[0:00]I feel like I'm on hot ones. The Americans are onto something. Yeah, they're on the toilet. John Cena and Idris Elba, two icons and two breakfasts going bite for bite in New York and London to settle the ultimate breakfast debate. Which is better? There's nothing that can compete with this. No mate, come on, man. I like a challenge. Oh, come on, man. First up, guys, American breakfast. So it looks as if we have some pancakes. Uh, I requested the syrup on the side because a good pancakes should stand alone by itself. Uh, we have some scrambled eggs. Looks like some hash browns and a bit of bacon. I think we have some drip coffee in there. And there's an extra side of cholesterol as well. Yeah, is the breakfast of champions, if the championship was getting type two diabetes. Yeah. Do you want some coffee? Oh, fill me up. That's very nice of you. That's very nice. Okay. It feels risky over a white table cloth. I know. Okay. Yeah. Fill the mug and go ahead and pour it right on. Just be careful, Olly. Don't drop it. Okay. Go in on this first. Yeah, cheers. Cheers. Uh, I'm apologizing. Right on. Oh, for for for for America. The coffee. Okay. Okay. Yeah. That's good. You know what hits the spot. Yeah, that sucks. Okay. But it's like free refills, right? That's a thing. That's the thing. We'll give you more of it. You're trying to get rid of it. Yeah, do you like this? We'll give you as much as you want. It'll be great. So break it down for me. You know, syrup and the pancake thing with the savory breakfast for me is a little bit like, what the actual. So, uh, I would do this. Oh, okay. Oh, you're not you're not a fan of the butter on the back. Okay. Is that an empty calorie over there? Uh, for me, it's an empty calorie. Empty calories. Okay. A pancake is a baked good, it should stand alone. The the judge of a good pancake is to try the pancake naked. Oh, wow. And if you need syrup, it's kind of like, oh, like, so the drip coffee, right? Drip coffee sucks. So the American fix for drip coffee is a load of cream. Oh, I see. Okay. Yeah. You there? Okay. What's in your hand is that's 2000 calories. Okay. My fix was, no kidding. I used to do American convenience store, get the 64 oz cups that they would give you, fill with ice, go to the drip coffee, fill it with your coffee and they give you the free tasty creamers. Uh-huh. So like the cinnamon vanilla, whatever. I dumped 25 creamers in there and paid like 74 cents for 64 oz coffee. Oh. And it was like a protein shake. Yeah, I'd get a thousand calories out of it. It'd be great. This is when like you're bulking. No, that was yesterday. Okay. Okay. 74 cents. 64 oz in a coffee, you kidding me? It's a great life hack. Good economics. Yeah. Yeah. John Cena counting the pennies. Not the calories. A good pancake should stand alone naked and the syrup should be like a, oh, man, I need the syrup. So we should raw dog this right now. Just on the side. Yeah. Hey, you have your own terms, that's fine. And uh, later if you need some lube, you go with the you go with the syrup. We're five minutes in, guys. Guys, can use your hands or I'll use a I'm gonna use the knife and fork. Uh, all right. Okay. Half a pancake. I mean, it would benefit from some butter. Well, a little bit, you know, after the like fifth chew of, you're going to want to a little liquid or something. Exactly. Exactly. They're good. They're like crispy and crunchy on the outside. They got a little bit of give to them, but they are a little bit chewy. So yes, we're going to need some lube. Okay. Right. Right. And once you've had a taste of the pancake naked with the syrup, it's a little bit of a nice charge. Phases to enjoy the American breakfast. Oh, okay. Yeah. Okay. So, when did you have a really good sense of history? When were pancakes introduced to the American breakfast? That's a great question. The Earl of Penn.
[3:43]Me and the voyage, Pennsylvania. Uh, if my memory serves me correct, uh, around the early 1810s, this is very, very Dutch based settlement in Pennsylvania, the middle of steel country, what would be steel country. So the the Earl of Penn created this cake that they wanted to serve at dinner, but they found out it to be delicious and nutritious and good for barn building. So they started breakfast. Yeah. And it was it used to be called the Earl of Pancake, and then they just dropped the Earl of it because, you know, America's not about all that junk. We just called the pancake. Wow. Is this a true story? That is not. I was in. I was so interested. Oh, my gosh. Absolutely not true. Okay. You can tell you're a professional actor. Yeah. I know. So that's essentially uh the pancake and the coffee. But they're doing quite well together. They do. You do. I see you guys keep reaching for the mugs. So like, you're on a sugar high, and you're caffeinated. So, of course, you're going to keep going back to it. Okay. I see. This is how they get you. So would you have the bacon with the pancakes? So, because of the success of some fast food chains putting all of these things together, you essentially could stack the out of this breakfast and do pancake, hash brown, egg, bacon, pancake, syrup on top of it all and get all the tastes in one. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. All right, give it a shot. Okay. Yeah, you know what? We need to do it. Idris is correctly assuming that I'm the guy to do that. He's been here for five minutes. He's like, he's the idiot in the t-shirt. So what what do we do? What do we do? Just copy me here. I'll take a pancake off the off, so you got to be able to stack a pancake back on. Remove a pancake from the stack. Okay. Yeah. And then place a hash brown on the pancake that you no, no, that's left. Okay. So that's going to be your ground floor. Place a hash brown right there. We're going to build off of that.
[5:28]Next as you build a layer of scrambled egg. Oh wow. Wow. Ollie, you're killing it. Yeah. Shingle it with bacon here. Oh, man. Could this get more high stakes? Okay. Pancake on top, but we got to go syrup on it. You know what's interesting about the pile up is that if you were to put it on your head, you would look like the early pancake. Oh. That's that's what they call in the Philippines. Don't give him ideas. Yeah. I really want to do it, guys. So this is fatty, salty, everything in one bite. It is American exceptionalism at its best. Everything at once.
[6:09]Oh, my gosh. Yeah, you got this. That's a big mouthful. That is a big mouthful. Lord, from what I'm about to receive, please protect me. Oh. Oh. Okay. We've got to go with a still of that. I can say, I said I like to enjoy each thing in its own lane. Uh-huh. What? My God. I'm going in for another one. Oh, wow. Okay. I've got to join in for a I feel like you made up that whole stack of the back. You made that up completely. No. No one's ever done that. I think that the hash browns, even, they're very different from the hash browns we have in the UK. They're they're pancake shape. It's almost like they're designed to be Wow. Oh, it is. There's so much in there. It is. I will say, it is pretty dense. Oh. A warning if you're trying this at home, which I recommend. I bulked it up into a kind of concrete. It's it's dense. Wow. Oh, right. Oh, it works. Right. It works. Oh, come on, guys. You're insulting it. It's it's like every it is like fatty, salt, sweet, like savory. It's everything in one bite. The Americans are on the sign. But you're just through your breakfast. You're you're through your breakfast and they're on the toilet. They're on the toilet. That's what they're on. I feel like one of those pharmacy commercials where I have to go, side effects of eating all this stuff is you may yourself a lot. May also cause sudden patriotism, irrational love for bacon, and a craving for freedom. Consult your doctor if your stomach starts singing the Star-Spangled Banner. Especially when you're washing it down with copious amount of free coffee. Oh, my gosh. Is this your go to eggs, John? Would you have them scrambled typically or are you partial to a fried egg or Olly, man, I I maybe I maybe I lean a little bit more British. My go-to is a poached egg on toast. Oh. Little Fancie. Mister. Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to love when we do this in London because it'll be like a poached egg on toast with a flat white. Uh, no. Sorry, mate. No. We'll see. I think that's what we're going to be having. No, man. Are you going to help me try some of that like the black pudding? Oh. You can try some of that. Yeah, yeah, but it's got to be traditional. Yeah. There's nothing that can compete with this. This is This is good. Oh, mate. Yeah. Sounds like a challenge. No, come on, man. When you have the beans and the mushroom and then the the tomato and the oh, mate, yeah, you can't. Is this you luring into me like me scooping my hand into baked beans and me like, this is not breakfast. If you don't do that now, John. If you don't do that. It's not going to happen. No, man. No. Something I've heard is also a staple of American breakfast. Ah, yes. Oh. Donuts. Okay. This is a delicacy that's crossed the waters. You can now get donuts everywhere. Yeah. Although I don't know if you can get them for breakfast in the UK. Yeah, it's sort of more like a dessert or tea time. Type of operation you run over there. Well, we have afternoon tea, right? In the UK. Nobody brings donuts in the office. Yeah. Tell me they don't. Tell me they don't. On a Friday, we do. In the afternoon, though, sure. Yeah, in the afternoon. Not in the morning. No. No. Especially donuts with pistachios on them. I mean, come on. Pistachio one. Well, I know that I'm trying this. Is this is this the one you hate? Go for it. We got them in Grand Central Station this morning. You get fancy donuts. Yeah. This morning. Yeah. They are. Which one donut? Yeah. Oh yeah. You're trying to give me that bad boy. This bad boy here. I know. That's a coffee one. This is the type of donut I grew up on, so this is my sweet spot right here. Right on. Oh wow. Hell yeah. Oh, hell yeah. So, American. Ah. It is wonderful. I'm a big calorie counter. I would say in this pastry alone, uh, between 700 and 900. 900. I think something just died in it. I'm just realizing like every bite costs. Yeah. Yeah. But it's it's good. You can't stop eating them. In America, where does oatmeal sit on the menu of American breakfast? That's a great question. It has its place.
[10:01]Okay. You put it in the basement. Okay. For when the apocalypse happens. Okay. And it is the food that will never go bad. No, fan. Not a fan then. No. No, it of course a fan. It's the food that'll never go bad. I'm going to put this donut down there. Yeah. Okay. I mean eat the donut. What is your go to though, John on day to day basis for breakfast? Once I sourdough, hopefully. Okay. We poached eggs. Oh. One flat white. From feeling gamey? Yeah. Flat white number two. Oh. Four shots of espresso. I'm ready. Headbutt a wall. He knows. He's seen it. Sometimes I peak too early. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Peak too early. Okay. I've seen it. This is what my plate would look like as a 12 year old. Okay. So this is 100% like an American breakfast and it it's still awesome. It really hits the spot. I will It does hit the spot. If I ate this every day, there will be one person sitting at this table because I would take up the entire real estate. This is delicious. It really is. Make it a delicacy. It's a treat. It's a treat. All right. Well, we better head over to London, try a full English breakfast. And I'm up. I'll try anything twice, just to make sure I don't like it. Okay. You were there. London, here we come. Idris had something come up last minute, so it was down to us to introduce John to English breakfast. Welcome to London. You got a proper waistcoat on. You notice. You look the business. Wow, that's fantastic. I was mortified last time at how undressed I was. This is business. This is great. So I took a picture of you to a tailor and I was like, make me look like John Cena. This is proper. This is very, very proper. Yeah. You you approve. Let's see it. Let's see the fit. Look at that. You look great. You look. Oh my God. Look at these. We wanted to make sure you were ready for the day. So we've got your two flat whites. Double flat white. Good go. Normally, I should say, an English breakfast, you'd have it with some tea. Yeah. You know what? I'll indulge. I'll indulge. I've noticed you haven't you haven't put any milk in your tea. No, no, this is the way I like it. That's not very British. I've got to say. So what do I have to do? You have to pour some milk in. Just some milk in. Put milk in my coffee, so I'm not. Where when is enough? Okay, that's enough. That's enough. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cheers. A cup of tea to start the day. Yeah, and then pints to end it. No. You know. Yeah. Yeah, it's still not my bag. Tick to the flat white. God damn it. That's good. Oh, man. That's better than the the coffee we had. Tastes like good choices. Okay. You said you like calorie counting, so we bought you 5,000 of Britain's finest. This is it. This is all the calories in Britain. We've got a real array, yeah. Some of the favorites, traditional English sausages, some bacon, a roasted tomato, mushrooms. The star of the show, I would say. Black pudding. Mhm. It's fried egg or is it a little bit runny or? It's fried. A little bit runny. A little bit runny. Little bit runny. All business on it. Fried egg with a fried slice, which is literally just fried bread. I'm okay with it. Okay. Right. I don't know how is this less calories than the American breakfast? I wouldn't say it's less. I mean, there's a lot of oil. I got to go black pudding by itself. Some fried bread. That's a distinct taste.
[13:19]If you're not used to it, I can understand why you'd be like, no, but I'm okay with it. You're okay with it? What's coming through? It's a lot of musk. British musk. It is it is an acquired. It's acquired thing. Well, I mean, it's it's blood sausage. Obviously. A little bit of oats. You know, nothing like a bit of pig's blood to start the day. Yeah. And I am trying to be a little more sophisticated. Your little pinky is, oh, that's that's fairly unique. Obviously, America, we try things dry first, and then you you added a little bit of lube in the form of the maple syrup. And it should stand alone. Raw dog. Exactly. Right. It should. I would say an English breakfast stands alone quite well. But there is a lube. But there is a lube. The the lube with an English breakfast is the bean juice. The bean juice. I see it. It's pooling at the bottom. It pulls so that you can dip everything else into it. Baked beans are the closest thing to a national religion here in the UK. It is a very, very common meal to just have beans on toast. Oh, the beans. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
[14:24]Guys, listen. I don't want to make any assumptions. I'll allow you to tell me why this is still a thing. So, okay. 1948, I get it, but tell me right now, in 2025, how this has stood the test of time. People are like, man, this is this is a great dish. I know. Like, a lot of British cuisine was sort of, uh, created after the war. And we we cling to it, for some reason. I love it. But, like, can't you just fry the bread? You could give me a hot second and just throw it in the that would take time, John. This is a quick, fast, convenient meal. You've got one of your five a day, vegetables, beans. You've got some sweet tomato-y sauce. Tomato-inspired sauce, I think, is probably the best way of describing it. I like to call it bean juice. Yeah. And this is actually on some fancy sourdough bread for you. But this is the fancy one. Well, the no, that's not. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know what? I can't officially hate it until I tried it. I will lean in. I will lean in. I will.
[17:59]Stingy. It is a. Sting effect. A sting. In a good way. In the, like, uh, my top teeth, the top of your mouth and the top of your tongue, in the back. Or all like, what man? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. I'm with you on this. I hate it. So, the cool thing is, the commercial says, I either love it or I hate it. So I'm entitled to hate it. So I can officially hate it. Okay. Okay. It's like a strong taste that I don't want. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Answering the question nobody asked. Yeah. Okay. Flavor with yeast extract. So you normally you would go like very sort of very very hot. What the is it then? Come on. I know. Are you going to use it or not? Not use it. You're going to use it. Whisper marmite over and say you're a marmite fan. Come on. I'm going to give it a I will give it another chance. But I'm going, I want the full experience. We need to settle the debate. What is the ultimate breakfast? Obviously, Idris isn't here today to defend. No, he figured you guys would do a good enough job. It's home turf and he also knows I like English breakfast. So he figured that I'd be biased. I mean, you put it on like Nutella there. That is
[19:03]This sucks. Boys. That is ball. This all pack sucks. I feel like you're going to taste that tomorrow. That is loud. That is loud. Third round, hit me in the cheap seats. Oh, man. Yeah. I'm on the yeast extract of hot ones. Oh, man. Oh man. I'm okay with all this. And whether you're starting the day and you get a full day work ahead of you, or you've had a long night. Oh, yeah. You this is a course correction. Especially good after a long night. You get it. Look at both of us. Dressed as if we're going to the commodities exchange. I know and he's in a linen shirt. Yeah, I'm the butt sweated like a footballer at the end of the second half. Yeah. Okay. Is your problem, man? I mean, when you started. You're going to have a sip of my hot coffee if you want. That'll calm you down. We need to decide. What is the best English breakfast or American breakfast? We do. So, English breakfast does not count cuz if you put this in the equation, it's biased. The English breakfast needs to be this. I I appreciate you buttering up the guest. The fact that you guys can achieve so much with no sweet stuff. Don't need it. Do not cheating. Exactly. I don't want to say that American breakfast doesn't have passion, but this is all savory and still good.
[20:20]Yeah. But this, I would say, it's not that difficult for it to stand alone. I think this does. I honestly, I would give it I would give the points to the English breakfast. Wow. I was actually planning on challenging you to an arm wrestle to decide it. But, you know, we'll never know who would win. No, one needs to see that. No. John doesn't stand a chance. I know.
[20:53]Especially not you and that two button code over there. Stay away from the marmite. Okay. Unless you like it. Okay. And beans and bread. The secret sleeping combination. Cheers to that.
