Balans

Collections

Hattie Lloyd 02/11/23


The Best Brunch in Central London

Finding a good brunch in central London is an onerous task.

One which – if done incorrectly – can and will result in literal egg on your face.

Protect yourself. Use this guide:

Lantana | Fitzrovia, Old Street, London Bridge

best brunch london

Modelled after the Australian cafes that the owners used to frequent in Sydney, Lantana does delicious cocktails (everything from espresso martinis to a Chai Old Fashioned), solid brunch dishes (rhubarb & custard French toast, corn fritters, bubble & squeak with black pudding, etc.), and stellar coffee.

Details: Bottomless booze? Yes | Set menu? No | Bookable? Yes
Timings:
Weekdays from 7.30am, weekends from 9am
Address: 
13 Charlotte Place, W1T 1SN | Visit their website

Balans Soho | Soho

The best thing about having caramelised banana French toast with maple butter, lobster eggs benedict, and an absinthe fountain at 4am is that you can come back at noon, and have it all over again. Balans is a London brunch stalwart, and for good reason.

Details: Bottomless booze? No | Set menu? No | Bookable? Yes
Timings: Daily from 10am-5pm, then from 12am-close
Address: 60 – 62 Old Compton Street, W1D 4UG | Visit their website

Bombay Bustle | Mayfair

Bombay Bustle Brunch

Hands down one of the best looking brunches in the city (everything from the chic, vintage railway-inspired space, to the meticulously crafted food), Bombay Bustle’s Weekend Chilli brunch lets you feast on an eclectic mix of modern Indian dishes – everything from rich, melt-in-your-mouth wagyu kebabs served on saffron-cashew parathas to Ghati-spiced prawns with garlic and fresh turmeric – washed down by an equally thoughtful (and delicious) selection of booze.

Details: Bottomless booze? No | Set menu? Yes | Bookable? Yes
Timings:
Sunday, 12-3pm
Address: 29 Maddox Street, Mayfair, Central London, W1S 2PA | Book here

Honey & Co | Bloomsbury

Honey & Co brunch

Honey & Co serves everything that’s delicious and breakfasty from across the Middle East, from merguez sausage rolls, to shakshouka; puff pastry treats; and ‘dinosaur eggs’ on pitta. And now that they’ve opened Honey & Co Daily nearby, they’re not just a brunch treat but a weekday grab-and-go breakfast treat too…

Details: Bottomless booze? No | Set menu? Yes | Bookable? Yes
Timings: Tuesday – Saturday, 8-11.30am (9am Sat)
Address:
54 Lamb’s Conduit Street, WC1N 3LW | Visit their website

Hide | Mayfair 

hide brunch in piccadilly

Ironically, there is absolutely no hiding Hide’s excellence, particularly where brunch is concerned. Sure, the photo above just looks like a plain pain au chocolat. And sure, at these prices it’s more of an investment than a meal out… but buckwheat pastries baked that morning, followed by oysters and a Michelin-starred full English inside what essentially feels like the middle of an intricately carved oak tree, means it’s definitely one worth making.

Details: Bottomless booze? No | Set menu? No | Bookable? Yes
Timings:
Weekdays 7.30-11am, weekends, 9-11.30am
Address:
85 Piccadilly, Mayfair, London W1J 7NB | Visit their website

Berners Tavern | Fitzrovia

Berners Tavern, best brunches London

Berners Tavern is an extraordinary gilded dining room laden with chandeliers and paintings that makes it look like a lost wing of the Vatican. And the brunch more than measures up, with eggs every which way, Champagne by the glass, and the mother of all Full Englishes featuring (deep breath) Dingley Dell pork sausage, two eggs, smoked bacon, roasted tomato, a portobello mushroom, baked beans and Stornoway black pudding.

Details: Bottomless booze? No | Set menu? No | Bookable? Yes
Timings: Daily, 7-10am
Address: ​​10 Berners St, London W1T 3NP | Visit their website

Christopher’s | Covent Garden

Christopher's - best brunch London

Their melted chocolate and ice cream-smothered crunchy French toast will ruin all other forms of bread for you, forever. But it’s the most delicious sacrifice you’ll ever make.

Details: Bottomless booze? No | Set menu? Yes | Bookable? Yes
Timings:
Saturdays 11am-3pm, Sundays 11am-3.30pm
Address: 
18 Wellington Street, WC2E 7DD | Visit their website

Catalyst Café | Holborn

catalyst cafe breakfast

Accompanying Catalyst’s acclaimed selection of fair-trade, London-roasted coffee beans is a stellar line-up of brunch dishes including streaky bacon sarnies with Catalyst’s house coffee sriracha mayo; roasted aubergine on toast; and Greek country-style scrambled eggs with feta. Easily one of the best weekday brunch options in town.

Details: Bottomless booze? No | Set menu? No | Bookable? No
Timings:
Mon-Thurs, 8am-5pm
Address:
48 Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8LT | Visit their website

Riding House Café | Fitzrovia, Victoria & Bloomsbury

riding house cafe best brunch

Break up with your current Sunday brunch ritual. The Riding House Café’s crowd-pleasing modern European menu and industrial-chic design is a winner.

Details: Bottomless booze? No | Set menu? No | Bookable? Yes
Timings:
Weekdays 8-11.45am (9am Bloomsbury), weekends 9am-4pm
Address: 
43-51 Great Titchfield Street, W1W 7PQ | Visit their website

Granger and Co. | Chelsea, Notting Hill, Marylebone, Kings Cross & Clerkenwell

Bill Granger made his name as a chef thanks to his scrambled eggs. Head to the sleekly designed Granger and Co. for brunch, and you’ll find out why.

Details: Bottomless booze? No | Set menu? No | Bookable? No
Timings (Chelsea): Daily from 7am (8am Sunday) – 12pm
Address: 237 Pavilion Road, SW1X 0BP | Visit their website

Maison Francois | St James’s

maison francois brunch

The restaurant that’s suddenly given St James’s a whisper of cool factor is now serving breakfast: that means scrambled eggs with caviar; breakfast sandwiches with boudin noir and coal-roasted peppers; and mushrooms on toast with a slick of pistou.

Details: Bottomless booze? No | Set menu? No | Bookable? Yes
Timings:
Weekdays from 7.30am, Saturdays from 9am
Address:
34 Duke Street, St James’s, London SW1Y 6DF | Visit their website

Dishoom | Carnaby, Covent Garden, Kensington, Shoreditch, King’s Cross, Canary Wharf, Battersea

Dishoom brunch london

A selection of traditional Parsi appetisers and modern South Bombay street-grills in tantalising sharing plates. And that bacon naan. Wow.

Details: Bottomless booze? No | Set menu? No | Bookable? Yes
Timings:
8-11.45am weekdays, 9-11.45am weekends
Address: 4 Derry Street, W8 5SE | Visit their website

Jikoni | Marylebone

jikoni london brunch

Considering its impeccable dining cred, Blandford Street is a real misnomer. Especially if you’re familiar with Ravinder Bhogal’s brunch at Jikoni, which involves piña colada pancakes; yuzu 8-minute eggs; and tamarind-glazed bacon on fenugreek pancakes…

Details: Bottomless booze? No | Set menu? Available | Bookable? Yes
Timings:
Weekends 11am-4pm
Address: 19-21 Blandford Street, W1U 3DH | Visit their website

Fischer’s | Marylebone

fischers brunch

An elegant, Viennese-style grand café tucked away in Marylebone, where you can while away a morning with the papers, a strong cup of coffee, and a plate of gröstl (a kind of Alpine bubble and squeak).

Details: Bottomless booze? No Set menu? No | Bookable? Yes
Timings: Weekdays 7.30-11.30am, weekends 11.30am-5pm
Address: 50 Marylebone High Street, W1U 5HN | Visit their website

The Delaunay | Covent Garden

delaunay brunch central london

An all-day, Viennese-styled café-restaurant inspired by the grandiose tearooms of Europe and their unrelenting aspiration to bring forth the best in all things brunch.

Details: Bottomless booze? No | Set menu? No | Bookable? Yes
Timings:
Weekdays 7-11.30am, Saturdays 8-11.30am
Address: 55 Aldwych, WC2B 4BB | Visit their website

The Breakfast Club | Soho & All Across Town

breakfast club best brunch london

Hungover? Cure: the quintessential London brunch, courtesy of The Breakfast Club. One large BC coffee, one BC hangover smoothie, one BC club sandwich with extra guacamole. And one Bloody Mary, for good measure.

Details: Bottomless booze? No | Set menu? No | Bookable? Only a few bookable tables on weekends – but you can queue virtually with WalkUp
Timings (Soho):
Daily, 7.30am-3pm
Address: 33 D’Arblay Street, W1F 8EU | Visit their website

Dirty Bones | Soho

best brunch london

The pancakes are gigantic. The cocktails are potent. And you can get waffles topped with shredded duck, poached eggs and hollandaise… This brunch might end up turning into a brinner.

Details: Bottomless booze? Yes | Set menu? Available | Bookable? Yes
Timings:
Weekends 11am-4pm
Address:
14 Denman Street, W1D 7HJ | Visit their website

26 Grains | Covent Garden

26 grains best brunch london

26 Grains does almost exclusively porridge. And although that might not sound like a screaming endorsement, believe us when we say that it’s because they make the best porridge you’ve ever had, savoury or sweet.

Details: Bottomless booze? No | Set menu? No | Bookable? No
Timings:
Daily, 9am-4pm
Address: 1 Neal’s Yard, WC2H 9ER | Visit their website

Anya Cafe | Marylebone

You might think opening a café might be a stretch for a handbag designer, but Anya Hindmarch seems to have a handle on it. Charmingly retro, it serves Scottish croissants, Welsh rarebit and googly-eyed cakes on formica-topped tables.

Details: Bottomless booze? No | Set menu? No | Bookable? No
Timings:
Weekdays & Saturdays from 8am, Sundays from 10am
Address: 
9 Pont Street, SW1X 9EH | Visit their website

Popina | Mayfair

On the one hand, Mayfair’s Popina serves all kinds of sophisticated brunch dishes, like Turkish eggs with lemon & dill yoghurt; shakshuka with raclette cheese melt; and eggs Benny on homemade Balkan pogocha bread. But you’re probably going to order this glorious, sugar-laden monstrosity.

Details: Bottomless booze? No | Set menu? No | Bookable? No
Timings:
Daily from 8am-3pm
Address: 83 Duke Street, Mayfair, London, W1K 5PF | Visit their website

Dean Street Townhouse | Soho

dean st townhouse brunch soho

A thoroughly classy spot for brunch in Soho, brought to you by the Soho House folk. Dine like kings on buttered Manx kippers and twice-smoked bacon sarnies on ruby leather banquettes, or out on the street-side terrace.

Details: Bottomless booze? No | Set menu? No | Bookable? Yes
Timings:
Breakfast daily from 7am, weekends from 8am
Address: 69 – 71 Dean Street, W1D 3SE | Visit their website

temper Soho | Soho

temper brunch soho

When you’ve been hitting the eggs and pancakes too hard and need a change, book in for temper’s bottomless BBQ brunch, where you can feast on platters of dry-aged beef, fried eggs and smoked sausages alongside unlimited beer, wine and margaritas.

Details: Bottomless booze? Yes | Set menu? Yes | Bookable? Yes
Timings:
Saturdays 12-3.30pm
Address: 25 Broadwick Street, London W1F 0DF | Visit their website

Opso | Marylebone

opso brunch central london

Next time you’re craving Thessaloniki pastries filled with sweet semolina custard; poached eggs on koulouri milk bread; barrel-matured feta on toasted sourdough; or lotus cookie crumble pancakes with bananas and salted caramel, go to Greece. Or Opso. Whichever’s closer.

Details: Bottomless booze? No | Set menu? No | Bookable? Yes
Timings: Weekends 10am-3.30pm
Address: 10 Paddington Street, W1U 5QL
 | Visit their website

 


Need further assistance? Consult our comprehensive guide to the best brunches in London