LDNGuide
The 26 Best Brunches In London
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
You’re rising from your slumber on a Saturday morning. You may or may not be hungover. You’re craving… something… something… with eggs and potato and meat but also rocket, and maybe some chilli and lemon, also chocolate. Coffee, a coffee. And a freshly pressed juice. You need brunch.
There are a lot of brunch options to choose from in London so we’ve written this guide, split by areas, to help you find the perfect spot. If you’re an early riser and looking for a straight-up breakfast guide, we’ve got one of those too. Or when you're craving baked goods, take a look at our favourite bakeries in London right now.
Central
photo credit: Christopher's
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Christopher’s serves the best french toast in London. There, we said it. Thick brioche with a soft gooey centre, topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and melted chocolate—this is the reason you come here. But that’s not all this two-floor, white tablecloth American restaurant in Covent Garden has to offer. The menu is filled with things like lobster mac and cheese, wagyu burgers (which is definitely an acceptable brunch), and a Texas grill complete with sausages and hash browns.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
The theme at this charming Victoria bakery is ‘international baking’, which means you’ll find a selection of bagels, monkey bread, focaccia, ka’ak, and more. There are also inventive pastries like a za’atar and gruyère croissant, which can be hit and miss depending on how soon you catch them after they’re baked. But the most important thing about this place is the excellent clay oven-baked flatbreads. Topped with delicious combinations like merguez and garlic aioli, or burrata and honey, these breads are what make this spot worth going out of your way for.
photo credit: Popina
Starting your day with peanut butter and banana-heavy french toast just because you can is what life is all about. That decision will lead you to places like Popina. This little Mayfair spot has scrambled eggs and all the other usual culprits on the menu, but there are some exciting alternatives that you should get involved in, like their house special ranchos with lime guacamole, green shakshuka, and raclette cheese melt. The french toast section—yes, a whole section—includes Nutella and strawberries, as well as savoury options like goats’ cheese and bacon.
Breakfast at The Wolseley is an occasion. Between the soaring ceilings (the St James’s spot used to be an old classic car showroom) and shiny tableware, it might all be a bit much to take in if you’re still feeling a bit bleary. But the food is excellent and everything from the pastries to the classic omelette Arnold Bennett (eggs with smoked haddock) is worth the price. Save it for a celebration, a big-time breakfast with a potential client, or when your mum’s visiting.
North
If you can’t deal with sunlight just yet, Corrochio’s is the spot for you. The basement of this moody cocina in Stoke Newington has the smoky feel of a saloon, with enough crucifixes for you to become concerned that you’ve stepped inside the headquarters of a cult. One with exceptional catering. The dish to get is the chilaquiles. The corn tortilla chips soak up moreish salsa verde and come topped with tender shredded chicken, gooey cheese, rings of crunchy red onion, and a perfectly fried egg. Hot sauce is optional but encouraged.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
When you commit to brunch at Dobar, you commit to waiting in a queue. Whether that’s 10 minutes or half an hour really depends on how early you get there, just know that there is always a wait at this walk-in only cafe. But it’s absolutely worth it for the XXL brunches at this Green Lanes spot. Whether it’s the hearty full English that arrives in a skillet pan, or the fluffy french toast covered in Nutella and fruit, this is the right way to start a Saturday. Or any day for that matter.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
With Sunday, an all-day cafe in Islington, the clue is in the name. It’s the place to go for excellent, fluffy brioche french toast when you can’t be bothered to cook, wash away any apprehension about the impending week with smooth, frothy lattes, and have one last sleepy hurrah—courtesy of a moreish courgette fritter—before Monday hits. We’ve been solo, and nursed a plate of scrambled eggs with a friend—just choose someone you can trust to share the half portion of pancakes you ordered for the table. It’s always a good time and the food doesn’t disappoint.
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
If you’re a Stokey resident and you haven’t been to Esters then we’re about to change your life. If you’re from anywhere else, the same applies. Esters is a little cafe with a menu that changes daily, but is always very creative and very good. Think french toast with whipped ricotta and cranberries, or poached eggs with charred cabbage, chorizo, and pistachios on toast. This is not your average brunch. It’s a no-booking, no-way-to-avoid-the-queue thing, but get there bright and early and you’ll be fine.
East
photo credit: Koray Firat
The Allotment Kitchen is part of Stepney City Farm, and it’s the kind of leafy, fairy light-sprinkled oasis that draws nature-starved Londoners with the promise of Baileys hot chocolate. If that doesn’t sound wholesome enough, you’ll eat your plate of orange mascarpone french toast sitting at a table fashioned from a tree trunk, as the friendly farm cat curls around your legs. The creative dishes are excellent—like confit garlic white bean mash with lemony leeks and crispy sage. Come on the weekend and take a stroll around the farmers’ market, and leave with a blissed-out, rested feeling.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Bake Street makes brunch for people who wake up craving dinner. From the moment they open on Tuesday morning to their final crème brûlée cookie sold on Sunday afternoon, you’ll overhear Birkenstock-clad regulars deciding between which special to get, and change your mind five times as you get closer to the till. Let us help you out. Firstly come for the weekend-only specials. Secondly, do not, under any circumstances, leave without getting the smashburger or the Nashville hot chicken bun.
photo credit: Ozone Coffee Roasters
First and foremost Ozone is a bright and breezy coffee shop. But limiting it to just that feels like a serious understatement. Ozone Coffee and Food Emporium would feel more accurate. Ozone is an excellent brunch choice if you’re around Old Street or Shoreditch. The menu ranges from pancakes with apple and butterscotch to smoked haddock kedgeree with a poached egg. It’s pretty popular on the weekends and with harried-looking commuters on weekday mornings, so it’s all about timing.
Morito’s location on Hackney Road is useful to know about, especially for a pre or post-Columbia Road Flower Market haul on a Sunday. It’s always busy because the food is top-to-bottom fantastic. You’ll find a Mediterranean/North African twist on brunch, and it’s a good way to break the habit of standard avocado toast spots. The chilli-flecked menemen eggs on toast is a must-order and if it’s on, the bougatsa—a Cretan filo pastry with fresh cheese, sugar, and cinnamon—is very good as well.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
On the surface, a US-style diner in Dalston might sound like an awful concept dreamed up by someone with a trust fund and nobody who will tell them the truth. But Hash E8 actually makes very tasty food that also happens to be perfect for smashing after a heavy night. True to the diner theme, there’s filter coffee and classics like french toast, pancakes, and a chorizo and sweet potato hash that will cure what ails you.
South
photo credit: Karolina Wiercigroch
Proper, unanimous crowd-pleasers are few and far between—but the brunch at Mr Bao is one of them. Every weekend the Taiwanese restaurant in Peckham is packed with toddlers being placated with crispy fried chicken, sparkle-wearing groups pausing mid-bite of hash brown bao to sing ‘Happy Birthday’, and those attempting to soothe sore heads with Cantonese scrambled eggs. Whatever the reason you’re here, the Bec Bao—char siu bacon, peanut chilli crisp, onsen egg, burnt cheese—should be on your table.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Unlike the tedious chore it’s named after, we can’t get enough of The Laundry. A perfect morning at the Brixton spot looks like excellent coffee and spicy meatballs on toast for brunch, a buttery, malty banana bread with honeycomb butter for afters, and then a restorative bloody mary on the spacious terrace out front. At some point, between eating comforting Antipodean-British dishes and admiring the mint green banquettes, you’ll realise you’ve been here for three hours, have taken 47 photos, and mentally planned a big event here.
photo credit: Ola Smit
Tashas is an all-day cafe, but this Battersea spot really thrives between 8:30am and 2pm when it serves breakfast. There’s a mix of proper hits like a sweetcorn scramble that’ll make you feel good about yourself, to creamy mushroom rigatoni that’s so satisfying it feels like a cheeky dinner dish hiding on a brunch menu. And if you’re a late riser, the spicy steak prego works just as well for brunch and is served all day. Inside, it looks like a Pinterest board called Beige Minimalist Chic come to life.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
A small Lebanese bakery slap bang in the middle of Fulham Road, Ta'mini makes excellent pastries. Their counter is full of freshly baked fatayer (a bready pastry with anything from minced meat to a tangy sumac-heavy spinach filling), and the menu of all-day manakish is perfect for a satisfying brunch. The bakery is bright and compact, with a small group table inside and a couple of tables out front.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
In an area filled with excellent brunch options, this North African cafe on Balham High Road is the one that will have you searching for flats in SW12. A cosy spot that’s often packed on the weekend, this is the place to come for an excellent halal full English. Just about everything on the menu that includes the roasted seasoned potatoes is a winner, but stick with the full English—it comes with plenty of those little fried bites. With grilled mushrooms, beans, a halal beef sausage, halal turkey bacon, and scrambled eggs, you won’t need another meal for a while.
photo credit: Giulia Verdinelli
Juliet’s is the kind of exceptional brunch spot that makes us desperate for a condiment WikiLeaks just so we can find out exactly what’s in their 10/10 hangover sauce. It’s on a busy stretch in Tooting, and you can expect big, balanced flavours, top-quality produce, and a sensational pork patty bun that is basically the breakfast butty in its ultimate form. The space is casual and bright, and it’s perfect for a coffee date, a low-key catch-up, or just soothing a biblical hangover over one of London’s best omelettes.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
Milk is among the best spots for food in Balham full stop, as well as for brunch. There will be a queue at weekends, though staff will bring coffee while you wait and it’s a very nice place to sit outside and people-watch when it’s warm. Everything’s made with the same attention to detail that most restaurants reserve for fancy dinners—the banana pancakes with maple and pecan are killer, and even the sourdough with goats’ cheese and honey is something special.
photo credit: Giulia Verdinelli
If you’re tired of menus that appear to be holding a social experiment called How Many Ways Can You Smash An Avocado, head to The Apple Blue. This charming little Balham spot is home to dutch babies. They’re essentially an XXL vehicle for fried chicken that is part pancake and part yorkshire pudding. We promise this maple syrup-topped and egg-fried-in-cream carb-fest will help you avoid any brunch deja vu. The iced Korean coffee is also a real winner.
West
photo credit: Akub
Akub is a charming Palestinian restaurant where brunch is the most important meal of the day. Mornings at the Notting Hill spot are wholesome, as the three floors of stone-clad walls and olive trees transport you to a courtyard in the Mediterranean. Brunch here is all about ordering a spread: creamy labaneh sprinkled with aromatic za’atar, qalayet bandora (eggs in a rich, slow-cooked tomato sauce), and nutty cauliflower fritters with a tangy coriander tahini. Get the bread basket, and start dipping and scooping until all the plates are clean.
We always say we’ll stop standing in queues for things that involve eggs, but when we find somewhere like Tab x Tab, we’ll happily swallow our words. This Notting Hill spot has got halloumi sandos with the perfect balance of gooey centre to crispy edges, chicken thigh burgers that are tender and slightly spicy, and silky smooth oat milk lattes. The food is excellent and that pesky queue moves surprisingly fast. On a sunny day the tables out front are the place to be.
photo credit: Beam
The phrase “this is nice isn’t it” is guaranteed to be said by at least one member of your brunch group if you head to Beam on Westbourne Grove. Maybe they’re referring to the hanging lights or the exposed brick. Maybe it’s the spaciousness of it all. Or maybe it’s the brunch menu that includes shakshuka, a halal full English, and Nutella-filled doughnuts. We’ll tell you—it’s all of the above. This spot is walk-in only and open until 6pm everyday, which is helpful if you only get out of bed at 3:30pm.
photo credit: Aleksandra Boruch
If you’ve ever had manakeesh, you’ll understand how important it is that this Lebanese bakery serves them until 10pm. And they’re the best in London. The brunch at this East Acton spot isn’t limited by time and you aren’t judged for rocking up at 4pm in need of some doughy, meaty goodness. You can head there at 1pm on a Sunday for a platter of minced meat and cheese, or spinach and cheese manakeesh, and it’ll be just as good as 7pm on a Wednesday. Time is just a construct when it comes to brunch anyway.
photo credit: Milk Beach
Milk Beach will convince you that you're in a cool part of Australia—Manly Beach, say, on a warm day, with the sea winking at you in the distance—rather than down a cobbled street in Queen’s Park. First sips of blonde, frothy lattes lead to ordering plump, flaky croissants the same shade as the rattan light fixture bathing you in a fake golden hour glow. The food is excellent. We could go on about the strands of soft ham hock or the banana bread with espresso cream. But really you should just go and try it for yourself. Know that there’s a Soho location too.
