This week the owner of The Pitstop on the A96, Roy Minty, announced that he’d be retiring this Sunday after 24 years of running the unique venue.
As soon as we heard the news my colleague Karla Sinclair and I knew we had to jump in the car as fast as we could to sample the fare that is available at Roy’s joint.
This eatery isn’t like your regular cafes, as in fact, it is based within a bus.
Known for its epic breakfast offering we decided it would be a morning trip to try out what some of our readers have described as “the best cooked breakfast in the north-east”.
The Pitstop
So this morning, we both nipped along to The Pitstop to get a taste of what we’ll soon be missing in the north-east.
Located on the side of the A96 just outside Pitcaple near Inverurie is Roy’s Bus. I was taken aback at how busy it would be at 10am, but busy it was.
We waited around 20 minutes for a table to become available, and within that time a queue of around five tables had formed.
Ordering a few items recommended to us by readers, we tried the cooked breakfast, the mealie and mince, and a roll with Lorne sausage and egg in it.
We also purchased two bottles of water to wash it all down.
The order:
The results
So what did we make of The Pitstop and its offering? Did the breakfast live up to the hype? Or were we let down by it?
Cooked breakfast
I’ll start off by saying that for £6 this breakfast is a bargain. On the plate you’ll find two sausages, two big rashers of bacon, two eggs, black pudding, beans, a tattie scone, fried onions, tomato, plus you can also get fried bread or toast – or a mix of both which is what we did. That’s nine different elements for one breakfast.
While onions aren’t a usual staple of cooked breakfasts I have had, they were in fact one of our favourite parts. Both Karla and I enjoyed the sausages, but the bacon was a tad too salty and although the fried bread was initially a winner, we soon realised it was very oily so half a slice was enough for the both of us each.
The beans were great and Karla adored the black pudding. The tattie scone was a little hard to cut through, and while the eggs were every so slightly overcooked, they were delicious and still boasted a thin runny later at the yolk’s top.
All in all though, it was a great breakfast and I can see why so many people love it – especially with its price tag.
Presentation
Karla: 4/5
Julia: 4/5
Taste
Karla: 4/5
Julia: 4/5
Lorne sausage and egg roll
We’d asked which was the most popular roll with Roy confirming his bacon or sausage rolls were the most ordered during his time.
But because we’d tried the sausage and bacon we wanted to give the Lorne sausage a go.
We added a soft egg on top with the hopes of a runny centre soaking the roll when we cut it, but we didn’t quite get that. The sausage itself was flavoursome, but I thought it needed a splash or tomato ketchup to ‘wet’ the roll a bit.
The fact the bread roll itself was thin was good as it meant there was more of a focus on the filling.
Presentation
Karla: 3/5
Julia: 3/5
Taste
Karla: 3.5/5
Julia: 3/5
Mince and mealie
Now I love mince and tatties and had this mince been served with tatties I probably would have given it 5/5. It is also homemade by Roy’s daughter and it was absolutely delicious. Karla even bagged some up and took it home because it was that good.
However, we both felt the mealie let this dish – which can come served with chips or potatoes – down a bit. There wasn’t much flavour to it at all and it was a little too bland and totally dominated by the rich, juicy and oh-so-delicious mince.
Presentation
Karla: 2/5
Julia: 2/5
Taste
Karla: 3.5/5
Julia: 3.5/5
So the dish you need to try at The Pitstop is the cooked breakfast with 16/20.
Can you think of any local venues or dishes you would like the Drive-Thru Diners to try?
Fill out our online form below to share your recommendations.