May the force be with you! At the King’s Park Cafe it often is, as you’ll discover if you breakfast there. The local constabulary appear to use it as an unofficial canteen, which is about as good an endorsement as you can get.

Of course as well as police officers you get footballers, athletes, travelling salesmen and local folk in the know.

This is a proper no-frills cafe, offering a warm welcome and well-cooked, straightforward food. A plus for us is that it’s a nice walk from our house, along tree-lined avenues and across the park. On this particular morning there was steady drizzle, so there weren’t many other people about.

When you’re about to eat a full English breakfast, a brisk walk is psychologically good. It means you can kid yourself you have already burnt off a lot of calories, and the heaving plate of food will not be quite so fattening.

We’d had an early supper and had been busy the evening before, so by the time we arrived we were feeling really hungry.

We hadn’t expected the cafe to be busy on this particular wet day, but when we pushed the door open nearly every table was taken, and there were 20 or so people tucking into their food.

The cafe isn’t particularly stylish, with red Formica tables, red plastic chairs and brown sauce on the tables, but there’s a big menu on display on the wall behind the counter and the service is quick, efficient and friendly.

We had already decided on a Full English, and from the list we both chose egg, sausage, bacon and toast, and I had beans and mushrooms, whereas my husband chose black pudding and tomato. To drink we had mugs of steaming hot tea.

Our meal arrived, freshly cooked and piping hot. Each plate had thick slices of bacon, a medium-sized sausage and a perfectly cooked egg – all the white was set and yolk runny, ready to be mopped up by the toast.

There was one slice under the egg and we each got two buttered slices on separate plates. My chopped mushrooms were just slightly browned. The black pudding was great, though my husband was a bit disappointed that the tomatoes were tinned, not fresh, but it didn't really matter. Our meals were great, and thoroughly enjoyed.

Had we not been so hungry we could have had a smaller version, and there is also a vegetarian option.

If it had been dry and sunny we could have eaten our breakfast on the terrace overlooking the King’s Park cricket pitch. On warm days there are always people enjoying beverages or meals there, and it is a pleasant, sheltered place to sit.

The relaxed atmosphere means you don’t feel hurried and it’s a good spot to read the paper or a good book.

This is a well-run family cafe and outside there’s plenty of parking. It’s open daily, 8am to 4pm weekdays, 9am to 4.30pm on Saturdays and 9.30am to 4.30pm on Sundays.

Our meal for two came to £9.85, including the tea and toast.