The Food Company cafe, London Road, Marks Tey, Colchester, 01268 732622

THE first rule of dads’ club is you don’t talk about dads’ club. The second rule is you most definitely don’t write about it, but then I’ve never been a stickler for rules.

My club basically involves a few drinks in the pub now again, but has recently moved on to the more agreeable surroundings of the restaurant at the Food Company in Marks Tey for a Saturday morning fry-up – glorious.

I’ve been aware of the culinary delights of the Food Company for a while, but only downstairs in the grocery bit, where you can buy anything from wasabi sauce to Swiss chocolates.

Upstairs in the store’s rather upmarket cafe, they do a pretty mean line in food themselves, served up as beautifully created plates of grub. Its breakfasts are a particular speciality.

There are not many places in the town, apart from maybe the top hotels, where you would be able to get eggs benedict, or eggs florentine, for that matter.

You do at the Food Company and I must say when a plate of the eggs benedict was served to the table next to me, I thought I may have made a wrong choice with ordering the full English.

Thankfully, I was wrong.

When it comes to the full English, there are breakfasts and then there are Food Company breakfasts.

While I like a good fry-up, and believe me Colchester has its fair share of great places that dish up a pretty good example of them, the Food Company’s breakfast just has that little bit extra.

The sausages were deliciously rich, the bacon delicately smoky, the eggs free range and cooked to perfection. It even came with a slice of black pudding, fried mushrooms, a chunky grilled tomato and a plateful of wholemeal toast. And let’s not forget the tea.

It was of the highest quality, I’m guessing all locally sourced, or if not from some of the best producers around, judging by the kind of produce the shop’s main floor sells. Let’s just say it certainly tasted that way.

It’s the best move dads’ club has made in years – just don’t tell our wives.

What we ate

Full English breakfast £7.95

Our verdict

Atmosphere: 4/5

Value: 4/5

Food:5/5

Service:4/5