Isle of Wight cafe in Shanklin High Street is remarkable value

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We've enjoyed many breakfasts in the style of smashed avocado on sourdough toast, but sometimes it's nice to turn back the clock to a time when variety on a menu meant a choice of eggs, and whether or not you want black pudding as an extra.

And, at Shanklin's The Copper Kettle, we found just what we were looking for.

Our vegetarian breakfast was cooked to order, with all the requisite ingredients, including plenty of beans, a juicy plum tomato, mushrooms and crispy hash brown.

All text book stuff and, for eight quid, remarkable value.

We made yolky toast using our runny fried egg, and tucked into two surprisingly flavoursome 'fauxages'.

They tasted like a sausage; well seasoned and with a texture which was pleasingly very sausage-like.

Eggs on toast was our other dish.

We chose scrambled; cooked in the Goldilocks zone: not too rubbery, not too sloppy - just right.

Probably three eggs too, so plenty to share across the two rounds of toast.

Sometimes only white sliced bread hits the spot, and today was that day.

The mushrooms found their way to the scrambled egg breakfast; a welcome addition.

The buttons were particularly lovely; moist, with that mushroomy, earthy flavour enhanced by being cooked in butter.

As we chased down the last of our respectable breakfasts with decent coffee, the cafe began to fill up.

Despite it being fairly empty when we arrived, we'd spotted reserved signs on several tables; this new cohort was the early lunch crowd and, studying the menu, we can see why a booking might be necessary.

For around a tenner (or just over) you could have a classic roast dinner using local produce including Isle of Wight leg of lamb, served with a range of vegetables and "proper gravy".

Other dishes included pan-fried seabass in lemon butter, plus a range of traditional desserts such as syrup sponge and homemade apple crumble.

There is clearly more to The Copper Kettle than initially meets the eye.

We enjoyed the clean and homely environment, the friendly chat and competitive prices.

Sure you might not find flagship hipster ingredients on the breakfast menu, but there's a solid market for a steamy high street cafe serving up a decent fried egg - and we found it in The Copper Kettle.

(Image: Matt and Cat)

Matt and Cat's bill from The Copper Kettle (Image: Matt and Cat)

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