Restaurants

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Central
Fleet River Bakery
This Holborn café’s warren of rooms is filled with cosy leather sofas and armchairs, and solid wooden tables. Its house muffins and brie and tomato croissants are good for those on the go, while hot options for sit-ins include scrambled eggs on sourdough or sausage baguettes with own-made spicy onion marmalade and rocket. Brunch on Saturdays includes indulgences such as pancakes with berry compote and mascarpone, the esoteric green eggs and ham, or tomato bruschetta with buffalo mozzarella.
Fleet River Bakery, 71 Lincoln’s Inn Fields, WC2A 3JF (7691 1457/www.fleetriverbakery.com). Holborn tube. Breakfast served 9am-11pm Mon-Fri, 10am-4pm Sat. Breakfast for two with service: around £12.

J&A Café
Seek privacy in the corners of this beautiful former Victorian diamond-cutting factory, or take a pew at the large communal table in the middle of the room. Breakfast options are simple but well-cooked, with reliable mainstays such as their freshly baked Irish soda bread with smoked salmon and scrambled eggs (both organic), boiled eggs and soldiers, and the satisfying ‘pancake mountain’ with either syrup, berries and cream, or crisp bacon and scrambled eggs. Teas and coffees are from Atkinson & Co.
J&A Café, 4 Sutton Lane, EC1M 5PU (7490 2992). Farringdon tube/rail. Breakfast served 8-11am Mon-Fri, 10am-noon Sat. Breakfast for two with service: around £16. Feature continues

Lantana
The Antipodeans can lay claim to one of the best breakfast cultures in the world, with cafés proudly serving inspired morning plates and excellent coffees. Lantana is the closest we have to a genuine Down Under breakfast destination, with a menu that puts all notions of greasy fry-ups, tinned beans and soggy cornflakes to rest. We adore the sunny yellow sweetcorn fritters with avocado, bacon, tomato salsa, lime aïoli and rocket, though a recent brunch-time visit featured baked eggs (gently set with runny yolks) in a dish full of intensely flavoured tomatoes, chunks of chorizo, meaty mushrooms and spinach – every morsel mopped up with earthy flatbread. Recent additions to the menu include French toast with caramelised plums and pistachio ricotta. The eggs are free-range and meat is sourced from ethical suppliers.
Lantana, 13 Charlotte Place,W1T 1SN (7637 3341). Goodge St tube. Breakfast served 8am-noon Mon-Fri, 9am-3pm Sat. Breakfast for two with service: around £12.

The Modern Pantry

Modern Pantry
There’s something special about eating breakfast or indulging in brunch in this airy, Grade II-listed Georgian building. A long white communal table runs the length of the room, an attractive Elle Décor-esque setting of freshly-baked pastries (including some matcha [a type of powdered green tea] scones standing out among traditional croissants and pains au chocolat) plonked straight in the middle. Anna Hansen’s refreshing genre-bending approach to cookery offers exciting options such as sugar-cured prawn omelette with smoky sambal, or coconut and cassava waffles topped with avocado salsa, black beans and soured cream. But there are dependable staples as well, such as perfectly scrambled or softly poached eggs on toast – you can play it safe with streaky bacon and slow-roasted tomatoes as accompaniments, or branch out with chorizo and plantain fritters or pan-fried halloumi with pak choi. Even a refreshing fruit salad with ripe nectarines, watermelon, grapes and lemon verbena syrup was exemplary, while beverages include a wonderful passionfruit smoothie as smooth as cashmere, or Square Mile coffee.
Modern Pantry, 47-48 St John’s Square, EC1V 4JJ(7553 9210/www.themodernpantry.co.uk). Farringdon tube/rail. Breakfast served 8am-11am Mon-Fri, 9am-4pm Sat, 10am-4pm Sun. Breakfast for two with service: around £12.

Providores and Tapa Room
Peter Gordon’s passion for global ingredients has inspired a fascinating breakfast menu as well executed as it is intriguing. Flat whites are present and correct, as you’d expect from a place with an Antipodean founder, but the ground floor Tapa Room (the only place to eat breakfast at Providores) also has a sensational choice of teas and infusions, and smoothies made from the likes of tamarillo and kiwi fruit.
Tapa Room, 109 Marylebone High St, W1U 4RX (7935 6175/www.theprovidores.co.uk). Baker St or Bond St tube. Breakfast served 9am-11.30am Mon-Fri; 10am-3pm Sat, Sun. Breakfast for two with service: around £30.

St Clement’s Café & Bar
Olivia Cundy’s beautiful posh-rustic café is a quiet place for breakfast, a calming space with plenty of natural light and spacious tables. Items such as pork sausage bap or duck egg with crispy bacon on sourdough or rye are simple, but of high quality and assured provenance.
St Clement’s Café & Bar, Middle Temple Lane, EC4Y 9BT (7936 2755). Temple tube. Breakfast served Mon-Fri 8-11.30am. Breakfast for two with service: around £20.

Also central...
Bob Bob Ricard
A pleasant place to start the morning, nestled in the deep turquoise booths – each furnished with its own toaster for toasting your own bread or English muffins at your leisure. Our ham and cheese omelette left much to be desired, but we couldn’t fault the eggs Benedict.
Bob Bob Ricard, Upper St James St, W1F 9DF (3145 1000/www.bobbobricard.com). Piccadilly Circus tube. Breakfast served 7am-1am Mon-Fri, 10am-midnight Sat, Sun. Breakfast for two with service: around £40.

Canteen
Feel like having breakfast in the evening? You can enjoy it at this reliable mini-chain of British eateries. Classics such as bubble and squeak (with bacon and fried eggs), or hot buttered Arbroath smokies stand out on the please-all list. Bircher muesli, rhubarb and strawberry compote and roast tomatoes on toast will appease health fiends.
Canteen, 55 Baker St, W1U 8EW (0845 686 1122/www.canteen.co.uk). Baker St tube. Breakfast served 10am-11pm Mon-Fri, 9am-11pm Sat, 9am-10pm Sun. Breakfast for two with service: around £20.

Fox & Anchor
The anticipation of enjoying a pint of Guinness with breakfast (egg and bacon butty, say, or grilled kippers) makes for a jovial mood at this beautifully restored pub within sight of Smithfield Market. Bloody Marys and champagne are alternative libations if beer doesn’t take your fancy. Fellow diners are likely to be laptop users, groups of colleagues and sly-smiled couples who’ve spent the night in the sexy bedrooms upstairs.
Fox & Anchor, 115 Charterhouse St, EC1M 6AA (7250 1300/www.foxandanchor.com). Barbican tube or Farringdon tube/rail. Breakfast served 8-11am Mon-Fri; 8.30-11am Sat, Sun. Breakfast for two with service: around £25.

Freggo
With piped techno and a diesel bus backbeat, Freggo’s not the quietest brekkie bar but the berry juice, strong latte and traditional pastries (a fresh alfajor biscuit and a rather oversweet – and, at £5.75, overpriced – meringue and a dulce de leche rogel) woke up the system effectively. It’s still having teething trouble producing its medialunas (small, sweet croissants, which we have yet to try after three visits), and Gaucho’s latest venture has yet to fully deliver a full Argentine. Best bet: have a meat empanada (like a baked pasty) – they’re delicious.
Freggo, 27-29 Swallow St, W1B 4QR (7287 9506/www.freggo.co.uk). Piccadilly Circus tube. Open 8am-11pm Mon-Wed; 8am-2am Thur, Fri; noon-2am Sat; noon-11pm Sun. Breakfast for two with service: around £20.

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