Detour Pit Stop #101: Midway Cafe, Shropshire, UK

No-nonsense English breakfasts and builder's tea are the must-haves on the menu of this old-school truck stop.

The Midway, not only our family favourite, but also a favourite hangout of bikers, truckers, farmers and vintage vehicle drivers, is a traditional English greasy spoon.

Tucked away behind a large expanse of carpark that borders the A49, The Midway is a small, white art deco pastiche building, its quirky outside hiding a real throwback to the days before service stations cafe. No nonsense large breakfasts are the order of the day, washed down with lashings of good strong, builder’s tea. Snacks and lighter meals are available too, but if you’re on the road then a good hearty meal is what you’re after.

The largest offering is always “The Desperate Dan Breakfast”. Double everything with additional square sausages, potato waffles and bubble and squeak, but you’ll need a healthy appetite to eat it all. Alongside the full English breakfasts, The Midway also offers the delicious midlands regional speciality of oatcakes. Oatcakes are pretty much unheard of outside of the region; an oatcake is, as its name suggests, made with oatmeal and wholemeal flour, it resembles a yeasted pancake. Served with melted cheese and bacon, they are a real treat.

I opted for a regular all-day breakfast which was priced at a very moderate £6.50. A full plateful of perfectly runny yolk fried eggs, grilled sausages, bacon, beans, fried bread, tomatoes and piles of buttered white bread to mop up the juices was spot on.

Friendly and casual with great service, good hearty no nonsense food, exactly what you need from a pitstop.

Words & Photography Alex Gradwell-Spencer

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ROADBOOK

CLASS: cafe

NAME: midway truck stop

ROUTE: Prees Heath, Whitchurch SY13 3JT

COUNTRY: UK

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