Londoners love nothing more than a good brunch, be they brilliantly boozy or vibrant and virtuous. Ok, we’ll admit the former are particularly popular.
More restaurants across London are getting their brunch on than ever before, but while that means we are all spoilt for choice it also presents the need to prioritise finding the most pitch-perfect of them all.
After all, no one wants to see in the weekend with a hard yolk or waste their cash on a watery Bloody Mary.
With that in mind we have compiled the ultimate guide to London’s best brunches — from Benedict, banana pancakes and avo on toast to limitless sushi, barbecue nosh and mid-morning tapas.
Flick through the gallery above to see our selection in pictures, browse alphabetically, or use the map below to choose your destination by location. The brunches marked in red on the map are bottomless.
34, Mayfair
Saturday and Sunday, Midday-5pm
For sheer decadence, it’s hard to beat Mayfair’s 34. Brunch classics from Benedict to buttermilk pancakes are all served with flair while there’s also a hefty offering of steaks from the grill to round things off. Oh, and since you’re splashing out do make sure you sup some Champagne from the specially designed Kate Moss coupes…
34 Grosvenor Square (entrance on North Audley Street), W1K 2HD; 34-restaurant.co.uk
Ben’s Canteen, various locations
Saturday and Sunday 9am-4pm
So laid back it’s almost horizontal, few places are better suited to brunch than Ben’s Canteen. Pair a breakfast burrito, burger or buttermilk pancakes with a peanut butter and banana shake or twist on a Bloody Mary for a seriously good morning.
Battersea, Earlsfield; benscanteen.com
Berber & Q, Haggerston
Saturday and Sunday, 11am-3pm
Along with many of the main menu’s slow-cooked, seductively spiced meats, tasty dips and fluffy breads, brunch has some special dishes to offer. Red shakshuka is piquant from an abundance of roasted red peppers; Turkish eggs are lavished with paprika butter; and the Full Israeli — for two to share — is an enlivening platter of hummus, honeyed feta, boiled eggs, avocado, roasted beetroot and more. Don’t forget a Harissa Rose Mary, a sweet and spicy riff on the classic brunch cocktail.
338 Acton Mews, E8 4EA, berberandq.com
Big Easy, Canary Wharf
Bottomless Saturday and Sunday, 9am-5pm
There’s no good reason not to start the day with barbecue food. Not one. Big Easy Canary Wharf’s Big Pig Gig offers limitless grub from a menu that includes North Carolina chopped pork, pit-smoked chicken and St Louis pork ribs. Beer, wine and prosecco is also bottomless and included in the £29.50 price tag.
Crossrail Place, E14 5AR, bigeasy.co.uk
Bistrotheque, Victoria Park
Saturday and Sunday, 11am-4pm
You’ll need to book for the almighty brunches at Bistrotheque. Try classics with a twist such as avocado on toast with sriracha chilli sauce or go for something less tried and tested like crab rarebit with rocket and capers. The steak tartare is also exemplary.
23-27 Wadeson Street, E2 9DR; bistrotheque.com
Caravan, various locations
Saturday and Sunday, 10am-4pm
What you eat at Caravan will depend how virtuous or gluttinous you’re feeling. Fresh fruits and almond milk porridge rub shoulders with eggs, spreads or a particularly delicious avocado, chilli, lemon and olive oil. Then there’s flatbread topped with murguez sausage and the Caravan fry-up, or for the sweet-tooths date and hazelnut cake with halva ice cream and cardamom syrup.
Clerkenwell, King’s Cross and Bankside, caravanrestaurants.co.uk
Club Mexicana at the Spread Eagle
London’s first 100 per cent vegan pub, the Spread Eagle, is a gem of a venue in Homerton, serving food by Club Mexicana in comfy surroundings. The venue puts on a strong brunch menu over the weekend — go for the Mexican fry up, with a side of triple fried potatoes, and don’t be shy when ordering off the cocktail menu either. The Bloody Mary and the boozy Beetroot Punch are both excellent.
224 Homerton High Street, E9 6AS, thespreadeaglelondon.co.uk
Chiltern Firehouse, Marylebone
Saturday and Sunday, 11am-3pm
When Chiltern Firehouse was at the peak of its celebrity frenzy, brunch was just about the only sitting mere mortals could get a booking for. The heat is slightly less fierce now, but the brunch is still as good a call as any. Highlights include Nuno’s now legendary crab-stuffed doughnuts, a mix-your-own steak tartare and black truffle scrambled eggs. The Mary Celeste is a twist on a Bloody Mary based on orange, which comes with an oyster. And everything is served with a side of celeb spotting, obviously.
1 Chiltern Street, W1U 7PA, chilternfirehouse.com
Christopher’s, Covent Garden
Saturday and Sunday, 11.30am-3.30pm
There are two brunch menus at this grand, high-ceilinged brasserie: normal and superfood. Pick depending how virtuous you are feeling, or even opt for a combination of the two. The superfood menu includes raw juices along with avocado and crab on toast, while the other offers indulgent pancakes, a lobster club sandwich and all manner of egg options. Yep, you’re probably not feeling all that virtuous…
18 Wellington Street, WC2E 7DD, christophersgrill.com
Dean Street Townhouse, Soho
Saturday and Sunday, 8am-midday
With its discrete booths and velvet armchairs, Dean Street Townhouse boasts one of the cosiest dining rooms in London. The extensive brunch menu doesn’t stop at eggy things. It spans home-cured salmon and steak tartare alongside fish & chips and mince & potatoes — a house classic. There are no fewer than four Bloody Marys are available should you want a change from the classic.
69-71 Dean Street, W1D 3SE, deanstreettownhouse.com
The Delaunay, Aldwych
Saturday and Sunday, 11am-5pm
This grand brasserie from Corbin and King serves a brunch menu that’s almost as impressive as its beautiful interiors. There’s something for everyone, from a tempting array of homemade pastries, pancakes and classic egg dishes to schnitzels and sausages — plus lots of opportunity for people-watching. You’ll want to linger.
55 Aldwych, WC2B 4BB, thedelaunay.com
Dishoom, various locations
Saturday and Sunday, 9am-11.45am (8am-11.45pm on weekdays)
There are now four branches of Bombay Café Dishoom around town, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be prepared for a queue. The bacon naan roll is a modern classic but also try the kejriwal – two fried eggs on chilli cheese toast – and the Bombay omelette with chopped tomato, onion, coriander and green chilli. It’s technically a breakfast (but it’s so good we had to include it) so only runs until midday. Early bird catches the naan, and all that...
Covent Garden, Shoreditch, Soho and King’s Cross, dishoom.com
Duck & Waffle, City
Saturday and Sunday, 9am-4pm
For a decadent start to the day it’s hard to beat a sky-high brunch, and they don’t get any more sky-high than the one at Duck & Waffle, London’s highest restaurant. The menu includes the eponymous duck and waffle – crispy leg confit, fried duck egg, mustard maple syrup – along with ox cheek doughnuts, shakshuka, duck egg cocotte and freshly baked pastries.
Heron Tower, 110 Bishopsgate, EC2N 4AY, duckandwaffle.com
Flesh & Buns, Covent Garden
Bottomless Sunday, Midday - 4pm
Sundays at Flesh & Buns mean unlimited everything. Well, practically. For either £39 or £46 a head (depending on which menu you go for) you’ll get a cocktail on arrival followed by chips, dips and edamame, unlimited hot and cold dishes — including the signature buns — and unlimited prosecco or wine followed by pud to share. Sorted.
41 Earlham Street, WC2H 9LX; bonedaddies.com
Foxlow, various locations
Saturday and Sunday, 10am-3pm
Hawksmoor’s younger sibling knows how to whip up a mean brunch. Gutsy highlights include fried chicken and egg on a ‘croissant waffle’, steak with harissa, a sweet potato and kale hash and a Full English.
Clerkenwell, Chiswick and Balham; foxlow.co.uk
Gaucho
Bottomless Saturday, 11am-4pm
At Gaucho’s Electric Brunch, diners can order as many dishes as they like from a menu of both Argentine and brunch classics — and then keep coming back for more. That means as much steak, eggs Benedict, avo on toast and oven-baked chorizo as you can muster. Drinks are just as free-flowing, with Bloody Marys, Argentine sparkling wine and a weekly-changing ‘morning’ cocktail all bottomless. It’s all-inclusive for £49.95.
City, Canary Wharf, Piccadilly, Chelsea, Smithfield and Bankside; gauchorestaurants.com
The Good Egg, Stoke Newington
Saturday and Sunday, 10am-3.30pm
The array of brightly flavoured dishes at this Middle Eastern-influenced restaurant includes shakshuka, sourdough with date butter, beef pastrami hash and Iraqi-style aubergine with tahini. Unsurprisingly given the name, eggs are also a major player. Spicy Bloody Marys, mimosas and cardamom-infused coffee are on hand to lubricate.
93 Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 0AS; thegoodeggco.com
Granger & Co, various locations
Saturday and Sunday, 7am-5pm / 8am-5pm
Queues out the door at all Granger & Co’s restaurants can be seen of a brunch time as Londoners flock to try Bill Granger’s bright and breezy dishes. Tuck into broken eggs with ricotta, spinach, pine nuts and grilled sourdough, or opt for a Full Aussie.
Clerkenwell, Notting Hill, King’s Cross and soon Victoria; grangerandco.com; read our full review
The Great Exhibition, East Dulwich
Bottomless Saturday 11am-1pm
You choose just one main dish as part of the brunch at this East Dulwich pub, but it comes with limitless Bloody Marys, mimosas, tea, coffee, toast and jam, which means the whole thing ends up being effectively bottomless. Dishes include eggs Benedict, pancakes with maple syrup and bacon, pumpkin fritters and a Full English (or a veggie version). It costs £25 all in.
193 Crystal Palace Road, SE22 9EP; greatexhibition.pub
Hakkasan, Fitzrovia
Sunday, Midday - 6.45pm
Michelin-starred Hakkasan doesn’t do a brunch as such, but it does do Dim Sum Sundays. The £58 menu includes four lavish courses of dim sum, half a bottle of Champagne and two cocktails. A DJ plays from 1-5pm.
8 Hanway Place, W1T 1HD, hakkasan.com
Jikoni, Marylebone
Saturday and Sunday, 11am-3pm
Ravinder Bhogal’s cooking is clever, different and deliciously multicultural – and the brunch menu is no different. Choices include tamarind and maple-glazed bacon on fenugreek waffles with fennel slaw, and a spicy fish cake with poached egg and curry hollandaise.
19-21 Blandford Street, W1U 3DH, jikonilondon.com
KuPP, Paddington
Bottomless Saturday and Sunday, Midday-5pm
Scandi brunch means unlimited smorgasbord top-ups as well as bottomless aquavit cocktails (risky!) or pilsner. Just choose your ‘bord to get started. Offerings include Norwegian gravlax, smoked pork meatballs and pickled veg. It’s £30 per person, but kids eat free.
5 Merchant Square, W2 1AS, kupp.co
Lantana Café, various locations
Bottomless Saturday and Sunday, 9am-3pm
This Antipodean café group serves up indulgent yet reasonably healthy brunches, with a menu spanning corn fritters, French toast, smashed avocado and a duck and sweet potato hash. There’s the option to go bottomless for £35 (Bloody Marys, prosecco, mimosas and coffee) or opt for limitless booze-free juices and coffees for £30.
Branches in Fitzrovia, Shoreditch and Camden, lantanacafe.co.uk
Merchants Tavern, Shoreditch
Saturday and Sunday, 10am-1pm
Last year, Angela Hartnett and partner Neil Borthwick's sophisticated Shoreditch restaurant launched its first brunch menu – a savvy move in an area slim on weekend breakfast options. Come the weekend this cavernous space in a former apothecary makes the perfect spot to revive yourself in front of the log fire with Borthwicks' concise menu that – beyond the standard smashed avocado – offers a refined poached pear and homemade granola, hearty venison ragu and decadent waffles and perfectly cooked fried chicken – a dish inspired by a hungover morning on a research trip to New York. Special mention for the cocktail menu, too, which includes a particularly zingy Merchants Bloody Mary or the Savoy-approved Corpse Reviver #2.
36 Charlotte Road, London EC2A 3PG, merchantstavern.co.uk
Milk, Balham
All week, 8am-5pm (9pm-5pm on Sun)
Bright flavours abound at this local institution. Highlights include sweetcorn fritters topped with grilled halloumi and a riff on a bacon sarnie called The Convict – an English muffin with bacon, sausage, egg and a tangy ‘hangover’ sauce.
20 Bedford Hill, SW12 9RG, milk.london
The Modern Pantry, various locations
Saturday and Sunday, 9am-4pm / 10am-4pm
Diverse and international influences abound in Anna Hansen’s cooking, and the dishes at her two branches of The Modern Pantry zing all the more brightly for it. Try the marinated feta with a chilli-sautéed cavolo nero and chickpea spring roll, or opt for a tamarind and miso-marinated onglet steak with cassava chips. Don’t forget the must-try house classic: sugar-cured prawn omelette with smoked chilli sambal, spring onion and coriander. Prosecco, mimosas and bellinis are also on hand.
Clerkenwell, themodernpantry.co.uk
Oblix, London Bridge
Saturday and Sunday, midday-4pm
High-up and high-end in equal measure, the brunch at Oblix in the Shard is hard to beat for wow-factor so long as you’re willing to splash £62 a head. That gets you three courses, a side and a glass of Champagne to toast the views with. Diners can pick dishes from the deli counter as well as ordering the likes of a smoked haddock and cod fish cake with a poached egg, or grilled rib-eye steak with a fried egg and hashbrowns.
The Shard, 31 St Thomas Street, SE1 9RY, oblixrestaurant.com
The Providores, Marylebone
Saturday and Sunday, 10am-3pm
Peter Gordon’s The Providores and Tapa Room deals in bright, exotic flavours — think grilled chorizo with sweet potato and miso hash, a soft boiled egg, garlic labneh and star anise cashew nut praline, or roast black pudding with baked apple and slow-roast tomato. Brunch drinks include a fresh passionfruit bellini.
109 Marylebone High Street, W1U 4RX, theprovidores.co.uk
Riding House Café, Fitzrovia
Saturday and Sunday, Midday-4pm
This is a good place to summon strength before a day's shopping around Oxford Circus. But all the more indulgent if you’re not subjecting yourself to such an ordeal afterwards. The menu spans eggs or avocado Benedict, reuben sandwiches and a particularly noteworthy chorizo and roasted red pepper hash.
43-51 Great Titchfield Street, W1W 7PQ, ridinghousecafe.co.uk
Shackfuyu, Soho
Bottomless Sunday, midday-4pm
The food here could loosely be described as Japanese junk food, but that doesn’t do its rich, varied and often umami-rich flavours full justice. Brunch allows you to choose two small dishes and one larger dish each, followed by pudding, along with bottomless pineapple sake or prosecco for £35. Highlights include a tender and sticky Korean-style short rib, a buttermilk-fried chicken roll and miso aubergine. Go in a group and share for best results.
14a Old Compton Street, W1D 4TJ, bonedaddies.com/restaurant/shackfuyu
Snaps & Rye, Ladbroke Grove
Saturday and Sunday, 8am-3pm / 10am-3pm
Golborne Road Danish restaurant Snaps & Rye combines its breakfast and brunch menu. Danish pastries and smoked salmon with scrambled eggs sit alongside a Full Danish consisting of bacon, liquorice syrup, hog's pudding, spinach, tomatoes, pickled mushrooms and what they like to call Bloody Viking Ketchup. The open sandwiches are also worth a look.
93 Golborne Road, W10 5NL, snapsandrye.com
Social Wine & Tapas, Marylebone
Saturday, Midday-3.30pm
Don’t expect eggs Benedict at this Jason Atherton joint. This isn’t standard brunch fare, but rather the same brand of modern tapas the restaurant does so well, served at brunch o’clock. It comes in the guise of a £20 Feed Me menu, which will see a surprise selection of head chef Frankie Van Loo’s favourite plates brought to the table to share. These could include tangy piquillo croquettas, rare slices of Cumbrian lamb rump with goat’s cured and spicy hummus, or a runny-yolked egg on brioche with chorizo jam and avocado. Make sure you end on the churros-esque cinnamon doughnuts, and do make the most of the extensive wine list.
39 James Street, W1U 1DL, socialwineandtapas.com
