An early morning visit to Brighton’s Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK) is not something I would usually be expecting to do… burgers, for breakfast?! However, since 13th November, this leading UK gourmet burger restaurant chain has begun opening at 8am instead of 12pm, to offer a newly created breakfast and brunch menu to a wider audience.
The eaterie, located in Brighton’s Gardener Street (North Laine area of the city) has now launched a brand new breakfast menu. This menu offers a spread which can be eaten on the premises or as a take out, and judging by the number of people coming in to sample it over the weekend, plus all of the visiting delivery drivers picking up orders, there is a real market for those wanting bold breakfast flavours to start the day.
Featuring some modern takes on the classic bacon, sausage and egg riff, the menu hosts enough for either quick bites, brunch breaks, or leisurely breakfasts at really affordable prices. Breakfast orders are available daily from 8:00am until 11:30am, and also available for takeout and delivery across the city.
Finding suitable places to eat with a growing, ravenous yet simultaneously picky tweenager (which could benefit us both) is not always easy, so I brought him along to trial the specials in GBK’s first week of launching its breakfast bar.
I haven’t visited the restaurant before so this was a vigin visit for me and the decor was the first thing I noticed. We took a booth and admired the artwork and the very clean surroundings. Looking over the menu, there are seven different breakfast offers, as well as a variety of shakes, cold and hot drinks, as well as the capacity to upsize your order if you are feeling especially hungry, or in need of a hearty restorative meal (for whatever reason!).
We started by ordering drinks, unlimited Sprite for the boy which he was very pleased about, and a glass of refreshing orange juice for me. The drinks were included with our food as part of the price which was good value. We then picked a selection of the menu, to try a variety of the plates. This included the Bacon and Hash Brown Muffin meal (£4) which included the most crispy tasty bacon I’ve tried for a long time. We shared this as a sort of breakfast hors d’oeuvre and bickered about who had eaten the most bacon. I then elected to try the Avocado, Bacon and Egg Muffin meal which was accompanied by Hash Browns (£8.50).
Again, with my order, the bacon was really crispy and enjoyable, the egg, the right side of runny, and I convinced myself that the addition of avocado meant that I was practically exercising instead of eating breakfast. The calorie count listed on the menu also allows for planning around food and health which was a bonus.
Mini me ordered both the Sausage & Hash Brown Muffin (£4.00) but without the cheese because he’s fussy. As he is a growing lad, he then went large by ordering the epic GBK Breakfast Burger – a toasted muffin stacked with a 6oz beef burger, crispy bacon, an egg, melted American cheese, fresh tomato, and a crispy hash brown (£9.50). As he upgraded this to a full meal this was an extra (£2.50).
He wolfed down the food and cleared the plate. He generously let me try the burger which was medium well done and tasty, alongside the Hash Browns which were great, well cooked, crisp and fluffy on the inside. We asked the kitchen to hold the cheese and tomato for this and they were fine about it.
In fact, the staff were utterly lovely. Despite the fact that during our visit, the kitchen became really busy, our serving team were friendly, polite, helpful and knowledgeable about the menus.
The open plan kitchen means that you can see your food being prepared so it is a good way to know you’re in professional hands. We really appreciated this level of service engagement. I’d visit again for this alone.
Whilst my dining companion was trying out his half of the menu, I completed my breakfast with a pot of Yorkshire Tea which helped set me up for the day and which accompanied the breakfast menu well.
I can see that this new menu is going to be a popular one. The restraurant was busy by the time we left around 11.30am and with a wide variety of couples, groups and the odd individual wanting a working breakfast. This new venture adds to the other dishes, offers outdoor seating, serves vegetarian dishes, and has a separate kids’ menu so there is a lot of choice. It is a flexible idea which translates to lots of people’s tastes and is a positive addition to the restaurant’s existing menus too.
Facilties
Step-free Access
Disabled Toilet
Outdoor Seating
Free Wi-fi
Baby Changing
High Chair
Details
44-47 Gardner St, Brighton and Hove, Brighton BN1 1UN
Sunday – Thursday Open from 8am – 10pm
Friday – Saturday Open from 8am – 10pm
All well and good but nothing beats a delicious cripy battered spam fritter with mayonnaise on lightly toasted white plastic bread for a healthy waistline preserving breakfast. Or maybe a spam fritter with a fried egg or some melted plastic cheese as well, just to keep the calories coming and the vitamins down. Yumto ! Mechanically reclaimed meat has never been so good.
Nothing but bit of chicken period and dead body in the mornings!! yummeeeeee …