Breakfast at Goodfellas

With pubs, bars and restaurants re-open now, albeit under certain restraints and conditions (more stringent in some, than in others), it was time for father and son team, Paul and Matthew to venture out in search of that traditional, old favourite, Sunday breakfast. But with some outlets still closed, and other operating with restricted opening times, the big question was, where to go?

Not wishing to risk the displeasure of Mrs PBT’s, we’d ruled out Wetherspoon’s (don't ask!), but even long-time fan Matthew admitted that a Spoon’s breakfast was very hit and miss these days. One possibility was the Hilden Manor, but it wasn’t clear whether booking was necessary at this Beefeater establishment. This then was where I came up with the idea of the Chaser at Shipbourne.

The latter is a scattered settlement of houses spread around the periphery of a large open green; a piece of open ground that’s almost large enough to be called a “common.” The Chaser is a large and impressive pub with a tile-hung exterior, and white-painted veranda, which overlooks the green. It is part of the Whiting & Hammond chain of pubs, which means it is very much food oriented. A check of the pub’s website the night before, confirmed that breakfast was available between 9am & 11am, so we set of in Matthew’s car, arriving just before 10am.

Before going any further, it’s worth noting that Whiting & Hammond also run the Little Brown Jug in the village where I work, the King’s Head at Bessels Green, near Sevenoaks and, slightly further afield, the Cricketers at Meopham.  Matthew and I had breakfasted previously at the first two pubs, so knew the quality would be good, but what we didn’t anticipate were the hungry hordes!

The car park was rammed full and the nearest available parking space, on the green, was practically in the next parish. The sight of all these vehicles, and nowhere to park, indicated that the pub was most likely full too, so without even stopping, Matthew made a quick circuit of the green before heading back to Tonbridge.

We parked up next to the castle, and descended to the High Street, past the remains of the medieval curtain wall. I was reasonably confident that the nearby Chequers would be open, but unfortunately, I was wrong, and the front door was well and truly shut.  The Gatehouse, opposite was also closed, so we did a quick about-turn, and headed off back down the High Street in the direction of the station.

We passed the Humphrey Bean – Tonbridge’s local Wetherspoon’s outlet on the way, but that looked crowded, so we continued making our way, in a southerly direction, with the provisional idea of calling in at Jimmy’s Café, just behind the station.  A few shops away from Spoon’s though, we noticed that Goodfellas Café was open, and what’s more the breakfast offering advertised in the window was looking good.

Until quite recently, Goodfellas was called Jenny’s and to add to the confusion, there is another establishment called Jel’s Café & Sandwich Bar, next door. It always struck me as strange to have two similar cafés next to each other, but despite having lived in Tonbridge for the past three and a half decades, curiosity never got the better of me, and Sunday was the first time I’d set foot in either establishment.

We chose Goodfellas because Jel’s was shut, but on balance it also looked the better of the two. We were ushered in by the friendly waitress, pausing briefly for a dollop of hand gel. The café was thin and quite narrow, extending back a long way. I remarked on

this, and the waitress agreed it was rather like Dr Who’s Tardis.  I mentioned this to Mrs PBT’s, when we arrived back home, and she told us that the café used to be Tonbridge’s Wimpy Bar. She should know, having been born in the town and this,  coupled with a mis-spent youth frequenting cafes and burger bars, means she's always been quite an expert on local eateries.

We were shown to one of the far tables, suitably socially distanced from other diners, and after ordering a large cup of tea each, flicked through the menu to see what was on offer.  Matthew was tempted by the Traditional Breakfast, but then changed his mind when I told him there was nothing “traditional” in having chips with one’s egg, sausage and bacon!

In the end we both opted for the “build your own” option; Matthew taking rather more options than his father! One egg, one sausage, two rashers of bacon, one hash brown, grilled tomato and slice of toast was fine for me, and was enough to keep me going until early evening,

The food was good quality, well-cooked, nicely presented and good value; so yes, we will return. In the meantime, it was good to discover another decent cafe in the town, even if it was somewhere I’d been walking past for over three decades!