The Olympic Breakfast was a breakfast and one of the signature dishes at Little Chef.
The Olympic Breakfast was added to the Little Chef menu in 1994; the same year when the Winter Olympic Games took place in Lillehammer, Norway. The name has a double meaning - as well as referring to that year's Olympics, 'Olympic' also referred to the large size of the breakfast. A special 'extra-large' plate was designed to accommodate it.
The Olympic Breakfast became a Little Chef favourite from the start and was eventually one of their signature dishes. The breakfast was often bought by those who are travelling long distances as it provided a high source of energy for long journeys. In 2009, Heston Blumenthal made improvements to the breakfast as part of his documentary "Big Chef Takes on Little Chef", notably removing the sautéed potatoes, though they were later returned.
When the London Summer Olympics took place in 2012, there were suggestions to rename the Olympic Breakfast whilst the games were on due to strict rules on using of the term "Olympics" during the games. Thankfully, the London Olympic Committee made an exception for the Olympic Breakfast due to its name existing long prior to 2012, so Little Chef happily served the breakfast throughout the 2012 Olympics. After all, it was only appropriate considering it was called the Olympic Breakfast!
The Olympic Breakfast cost around £7.99 c.2015. In 2018, when Euro Garages lost the license to use the name Little Chef, their EG Diner renamed it to The Mighty One.
Ingredients[]
The Olympic Breakfast was, in the chain's later years, Little Chef's largest breakfast. It included:
- Two rashers of back bacon.
- A British sausage.
- Two griddle fried eggs.
- Mushrooms (the breakfast was originally served with sliced or whole cup mushrooms, but in 2009 they were replaced with a whole field mushroom - this was later reverted back to sliced or whole cup mushrooms in 2011)
- Sautéed potatoes
- Griddled tomatoes (the breakfast was originally served with two griddled tomatoes, then from 2006 until 2018 it was served with just one tomato)
- Baked beans (which were intended to replace the second griddled tomato in 2006)
- At one point in the mid-late 90s, a small steak was also included
There was also the choice of fried bread or toast on request.