite of food but they also look to have a cracking sandwich menu to choose from if you found yourself here outside of breakfast times.

I have made note of a couple of things I fancy if I find myself back down this way again, in no particular order either the BEEF & STILTON or the BEEF & PEPPERS both hot sandwiches filled with ‘Slow roast beef brisket’ served on a sub roll with gravy are a must eat in my mind

The PORK & MUSTARD on the cold Meat Sandwich section of the menu sounds excellent too ‘Slow roasted pork, mustard mayonnaise, sliced tomato and fresh rocket’

There really is a lot to choose from, check out the menu online here

Located at 15 Market Jew Street, Penzance, Cornwall, TR18 2HN you can check The Terrace out on their website, and also on their Facebook page and Instagram profile