The best brunch in London

What is it? A fast, furious grill spot for heavy metal flatbreads and nose-to-tail meat. 

Why we love it: If you insist on carrying Friday night’s party into the next morning, we can think of no better place to do it than at FKA BAM. Head chef Lee Tiernan gleefully launched his iconic Highbury restaurant’s weekend offering at the end of 2024 and we couldn’t be happier for this intense addition to the London brunch scene. Start your weekend loud, with pig cheek and prune donuts, Vietnamese scrambled eggs, and banana cinnamon flatbread.

Time Out tip: Add a borscht back slammer if you need to cut through the hangover with more booze.

Address: 156 Canonbury Road, Highbury Corner, N1 2UP.

Opening hours: Brunch is served 11am-3pm every Saturday.

Expect to pay: Dishes £10-20.

What is it? This is brunch, Thai-Americana style.

Why we love it: Head to The Hoxton hotel in Shepherd’s Bush for the endlessly delicious Chet's diner. If you're after something sweet then there's banana french toast with caramel-battered milk bread, pecan pandan cream, condensed milk and maple syrup. Or try spicy chicken ‘n’ roti waffles, a hefty pancake stack with blueberries and maple syrup, or a spicy pork patty scone with crispy chilli oil, thai sausage, wok fried egg and coriander. 

Time Out tip: Throw a five-spice cinnabun onto your order or live in a world of regret.

Address: 65 Shepherd’s Bush Green, W12 8QE.

Opening hours: Brunch is served from 10am-4pm every Saturday and Sunday. But check out the weekday breakfast menu for a similar mid-week offering.

Expect to pay: Brunch dishes £8-18.

What is it? Vegan brunch at legendary Camden rock bar The Black Heart.

Why we love it: Think all brunches are twee affairs with checkered tablecloths and delicate, genteel vibes? Think again. Painted pitch black and with its walls slathered in band posters, The Black Heart offers a wilder sort of brunch every Saturday. Alongside a menu of no less than five different Bloody Marys – each so richly stacked with garnishes that you could fill up on those alone – are entirely vegan dishes towering with pancakes, waffles and arguably London’s finest fake meat. And it’s that meat substitute that’s really worth shouting about: chef LD’s signature ‘mocken’ is entirely made in-house and, from its ‘skin’ to its ‘gristle’, it’s everything you could want from mock meat.

Time Out tip: Combine LD’s towering Grand Slam and a ‘Hellvis’ Bloody Mary. A lot of food, but a lot of good food.

Address: 2-3 Greenland Place, Camden, NW1 0AP.

Opening hours: Brunch is served every Saturday from 11am-3pm.

Expect to pay: Brunch dishes are £12-17.

What is it? Claiming to be the ‘the world's first Nigerian tapas restaurant’, Tottenham’s Chuku’s is the place to go in N15 for weekend brunch.

Why we love it: For £40 per person you’ll get three sharing plates from the restaurant’s regular menu – add on thoney suya prawns or lamb ayamase for a few quid extra – as well as three cocktails. There are also puddings of chin chin cheesecake, plantain waffle, or yam brownies available. Slam it all back with Chuku’s most popular cocktail; The Eze. A potent tequila, lemonade, mint, and zobo combo. 

Time Out tip: If you’re in the area, take the time to explore Seven Sisters’ famous Latin Village.

Address: 274 High Road, Seven Sisters, N15 4RR.

Opening hours: Brunch is served Saturday and Sunday, 12-4pm.

Expect to pay: £40 a head.

What is it? Innovative brunch dishes from the kitchen of chef patron Ravinder Bhogal. 

Why we love it: Stepping inside this pink restaurant feels like a warm welcome home; colourful cloths cover every table, there are plush cushions and faux flowers, while quirky artwork lines the walls. On top of this quaint interior come bold flavours which span Asian, African and Middle Eastern cuisine. Feast on prawn toast scotch eggs, butterbean and chorizo stew, fishcakes with mint stuffing and spicy hollandaise, and a long list of quirky cocktails every weekend. 

Time Out tip: The light and fluffy saffron malpuas, served with pistachio ice cream, makes for a perfect sweet treat.

Address: 19-21 Blandford Street, Marylebone, W1U 3DH.

Opening hours: Brunch is served Saturday and Sunday, 11am-3pm.

Expect to pay: Brunch dishes range from £17.50 to £38.

What is it? Chef Fadi Kattan’s Palestinian restaurant on an extremely cute residential backstreet in Notting Hill.

Why we love it: This spot does a serious line in brunch. Start with fresh mint and sage tea, or potent Arabic coffee before moving on to decadent bowls of fatteh (short rib for the meat eaters, aubergine for the vegetarians), oozy slabs of grilled Nabulsi cheese drizzled with nigella seed oil, cauliflower and corriander fritters and rich fava bean stew. Vegan chef Rachel Ama is currently collabing with Akub on a special brunch dish of jerk mushroom skewers.

Time Out tip: Make a bee line for barkuk baklawa with phyllo pastry, plums and pistachio.  

Address: 27 Uxbridge Street, Notting Hill, W8 7TQ.

Opening hours: Brunch is served Saturday 11am-3pm and on Sunday 11am-4pm.

Expect to pay: Brunch dishes are £10-30.

What is it? Northern Thai bangers in Borough Market.

Why we love it: Thai barbeque might not be your first thought at brunchtime, but Khao Bird’s weekend brunch menu really hits the spot. The most ‘gram-worthy plate is the daisy egg tarts, but standouts in terms of flavour included the white corn ribs (juicy, salty, and messy to eat) and the khao soi with Burmese tofu (a gorgeously spicy bowl on a really chilly morning). The restaurant is cosy, and if you bag a window seat it offers great views for people watching over Borough Market, all from the building which featured in Bridget Jones’ Diary as her iconic apartment.

Time Out tip: The doughnut bao – filled with cinnamon Bermondsey ice cream – is the perfect snack to cool your palate after all the spice.

Address: Upstairs at The Globe Tavern, 8 Bedale Street, SE1 9AL.

Opening hours: Brunch served 11am-4pm on Saturdays, 12-6pm on Sundays.

Expect to pay: Small plates £8-10, bigger dishes around £15. 

What is it? An utter gem halfway up the Roman Road.

Why we love it: Mae + Harvey has quietly been offering one of the best brunches in London for a while now. Chefs Daisy Matthews and Joseph Morrisey keep the menu constantly updated, and, in our experience, never seem to miss. The cooking is consistent, confident and extremely tasty. Don’t let Mae + Harvey’s cool, loose-limbed vibe mislead you: this is fun food, prepared by people who have a tangible love for what they do.

Time Out tip: The chicken sandwich is legendary (and one of the only things on the menu that never changes). Masterful deployment of celery.

Address: 414 Roman Road, Bow, E3 5LU.

Opening hours: Mon-Fri 8am-4pm, Sat-Sun 9am-4pm.

Expect to pay: Dishes £10-13.

What is it? A lovely waterfront cafe in Victoria Park.

Why we love it: Lucky, lucky ducks. Not only do the web-footed locals of east London’s Victoria Park have a gorgeous lake (complete with nesting islands and a pagoda), they also get to snack on some of the best artisan bread of any park café in London. Yards of outdoor tables and smoothly pulled coffees make this a lovely watering hole for humans, too. Calorie-loaded American and British classics are cooked in a straightforward style using flavourful ingredients, many of them brought in from Borough Market. 

Time Out tip: Check out the specials, such as the Sri Lankan brekkie complete with dhal and hoppers.

What is it? A family-run Taiwanese restaurant in Tooting.

Why we love it: A row of waving fortune cats and a large gold gong greet you as you walk through the door of Daddy Bao. Given they’re both symbols of wealth and luck, I have high expectations for the lantern lit, flower-filled spot’s brunch menu. As fate, or the chef, would have it, I’m not disappointed as we tuck into sharing plates of sesame aubergine, szechuan cucumber, spring onion pancakes with salted egg yolk and bacon chilli crisp, and chicken dumplings. Then it’s on to the main event: the baos. The shitake mushroom and beef brisket dishes are drool-worthy, but it’s the familiar yet punchy prawn toast royale with gochujang hollandaise – a Taiwanese twist on eggs benedict – that’ll get bums on seats. 

Time Out tip: Did we mention the prawn toast royale?

Address: 113 Mitcham Road, Tooting, SW17 9PE.

Opening hours: Brunch is served 11.30am-3.45pm every Saturday and Sunday.

Expect to pay: Starters around £5, bao around £7.50.

What is it? A serene Aussie-style café-restaurant serving brunch every single day.

Why we love it: The Table is something of a quiet classic in this part of town. Your standard breakfast menu (lots of eggs and avocado, as you’d expect) expands into brunch territory every day, with a host of sizeable salads and burgers, waffles and pancakes. The breakfast stack – a gargantuan pile of ham hock and chorizo baked beans on a toasted bagel, with two poached free-range eggs and hollandaise sauce. 

Time Out tip: Team your brunch with a visit to the extremely close-by Tate Modern.

Address: 83 Southwark Street, Southwark, SE1 0HX.

Opening hours: Brunch is served Monday to Friday from 8am to 4pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 9am-4pm.

Expect to pay: Brunch dishes are all around £15.

What is it? An all day outdoor terrace in Brixton.

Why we love it: Swap the mopeds for Lime bikes whizzing past on the pavement, and eating on The Laundry’s terrace is a dead ringer for brunching on a Florentine piazza. A former Edwardian laundry is now an all-day restaurant and wine shop, with brunch on every single day. When it comes to brunch, try The Dirty Laundry stack – made up of hash browns served with a roulette of sauces. There’s also sautéed mushrooms with poached eggs, served on sourdough and slathered in creamed cheese. 

Time Out tip: In the drinks department, the cucumber margarita hits the spot. 

Address: 374 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, SW9 8PL.

Opening hours: Brunch is available Monday to Friday from 8.30am-3pm, and on Saturdays from 10am-3pm, and Sundays from 10am-12pm.

Expect to pay: Brunch dishes £10-16.

What is it? A lovely cafe in Balham.

Why we love it: If your idea of a gentle awakening in the morning is a nice cup of tea while listening to Radio 2, you’d best go elsewhere – you can hear the sound of deep house coming through Milk’s open french windows before you reach the Bedford Hill site. The coffee provides a good caffeine kick, and the menu lists some interesting hot dishes, such as a fish sando with panko fried red snapper and a pork-patty muffin with streaky bacon. Seasonal dishes include the likes of summery beef tomatoes and crunchy kale salad with pomegranate dressing.

Time Out tip: Go for the blissful banana bread with halva butter and pumpkin seed tahini.

Address: 18-20 Bedford Hill, Balham, SW12 9RG.

Opening hours: Brunch is served Monday to Friday from 8.30am-3.30pm, Saturday and Sunday from 9am-4pm.

Expect to pay: Brunch dishes are £6-14.

What is it? A nice neighbourhood hangout.

Why we love it: Brunch lasts all weekend at this Islington hangout ft. a garden: the dishes on offer will induce stomach-rumbling indecision, the prices are great, the service is sparkling and the food is magnificent. The menu comes stacked with things like sugar-dusted, fruit-filled french toast drizzled with salted-caramel sauce and avocados on sourdough toast with lemon, rocket, nuts and seeds... basically anything your brunch belly could want is on there. There are no bookings on the weekends, so chance your luck on a walk-in table.

Time Out tip: Check out the ever changing special; at last look it was Mexican chilaquiles with roasted tomato salsa folded through corn tortillas, topped with sour cream and queso fresco.

Address: 169 Hemingford Road, Islington, N1 1DA.

Opening hours: Thursday to Friday 8.30am-4pm, and Saturday and Sunday 9am-5pm.

Expect to pay: Dishes around £15.

What is it? A sweet Sri Lankan spot in Soho.

Why we love it: You can’t help but feel quite smug sitting in Kolamba’s airy little courtyard on a Saturday. While you’re sipping on a chilli margarita and tucking into boiled eggs smothered in turmeric and coconut gravy, you’re getting eyed by flustered Carnaby shoppers, not to mention the hungry hordes queueing outside Dishoom next door. No shade to Dishoom, but they’d do well to jump ship. Kolamba’s brunch offering is faultless and full of surprises: there are punchy Sri Lankan takes on toasties and avo and eggs, plus an extensive menu of meat, fish and vegetables (the pineapple fry, a perfect sweet-savoury union, is by far the stand-out).

Time Out tip: Order Aunty Mo’s ‘Chatti’ Roast – not a roast dinner, but a melt-in-your-mouth beef stir fry starter. To die for.

Address: 21 Kingly Street, Soho, W1B 5QA.

Opening hours: Brunch from 10am, Saturday and Sunday.

Expect to pay: Dishes around £10-20.