English Breakfast
Date of visit: 18th April 2026
Score: 3/3.
EBS compliant (9am-12noon).

This weekend was the first weekend of nice weather for the coast. We got up early and drove down to Southbourne, parked the car and walked to and from Boscombe. Riva is a café at the top of the Fisherman’s Walk Zigzag in Southbourne. You can sit outside or inside and look out at the sea.

We don’t just eat Pie and Mash. We also eat full English breakfasts. As this is the first English breakfast post, I should probably explain the scoring. I’m scoring out of 3 because I want to make it easy. The score considers the price. A top mark means for the price paid, the food was excellent and I would come again repeatedly. A zero means it was awful and 1 and 2 allow for grades in-between. Ideally, the breakfast should meet the English Breakfast Society standards.

The English Breakfast Society defines a proper English breakfast to be: bacon, sausages, eggs, black or white pudding, bubble & squeak (or fried bread). At Riva, all the items are available on the pick-and-mix breakfast menu. I’m marking the Riva as compliant, at least during breakfast hours.

The drive was 2 hours and unfortunately, we missed the breakfast menu at Riva. The good news is that an all-day breakfast is available. It comes with bacon, egg, sausage, hash brown, beans and toast. I added a cup of tea for good measure.

I’ve been to Riva before many times. I’ve been to Southbourne many more times. So I knew what I would be getting. The breakfast was delicious. It was served quickly. The tea was also strong and robust. The sausage tasted nice - many cafés fail on the sausage. The bacon was crisped nicely and they cooked the egg to my liking. On previous visits, I’ve had fried bread and other components. The café never disappoints. The staff are lovely and at £9.80 for the food, there can be no complaints.

Sitting in the sea air is a bonus. You can burn the calories either by walking east to Hengistbury Head or west to Bournemouth.

Although I didn’t take my dogs this time, it’s worth noting that Riva is dog friendly. They cook sausages especially for dogs too.

Café Riva
 Boscombe Overcliff Drive, Bournemouth, BH5 2EL
Tel: 01202 422002
Web: caferivasouthbourne.co.uk
Hours: 9am - eve