Motorway food makes Ronay a happy eater

All too often, the words "motorway" and "food" are a recipe for disaster. Many service stations are feared for their soggy toast, watery scrambled eggs and sky-high prices.

This unenviable reputation is due in no small part to the scathing judgments of that connoisseur of quality, Egon Ronay. As recently as last year he condemned the "unspeakable rubbish" served up by some service stations. He has also appeared on TV on numerous occasions condemning motorway food as "inedible" and "disgusting".

So it may surprise the army of travellers who rely on his advice to learn that 11 motorway outlets have now earned one of his coveted stars, and two - including the Brioche Doreé at the London Gateway service station - have earned two. The accolades, all awarded to restaurants based at service areas run by the Welcome Break chain, have been handed out less than a year after Mr Ronay was hired by the company to improve the standard of its food.

He and his team of eight tasters visit eight of the service stations unannounced every month, then report on every aspect of food and service to the managers. On Mr Ronay's insistence the company has spent £250,000 changing the brand of its sausages. He was invited to shake up Welcome Breaks' meals after he produced a TV report damning them. "The chief executive wrote to me saying, 'I agree with you, will you help us do something about it?'" he said today.

He and his team tested and rejected more than 750 items before arriving at a selection that pleased them. "Not even a bread roll has the right to be anything other than excellent," Mr Ronay said, explaining why his team demanded that three-quarters of the products were altered.

Mr Ronay strongly denied that as he was being paid for his consultancy service, the stars had been bought by Welcome Break. "I still haven't awarded stars to some 85 of its service area restaurants so I would deny any suggestion that I was being biased," he said. "Only those outlets which make the grade will be awarded any stars."

To put his impartiality to the test, we sampled food at Brioche Doreé. The quiche Lorraine had a crispy crust and a light, fluffy filling; the raspberry tart had a fresh and punchy taste. The tea was a far cry from dishwater and the excellent cappuccino would not have been out of place in a service station on the outskirts of Milan.