Mill Race Garden Centre – Vegan Breakfast, Coffee and Cake

We went to Mill Race Garden Centre, located in Aldham near Colchester, for breakfast on a Sunday morning in September 2023.

I’ve been here a number of times now and never really had any problems. I usually go here because it’s not as busy in the mornings as Perrywood in Tiptree, where you can end up queuing for ages. That can be not so autism-friendly, and as I’m autistic, I do prefer somewhere a bit calmer.

There’s a decent selection of coffees, and they do the main dairy-free milks, so no worries there. I had a cappuccino with oat milk for £3.25, which isn’t too bad for me.

The person who made the coffee also wasn’t shy with the chocolate on top of the cappuccino, so that’s a plus if you like chocolate. Which, let’s be honest, isn’t exactly a terrible problem to have.

Gladly, this place does a vegan breakfast, not just a vegetarian option like a lot of places still do. Plus, for me, there’s no avocado in sight. To me, avocado doesn’t belong on a British-style breakfast. That’s just my opinion, but I’m sticking with it.

With the vegan breakfast, you get two sausages, two hash browns, loads of mushrooms, tomatoes, baked beans, and two slices of toast.

It used to be £9.50, but I believe it has now gone up to £10.95, which makes it a little pricey. The breakfast is enjoyable though, and I particularly like the vegan sausages they use.

I really prefer these sausages to ones I’ve had in some other places, as the texture isn’t so dry. That makes them much more enjoyable to eat. I honestly have no idea what counts as cheap for breakfast these days, because everywhere seems to have gone up in price.

They also had a vegan cake, which I think was a Bakewell slice made by Tiptree Patisserie — the company connected with the nice jam. They make a lot of the vegan cakes around Colchester. I’ve seen them in a few places I’ve been.

I know because I’ve eaten a fair number of them. Research, obviously.

All in all, it was a good morning out with my family. We haven’t been here lately, so I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up back here again soon.