Time was, there were two meals the British did really well – breakfast and afternoon tea. And breakfast, for all the changes in our eating habits is still a glorious thing, done well. A good cooked breakfast, with rashers (streaky for preference), a nice meaty sausage, black pudding, well-cooked tomato or mushroom, and eggs – scrambled, fried or poached – is a really fine thing. And if you throw in fried bread, preferably done in bacon fat, it’s hard to beat.
But there are other elements in the repertoire which deserve a renaissance: kedgeree was once breakfast fare and for all its simplicity (rice, smoked haddock, cream, curry powder), it’s delicious, especially with poached egg. Devilled kidney – lamb kidneys in a spicy sauce – is about the best start to the day I can think of unless it’s a good kipper. Ditto well made porridge. Now, of course, there are any number of variants on tradition, and some that break with it entirely. Here are some of London’s finest.
Mount St Restaurant
One can breakfast in style at the Connaught hotel but the smart money heads down Mount Street to this dining room above the Audley pub. Very smart money: there’s £50m worth of art lining the walls — no surprise when one learns that operator Artfarm is owned by the art-world supremos behind Hauser & Wirth.
Full English or continental? Either is excellent, though one senses that chef Jamie Shears’s loyalty lies with unabashedly rich British breakfast cooking: devilled kidneys on toast, bacon chop, or omelette Arnold Bennett.
How much? Full English breakfast, £24; pastry assortment, £12; devilled kidneys, £18
When? Mon-Fri 7.30-10.30am, Mon-Sat 9-11am
First Floor, 41-43 Mount Street, W1K 2RX, mountstrestaurant.com
Claridge’s
.jpg)
This is pretty well the perfection of an English breakfast: well-flavoured sausage, sweet-cured bacon, perfect scrambled eggs as you like them. There’s an extensive breakfast menu: good oat porridge or a chia and linseed version; a breakfast roll with bacon, sausage and egg, £21; French toast or buttermilk pancakes with irresistible toppings and a very good fruit salad with pineapple, coconut and mango, £16. The breakfast tea blend is excellent and marmalade and jams are made in-house. It’s perfectly executed with attentive service in one of the grandest settings in London – when I was there, so was the Japanese emperor. What a treat.
Full English or continental? Both are offered and both good, but why overlook such a good fry-up?
How much? Full English breakfast, £40, but granola and other dishes from £11
When? Mon-Sun; 8-10am
Brook Street, W1K 4HR, claridges.co.uk
The River Café Café
This may sound like a misprint but it is the obvious next step in the development of the River Café – an actual cafe in a bright room with outdoor terrace, just across from the restaurant, which serves breakfast from 9am as well as lunch and supper. Think the kind of simple Italian menu that you crave in London, only more expensive obv, and made with characteristically good ingredients. It’s the River Café, pared down. There are very good cornetti, £5-6, crescents made with a sweet light brioche with apricot, chocolate or vanilla cream. Yum. The bruschetta show that you don’t need complicated ingredients for a memorable mouthful: the one with Vesuvio tomato and olive oil, £6 – essentially tomato slices on lightly toasted bread – was dreamy. And the orange juice, £6 – ubiquitous but rarely notable – was delicious too.
Full English or continental? Continental; you won’t have any luck asking for a fry-up
How much? Cornetti from £4; tea and coffee from £3; a plate of strawberries £15
When? Tues-Sun from 9am
Thames Wharf, Rainville Road, W6 9HA, rivercafe.co.uk
The Regency Café
They don’t make them like this anymore, which is why the Regency, in the backstreets between Victoria and Pimlico, has featured in everything from glossy magazine shoots to Guy Ritchie film locations when a bit of keeping-it-real grittiness is required — though the only chance of argy-bargy is if anyone takes a seat before placing their order.
Full English or continental? Conti-what? Vast sectors of the central London economy, from high-vis jackets to pinstriped suits, are kept going by the Regency’s cooked breakfast combos. Here nearer lunchtime? Add some proper chips to your fry-up.
How much? Set breakfast from £6.95; beans on toast, £3.40
When? Mon-Fri 7am-2.30pm, Sat 7am-noon
17-19 Regency Street, SW1P 4BY, 020 7821 6596
Dean Street Townhouse
Dean Street is part of Soho House, which should mean that it’s members only, except it has a hotel upstairs, too, so anyone can come and experience the private club vibe without the bother of an annual fee. The lack of much natural light in the moodily lit room should be a solace to anyone nursing a hangover.
Full English or continental? British classics is the culinary theme and kippers, kedgeree and tattie scones are all ticked off, but this being Soho House, the lighter choices are excellent, from an egg-white omelette to seed porridge with banana and muscovado. There’s even a plain pink grapefruit and a half portion of a full English.
How much? Full English, from £12; egg white omelette, £11; pink grapefruit, £4.50
When? Mon-Fri 7am-noon, Sat-Sun 8am-noon
69-71 Dean Street, W1D 3SE, sohohouse.com
Dishoom
Everyone’s favourite Indian chain comes with one massive drawback of huge queues: usually less of an issue on weekday breakfasts, but not so, alas, at the weekend. Eggs come with almost everything as per the Parsi cafés of Bombay that are Dishoom’s inspiration but there are vegan alternatives as well. Wash it all down with a mug of milky house chai.
Full English or continental? Naan rolls are what the place is justifiably famous for — sausage, egg or streaky bacon daubed with cream cheese and tomato-chilli jam, sprinkled with coriander and wrapped up in a fluffy warm naan. Or try the spicy chicken keema buns for a change.
How much? Bacon naan roll, from £9.50; keema per eddu, £15.90
When? Mon-Fri 8-11.45am, Sat-Sun 9-11.45am
Various locations, dishoom.com
The Delaunay
Sometimes you crave just the simplest thing at breakfast, like the perfect bacon roll, made with a soft white roll and an abundance of rashers. And that’s what the Delaunay serves up: delicious crispy streaky bacon and the right sort of bun. Best with a nice hot cup of breakfast tea, here a proper pot made with tea leaves. Simple, but you don’t often get it this good.
Full English or continental? Neither — the best thing here is the bacon roll.
How much? Crispy bacon roll, £10.50
When? Mon-Fri, 7-11.30am; Sun, 8-11.30am
55 Aldwych, WC2B 4BB, thedelaunay.com
The Wolseley
Given that The Wolseley, a sister of the Delaunay, channels the concept of a Continental restaurant that takes you from breakfast to supper, it’s interesting that its menu offers some of the most traditional elements of an English breakfast. The porridge is perhaps the best in London. The devilled kidneys are delicious and the kedgeree with poached egg, if a little sticky, is nicely flavoured. There’s a good, substantial cooked breakfast, £24.50, and — be still, my beating heart — grilled kippers with mustard butter. The vienoiserie — croissants et al — are very good, but the “Specialities” are best, some of which are available at lunch. If I hadn’t been full, I would have tried the bubble and squeak with fried duck egg and wild mushrooms. Next time.
Full English or continental? At the Wolseley? Traditional, always
How much? The English, £24.50; cold dishes from £3.95
When? Mon-Fri, 7-11.30am; Sat-Sun, 8-11.30am
160 Piccadilly, W1J 9EB, thewolseley.com
Hide
Fancy eating breakfast in a fancy Michelin-starred restaurant? That’s the deal at Hide, even if we’re pretty sure that the Red Guide inspectors weren’t evaluating chef Ollie Dabbous’ way with a toaster when they were handing out their gongs. Ask for a table upstairs if possible: the views of the Green Park trees are lovely in all seasons.
Full English or continental? You can get a full English anywhere, so go for the cheffy twists instead: seasonal fruits in a chilled lemon verbena infusion, ripe honey mango with Thai basil and kaffir lime, or a croissant laced with blackcurrant leaf.
How much? Full English, £28; fruit plates from £12; viennoiserie from £6
When? Mon-Fri 7-11am, Sat-Sun 9-11.30am
85 Piccadilly, W1J 7NB, hide.co.uk
The River Restaurant at The Savoy
Arnold Bennett was not just the author of popular novels from the 1890s to the 1930s but was chief literary critic of the Evening Standard, and the Savoy is of course a short walk from Fleet Street, where this paper’s offices were. It was the Savoy that created Omelette Arnold Benett for the great man and it remains a destination dish. As a substantial breakfast goes, it’s hard to beat: eggs, Gruyere (or Comte) cheese, eggs, smoked haddock and bechamel, all served hot in a little chafing dish, with the egg still a little liquid at the bottom. The restaurant has a broad breakfast menu, including an inviting-sounding bacon and egg muffin, £12, but if you can have Omelette Arnold Bennett, don’t stray. Service is charming. The only flaw I could see is that the breakfast tea was made with a tea bag.
Full English or continental? Have the omelette; it’s the star here for a reason
How much? Omelette Arnold Bennett, £20.
When? Mon-Sun, 7-11am
Strand, WC2R 0EZ, thesavoylondon.com
Terry’s
A greasy-spoon caff-cum-ye olde tearoom, Terry’s serves its fry-ups on vinyl red-checked tablecloths while electric chandeliers hang overhead and walls swarm with framed photos and vintage crockery. It’s catnip for Instagrammers on holiday but worth a detour to the backstreets of Southwark for any hungry Londoner, too.
Full English or continental? With seven fry-ups on the menu, from vegan and veggie to a porky-protein heavy “Hamlet”, this is not the place to drop by for Bircher muesli. There are, though, two “Continental breakfast” options: eggs benedict or royale.
How much? Fry-ups from £9; eggs Benedict £12.50
When? Mon-Sun 8am-2pm
158 Great Suffolk Street, SE1 0DT, terryscafe.co.uk
The Grill by Tom Booton at The Dorchester
You can call it a Bling Breakfast, for this is rather a different take on the trad English. It’s all designed to impress, and there are fun and quirky variants on the usual elements. The truffled egg and soldiers, £22, is amusing and tasty: toasted fingers of brioche sandwiched with a truffle filling, which you dip into your eggy mixture. The double baked croissant is seasonal; ours was made with pistachio cream and strawberries, £12, a kind of Supersize Me croissant ( the plain one is very good too). The yuzu pineapple with shiso leaves is delicious or there’s a refreshing chilled barley porridge with fruit and nuts, and, for girls with a sweet tooth, a waffle loaded with fudge sauce, cream and banana. Tom Booton is a show-off, but in an endearing way.
Full English or continental? The Full English, with Booton’s signature luxe touches
How much? Booton’s fry-up, £24; pastries and fruit from £8
When? Mon-Fri, 8–10.30am; Sat-Sun, 9-11.30am
53 Park Lane, W1K 1QA, dorchestercollection.com
Sam’s Kitchen
West Londoners seem to prefer brunch to breakfast but local restaurant saviour Sam Harrison (of Sam’s Riverside and Waterside) has both bases covered at his pair of daytime cafes in Hammersmith and Chiswick.
Full English or continental? Harrison’s restaurants proper major in native seafood, so we’d recommend either the Portland crab English muffin or Severn & Wye smoked scrambled eggs. There’s lots of nice veggie stuff too: grilled polenta, spiced oat granola and lemon and ricotta hotcakes.
How much? Full English, £18; smoked salmon scrambled eggs, £13.50; granola, £8.50
When? Mon-Sun, 8am-3pm (Chiswick -5pm)
59-61 Turnham Green Terrace, W4 1RP and 17 Crisp Road, W6 9RL, samskitchenw6.co.uk
Duck and Waffle
Breakfast is not a seven-till-eleven affair at this 24-hour restaurant on the 40th floor of the Heron Tower in the City, where early birds can watch the sun rise over east London whatever the time of year.
Full English or continental? The sweet-and-savoury combo of the namesake dish — confit duck, fried duck egg, mustard maple syrup — is arguably at its best in the wee small hours after a night of carousing in nearby Shoreditch; City suits breakfasting at a more civilised hour may prefer a Greek yoghurt with granola, and swerve the cocktails.
How much? Duck and waffle, £24; full English, £18; Greek yoghurt, £8
When? Mon-Fri 6-10.30am, Sat-Sun 6am-4pm; late-night menu midnight-5.30am
Heron Tower, 110 Bishopsgate, EC2N 4AY, duckandwaffle.com
The Black Penny
If Covent Garden is somewhere you avoid like the plague it can be a delightful surprise to see how lovely the area is first thing before all the tourists turn up. This café between Covent Garden and Holborn is a very pleasant place to soak up the area’s calm morning atmosphere; there are sister branches near Sloane Square and on the South Bank
Full English or continental? A global breakfast vibe makes The Black Penny one of London’s best veggie-friendly brekkies: “The Gatherer” and “The Forager” pile on things like grilled haloumi butterbean hummus and grilled haloumi or there are Middle Eastern-style egg dishes. There’s a plate called “The Hunter”, too, if bacon and sausage are non-negotiable.
How much? “The Forager,”, £15.90; “The Hunter,” £17.90
When? Mon-Fri 8am-4pm, Sat 9am-4pm
34 Great Queen Street, WC2B 5AA, theblackpenny.com
Imad’s Syrian Kitchen
Middle Eastern breakfasts have become a bit of a thing in London (not least due to Ottolenghi’s influence) and the short menu of this friendly restaurant from Damascus-born chef Imad Alarnab is as good an introduction as any.
Full English or continental? Bacon and sausage are very much not on offer; shakshuka is likely to be the most familiar thing here, or there are cheese and pepper-topped pastries, and pita with tahini and fava beans.
How much? Shakshuka, £13; warm pitta with date molasses and tahini, £4.50
When? Mon-Sat 8.30-11.15am
Top Floor, Kingly Court, Carnaby Street, W1B 5PW, imadssyriankitchen.co.uk
Maison François
The French might not be famous as a nation of breakfasters (not for nothing is le pétit dejeuner seen as diminutive to lunch) but this buzzy St James’s brasserie offers the best things about a Gallic breakfast (coffee and pastry) alongside French-accented interpolations like mushrooms on toast with pistou.
Full English or continental? Absolument an omelette (cheese, ham, smoked salmon), ideally preceded by some freshly baked pastries: pain au chocolat or Suisse or, of course, croissants with salty butter on the side. To drink, there’s a cafetiere of French press espresso.
How much? Omelettes from £12; croissant £5.50
When? Mon-Fri 7.30-11.30am, Sat 9-11.30am
34 Duke Street St James’s, SW1Y 6DF, maisonfrancois.london
E Pellicci
The Pellicci these days are brother and sister Nev and Anna, above, though the memory of their grandparents Priamo and Elide (the namesake “E”) are as much a part of East End lore as the Kray twins and Ray Winstone (all one-time regulars). Seven tables seat 33 diners in a wood-panelled interior reputed to be the oldest café in the country (est. 1900).
Full English or continental? Unless you’re in the mood for pancakes, it’s full English all the way, the only choice being between meat and veggie versions and the portion size.
How much? Full English breakfast from £13.40; vegetarian breakfast from £12.60; pancakes from £9.20
When? Mon-Fri 8am-3.30pm, Sat 8am-3pm
332 Bethnal Green Road, E2 0AG, epellicci.co.uk
The Goring
Almost any smart hotel in central London will offer a slap-up feast for breakfast; Belgravia’s the Goring, with its royal warrant, is one fit for a king or queen. The hotel is the only London five-star still in family ownership, and the dining room is looking absolutely spiffing after a recent multi-million pound refurb.
Full English or continental? Full English; not only is the quality of ingredients unimpeachable, it comes with so many extras (juice, coffee, tea, toast and pastries), there’s no need to eat until suppertime.
How much? Full English breakfast, £39; à la carte items from £8
When? Mon-Fri 7-10am, Sat-Sun 7.30-10.30am
15 Beeston Place, SW1W 0JW, thegoring.com
45 Jermyn St
There are some places which are so good and reliable, you find yourself returning again and again, and that’s 45 Jermyn Street, the Fortnum’s restaurant, for you. Even better in summer you can sit on the outside tables. The breakfast menu has all the things you want to eat, and then some. Orkney kipper? Tick (£16.75) Welsh rarebit? So good at breakfast, preferably with bacon (£10.25/£11.25). Full English breakfast (£22.50)? Excellent, obviously. And how about kedgeree? Yum. (£22.50). Last time I went I had a generous bacon sandwich, £10.50, with fine rashers. No finer way to start the day.
Full English or continental? Keep things British with classics of kedgeree or Orkney kippers: both healthier options than the crushed avocado with toast and Virgin Mary sauce, according to the menu’s calorie count.
How much? Full English breakfast, £22.50; kipper with lemon, £16.50; bacon sandwich, £9.50
When? Mon-Fri 7.30-11am, Sat-Sun 8-11am
45 Jermyn Street, SW1Y 6DN, 45jermynst.com
The Table Café Southwark
“We brunch it best” is the motto of this South Bank favourite, which serves Aussie-style brunch classics (sweetcorn cakes, Buddha bowls, full veggies) as soon as it opens its doors for breakfast until mid-afternoon closing time. A sound choice before seeing a show at Tate Modern or a matinee at the Globe.
Full English or continental? This is not the place for light appetites; there is a full English, but pretty much everything comes as a very full plate: smoked ham hock and chorizo hash; fried chicken pancakes or waffles; bagels jammed with poached eggs, hollandaise and halloumi.
How much? Full English, £14.50; ham and chorizo hash, £13; sweetcorn cake, £12.50
When? Mon-Fri 8am-4pm, Sat-Sun 9am-4pm
83 Southwark Street, SE1 0HX, thetablecafe.com
Honey & Co Bloomsbury
One of the nicest things about eating in Tel Aviv is the breakfast scene of a city where no one seems to start work until midday and Jaffa oranges for fresh juice were first produced down the coast. Channel some of that sunny energy at this chicly modern Middle Eastern style café on one of London’s prettiest restaurant streets.
Full English or continental? Why choose anything? Order the “big breakfast” for the table to share and sit back for an avalanche of breads, dips and mezze followed by eastern Med egg dishes: shakshuka, bureka or sabicha. Otherwise, who needs toast when there’s warm fig, orange and walnut loaf with butter and marmalade?
How much? The Big Breakfast, £27.50; individual egg dishes, £17.50; fig loaf, £8.50; pastries from £4.80
When? Mon-Fri 8-11.30am, Sat 9-11.30am
54 Lamb’s Conduit Street, WC1N 3LW, honeyandco.co.uk
The Park
Jeremy King pretty much invented the idea of breakfast as an event when he opened The Wolseley, above, in 2003; now the veteran restaurateur has sprinkled his stardust over west London at the Park, which looks like the poshest American diner imaginable. Come after an early-morning stroll around Kensington Gardens opposite (it’s dog-friendly by day).
Full English or continental? The continent in question here is North America, which means cinnamon buns or cream-cheese bagels, squishy French toast or stacks of buttermilk pancakes and, for any health-conscious Californians, a vegan-friendly coconut yoghurt chia pudding.
How much? Cinnamon bun, £6; buttermilk pancakes from £12.50; coconut yoghurt chia pudding, £9.25
When? Mon-Fri 7-11.30am, Sat-Sun 8-11.30am
2 Queensway, W2 3RX, theparkrestaurant.com
Fallow
Famous as the restaurant where the signature dish is a smoked cod’s head, breakfast at Fallow is a little less confrontational, though no less creative. Summer mornings on the terrace are particularly nice, but big windows fill the room with light whatever the time of year.
Full English or continental? Continental, of sorts: the “royales” are a must, with various fillings (salmon or pork bellies, steak or sausage) dribbled with the likes of sriracha mayo and walnut ketchup and sandwiched in a pair of croissant rolls. Excellent UK ingredients include London honey with the granola and British dairy cow for the steak and eggs.
How much? Royales from £16; granola, £8; steak and eggs, £24
When? Mon-Fri 7.30-10.30am
52 Haymarket, SW1Y 4RP, fallowrestaurant.com
Norman’s
The enduring attraction of the greasy spoon to high fashion was underlined at London Fashion Week in 2023 when Burberry took over this Archway café; perhaps nothing speaks more of irreverent English style than the combination of Formica furnishings and luxury raincoats, though despite the retro look, Norman’s doesn’t quite have the heritage of Burberry: it only opened in 2021.
Full English or continental? Beans on toast, bacon sandwiches, brown sauce and bubble and squeak: this might just be the most British breakfast menu in London. Three breakfast sets offer riffs on the full English formula.
How much? Bacon sandwich, £5; bubble and squeak, £7.50; breakfast sets from £10
When? Tue-Sun 10am-3pm
167 Junction Road, N19 5PZ, normanscafe.co.uk
Bangers
A first bricks-and-mortar site for sarnie sensation Bangers, with spartan furnishings aimed more at on-the-go City workers than remote-working Shoreditch creatives, though the no-frills surroundings should not suggest skimping on ingredients: the meat for the signature smashed sausage sandwiches comes from Lidgate butchers (Nigella’s favourite).
Full English or continental? Neither is on offer. Instead, chose from seven bacon, sausage or veggie sandwiches (freshly baked brioche or toasted English muffin) or Leon-like pots of salmon and avo or overnight oats.
How much? Egg and smashed sausage sandwich, £8.50; bacon butty, £7.50; granola and yoghurt pot, £4
When? Mon-Fri 7.30am-2.30pm, Sat-Sun 8.30-3.30pm
5 Leonard Circus, EC2A 4DQ, bangerslondon.co.uk
The Barley Mow
The Barlow Mow is a pub, but a very Mayfair one; there’s sports TV in the bar, but also etched glass and art-deco detailing and, in the white-tableclothed first-floor dining room where breakfast is served, a cabinet displaying a collection of Neal’s Yard cheese — no surprise when one learns that menus are overseen by chef-director Ben Tish, a mainstay of classy London restaurants for 20 years.
Full English or continental? The healthy option includes granola with Neal’s Yard Greek yoghurt, but when a breakfast menu includes items from the carvery — sugar pit-cured pork loin with Cacklebean eggs, potato rosti and English mustard hollandaise — resistance seems futile.
How much? Carvery specials, £22; granola, £9; full English, £18
When? Mon-Sat 8-11am
