Frankie’s Breakfast Bar & Coffee House in Paignton is just one of many places in town where you can get a breakfast. I had my eyes on this place for quite a while having spotted it on a previous visit.

I think it was the large selection of different breakfasts listed outside on the boards, and the whiff of bacon fat and grease wafting out the door last time I passed that had me and drew me back in!

The place was packed out with happy looking diners and the people behind the counter seemed friendly enough and the whole place had a good vibe. I sensed I had walked into a classic British seaside cafe or greasy spoon as they are often called both unkindly yet fondly also

BREAKFAST MENU AT FRANKIES

The menu offers Four sizes of breakfast, SMALL, REGULAR, LARGE, and FRANKIES BIG. In more simple terms you can judge this by many slices of bacon, eggs, and sausage you get which ranges from 1 to 4 depending on the level you pick

I feel that they are underselling the size of FRANKIES BIG BREAKFAST where you get ‘treated’ to “4 Bacon, 4 Sausages, 4 Eggs, 3 Hash Browns, Beans, Tomatoes, Mushrooms & 1 slice of toast“

I would suggest that is more of a MEGA breakfast, although they are seemingly ungenerous with just the one slice of toast! Perhaps years of experience have found that the people crushing 4 Bacon, 4 Sausages, and 4 Eggs really didn’t need toast as well!

REGULAR BREAKFAST

I chose somewhat lightly in comparison to some opting for the REGULAR breakfast which comprised of “2 Bacon, 2 Sausages, 2 Eggs, 1 Hash Browns, Beans, Tomatoes, Mushrooms & 1 slice of toast” for £8.25

Highlights were the quantity of trough on offer, the sausages were very much at the catering level and only redeemed by I suspect a cynical abuse of a fryer to give them a decidedly crisp skin, amazingly while still maintaining a soft filling containing little meat. I actually quite like them

The bacon had been cooked flattened down on the hot plate where it had collected grill detritus which can often be a bonus, extra meaty seasoning anyone? I liked both my fried eggs which had clearly been bubbling away in a hot pan giving you a runny yolk along with hard white

I left the tinned tomatoes as I didn’t fancy them today, I should have declined the offer of them when I ordered so as not to waste food. The beans did their job and I quite enjoyed them as did the Hash Brown which was quite soft but was a decent filler. There were a lot of mushrooms

In summary I was happy with what I got as it was pretty much as expected, a decent greasy spoon effort. No frills but there are not supposed to be any. I don’t think I would have enjoyed a larger breakfast, 2 of those sausages and 1 hash brown was plenty!

MAKE YOUR OWN TOAST

One of the things I sort of loved about this place was that they have a toaster on each table so that you get to make your own toast. I did however mentally question the age and condition of the toaster. OK so my toast did get brown enough after two attempts but I wasn’t sure about the cleanliness from the dilapidated device on the table. I guess it was a quirk or feature of the place!

BREAKFAST BAP

The BREAKFAST BAP seemed pretty good value with “2 Bacon, 1 sausage & 1 Fried Egg in a Floured Bap” for £5.50 and I was pretty sure that there was some sort of offer on the counter where you could get this with a cup of tea or coffee as well!

The only downside with this meal is the floured bun, what I hear you say, let me explain. I am not a fan just because I wear a lot of black tops to avoid obvious visual spillage incidents and the flour gets all over them so my cunning plan always fails with this type of breadage 🤣

I suppose that wasn’t an issue for me today as it was my partner in dine who ordered this expecting a smaller snack for breakfast. That was the plan anyway which quickly evaporated when the bap arrived

Packed out with a couple of sausages, slices of bacon and a well cooked fried egg , this is one hearty sandwich which will keep you going for a while and give you plenty of energy for a walk along the promenade

Even though I may have been a bit dismissive at the quality of the ingredients on my breakfast plate I have to say that I really liked Frankie’s. It was everything that I had expected and pretty much exactly what I had hoped for.

A true classic seaside cafe seemingly untouched by time, happily it does seem though that the Greasy Spoon still has a home especially at the seaside and that is another good reason to head to the coast to visit one of our longstanding (if slightly rundown) resorts.

Frankie’s Breakfast Bar & Coffee House can be found at 10 Torbay Road, Paignton, TQ4 6AF

It is one of many cafes on the road within easy walking distance of both the station and the seafront

You can check them out on their Facebook Page