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Having eaten my fair share of English breakfasts since moving to England in my late teens, I've developed a genuine appreciation for this cornerstone of British cuisine. I was therefore looking forward to reviewing the full English breakfast at Asda Cafe. Although I was slightly sceptical - given that I know better places for this kind of meal - I remained optimistic. Being part of a budget-friendly supermarket chain, I expected reasonable value for money. What I encountered, however, was more disappointing than anything else.

The cafe, located inside one of Asda's London superstores, was nearly empty on a Friday morning, so ordering was straightforward - I was actually first in the queue. The menu offers a wide selection, including smashed avocado on toast, bacon baps, breakfast wraps, and more. For something sweet, there were muffins, carrot cake, cookies, and scones with jam. Despite the tempting alternatives, I stuck to my original plan and ordered a full English breakfast (£7.72), adding mushrooms for £1.36. In total, with a Fanta, the bill came to a whopping £11.50. For comparison, Morrisons offers a similar meal (excluding the drink) for £7.25.

I reassured myself that it would probably be worth the price. The meal was ready in under five minutes. I started with the baked beans and hash brown, simply because that combination is my favourite. But I could barely taste anything. The beans were very bland, as if they were sitting in lightly flavoured water. Although the hash brown had a proper golden colour and looked very promising, it had a slightly burnt taste and, again, very little flavour overall.

The bacon had the most taste, as expected, but it came with a noticeable meaty flavour that I don't particularly enjoy. Even so, it was probably the least disappointing item on the plate and combined with the beans I'd give it a 6/10. What was much worse was the sausage, which was almost tasteless and totally mushy. Zero consistency.

The tomato seemed more like a canned product, almost like a purée, tasting overly acidic. And oh, the mushrooms. What an unnecessary addition. They tasted like rubber. The egg was acceptable, but it lacked seasoning and didn't deliver the satisfying runny yolk effect, as it was quite small. A true cherry on top? The toast, perfectly soggy and bland.

To give Asda some grace, there were positive aspects as well. First of all, the cafe is spacious, very clean, and filled with natural light. They have potential, indeed. Within less than thirty minutes, the area was filled with around seven happy couples with babies, though I hoped that they wouldn't feed them the full English.

An older man sitting nearby told me he loves the breakfast at Asda. While he described the prices as "competitive", he enjoys the atmosphere and apparently really appreciates the cafe's branding.

Perhaps the only way to truly enjoy the meal is by combining all the components together. On their own, however, the items lacked any real character or depth of flavour.

While the breakfast did provide energy and filled me up for the morning, I was left with one lingering question: how did I spend £11.50 on THAT breakfast?