There's definitely a time and a place for bottomless brunch, but if you care more about the food you're eating than the glasses of Prosecco you're stacking up you need a completely different hitlist. Here are the places in London you want to book for brunch where the food is firmly the focus.
Straits Kitchen
The City - 80 Houndsditch, London EC3A 7AB
From its elevated perch overlooking Bishopsgate Plaza, this City restaurant is a great place to enjoy brunch with live music on a Sunday. Not only is there an extensive cold (and bottomless) buffet to hit up but brunch also includes an array of hot dishes like steak with gochujang chimichurri and fried egg and duck and potato hash with chorizo. Whatever you do, make sure to check out the Bloody Mary Trolley.
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Bistrotheque
Hackney - 23-27 Wadeson St, London E2 9DR
If you want the dining room to be as gorgeous as your brunch outfits you can't do better than this OG Hackney restaurant. Here you can feast on classics like French toast and Eggs Benedict while adding in brunch extras like roasti, boston beans, or maybe half a dozen oysters. They also do a cheesy arepa with chipotle black beans, fried eggs, pico de gallo and sour cream that's guaranteed to slay any hangover.
Decimo
King's Cross - 10th Floor, 10 Argyle St, London WC1H 8EG
For a Mexican perspective on your weekend brunch you should take the lift up to Decimo, the 10th floor restaurant at the Standard London. On the menu here you'll find traditional breakfast dishes like huevos ahogados, Short rib birria and molletes that go very nicely with the views over London. Pep things up with one of their margaritas or a pineapple and ginger michelada.
Akub
Notting Hill- 27 Uxbridge Street, London W8 7TQ
For a fresh modern take on Palestinian food you need to head to Fadi Kattan’s Notting Hill restaurant Akab where the brunch menu features a holy trinity of Arabic coffee, superb French toast and amazing zahra fritters. If you’re fond of a sweet brunch dish and want to try something new, their Arabic coffee French toast is the dish to order with sweet whipped laban, cocoa and pistachio. As you would expect the coffee here is very good, but take time to check out the tea menu too, which is broader than most places and compiled by the Rare Tea Company.
The Park
Bayswater- 2 Queensway, London W2 3RX
The weekend (and bank holidays) brunch offering at Jeremy King's Bayswater establishment has a distinct American bent with some of the favourite dishes including huevos rancheros, a veal and pork meatloaf and grilled flatiron steak with potato latkes and fried egg. If you've got a sweet tooth the vanilla cream doughnuts are a must-try, as are the bespoke build-your-own sundaes, and Hyde Park is right across the road for a pre or post-brunch walk.
Lantana
London Bridge, Shoreditch and Marylebone
As one of the OG Aussie brunch spots in London, Lantana has one of those menus where all the classics are dialled right up for flavour. So a full English (or should that be Australian) also includes potato gems, flat bread & house barbeque sauce while the eggs Benedict here comes with slow-cooked caramelised pork belly and sriracha hollandaise. All options can be made bottomless, both boozy with Prosecco or Mimosa, or booze-free with all the juice and coffee you can muster.
Abuelo
Covent Garden - 26 Southampton St, London WC2E 7RS
Of the two Abuelos in town, it's the original you’ll need to head to for the most expansive brunch offering. This architect-owned independent local cafe serves up an Australian-style brunch with a Latin American twist. Homemade banana bread comes with toasted coconut, vanilla ricotta and honeycomb, but the addition of dulce de leche makes it next level. Drinks are also on point with iced jasmine tea and iced dulce de leche coffee being options that would elevate anyone's weekend. The cafe is also extremely easy on the eye with the stylish owners making this spot a visual as well as gustatory feast.
Honey & Co. Daily
Bloomsbury- 19-21 Store Street London WC1E 7BL
The Bloomsbury branch of the Honey & Co family is a very handy all-day deli, bakery and cafe just around the corner from the British Museum. Brunch is served daily for those dining in, and is an enticing combination of Middle Eastern-inspired salads, shakshuka, tagines and more. Eggs are where it's mainly at, served braised in confit cherry tomatoes & feta for that shakshuka, poached with chilli peas or salt beef. As for drinks, their house-made orange blossom iced tea is the business.
Burnt
Shepherds Bush, Bloomsbury and Bethnal Green
Brunch is served up on a daily basis at this neighbourhood favourite which now has three branches across town including, most recently, Bethnal green. In addition to their own homemade cakes and pastries, you can expect to find a regularly changing menu inspired by ultra-local produce. So you might find nduja leek and Gorgonzola croque madame with a fried egg, or a cauliflower and kimchi kedgeree with fried egg and pickles. The coffee comes from Climpson & Sons.
Brother Marcus
Across London
Brother Marcus might be a restaurant chain, but it’s one of the good ones and you can always rely on them to serve up a decent brunch offering at the weekend. If you haven't been before the menu focuses on modern Eastern Mediterranean dishes. Brunch options are available Monday to Friday but it's at the weekends that the menu expands with a greater range. The smoky shakshuka is an always-on classic but it has to compete with dishes like the kefir-fried chicken on potato rosti with fried eggs as well as Tsoureki brioche with tahini custard, pistachio, dark chocolate & kataifi. If you're wanting to switch things up a level, they also do special brunch cocktails.
Fallow
St James - 2 St James’s Market, London SW1Y 4RP
Fallow have really built on their breakfast and brunch game over the years, and they have certainly done so with one eye on your Instagram feed. The croissant rolls are the main draw, with everything from sausage, bacon and egg to whey caramel sandwiched between them. Their black pudding Benedict is also a strong contender and, being a sustainably focused restaurant, they shun avocado on toast for crushed English peas instead. Their mid-week breakfasts are also well worth checking out.
Chet's
Shepherd's Bush - 65 Shepherd's Bush Green, London W12 8QE
This restaurant inside the Hoxton Shepherd's Bush hotel serves up a pretty unique Thai-Americana-style menu. Taking specific influences from American diner bars, it's no surprise that their brunch game is so strong. Alongside more trad dishes like banana French toast, you'll also find spicy chicken on a roti waffle pineapple and fried egg rice and an NYC bodega sandwich. There's a particularly interesting non-alcoholic drinks selection and you've got to love a brunch place with prawn toast and pad kra pao on the menu, haven't you?
Sunday
Islington - 169 Hemingford Rd, London N1 1DA
Sunday is such a popular brunch location, you just know there are always going to be queues at the weekend. But it’s worth it for the perfectly cooked Full English and brunch options like courgette fritters as a base for avocado, halloumi and poached eggs. Weekly specials are worth watching out for and roam the globe for inspiration.
Milk
Balham - 20 Bedford Hill, London SW12 9RG
Every day is brunch day at Balham cafe Milk, which prides itself on using producers from as close to its location as possible. Think classic brunch dishes, but given as much extra love and attention as possible. So smashed avo on sourdough might come with a smoked tomato sauce and pangrattato and the poached eggs is topped off with miso dust. Plus you’ve got to love anywhere that offers hangover sauce (smoked chipotle, if you’re asking). And if the queue for brunch is too long, head to their nearby branch Milk Run for something to take home with you instead.
Esters
Stoke Newington - 55 Kynaston Rd, London N16 0EB
If you’re seeking out a brunch with a difference, then this Stokey cafe, tucked away on a side street, is the place you’ve been looking for. Expect to see regularly-changing seasonal takes on brunch specials as well as some particularly inventive drink options like the currently-on Guinness Mont Blanc made with iced filter coffee, molasses cocoa syrup and toppepd with a malted wheat cold foam. Brunch is Saturday-only but they do a cracking breakfast during the week too.
Sunday in Brooklyn
Notting Hill and Marylebone
This American import has a signature pancake dish that any pancake lover should cross town for, served with Hazelnut maple praline and brown butter. You'll need a stack of at least two in our opinion, but if you have any room after that, their steak and eggs are pretty strong, or you could go for their cilbir eggs, which are a plate of poached eggs with whipped sumac yogurt, feta, pistachio tahini, tomato compote and brown butter.
Juliet's Quality Foods
Tooting - 110 Mitcham Rd, London SW17 9NG
Tooting’s very own temple to brunch was set up by Julian Porter and Lauren James (who launched Milk in Balham so they have serious brunch form). The eclectic menu reflects a team who like to shake things up, so you’ll find grilled sweetcorn fritters, stacked with halloumi, smashed avo, drycure bacon, kasundi and lime alongside housemade cornbread with hand churned butter.
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