The best breakfasts in London

It’s dude food with attitude at this deliberately scruffy City hangout. Neon signage flashes and a punk soundtrack plays as breakfasters sit at diner-style red leather booths and pick from a deliciously meaty, Mexican-influenced menu of ribs, eggs, fries, mini tacos and pancakes topped with fried chicken. The all-day menu actually has a permanent selection of breakfast dishes so you can eke your morning out for as long as you see fit.

Don't miss: The all-day breakfast menu offers value for money at any hour.

Breakfast for two with service: around £50.

The breakfast menu covers the usual eggs every-which-way (boiled with soldiers, florentine, egg-white omelette), to American-style pancakes with banana and maple syrup. The full English breakfast costs £15, but if you'd prefer something a little lighter (actually a lot lighter), porridge, fruit salad or granola are all good options.

Don't miss: Get a £10 panier basket for the table filled with pastries and freshly baked bread. And don't forget to visit the boulangerie on your way out, too.

Breakfast for two with service: around £30

It’s brunch time all of the time for Beany Green at the weekend. The Australian café in Broadgate Circus lays on a killer all-day menu which moves from summer porridge to banana bread sarnies filled with mascarpone, berries and almonds. Their ‘fancy’ bacon roll includes the Rib Man’s Holy Fuck sauce in hollandaise form. And of course they slice and dice the avocado every which way (that’s just Aussie rules), and serve it on charcoal sourdough (it’s good for you, okay?). If this brunch spot doesn’t have you feeling sunny, we don’t know what will.

Don’t miss: Forget a full English; it’s all about a Bondi breakfast. With added avocado and chilli pesto, who needs brown sauce?

Breakfast for two with service: around £20.

Rise and shine for this Fresh Prince of a morning pitstop. The colourful café (with a pineapple for its logo) is on the commute route for many in the City, and makes your morning grab-and-go all the sunnier. You can see how the bowl of shredded courgette with scrambled egg and the option of chorizo gets its nickname ‘hangover hash’. A range of ‘Cali toasts’ (open sandwiches with summery breakfast toppings) blow any breakfast butty out of the water. Best of all, though, Bel-Air has its own granola bar where you can customise your yoghurt and granola (toasted in house, obvs) with all kinds of seeds, nuts, honeys and berries. Pret who now?

Don’t miss: The Matt Damon super juice with beetroot is way better than whatever you’ve been mixing in that NutriBullet.

Breakfast for two (no service): around £15.

We’re all well aware that a Full English should come with toast, but it’s taken a South African restaurant to actually put the breakfast into a loaf of bread. They’ll serve you a little carby pot packed with sausage, salsa beans, bacon, black pudding and a fried egg for just £4.50, and there are freshly made juices to help up your fruit intake, too. The vegetarian version is less filling but still packed with flavour, and while bread options such as matcha and charcoal don’t seem to make them any more delicious, they do make them much more photogenic.

Don’t miss: The charcoal bunny. We’re not sure of its health benefits but it sure does look cool.

Breakfast for two with service: around £15.

The most fashionable London restaurant du jour is virtually impossible to get a dinner reservation at, unless you're an A-list celeb. However, it does breakfast from 7-10.30am on weekdays. Be warned: prices are very high. Lobster and crab omelette costs £26, eggs benedict £14, granola £11, pancakes £12 – but the dishes are all excellent. No bookings are taken, so arrive early – and smile.

Don't miss: Kale, cucumber and pear juice backs up the supermodel ethos.

Breakfast for two with service: around £50.

First we had Pret a Manger. Then there was Cojean. Although, unlike Pret, Cojean has actually come directly from France and their ready-to-go foods are the real deal, le grand fromage. Grab-and-go options include egg mimosa baguettes, scrambled egg with mushroom, comte and hazelnuts and fromage blanc with raspberry couli. There’s also a whole range of bircher and regular muselis if you don’t want to go for the full ooh la la. If you’re not rushing back to your desk, it’s a pleasant place to sit and watch the suits go by.

Don’t miss: For a gluten-free, vegan way to start the day, there’s chia seed and almond milk porridge, served hot or cold.

Breakfast for two (no service): around £15.

Even at an early hour, the dark-panelled dining rooms of this ever-popular all-day Soho restaurant buzz with the animated chatter of media types. The smooth service eases things along nicely, too. It’s largely classics on the breakfast menu: eggs all ways, porridge, kedgeree, full English. There are fruit smoothies and Scots will be heartened to see tattie scones and lorne (flat) sausage.

Don't miss: The pineapple, mint and chilli smoothie is an exotic touch in such traditional surroundings.

Breakfast for two with service: around £35.

This elegant Aussie restaurant occupying a pretty corner spot in Fitzrovia gives breakfast the respect it deserves. Their menu is extensive with a good number of classics (the smashed avocado was great when we paid a visit) balanced with more adventurous dishes like zucchini fritters and short-rib burger. The atmosphere is relaxed but refined with little touches that show attention to detail like the fresh orange juice served in cute glass bottles.

Don’t miss: More relaxed business meeting? Go bottomless – the mimosas are spot-on.

Breakfast for two with service: around £30, or £80 with bottomless drinks.

Breakfast comes every day of the week at Green Lanes’ Blend, which works well for the up-and-coming mum brigade and their nippers on weekdays. The convivial daytime vibe is aided by pretty pendant lighting and lovely works of art on the walls. In the week, you can keep it simple with toasted bagels (sourdough or focaccia) topped with peanut butter, Marmite or Nutella. Service can slow a bit at busier times, but Aussie coffee will steer you right.

Don’t miss: Order the Melbourne breakfast with eggs, avocado, tomato and mozzarella. One of Blend’s owners is part-Aussie, so it’d be rude not to.

Breakfast for two with service: around £30.

As at the Clerkenwell original, the menu here takes influences from many parts of the world. One of the myriad attractions of the breakfast menu is its happy accommodation of vegetarians: it's easy to avoid meat here if you are so inclined, and even carnivores might be tempted by jalapeño cornbread with fried eggs, black beans and guindilla pepper.

Don't miss: For a light snack, Caravan elevate a humble field mushroom to something spectacular for mushrooms on toast.

Breakfast for two with service: around £35.

Despite its off-the-beaten-track spot on a residential road in Highbury, Fink’s is almost always full, but it’s worth hanging around for a table. The trendy and very tempting menu is great value and offers dishes that you won’t find elsewhere – challah cinnamon toast with crispy bacon, sour cream and maple syrup is a notably charming plateful, as is the avocado on toast with harissa and goat’s cheese (a bargain at just £5). Service can get a little flustered thanks to the place’s popularity but it’s friendly and food doesn’t suffer for it. Nor does the coffee, crucially for weekend mornings. A warning to breakfast traditionalists: the menu does not feature eggs. But there are plenty of excellent savouries to take their place, and piles of irresistible cakes on the counter for the walk home.

Don’t miss: The sweet-but-moreish challah bread cinnamon toast.

Breakfast for two with service: around £20.

On the days when you wake up with only a headache for company and only a ‘latte’ in a sachet in your kitchen cupboard, what you need is a sanctuary. With its serene but welcoming atmosphere and short but tempting food menu – black pudding, potato and mascarpone frittata with ham hock was a genius reimagining of the breakfast staples – Franks will fix your day before it’s even had a chance to go wrong. Good coffee, efficient staff, a playlist full of songs you remember fondly and generous portions gently transform you from duvet zombie to chipper day-seizer with minimum fuss.

Don't miss: Thyme, tomato and garlic baked borlotti beans make a mean rival to a tin of Heinz.

Breakfast for two with service: around £30.

Popular with pram-wielders and laptop-crackers alike, Haberdashery has a painstakingly assembled make-do-and-mend aesthetic, friendly service and knock-’em-dead breakfasts. The food is solid and traditional: wholesome cereals, English or veggie breakfast, French toast with maple syrup and cinnamon bananas, a breakfast bap of scrambled egg, bacon, sausage and tomato jam – all well-cooked, flavour-packed and interesting combinations.

Don't miss: Their all-inclusive definition of breakfast and brunch: it's a single menu, and it's served all day.

Breakfast for two with service: around £20.

Open from early until late, this Austrian café serves breakfast dishes all day. It can be a virtuous meal, as in the ‘Viennese’ breakfast of semmel (bread rolls) with jam, honey, and hot or cold drinks. But there is also the celebrated Bergkäse (mountain cheese) omelette, which die-hard fans think is the only thing you should order here; the nutty flavour of the cheese makes this a really memorable dish.

Don't miss: That Bergkäse omelette. Bring on the cheese sweats.

Breakfast for two with service: around £22.

The Dualit toasters on each table have been a feature ever since this enduringly popular hotspot opened. But really, with a breakfast menu this intriguing, why would you have toast that you can make just as easily at home? Ottolenghi has put shakshuka, the North African dish of eggs, peppers and tomatoes, on London’s culinary map; and it's raised baked beans to glorious heights in dishes with bacon, chorizo, fried egg and black pudding. This is probably what breakfast tastes like in heaven.

Don't miss: Shakshuka at its best.

Breakfast for two with service: around £25.

The canal-view setting at Towpath is appealing, though the constant stream of passing cyclists jingling their bells reminds you that you’re still in the capital. Everything on the brief menu is done well using excellent ingredients including free-range eggs, fine sourdough, porridge, yoghurt and fruit in season. Towpath is simple, but that doesn't mean it's anything less than great.

Don't miss: Chow down on poached eggs on asparagus avec canal views.

Breakfast for two with service: around £20.

Andina sets breakfast on fire. The picante de huevos bathes two fried eggs, their yolks lubriciously runny, in an endorphin-releasing tomato sauce; coriander-green quinoa on the side dampens the heat a little. Pancakes are made from sweet potato and the corn souffle is not to be missed. It's the best way to start the weekend off with a rosy glow (well, perhaps the second-best way).

Don't miss: Colourful superfood smoothies are practically a meal alone. Choose from three fruity flavours.

Brunch for two with service: around £35.

The menu covers English fry-ups, Belgian waffles, and the duck ’n’ waffle – crispy duck leg confit topped with a fried duck egg and mustard maple syrup – a rich dish first thing in the morning, like many of their dishes, but excellent nonetheless. Duck egg en cocotte is served with wild mushrooms, lots of melted gruyère cheese and toast soldiers.

Don't miss: Those views. Say good morning to the whole of the city.

Breakfast for two with service: around £50.

If ever proof were needed that not all caffs are equal, this Grade II-listed greasy spoon on Bethnal Green Road is it. People come here as much for the atmosphere and decor as for the (good-end-of-average) grub. It has an almost opulent feel, harking back to a time when caff culture was king. Chrome-lined Vitrolite panels cover the outside, and the wood-panelled interior is filled with Formica tables and art deco touches. Food is still prepared with pride every day by Mama Maria – queen of the kitchen since 1961.

Don't miss: The fry-ups are first rate.

Breakfast for two with service: around £20.

Jago is an all-day café (weirdly closed on Sundays, Brick Lane's busiest day), but is at its best for breakfast, when light streams into the lovely conservatory. Dishes from the short and surprisingly inexpensive menu include various muselis and sourdoughs; scrambled egg with smoke salmon is the most expensive dish at £8. There's good coffee and fresh orange juice, too.

Don't miss: Welsh rarebit, complete with fried egg.

Breakfast for two with service: around £20.

Lantana's extensive 'all-day' menu is served on weekdays from 8am-3pm. Expect standard dishes alongside more unusual assemblies such as smoky baked beans with potato bread and a pickled onion salad. Lighter options include chia seed and coconut pudding. Coffee is expertly made from the café's own blend.

Don't miss: Smashed avocado comes in three shapes and sizes – you'd be mad not to order it with beetroot cured salmon, though.

Breakfast for two with service: around £25.

Lucky, lucky ducks. Not only do the web-footed locals of Victoria Park have a gorgeous lake (complete with nesting islands, pagoda and splendid domed café) – they also get to snack on some of the best artisanal bread of any park café in London: baked in-house by the Pavilion for its trendy all-day crowd (breakfast is served from 8.30am-5pm). Yards of outdoor tables and smoothly pulled coffees (with a rota of guest beans) make this a lovely watering hole for humans, too. Calorifically exuberant American and British breakfast classics are cooked straightforwardly using flavourful ingredients, many of them bought from Borough Market.

Don't miss: Specials can include the likes of Sri Lankan breakfast complete with dahl and hoppers.

Breakfast for two with service: around £20.

A feel-good feed is the best way to start a day, and at Poco it’s all good; sustainability is at the core of the operation here. Ethical stuff aside, Moroccan- and Spanish-inspired plates are bloody tasty, too. On sunny mornings you even can sit on the pavement outside and watch the world go by. Spice fanciers should try the papas a lo pobre – a paprika-heavy feast of fried-egg-topped potatoes with extra kick from chunks of chorizo.

Don’t miss: Iced coffees suit summer mornings to a tee.

Breakfast for two with service: around £35.

In Street Kitchen’s London Fields arch, breakfast is a stripped-back but tasty affair. It's best for a grab-and-go brioche bun after an exercise class. Your options include bacon and sausage or a mammouth bap filled with the two as well as egg. Best of all, bacon is butterflied, cooked and smoke in-house. 

Don’t miss: Grab a smooth cup of Caravan coffee to wash down all that salty bacon.

Breakfast for two (no service): around £15.

At first, the breakfast offering at Brew looks mighty familiar. Rub the sleep from your eyes and look again: this is food fit for south London royalty. The treacle-cured bacon is made in-house, as is pide, sourdough and fancy roasted-plum granola. The beans are actually smoky bacon Boston beans, the pancakes are covered in caramelised bananas, the croissants are filled with gruyere and the poached eggs come with hung yoghurt and hot chilli butter. Breakfast here is comforting with an exciting twist – like a morning brew, but with ten spoons of sugar.

Don’t miss: The Vegemite cameos. Go on, pay homage to Brew’s Aussie roots and smother it on your avocado toast.

Breakfast for two with service: around £30.

Yep, it’s more sourdough. But bear with us, because Brick House is a bakery as well as an East Dulwich breakfast spot in an old electrical warehouse. They use local suppliers for all their produce, and there’s a shop pug called Waffles. Sold. Homemade chocolate spread on sourdough toast is a simple but satisfying place to start, as is a bit of solid dipping action with boiled egg and soldiers. But heartier fare comes in the form of eggs, avocado and punchy, garlicky greens on toast.

Don’t miss: The sourdough, obvs. They put two days of love and attention into each loaf. Try the raisin and walnut.

Breakfast for two with service: around £20.

Brooklyn-style brekkie comes to Balham, with this buzzing project from three school besties. The Brother Marcus boys serve hip dishes with a side of silky smooth coffee. That extra NYC flavour comes from French toast sweetened up with maple syrup and cinnamon. The rest is reassuring egg and avo dishes that come piled on sourdough, of course. If you’re swerving that all-American style, stick with muesli with fruit as fresh as it comes.

Don’t miss: The Brother Special features scrambled eggs with smoked salmon, asparagus and a good kick from chilli flakes.

Breakfast for two with service: around £25.

This Herne Hill hotspot makes for the perfect place to load up on calories after a brisk morning swim - though you can eat here even if you haven’t taken a dip. Expect the likes of eggs benedict with sweet, juicy Gloucester Old Spot ham and tangy hollandaise sauce, or stacks of thick buttermilk and blueberry pancakes with maple syrup. If you don’t want to undo all the good work from your morning plunge, plump for one of the slimmer options such as organic porridge or granola with fruit compote and yoghurt. Locals love it.

Don't miss: Take your buttermilk waffles sweet (blueberries and lemon curd) or savoury (bacon and maple syrup).

Breakfast for two with service: around £20.

If your idea of a gentle awakening in the morning is a nice cup of tea listening to Radio 2, you’d best go elsewhere – you can hear the sound of deep house coming through M1lk's open french windows down the length of Hildreth Street. The coffee provides a good caffeine kick – Workshop always seems to feature among its suppliers – and the menu lists some interesting hot dishes, such as Kurdish baked eggs with chorizo, spinach, labneh and Turkish dried chilli.

Don't miss: Buckwheat pancakes with all kinds of heavenly toppings.

Breakfast for two with service: around £20.

If you fancy your brekkie sunny side up, this café staffed by proper Aussies makes for a bright start in Tooting. Breakfast or brunch is served until 3pm, and dishes from the short menu tend to be variations on a few key ingredients, such as avocado, bacon, pancakes, and good sourdough bread from the Blackbird Bakery. Smashed avocado is served the Australian way with feta crumbled on top.

Don't miss: Decent coffee is roasted by Ozone, making for an Antipodean wake-up call louder than a didgeridoo.

Breakfast for two with service: around £30.

If you’re after a relaxed, Copenhagen-style breakfast in Brockley, settle in with the papers at Noak Bakehouse. Service may not be the snappiest, but their sticky cinnamon buns are the stuff dreams are made of and they cost just £2. They also bake a mean sourdough in their wood-fired oven. Find it in roll form filled with ham and cheese, or as a posh little croissant with salmon and a poached egg on the side. Other Danish specialities include egg cake, a kind of fritter served with goat’s cheese and pickled onion.

Don’t miss: The sourdough pancakes, which come topped with berries and preserves.

Breakfast for two with service: around £20.

All the usual British breakfast staples are on offer at No 67, from thick porridge with golden syrup and cream, through some highly indulgent waffles, to smoked salmon and scrambled egg. Fresh fruit juices and speciality teas are also available, along with excellent coffee. A relaxed clientèle includes freelance local professionals with laptops and art-loving visitors to the South London Gallery, housed in the same building.

Don't miss: Those with a sweet tooth will go mad for a Tunnock's wafer milkshake.

Breakfast for two with service: around £25.

It's all-day brekkie at this sweet Portobello Road café. With its mounted fruit basket and colourful walls it's hard not to feel wholesome just stepping in the place, but just wait until you've wolfed down one of their omega-mix-topped fruit bowls or knocked back a Sunny Boy smoothie, filled with banana, coconut flesh, orange, lime, cashews and coconut milk.

Don't miss: Buckwheat pancakes have a hint of naughtiness from amber maple syrup and coconut shavings.

Breakfast for two with service: around £25.

Bill Granger has built a TV cooking career out of selling the Aussie dream: lots of sunlight, casual vibe, easy-going photogenic dishes. This is one of his two London restaurants, and it ticks all the boxes: it's spacious and bright with big windows and verdant views. Less obvious breakfast choices include a ginger prawn egg white omelette.

Don't miss: A signature dish of ricotta hotcakes with banana and honeycomb butter; cloud-like lightness.

Breakfast for two with service: around £45.

Breakfast might look like a humble after-thought on The Ivy Kensington Brasserie’s all-day dining menu, but despite the limited options, you’re guaranteed to get impeccable food for a bright start to your day out west. The grilled buttermilk pancakes with bacon is a pretty number, but it’s the dishes with luscious poached eggs that really play to the crowd.

Don’t miss: The Garden Breakfast is a lovely veggie twist on the Full English.

Breakfast for two with service: around £40.

If you want to do more than a caffeine cut and run, sneak into a space at one of the tables and the staff will bring you own-made granola or pancakes, eggs on sourdough toast and other goodies, piled onto cutesy mismatched vintage crockery. A couple of simple hotplates behind the cake-laden counter do the job of a kitchen, making the beautifully poached eggs on avocado-spread bread with a mound of smoked salmon an even more impressive achievement.

Don't miss: Any of the avocado dishes are champion here.

Breakfast for two with service: around £20 (cash only).

This lovely Scandinavian restaurant, one of the best openings of 2014, features a short breakfast menu. The choice might be from small dishes such as a boiled egg with their own-made (heavenly) rye bread and cheese, or a bowl of porridge or yogurt with granola and berry compote. There are also some more substantial and unusual dishes. Coffees from Nude include liquorice latte, a nod in the direction of Denmark's favourite sweet. Breakfast and brunch are now served all day, too. Bonus!

Don't miss: They serve a selection of the smørrebrød (open-face sandwiches) for which they are best known.

Breakfast for two with service: around £30.