Two breakfasts for a fiver - Van Burger

If you take the A26 under the new bridge at Itford and past the splendidly-named village of Tarring Neville, before you reach Newhaven there is a burger van in a lay-by, with the logo T Van written on the side. But this is much more than just an ordinary burger van on a lay-by. The entrepreneurial owner of the van has built a shack on the land facing his vehicle’s hatch, where you can sit down and eat the fare he cooks. It is, if you don’t mind a little ramshackleness around you, just about the best place to eat breakfast in the area. There are chairs and tables, a roaring fire, and an old fellah with two sticks who addresses everyone when they come in. Walk through the shack and there is a further stretch of land, and another open fire. It’s mad.

It was fairly busy morning - much of the trade seems to be people driving past stopping off for a bacon sandwich. But we found space to sit down. I ordered two eggs, two rashers of bacon, two sausages and two tomatoes; Suzie had one of everything. And a couple of cups of filter coffee to wash it down. It came with a plate piled high with slices of thick-cut buttered white bread. There wasn’t anything that special about the taste (fried eggs is fried eggs, I guess) but I’m a firm believer in settings making a meal what it is, and, as you can probably tell, I was enchanted with the setting. The bill, for everything, came to £4.50. I’m going back, soon, and the next time I want to take a bunch of friends. AL