4 Ways Cafe Breakfasts are Perfect for Sharing!
I love Cafe Breakfasts! In fact it’s my favourite meal to eat out – especially for brunch or even lunch! It’s also a great way to catch up with friends. But eating out often can make it trickier to balance your weight, especially if you are trying to lose weight.
Cafe Breakfasts are Big!
If you think about the size of your everyday breakfast that you eat at home, it’s usually at least half the size of a Cafe Breakfast.
The sourdough breads and fruit toast on Cafe Breakfasts are wonderful, but each slice is around 90g and like eating two slices of bread.
This gorgeous nutty Spelt and Maple Granola with rhubarb, berries, pomegranate and whipped ricotta, from Monster Kitchen is actually a 200g serve of cereal. That’s like four or five cereal serves.
Cafe Breakfasts can be Heavy!
I was with a friend enjoying a Cafe Breakfast when she pointed out the brekkie mushrooms being prepared in the open kitchen. We were both amazed at the large knob of butter on each – no wonder they taste so great! Dishes eaten out often use a lot more butter, cream, oil and cheese than we might at home.
This of course is no reason not to enjoy Cafe Breakfasts, but it is another good reason to split a dish.
So Cafe Breakfasts can Deliver Twice!
1. Share a Cafe Breakfast with a Friend
If you’re dining with friends there may well be someone else who’d like to share a dish, or even several dishes if you’re with a group. It can even be a good way to try a few different things. Cafe staff are usually very happy to give you an extra plate and serving spoon.
Once you try sharing, you’ll be surprised at how satisfied half a dish actually is. In fact it’s lovely to leave feeling comfortable and able to look forward to lunch!
2. Add a side or an extra egg if you need to
You may sometimes need to add an extra side to make it easier to share a Cafe Breakfast. Like, if there’s only one egg, you might want to order another.
Or you might want to add some extra tomato, mushrooms or other brekkie veggies.
3. Take Half with You
If you are dining alone or there’s no takers on the sharing idea, you might want to take half your Cafe Breakfast with you to enjoy later. Most cafes are happy to give you a container, especially if they offer take-away brekkie anyway. Some may want a small charge, which is more than fair.
Having said that, it is up to the business whether they are comfortable with allowing diners to ‘doggie bag’. And you do need to be mindful of food safety guidelines. Make sure you store it in the fridge and eat it within 24 hours.
4. Leave you won’t Enjoy!
And if you prefer to just leave what you don’t need, it can help to know that most of what you pay for covers the costs of being there and the food creation.
Last tip! Don’t forget the Coffee!
Stick with Piccolo Coffees if you like yours milky. A large coffee is like having morning tea as well!
If you’d like more waistline-friendly ideas for eating out, do check out the Eating Out Tips page.
Do connect with Food Lovers Dieititian Instagram, it’s a treasure trove of great eating outideas.
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[…] Cafe breakfasts are often nearly twice the size of what you’d eat at home and perfect for sharing. I love this idea because it means I never have to pass on the best dish on the menu. Even if it’s quite large or rich it still works. But what if you don’t have a friend with you who wants to shar? You might just like to take the rest home? […]