London's Best Brunch

Helen Graves
By Helen Graves Last edited 52 months ago
London's Best Brunch

Forget breakfast, London loves to brunch. Here's our list of the best brunch places in London to get your eggs and bloody Marys.

Brunch at Dishoom

Best brunch in London: Dishoom and their breakfast naan rolls
Breakfast naan rolls, a thing of great beauty. Photo: Dishoom

Bhelpuri, biryanis, keema and deep-flavoured black dahl are signatures worth trying here, while the buzzing atmosphere is reason to come again and again. A cheesy naan couldn’t be more comforting, while next morning the famous bacon naan rolls are the ultimate hangover-buster. The best brunch experience is to go with a group, order a selection of dishes and try a bit of everything. Or for the more abstemious, a bun maska — bready, buttery, delicious — dipped in a mug of steaming chai can't be beat.

Dishoom, 5 Stable Street, Granary Square, King’s Cross N1C. Other branches are in Covent Garden, Shoreditch, Carnaby and Kensington.

Brunch at Granger & Co

Head to Granger & Co in London for one of the best brunch spots in town
Photo: Granger & Co

All-day restaurant Granger & Co regularly has lines snaking down the street come brunch-time. Aussie Bill Granger takes global inspiration for the menu, which includes classics like the ricotta hotcakes with banana and honeycomb butter, and eggs with a huge range of toppings from rose harissa to green kimchi with avocado salsa.

Granger & Co, locations in Notting Hill, King's Cross, Chelsea and Clerkenwell.

Brunch in Brixton Village

Crepes make for a mighty fine brunch in London, and Senzala serves up some of the best
Holy crepe. Photo: Senzala

For an upmarket brunch, Salon serves inventive seasonal food at reasonable prices. The dining room overlooks the buzzing indoor market and a window seat is a great place to enjoy dishes like home cured salmon with soda bread and a poached egg. South Indian restaurant Kricket also does a cracking brunch, with a dish of kichri with pickled cauliflower and raw egg yolk being a standout. The Blues Kitchen is another popular brunch destination, with more unusual dishes like crab cakes with poached egg and hollandaise sauce and the obligatory bloody Marys. Finally, for a brunch with a difference try the full English galette (like a wholemeal pancake) from Senzala in Brixton Village.

Brixton Village, Coldharbour Lane, SW9 8PS.

Brunch at Berber & Q Grill House, Haggerston

Grilled brunch goodness, Berber & Q is one of the best brunches in London
Photo: Berber & Q

Lamb chops for breakfast? Don't knock it 'til you've tried it — and there are plenty of people wanting to wrap their gums around Berber & Q's grilled brunch offerings. This place is reliably packed to the rafters all day, says Londonist writer Lydia Manch, with flavours so bold "you'll leave feeling like Berber & Q has picked you up and given you a good shake by the scruff of the neck." Along with chops and steak, more traditional breakfast items are served with a Middle Eastern twist, like Persian granola with poached rhubarb or sweet Moroccan pancakes loaded with quince, labneh and pecans. For a stomach-busting brekkie, get the Mangal breakfast to share and fill up on pork merguez, eggs, chicken livers, chickpeas mushrooms and... roasted bone barrow.

Berber & Q Grill House, Arch 338 Acton Mews, E8 4EA.

Brunch at Dragon Castle, Walworth Road

Best brunch in London: dim sum at Dragon Castle
Delightful dim sum spread. Photo: Dragon Castle

You might not initially think to look for a dim sum restaurant on this stretch of Walworth Road but you shouldn’t miss Dragon Castle — it's one of the best brunch spots in London. With large palatial doors (guarded by stone dragons) giving way to a courtyard-style entrance, this is no shrinking violet of a restaurant. Though all manner of fairly authentic Cantonese dishes are available, it’s the extremely reasonably-priced dim sum menu that is the biggest draw. Fluffy char siu buns and delicate steamed prawn and chive fun guo boasting thin, soft pastry are both ones to try. Go before 2pm for the freshest food.

Dragon Castle, 100 Walworth Road, SE17 1JL.

Brunch at MILK, Balham

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If you need to sit down in Balham, MILK on Bedford Hill is somewhere bright, light and breezy for a lazy weekend. Its quirky brunch dishes include The Convict, a posh person's McMuffin which combines bacon, sausage, egg, hash brown, sprinklings of cheese and their special "hangover sauce".

MILK, 18-20 Bedford Hill, SW12 9RG.

Brunch at Brickwood, Balham

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And to continue the Aussie influence, there’s the much improved Brickwood cafe right round the corner from MILK. You’ll find Balham’s branch of the small-time chain on Hildreth Street, where there's very fine Brixton bread to eat and hot Caravan coffee to drink.

Brickwood, 11 Hildreth Street, SW12 9RQ.

Brunch at Nopi, Regent Stret

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Light, bright and full of veggie-friendly fare, Nopi is a pretty smug way to start your day, says Londonist writer Ruth Hargreaves. While lunchtime is typically the domain of vibrant Middle Eastern and Mediterranean salad platters big enough to share (and chunky enough to send you into an afternoon snooze), brunch is a more one-dish kinda affair. You'll find many other diners tucking into their smokey, rich shakshuka, but for a change consider the black rice porridge instead. Made with coconut milk and served with fresh fruit, it'll set you up nicely for the rest of the day.  

Nopi, 21-22 Warwick Street, W1B 5NE.

Brunch at Honey & Co, Warren Street

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Make sure to wear a loose waistband when brunching at Honey & Co., since you will be powerless to resist nearly everything on the menu. The green shakshuka (eggs baked in spinach and herbs served with goats' yoghurt and sesame bread) is a London classic, and their sabich is one of our greatest sandwiches, packed with roasted aubergine and tahini.

Honey & Co, 25 Warren Street, W1T 5LZ.

Brunch at Duck and Waffle, City of London

Find one of the best brunches in London at Duck and Waffle
The duck and waffle of Duck and Waffle

Playground of foodies and City boys, this restaurant on the 40th floor of the Heron Tower is known for its stunning views and great food. A big boy on London's brunch scene, Duck and Waffle is famous for dishes such as crispy pigs’ ears dusted with smoked paprika served in a paper bag, ox cheek doughnuts (trust us, it's amazing) and of course, the eponymous duck and waffle. What's more, the restaurant is open 24 hours and many of the breakfast favourites can be enjoyed in the early hours too. No need to wait until brunch after all.

Duck and Waffle, 110 Bishopsgate, EC2N 4AY.

Brunch at Daisy Green

Daisy Green, one of the best brunch spots in London for awesome Aussie feasting
Photo: Daisy Green

Head to Daisy Green for a fantastic bottomless brunch in London that ticks many trend boxes, with dishes like avocado on charcoal sourdough (does it get any hipper than that?) and Aussie-inspired fried breakfasts. We love the bright, colourful decor and fresh approach to cooking here, the combination of which does much to shake away a hangover. That, and the fact that prosecco is bottomless.

Daisy Green, locations in Marylebone, Soho, Paddington, Victoria, Broadgate and more.

Brunch at Koya Bar, Soho

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Noodles are good any time of day — it just took London a little while to realise. Head to Koya Bar for a) the best brunch noodles and b) a shit tonne of cool points.

Koya Bar, 50 Frith Street, W1D 4SQ. There's also a second venue in the City.

Brunch at Where The Pancakes Are, Southwark

Where to get the best pancakes for breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner in London: pancakes at Where The Pancakes Are
Image: Where The Pancakes Are

If the brunch of your dreams consists of tucking into a steaming hot pile of fluffy pancakes, Londonist's Ruth Hargreaves recommends cutting straight to the chase at Where The Pancakes Are. If the name hasn't already given you a clue, this is where you'll find pancakes. Lots of 'em. Sweet pancakes, loaded with sea-salted caramel, banana and marshmallow. Savoury pancakes, slathered in hollandaise, poached egg and smoked salmon. You can even get a full English... on a pancake. Or a Welsh rarebit... on a pancake. Plus dairy-free and wheat-free pancakes too. Are you sick of the word 'pancake' yet?

Where The Pancakes Are, Arch 35a, 85a Southwark Bridge Road, SE1 0NQ.

Brunch at Bad Egg, Moorgate

Best brunch in London: Bad Egg
Introducing... the Crack Muffin. Photo: Bad Egg

Bad Egg is basically an all-day diner serving egg dishes with global flavours, like pulled pork and kimchi hash (with a fried egg), classics Eggs Benedict and a Bad Egg burger topped with a soft egg yolk and ‘nduja cheese fondue. Special menus pop up on weekends and Friday afternoons — cutely known as Frunch — but it's always brunch friendly. For gargantuan greed, the Crack Muffin (only served until midday at weekends) is your go-to. It's basically a fry-up in a muffin, slathered with cheese. Some dishes don’t actually come with any eggs, just to keep you on your toes.

Bad Egg, 1 Ropemaker Street, EC2Y 9AW.

Last Updated 19 November 2019