If breakfast feels like a duty and lunch can seem like an obligation then brunch is the renegade meal of the day, something decadent that exists for no other reason than to occupy a chunk of the morning when in all likelihood one would not be doing anything else. And what could be a more delightful way to pass the time than eating pimped-up breakfast dishes that, because it’s around midday, it is entirely acceptable to wash down with alcohol?
That, at least, was the imported American version of brunch which took off stateside in the Thirties, though the word itself was invented by the British, appearing in Punch magazine in 1895 to describe “a Sunday meal for Saturday night carousers”.
But while the hair-of-the-dog hangover brunch remains the choice for hedonists, there’s now an impressive array of antipodean-inspired cafes for more wellness-minded diners who, instead of staying in bed with a headache, will likely have swum the length of Bondi Beach before looking for something to eat – or that’s the fantasy peddled by the new-wave of Aussie-style brunches springing up all over the capital. Middle Eastern brunches, meanwhile, are great for vegetarians, while the brunches at Dishoom and Mr Bao prove that the only international boundary for brunch is the creativity of the kitchen.
So from French toast to Taiwanese buns, stacks of pancakes to eggs every which way, here are London’s best brunches worth getting out of bed for. And remember, brunch isn’t just for weekends — though cocktails before midday almost certainly should be.
Terry’s
Those who favour a classic English breakfast would do well to visit Terry’s, a Borough institution in situ since the Eighties. Brunch as a concept is done away with here, but exists somehow anyway. Terry’s, now under the stewardship of Austin Yardley — Terry’s son — serves food most often served at breakfast throughout the day (alongside dishes more readily associated with lunch, dinner). Importantly, terrific sausages and outstanding value.
158 Great Suffolk Street, SE1 0DT, terryscafe.co.uk
Ozone
What began life as a coffee roastery in the Kiwi surfer’s paradise of New Plymouth a quarter of a century ago is now a B Corp-certified international coffee business which also does a nice line in brunches whether one is in Auckland or east London. The usual antipodean café, this is not. Most dishes use by-products to reduce waste, olive oil comes from a social regenerative project, leftover sourdough is turned back into flour and surplus oat and cow’s milk made into ricotta. Thankfully the results taste as good as the intentions behind them, whether ethically farmed meat or line-caught fish: braised Essex beef mince on wholemeal brioche with lemon cress and Ethical Dairy laganory cheese, say, or chalk-stream trout with an omelette of violetta pumpkin, stem pesto and ricotta. Ozone is dog-friendly as well as planet-friendly, too, and there are bags of single-estate coffee to take home.
11 Leonard Street, EC2A 4AQ and Emma Street, E2 9AP, ozonecoffee.co.uk
Milk Beach
Alongside Nicole Kidman, Kylie Minogue and the noble art of the flat white (or was that New Zealand?), brunch is probably Australia’s most famous export. Milk Beach is Australia in London, a brunch hotspot so full of avocado you’ll think you’re on a controversial farm in Mexico. Dishes, from sweet potato fritters to pancakes and overnight oats, are modern classics, and the coffee is blissfully sound.
Soho and Queen’s Park milkbeach.com
Mr Bao
London’s other Taiwanese bun specialist with “bao” in its name, Peckham’s Mr Bao proves that one can stuff anything into a steamed bun with pretty much guaranteed deliciousness. For brunch that means a ham-hock fritter with egg and plum sauce, braised beef brisket with wasabi slaw and fried chicken with wasabi mayo, plus salmon, shiitake and tofu spins for the non-meat eaters. Elsewhere on the menu are Taiwanese takes on a cooked breakfast plus chicken dumplings and kimchi pancakes. If you haven’t turned up with a hangover, the option to go bottomless for £22.50 per hour with Asian-inspired cocktails means that you will probably leave with one. Tooting relative Daddy Bao offers something similar if you need to be near a Tube.
293 Rye Lane, SE15 4UA, mrbao.co.uk
Lina Stores
Italy, but brunch. The latest restaurant in Clapham was a big giveaway as to the group’s intentions to broaden. Really, it’s breakfast, but the 11am finishing time just about grants it licence to appear in this roundup. On offer, granola, eggs cooked in a variety of pleasing ways, and a star dish in the form of a sausage and fried egg focaccia. Honestly superb for a tenner.
Multiple locations, linastores.co.uk
Esters
“Café” doesn’t quite do justice to this daytime-only Stoke Newington eatery where an easygoing charm belies the seriousness with which it takes its food and drink. Responsibly sourced coffee comes from B Corp-certified Hasbean, hot chocolate from Pump Street in Suffolk, leaves from Postcard Teas in Mayfair and sourdough and pastries from Little Bread Pedlar in Bermondsey. Brunch stapes get an eclectic spin — the French toast is topped with bergamot oil and blood orange, the breakfast sarnie is a potato roll stuffed with Isle of Mull Cheddar and wild leek — while more lunchy options include soy-braised pork belly with coconut cream. Brunch is Saturday only; the rest of the week (Tuesday to Friday) there’s a breakfast menu from 8am until midday. “Well-behaved” dogs are allowed, too, but no laptops after 11am or any time on Friday and Saturday. Quite right, too.
55 Kynaston Road, N16 0EB, estersn16.com
Ottolenghi
Yotam Ottolenghi’s food lends itself dutifully to “brunch” because it is so keenly adorned with eggs and soft bread. Though menus at the chef’s casual cafes are divided between breakfast and lunch, brunch might be had at 11am or thereabouts. Shakshuka is always a fine way to begin a lazy morning, so too Ottolenghi’s Middle Eastern breakfast, which comes with feta, a fried egg, chopped salad and warm pita.
Multiple locations, ottolenghi.co.uk
Dishoom
Dishoom doesn't really need any introduction, but let’s celebrate it anyway. The bacon naan was hugely impactful when it arrived on the scene in 2010, slotting bacon inside good naan and selling it to the Indian food-loving people of London. There’s more to enjoy: the parsi omelette, with chopped tomato and onion, coriander, green chilli and cheese is quietly masterful; find any meat-eater who would say no to the “Big Bombay”, which fuses British pork with masala beans and buttered house-made buns.
Multiple locations, dishoom.com
Park Chinois
Those who would dismiss dim sum as not being “brunch” fail to realise that dim sum is the very definition thereof. Enjoy dim sum at whatever time, but be aware that it is traditionally enjoyed as a late breakfast, or early lunch in Cantonese cuisine (throughout the Guangzhou province and beyond). At Park Chinois, take heed of this to marvellous effect with a dim sum platter, not forgetting the lively cocktails, lagers and wines available too.
17 Berkeley Street, W1J 8EA, parkchinois.com
Santo Remedio Shoreditch
Santo Remedio began life in Shoreditch as a pioneer of authentic Mexican in London before closing five months later and crowdfunding its way to a bigger site in London Bridge. This more café-focused reincarnation feels more in tune with the casual spirit of the original and serves a short brunch menu featuring a trio of dishes that makes ordering easy (simply order all three): blue and yellow corn tortillas with avocado leaves, black beans, chorizo, cream and feta with either a zingy housemade salsa verde or smoky salsa roja, or a weekend-only taco of crumbled black pudding, fried egg and salsa verde. Side orders include guacamole with the option of a sprinkling of fried grasshoppers: a protein hit with a kick. Still hungry? The main menu is basically brunch anyway: soft-shell crab tacos and chorizo quesadillas. Bottomless brunch is served at both the Shoreditch and London Bridge Santo Remedios at the weekend, too.
55 Great Eastern Street, EC2A 3HP, santoremedio.co.uk
Caravan
Caravan was an early adopter of the emerging mainstream brunch trend in London in 2010. Of course brunch has existed here since Edwardian times — the term was first used in an 1895 essay by English author Guy Beringer who sought to document people’s need to assuage hangovers — but these days it is a mighty industry. At Caravan, the usual dishes, from fry ups to porridge, smoked salmon to chorizo and potato hash.
Multiple locations, caravanandco.com
Granger & Co
Granger & Co might be the epitome of Aussie brunch. Founded by the late Bill Granger, a wonderful chef often referred to as the “Godfather of avocado toast,” it serves light, bright dishes elegantly, with a classics menu moving from poached eggs to ricotta hotcakes, scrambled eggs to hot smoked trout with tomatoes and sprightly greens. Dining here feels like an antidote to a hangover but in the most nutritionally beneficial way.
Multiple locations, grangerandco.com
Pavilion Café
Combine two classic London weekend pastimes — brunch and a walk around the park — at east London’s Pavilion Café, where alfresco tables sit on an awning-shaded terrace jutting over the boating lake of Victoria Park. Inside is just as nice, with seating gathered under a domed ceiling and with a log fire in winter. Owner Rob Green is a baker who spent time in Sri Lanka and the meat-free menu showcases his twin passions. Pastries come as freshly baked croissants, pain au chocolat and a trio of sweet buns (cinnamon, cardamom and turmeric); the short meat-free menu includes a Sri Lankan breakfast of dhal and curry mopped up with hoppers and roti or a brunch plate of smoked salmon, avocado and soft-boiled egg. There are pancakes with maple syrup and creme fraiche, too.
Victoria Park, Old Ford Road, E9 7DE, pavilionbakery.com
Tasha’s
What does one look for in a brunch menu? Avocado on toast perhaps, or various egg iterations on well-made whole grain bread. Those often called-upon tropes of a brunch menu are hard to find executed to a standard much better than shruggingly passable — enter Tasha’s. A chain imported from South Africa courtesy founder Natasha Sideris, the restaurant in Battersea is London’s first (and so far, only) and while the restaurant might look a bit manicured, it’s really just a quite nice place to spend a morning. Croissant waffles will satisfy any sweet-toothed sorts you’ve brought along, while a sweetcorn scramble will sate the more savoury-leaning bruncher.
Battersea Power Station, 3 Prospect Way, SW11 8BH, tashascafe.com
Mount St.
Brunch at Mount St. feels somewhat ceremonial. There is a breakfast menu during the week with some less usual suspects (Stepney kippers, devilled kidneys on toast, London rarebit) but the weekend brunch is of particular interest. It starts with Carlingford Louet Feisser oysters and continues with beef tartare and an optional caviar supplement, Dorset crab salad with quails egg and brown crab mayonnaise or an Oscietra caviar omelette — a collection of dishes that hints at something special.
41-43 Mount Street, W1K 2RX, mountstrestaurant.com
Lantana
Before anyone had heard of Bill Granger, flat whites and sweetcorn fritters, Lantana was pioneering an Aussie approach to eating in London, first in Fitzrovia and then in Shoreditch and London Bridge. The trio of cafes is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner but it’s weekend brunch that has the most meal appeal, not least because Lantana has kept ahead of the antipodean brunch bunch by offering clever spins on the classics. Corn fritters come with halloumi, spinach and crème fraiche, smashed avocado on organic sourdough with poached egg, labneh and pistachio dukkah while the potato hash is made with slow-cooked beef brisket and bound together with sweet onions, pickled jalapeños and fried egg. If the clean-living, Bronte Beach vibe of it all somehow doesn’t appeal, there’s a bottomless brunch option, with as much Prosecco as one can neck in 90 minutes.
W1, EC1 and SE1, lantanacafe.co.uk
Fallow
We could wax lyrical about the joys of any number of impressive brunch dishes which make up Fallow’s weekend morning offering: the moreish mushrooms on toast, the black pudding Benedict (ask for some house-made sriracha with this, trust us) or the quiet brilliance of their own granola. But as great as some of these dishes are, the Fallow croissant rolls tend to steal the show.
52 Haymarket, SW1Y 4RP, fallowrestaurant.com
The Good Egg
The Camden outpost of The Good Egg is no more, meaning that brunchers must travel to Stokey for what many reckon is the best babka in the capital. Here the brioche-like Jewish bread is served as French toast and steeped in custard, though the chocolate marbling and doughy texture contained within a crisp crust would be just as delicious by itself. Other classics at the Tel Aviv-style caff include potato hash with lamb shawarma, fish or feta, grilled cornbread with zhoug-spiced fried egg and the Iraqi Jewish dish of sabih, pitta stuffed with aubergine, egg and tahini. Not feeling so salady? There are salt-beef and pastrami bagels, za’atar fried chicken and pretzel pecan pie, and a decent cocktail list: anyone for a flat white martini? And for those who hate to queue for brunch, The Good Egg takes bookings.
93 Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 0AS, thegoodegg.co
Sune
Opened by Charlie Sims and Honey Spencer, a hospitality power couple with some serious credentials, Sune has quietly become an essential East London hangout. A neighbourhood restaurant and wine bar — Spencer’s expertise in that department were recently extolled in her book: Natural Wine, No Drama — it was natural for them to expand into Sunday brunch. There is crudo and ceviche on the menu, as well as flatbreads, terrines and larger omelettes and chops. Trust us, go here.
129A Pritchard's Road, E2 9AP, sune.restaurant
River Cafe Cafe
It took 37 years for Ruth Rogers to open a follow up to the River Cafe, the spendy Italian restaurant by the Thames in Hammersmith, but the River Cafe Cafe is an all-day affair of a somewhat more casual, accessible nature. Baked goods start at £2 for a cookie and £10 for something more substantial (lemon and polenta, please and thank you) and a number of bruschetta-based dishes are similarly priced. The mains at the main restaurant opposite vault towards and above £50, here sizeable plates of pasta never go higher than £25 and perfectly wintry weekend salads are all under £15. It’s brunch for grown-ups.
Thames Wharf, Rainville Road, W6 9HA, rivercafe.co.uk
Juliet’s
If there is a restaurant-cum-cafe to unshackle oneself from the idea that brunch is a meal to be scoffed at, then it’s Juliet’s. Pound for pound, this is one of the most delicious restaurants in South London: the coffee is outstanding, the baked goods change very regularly and the menu of cafe classics and modern takes means you’ll never be bored, never have the same meal twice and always find something delicious.
110 Mitcham Road, SW17 9NG, juliets.london
Morito Hackney Road
While the original Morito in Exmouth Market is famous for its North African-accented take on tapas, this Hackney Road offshoot applies the Mediterranean approach of parent Moro to Sunday brunch. Still, given how short the menu is, a table of four (or a very hungry duo) could easily polish off the whole lot tapas style. Naturally there’s avocado on toast, but here it comes with chorizo; the dishes with stronger flavours of the Med are even better: menemen, the Turkish dish of eggs scrambled with tomato, peppers and feta and here served with spicy sujuk sausage, a toastie of tetilla cheese, guindilla pepper and sweet onion, or Cretan sausage with flatbread, chopped salad and Greek yoghurt. Walk it all off with a stroll along the Regent’s Canal afterwards and, if you’re up early, pick up some flowers from Columbia Road Market first.
195 Hackney Road, E2 8JL, moritohackneyroad.co.uk
Towpath Cafe
The outsized lore of the Towpath cafe has generated a special kind of aura around the place. It remains essential eating in town, in the same league as the likes of Quo Vadis and Rochelle Canteen. Part of what a fashion brand might term “hype” — but what we’ll call “appeal” — is that the restaurant isn’t always open. It closes for the winter, re-emerging each spring from self-imposed hibernation, making it all the tastier when we can return for a medley of light seasonal British classics, which on weekend mornings could manifest as anything from salads to a sausage sandwich.
42 De Beauvoir Crescent, N1 5SB, towpathlondon.com
Sol’s
A relatively new spot, part of the resurgence of Bayswater, Sols opened in the summer of 2024 to a quiet fanfare. It would likely reject the notion of being a brunch hangout — it generally leans more naturally towards the title of wine bar — but a range of light salads, cheese plates, roasted gourds and pintxos make this an appealing, if unlikely choice to while away a weekend morning.
25 Leinster Terrace, W2 3ET, sols.london
Toast Rack Bake House
The first thing most will notice upon walking into the Toast Rack Bakehouse is the fresh bread: boules, baguettes and dark, weighty rye, the sight and comforting smell of which suggests that this is the place to order bread-based dishes. The second will probably be the dogs, which the Toast Rack welcomes, and — being opposite Wandsworth Common — receives in abundance, enhancing the homely, friendly atmosphere. The third is what people are eating. This is food one is more likely to order by looking around than by looking at the menu: the buttery spool of folded eggs crowned with whipped feta on the neighbouring table, the squishy cinnamon bun spied at the counter, the beetroot cured salmon with a pillowy poached egg currently being enjoyed by the lady in the corner with the cockapoo. The coffee, from speciality roasters Alchemy, is excellent enough to warrant picking up a bag upon leaving, along with a pastry to continue the experience at home.
314 Trinity Road, SW18 3RG, toastrackbakehouse.co.uk
Mae + Harvey
Fluffy pancakes, pastries, bagels, perhaps a poached egg with some blanched asparagus and hollandaise... all of these treats and more make up the seasonally changing menu at Mae + Harvey. A constant in Bow since 2018, the cafe remains a tried-and-true reminder of the pleasure to be found in simple honest cooking, in securing top notch ingredients (its suppliers range from the local Peckover Butchers to fresh fruit and veg from local shop Best Food Centre) and treating things simply. Weekend mornings are well spent here.
414 Roman Road, E3 5LU, maeandharvey.com
