Brits horrified after seeing 'English fry up' that's served at Harry Potter land
A distinctly unmagical fry-up served at Harry Potter World has caused great anguish in the British breakfast community.
Italian people and snapped spaghetti. Elderly Spanish men and poorly cured jamón. French waiters and customers. There are plenty of stereotypes going on when it comes to the culinary world and outrage. For the British, there is one thing more certain to wind the average person up than anything else: an American attempting to put together a Full English/Scottish/Welsh/Irish.
Add to that the theme park price tag, and you've got yourself a recipe for pure fury. This is exactly what came out of a trip to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando, where a curious American decided to order a fry-up. According to the Orlando Informer blog, such a breakfast costs $19.99 (£14.81). Photos of the sad breakfast emerged amid warnings that the future of the fry-up is increasingly under threat.
Have you had a sensational or deeply disappointing breakfast abroad? We'd love to hear about it. Email webtravel@reachplc.com
"American friend went to Harry Potter World in the US and got this abomination," a Reddit user wrote alongside a photo of a distinctly anemic-looking dish.
On the small, black plate sits a reservoir of off-looking beans, which is seeping around and touching other breakfast items on multiple sides. These include sweaty-seeming mushrooms and, on the other side of the dish, grey-tinged scrambled egg. Atop the hillock of disappointment sits not only a dry croissant, but a packet of butter. Fragments of bacon and black pudding appear to rest nearby.
Unsurprisingly, the comments the post inspired were not sympathetic.
"This has managed to insult both English and French breakfast culture simultaneously. What's worse is how this was likely overpriced and tasted quite bland," one person wrote.
Another Redditor was so upset they took aim at the culinary acumen of the majority of the world. "Genuinely, I've never seen good British food outside of the UK and Ireland," they wrote.
"Whether it is a fry up, a roast dinner, a pie, or pasty, or even fish and chips, it's always bastardised and messed up and not very good. Whenever you see fish and chips, it's also some poor imitation with a few fish goujons and thin-cut chips. No wonder people think we have bad food!"
A particular issue for many is the packet of butter, which appears to have been dropped at random into the middle of the plate, to land on whatever greasy breakfast item it so chooses.
"I'd be mildly frustrated trying to open the greasy/bean juice-covered butter packet," one person noted. Another asked: "Why is the butter just wazzed in the middle of the plate?"
A major point of contention is the croissant, which left many confused as to the purpose of its appearance and whether it would work with the Anglo-items it shares a plate with.
"Personally, it looks great to me. You have a free croissant to pick up and throw at your server and then a full English to take with you when they kick you out," a commenter joked.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Metro
2 hours ago
- Metro
Three-course menu for £35 at Sea Containers: 10 unmissabble TIme Out deals
Looking for 10 things to do in London? Luckily, there's lots to do in this city for cheap in 2025! At least… There is now. Metro has teamed up with Time Out to bring you the best deals across the capital. Every Friday, 10 new deals will drop, available in the Metro newspaper, on Metro, and on our socials. You'll also find them in our weekly London newsletter, The Slice, in your inbox every Wednesday. Blending American and British cuisine, Sea Containers is showcasing seasonal flavours, from delicate Atlantic cod to a vibrant eggplant tartare, in their new standout three-course menu. Complete your dining experience with a glass of bubbles, all for just £35. Whether it's an elevated date night or a stylish meal with friends, this is dining with a view, done right. Craving an afternoon of indulgence? Oblix at The Shard invites you to savour a luxurious afternoon tea, complete with all the classics , from warm, freshly baked scones to a selection of savoury bites. As you dine, soak up breathtaking views of London's iconic skyline, all for just £65, down from £84. Take a trip to Fitzrovia and treat yourself to some luxury. For just £39, world-class hair salon Andrew Jose is offering you a wash, cut, conditioning treatment and their infamous blow-dry. With an £116 discount, don't miss out on the chance refresh you look with this elevated experience, for a fraction of the price. The Slice is your weekly guide to what's happening in London, so if you're looking for restaurant reviews, drinks deals or just a great new exhibition to visit on a rainy Saturday in the capital, we've got you covered. Click here for this week's edit of the best things to do in town. The Slice newsletter also a brand new look! We'll still be in your inbox every week, bringing you all the very best things to eat, drink and do in the capital. So if you want get the next edition before anyone else, sign up here! If you want to do it all on the cheap, you can also find our latest batch of exclusive hand-picked offers in partnership with Time Out here. It's all here and more in these 10 incredible offers, discounts and deals. Straits Kitchen at Pan Pacific London has launched their new signature fusion menu featuring bold, vibrant and fresh flavours, and you're invited. This is refined hotel dining with bold Southeast Asian flavours and British ingredients at its heart, courtesy of Executive Chef Adam Bateman and his award-winning team. Expect a lineup of dishes that blend Western techniques with big, punchy flavours, all served in a setting as elegant as the food itself. And with £19.50 off the usual price, this one's seriously good value. GET THE OFFER Set inside The Dilly Hotel on Piccadilly, Madhu's of Mayfair serves up authentic Punjabi recipes with a modern Kenyan twist. The star dish? The Royal Thali, a generous spread of Robata lamb chops, makhani chicken, saag gosht, Madhu's cult-favourite dal, pillau rice, naan, dessert and more. With veggie and vegan options available, this Mayfair dining experience is now just £32 (was £47). GET THE OFFER Unleash your creativity at Token Studio with a fun 90-minute session! Try your hand at the potter's wheel, create miniature pottery, or learn hand-building techniques. Prefer design? Opt for pottery painting and customise a mug, plate, or bowl. Plus, bring your favourite drinks to enjoy while you craft! GET THE OFFER Born in London and proudly sustainable, Perk'd Up Burger has made waves for its rich, flavour-packed smash patties – made from 40-day dry-aged ex-dairy British beef. That's right: this burger tastes good and does good. Veggie? No worries. Their signature veggie haggis burger is just as satisfying, stacked with melty cheese, crispy onions and house sauce in a brioche bun. Add a drink, pull up a seat at The Star in Shoreditch, and prepare for burger bliss at a bargain price. GET THE OFFER Dine in style along the South Bank with this exclusive offer from Sea Containers Restaurant. Set inside the design-led Sea Containers London hotel and overlooking the Thames, this sleek spot serves up an American-British-inspired menu with seasonal flair. For just £35, enjoy a three-course meal featuring standout dishes like eggplant tartare, Atlantic cod, or a decadent chocolate brownie, all rounded off with a glass of prosecco. Ideal for everything from date night to a catch-up with friends – all with riverside views. GET THE OFFER Keep your hair (and your mood) fresh this season with a luxury salon experience at The House of Keune by Bloom, the award-winning chic salon inside the iconic Post Building. Just a short stroll from Holborn and Tottenham Court Road, this global flagship for Keune Hair Cosmetics is offering two indulgent hair packages exclusively with Time Out. Choose a precision cut and finish with a complimentary spa cream bath treatment, take-home goodies for just £70 (down from £109), or go for a half head of highlights with toner and blow dry for just £137 (was £197). Both options include a deep conditioning treatment, expert styling from award-winning pros, and a glass of bubbly to toast your transformation. GET THE OFFER Ever wanted to get your hair done at a world-class hair salon, without the hefty price tag? Now you can, with a trip to Andrew Jose, nestled in the sophisticated and creative Charlotte Street, Fitzrovia. Save £116 on a luxurious session, including a wash, cut, luxury REVLON EKS conditioning treatment and famous blow-dry that will last from dawn until dusk, done by a highly trained stylist. Wedding, birthday or graduation – get your next look for £39 GET THE OFFER Grab your mates and head to a Paint a Pic session – a relaxed, beginner-friendly painting class held in pubs and bars across London. You'll follow step-by-step guidance from a pro artist as you sip your favourite drink and unleash your inner Picasso. With a new design each time, you'll build your own art collection and take home your masterpiece in a complimentary tote. Now just £27 (was £34). GET THE OFFER Do you feel that? It's the feeling of a long-awaited self-care day on the horizon! Invite a friend or partner to escape the hustle and bustle of central London and share a five-star luxury experience at Mayfair's Athenaeum Hotel Spa. Spend a relaxing hour in the wet area, sauna, steam rooms and hot tub, then take your pick from a facial and body wrap treatment or massage. All this with a glass of bubbly for 40% off – you'll find it hard to say no. GET THE OFFER Enjoy a luxurious afternoon tea with Champagne at Oblix at The Shard for £65, down from £84. Indulge in a selection of sweet and savoury treats, freshly baked scones, and premium teas, all while soaking up breathtaking skyline views. GET THE OFFER MORE: Why Egypt won't take Gazans, Ukraine's future and American irony MORE: The Metro daily cartoon by Guy Venables MORE: Gang bundled pregnant woman into van and threatened to cut her fingers off Your free newsletter guide to the best London has on offer, from drinks deals to restaurant reviews.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Katabasis by RF Kuang review – a descent into the hellscape of academia
The more academia has broken your heart, the more you'll love RF Kuang's new novel. Katabasis knows the slow grind of postgrad precarity: the endless grant grubbing and essay marking; the thesis chapters drafted, redrafted and quietly ignored by a supervisor who can't be bothered to read – let alone reply to – an email. Living semester to semester, pay shrinking, workload metastasising, cannon fodder in a departmental forever war. Katabasis knows how it feels to spend your best thinking years doing grunt work to further someone else's ideas, clinging to the bottom rung of a ladder you will never be allowed to climb: less an ivory tower than a pyramid scheme. Academia is a hellscape; Katabasis just makes it literal. The American author's sixth novel is an infernal twist on the campus farce: David Lodge with demons. Kuang's previous book, 2023's Yellowface, satirised the publishing industrial complex with an irresistible mix of gallows humour and gossip. A tale of toxic allies, commodified identity and hollow moralising, it was lapped up – with predictable irony – by the very people it skewered, like a real-life version of the stunt novel in Percival Everett's Erasure. The year before Yellowface, in the cult hit Babel, she invented an elaborate, counter-historical version of Oxford University – and then blew it up. A literary Rhodes Must Fall. All of which is to say, Kuang isn't subtle. She doesn't allude; she indicts. Some structures are so intractable, she argues – so insidiously self-replicating – they can only be disrupted with blunt force. But she also knows that a joke can deliver the same hard clarity as rage; sometimes more. She doesn't pull her punches, or her punchlines. In Katabasis, hell is not a roiling pit of fire, it's worse: 'Hell is a campus.' Cambridge postgrads Alice Law and Peter Murdoch are here on a quest. They're searching for their thesis supervisor, the recently deceased Professor Jacob Grimes. The victim of a grisly lab accident, Grimes has exploded, and not just in rage. His body is in bits, and his soul is in the queue for judgment. Without him, Alice and Peter's academic futures are equally damned. Their plan is simple: sneak into the underworld and haul him back. It worked so well for Orpheus. This is the 1980s: post-structuralism is eating meaning and theory is eating itself. Our dauntless duo are scholars in 'analytic magick', an archaic and volatile branch of the humanities where philosophy is actually useful (that's Kuang's joke, not mine; don't sic the Nietzscheans on me). It's a similar discipline to the one Kuang invented in Babel, with the intellectual friction of a paradox harnessed and mechanised ('Magick taunts physics and makes her cry'). There's special chalk involved this time, some algebra and pentagrams. Once again, it's best not to think too hard about it. Just surrender to the conceit. The real dark magic in this book is self-delusion. As Alice and Peter wander the 'eight courts of hell' (Dante was mostly right), they come to realise how deeply they've internalised the extractive logic of the academy. They've been taught to mistake rivalry for strength, exploitation for meritocracy, privilege for prestige, and endurance for resilience. To thank the system that feeds on them. The lie was so simple: you can be the exception, if you're willing to be exceptional. And it was Grimes – rapacious, scornful and addicted to his own myth – who made them believe it. The quest to save him begins to curdle, but old allegiances run deep ('Professor Grimes hadn't tormented just anyone. He'd tormented them … whatever they became when he was done with them would be so dazzling'). It's not easy to shake a validation fetish. Scathing about the institution, faithful to the ideal: Kuang is a campus novelist to the core. Katabasis is a celebration of 'the acrobatics of thought'. A tale of poets and storytellers, thinkers and theorists, art-makers and cultural sorcerers. It jostles with in-jokes, from the Nash equilibrium to Escher's impossible staircase; Lacan to Lembas bread. This is a novel that believes in ideas – just not the cages we build for them. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion Babel ended in cleansing fire. There was something queasy in that final, flaming gesture – a flirtation with martyrdom that never quite questioned its own romance. Death as purity. Destruction as justice. Katabasis is messier, and more generous. It turns away from the allure of heroic sacrifice toward something far harder: survival. It doesn't ask what we're willing to die for, but what keeps us here – the oldest and most obstinate of our philosophical questions, and the most beautiful. Katabasis is far from perfect. There's a pair of blood-drunk villains who feel like a gory distraction, and a nonsense MacGuffin. Bone creatures clatter through plot holes. Grand mythologies collide and compete. Chunks of the novel read like a Rowan Atkinson sketch. And the 1980s faculty politics look deceptively – or perhaps wearily – like our own (a fascinating companion read would be Helen Garner's 1995 landmark provocation The First Stone). But none of that really matters – especially if you have a score to settle. The heretical glee of this novel is irrepressible. I escaped from my PhD 14 years ago, and it really did feel like an escape; it still does. This book reminded me why. It also reminded me how it felt to ascend from a hell of my own making and not look back. I read Katabasis in a single sitting and then slept the deep, unburdened sleep of someone who'd never even heard of Foucault. Katabasis by RF Kuang is published by HarperVoyager (£22). To support the Guardian order your copy at Delivery charges may apply.
South Wales Guardian
2 hours ago
- South Wales Guardian
BBC school drama Waterloo Road to continue for two more series
The BBC says the Manchester-set programme's return, which began in 2006 and ran until 2015 before it was brought back to screens in 2023, will allow it to continue with its investment in creative talent in the north of England. Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama, said: 'I'm delighted that Waterloo Road will be opening its corridors once again, with two more series of the hit drama about to start filming. 'The show continues to entertain the audience who love to follow both the staff and pupils and, with a new series heading to BBC iPlayer and BBC One next month, they don't have long to wait.' The next series will see Jon Richardson make his debut as the school's new media studies teacher next month, and the show has already seen Lindsey Coulson replace comedian Jason Manford, who played Steven Savage, as new headteacher, Dame Stella Drake. During its time on TV, Waterloo Road has explored storylines such as the cost-of-living crisis, coercive control, neurodivergence, work-place politics, family drama, grief, and young love. The show has provided a launch pad for the careers of stars such as Lucien Laviscount, Rege-Jean Page and Chelsee Healey, as well as Phoebe Dynevor, whose sister Hattie Dynevor joined the series in 2024, and Adam Thomas, who returned when the series was rebooted in 2023 and remains on the show. Cameron Roach, Waterloo Road executive producer, said: 'When the BBC commissioned the reboot of Waterloo Road, we had hoped it might run for a few seasons. 'But to be commissioned for further series, bringing the total episodes since relaunch to 70 hours, is a huge achievement and a reflection of the incredible creative teams in front of and behind the camera. 'As well as continuing to celebrate emerging talent, the show is fast gaining a reputation for working with the best comedy talent, as Jon Richardson joins the cast this season. 'As a team we're incredibly proud that a very British show can be such an enduring success for the BBC and continue to bring in new generations of viewers.' Filming for the two new series will begin in Greater Manchester later this year, with the first of the pair to launch next year.
