Restaurants

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The Wolseley (© Thomas Skovsende)

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Tom’s Kitchen
You think Chelsea girls don’t eat? It seems even they are powerless to resist the top-notch big breakfasts here: watch them chow down on plates of billowing sun-yellow scrambled eggs and crimson streaks of crisp bacon, followed by thick slabs of brioche French toast with caramelised apples, vanilla cream and maple syrup. It’s all so delicious, and of the moment too, as black-and-white portraits of Tom Aikens’ favoured food producers (butchers and the like with crossed arms and surly expressions) gaze down from the walls to the sky-lit, white-tiled dining room and marble kitchen bar. You could spend a whole morning here chatting and gobbling, while pleasant staff bring yet more Virgin Marys, steaming tea served in sleek, angled pots and cute metal beakers of fine espresso, but unlike many of the punters, you may have a job to go to.
Tom’s Kitchen, 27 Cale St, SW3 3QP (020 7349 0202/www.tomskitchen.co.uk) South Kensington or Sloane Square tube. Breakfast
served Mon-Fri 7-10am. Breakfast for one with service: around £16. Feature continues

202 Café
Graze among the beautiful people at this Nicole Farhi boutique and café, where fashion plus food equals fabulousness. The weekends attract the gladrags pack, and getting a seat can be difficult if you arrive a minute too late. Currently, we love the crisp-outside, pillowy-inside French toast with chargrilled bacon and lashings of real maple syrup (legendary among locals) and the smoked-salmon-and-cream-cheese bagel that came teeming with a side of fresh, crisp watercress. The omelettes also enticed – prosciutto and manchego cheese or ricotta and spinach on our visit. The service is charmingly unpretentious, and the teas (a black and green blend with guava and strawberry flavours, or pomegranate oolong) and coffees are sippingly good. The lofty interior, crisp uniforms and perfect blowdries nibbling croissants all work together to form a breakfast scene that wouldn’t look out of place in ‘Sex and the City’.
202 Café, 202-204 Westbourne Grove, W11 2RH (020 7792 6888) Notting Hill Gate tube. Breakfast served Mon 10am-12noon, Tue-Sat 8.30am-12noon, Sun 10am-12noon. Breakfast for one with drinks and service: around £15.

Best for... stylish scoffing
Napket
Perch on the stylishly transparent Philippe Starck ‘Ghost’ chairs and nibble on the ‘snob food’ offerings, from toasted sliced brioche to fluffy mango and passion fruit muffins. There are iPod sockets at the communal table to plug in your earphones if you want to enjoy a side order of smooth tunes.
Napket, 342 Kings Rd, SW3 5UR (020 7352 9832/www.napket.com) South Kensington or Sloane Square tube. Breakfast served all day Mon-Thur 8am-9pm, Fri-Sun 8am- 10pm. Breakfast for one with service: around £8.

Best for... healthy appetites
High Road Brasserie
Skip the wimpy half-a-grapefruit and head straight for the smoked salmon bagel, or the banana and stewed fruit that’s at once delicious, filling and comforting – ideal for those early starts.
High Road Brasserie, 162-166 Chiswick High Rd, W4 1PR (020 8742 7474/www.highroadhouse.co.uk) Turnham Green tube. Breakfast served Mon-Fri 7-11.45am, Sat, Sun 8-11.45am. Breakfast for one with service: around £12.

Best... greasy spoon
The Harp
This is a fully functioning greasy spoon by day, serving divine bacon and egg butties – then it transforms into a tasty Thai eatery by night. Smiling staff and the cluster of locals slurping tea make this the ideal place for everything from a full fry-up to a pad Thai.
The Harp, 304 Uxbridge Rd, W12 2LJ (020 8723 2820). Breakfast served daily 7am-3pm. Breakfast for one with service: around £5.


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