The best brunches in London

It’s dude food with attitude at this deliberately scruffy City hangout, where at weekends you can go all out on a bottomless brunch (with or without booze) at any time of day – including Friday night ‘Frunch’. Neon signage flashes and a punk soundtrack plays as brunchers sit at diner-style red leather booths and hoover up dishes from a deliciously meaty, North American-influenced menu featuring pulled pork, eggs, fries, mini tacos and pancakes topped with fried chicken. At weekdays, there’s a shorter, slightly more restrained all-day brunch offering.

Don't miss: Unlimited Bloody Marys, mimosas and prosecco on the boozy brunch menu (£35pp).

Brunch for two with service: around £50, or around £70 with unlimited brunch cocktails.

The brunch menu at this snazzy French-brasserie-by-way-of-Manhattan covers the usual gamut of eggs (boiled with soldiers, Florentine, egg-white omelettes and so on), plus American-style pancakes – but you can go in even heavier with lunch-style dishes such as steak frites or shellfish linguine. Wash it down with one of the best classic Bloody Marys in town.

Don't miss: Of all the egg-based dishes, opt for the scrambled egg with Cornish crab. Sounds odd, but it's a delicacy brought together with a light dollop of crème fraîche on top.

Brunch for two with service: around £45.

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 broccoli and corn fritters with egg and bacon to banana bread sarnies filled with mascarpone, berries and almonds. Their ‘fancy’ bacon roll includes The Rib Man’s Holy Fuck Hot Sauce in hollandaise form, and of course they slice and dice the avocado every which way. If this brekkie spot doesn’t have you feeling sunny, we don’t know what will.

Don’t miss: Fancy somethin’ sweet? The banana bread sandwich – piled with mascarpone, berries, honey and almonds – is worth the approving whispers.

Brunch for two with service: around £30.

From the outside this black-painted building looks rather severe. But step inside and suddenly you’re in a bright and airy space that feels more like colonial-era Delhi than modern-day Clerkenwell. This is a place for elegant yet laid back brunching. The food is very good: their huevos benedictos are a perfect balance of spicy chorizo and creamy béarnaise sauce, while the drop scones with clotted cream, berries and honey are an indulgent treat that veer close to pudding territory.

Don't miss: These guys were among the first to bring the New York trend of bottomless brunching to our fair shores. Grab a prosecco – or the stunning cocktail list.

Brunch for two with service: around £35 (without cocktails).

The all-day weekend-only brunch at this cute Soho spin-off of Andina is a laid-back Latin affair. Pisco sours are basically mandatory (ask for the strawberry and raspberry version, it’s a dream), and the brunch is a colourful, inventive mix of ceviche and superfoods. Take yours out to Casita's 'secret' outdoor terrace – all bright blue walls, pot plants and three tiny tables in the sunshine, it's a slice of Lima in London. Plus there's a retractable awning to keep you dry in winter.

Don't miss: Casita’s take on eggs benedict, made of bacon and egg on a sweetcorn soufflé with coriander hollandaise. Brunch has never felt this exotic.

Brunch for two with service: around £45.

The fashionable London restaurant is virtually impossible to get a dinner reservation at, unless you're an A-list celeb. However, it does brunch from 11am-3pm at weekends, when it’s slightly easier to get a table. Be warned: prices are very high. Lobster and crab omelette costs £26, eggs benedict £15, pancakes £12 – but the dishes are all excellent. No bookings are taken, so arrive early – and smile like you’re a regular on the red carpet.

Don't miss: Nuno Mendes' famous crab-stuffed donuts (with ‘coral dusting’!) feature on the brunch menu. It would be a shame not to try them.

Brunch for two with service: around £50 (without cocktails).

If its vivid, green-and-gold interior doesn’t wake you up, Coppa Club’s front-row view of Tower Bridge and City Hall should do the trick. Along the same stretch of the north bank as the Tower of London, this glam-but-chilled riverside restaurant has a massive terrace and a varied brunch, peppered with healthy ingredients. From hangover-slaying baked eggs with chorizo and tangy tomato ragu, to a virtuous and hefty ‘super bowl’ of quinoa, almonds, and citrus wedges, Coppa covers all brunch bases.

Don't miss: The kale toast. It’s layered with avocado and two oozing fried eggs, then garlanded with trails of sriracha – a joyful tumble of crunch, cream and fire.

Brunch for two with service: around £35.

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 brunch 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: Go trad with the kedgeree, but slosh it down with an Heirloom Mary of voddy, pineapple, tomato, Umeshu plum brandy, tabasco and wasabi.

Brunch for two with service: around £35.

Sipping a gloriously red blood-orange bellini just out of reach of Carnaby Street’s weekend crowds is enough to make you feel like Dehesa is your own little brunch-y secret. The calm and classy dining room serves a Spanish-ish brunch menu that’s a far cry from your trad beans-on-toast offerings. Sweet options include churros with chocolate, or waffles topped with caramelised apples and whipped yoghurt, while savoury pulls such as grilled Mahón cheese with roasted tomatoes, potato cake and chargrilled courgettes are the sorts of dishes that don’t pop up on brunch menus very often but really should.

Don’t miss: Whatever they’ve made with chorizo. Always choose the chorizo.

Brunch for two with service: around £30.

Brunch is served from 8.30am every day of the week at Green Lanes’ Blend, which explains why it’s usually filled with local mums and their nippers. Keep your brekkie simple with a ham and cheese croissant or superfood-filled porridge, or live it large with Amaretto-laced French toast or a full-on fry-up. The convivial daytime vibe is aided by pretty pendant lighting and lovely works of art on the walls. Service can slow a bit at busier times, but Aussie coffee will make the wait pleasurable.

Don’t miss: Treat your kids to the ‘toddler-approved’ mini menu – the lovely early-day options are cheap as chips.

Brunch for two with service: around £25.

As at the Clerkenwell original (and its newest outpost near Tate Modern on Southbank), the menu here takes influences from many parts of the world. One of the myriad attractions of the brunch 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, avocado, chipotle and lime.

Don't miss: Post-brunch desserts that include vanilla ice cream doused in salted-caramel espresso.

Brunch 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 – and it’s worth hanging around for a brunch table at weekends. The trendy and very tempting menu is great value and offers dishes that you won’t find elsewhere – crumpets topped with Marmite butter and cheddar, say, or bacon sarnies in challah bread spread with cinnamon butter and drizzled with maple syrup. Service can get a little flustered thanks to the place’s popularity but it’s friendly and food doesn’t suffer for it. Brunch traditionalists might baulk at the lack of egg staples, but we love the originality of this irresistible menu.

Don’t miss: Inventive brunch cocktails that are sure to wake you up.

Brunch for two with service: around £30.

On the days when you wake up with only a headache and some freeze-dried coffee for company, what you need is a sanctuary. With its serene but welcoming atmosphere and short but tempting food menu – think ratte potatoes with smoked pancetta and charred artichoke, or bacon and sausage sarnies with mango chutney and a fried egg – 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: How about turmeric poached eggs, root veg bhaji, fried curry leaves, chilli chutney, cucumber and mint raita, and parathas. You read that right.

Brunch for two with service: around £30.

Stokey gives good brunch, but The Good Egg is where you’ll find queues out the door come the weekend. This stylish café with an open kitchen is a breezy daytime hangout and its brunch menu holds heaps of Middle-Eastern delights: think shakshuka topped with morsels of mutton merguez sausage, or bacon-and-egg pita with date jam, plus lots of exotic nibbles to share – plus cardamom-infused coffee cocktails.

Don’t miss: Finish on a sweet note with sweet babka loaf for the table.

Brunch for two with service: around £40 (without cocktails).

Brunch lasts all weekend at this Islington hangout: the dishes on offer will induce stomach-rumbling indecision, the prices are low, the service is great and the food is magnificent. Sugar-dusted, fruit-filled French toast drizzled with salted-caramel sauce; perfectly ripe avocados with labneh, tabbouleh, poached eggs and harissa; waffles topped with pulled pork and yuzu hollandaise… basically anything your brunch belly could want is on there. And it’s all nearly too big to finish. Nearly.

Don’t miss: Pulled pork and yuzu hollandaise, people! On waffles!

Brunch for two with service: around £30.

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: Segue from superfood bowls to unctuous grilled cheese sarnies while watching the world go by.

Brunch for two with service: around £20.

Despite its focus on superfoods, Andina also works wonders on the indulgent brunch front. Alongside nut-laced chia seed puddings and seasonal quinoa-filled granolas sit the likes of sweet-potato pancakes topped with spiced honey, fruit and whipped coconut cream, or soft baps filled with confit pork belly – a South American take on the bacon roll. If you accidentally pig out, balance the books with a colourful superfood smoothie.

Don’t miss: The corn soufflé with smoked bacon, poached eggs and coriander-flecked hollandaise. It's the second-best way to start the weekend off with a rosy glow.

Brunch for two with service: around £35.

Cosy up on the banquettes of this Haggerston railway arch, where the sexy low lighting eases you gently into the day ahead and the smoky, meaty smells coming off the grill snap you right back to your senses. There is, of course, plenty for meat-eaters to love here (the mangal breakfast sharer alone contains chops, sausages, kidneys and bone marrow), but veggies can feel just as satisfied with a plate of comforting Turkish eggs, poached and smothered in paprika butter, or the Israeli breakfast for two, an exotic mezze complete with roasted beets and honeyed feta.

Don’t miss: The harissa bloody mary is one of the best twists on a classic mary you’ll find in London, sweet and spicy all in one.

Brunch for two with service: around £40.

The brunch menu here is short and sweet, but you’ll still struggle to decide between the blueberry pancakes with whipped mascarpone, a posh bacon and egg sarnie, and the ‘everything’ breakfast with, well, everything. Weekend brunch is served from 10am to 3.30pm (4pm on Sundays), which will allow you plenty of time to sleep off that hangover before getting togged up. Alternatively, opt for the all-day menu, which includes the excellent potato rösti topped with salt beef and poached eggs, all slathered in mustard hollandaise. Your arteries might not thank you, but your hangover definitely will.

Don’t miss: That salt beef rösti. So good, it’s worth mentioning twice.

Brunch for two with service: around £20, or £40 with cocktails.

If you fancy chicken and cocktails first thing, this is the place for you – but it offers so much more than poultry and a piss-up. Roll in from noon on weekends, choose either the brunch bun (a towering Korean-spiced burger with added bacon and egg, overflowing with gochujang mayo), or an entire dressed fried chook to share. Pair with some perfectly-poised sours and some Asian-inspired sides, then tuck into the most tender, crunchy and downright delicious chicken in Dalston. A visit to this colourful little coop will definitely make your weekend fly.

Don't miss: The dips. The tangy kewpie mayo in particular is sure to ruffle a few feathers.

Brunch for two with service: around £40.

If you think the à la carte menu at this City high-flier is rich, wait until you encounter its brunch. The menu covers English fry-ups, Belgian waffles, and the signature duck ’n’ waffle (crispy duck leg confit topped with a fried duck egg and mustard maple syrup) as well as the likes of ox-cheek benedict (served on a waffle with hollandaise AND sriracha), foie gras brûlée, and truffled baked duck eggs served with wild mushrooms, melted gruyère and soldiers. Prices are also sky-high – but here it’s a clear case of go big or go home.

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

Brunch for two with service: around £50.

This friendly all-day Dalston café bills itself as a modern greasy spoon – thanks to its devotion to hash browns and all things porky, it’s perfected the art of curing hangovers. Its quirky brunch dishes (available Tuesday to Sunday) strike the perfect balance between wholesomeness and the restorative powers of fried bacon – dishes sneak in a surprising amount of veg, from kale to homemade beans. The Posh Pig Muffin is particularly good, and the vegetarian options are genuinely decent, too, for a place so in thrall to the trotter. Expect to queue at weekends.

Don’t miss: Sides that include a ‘bucket of bacon’ with maple syrup.

Brunch for two with service: around £30.

If your idea of brunch is a virtuous bowl of granola or some sort of chia seed concoction, you’re in the wrong place. Meat is the order of the day at Hotbox, with deliciously indulgent dishes including smoked hash, eight-hour smoked pork ribs and a truffled-chicken waffle with maple syrup. That said, the veggie options don’t feel like an afterthought – there are buttermilk pancakes with caramelised bananas and berries, smoky baked eggs, and crushed avocado on sourdough (obviously). Oh, and the portions are huge – which is definitely a good thing if you’re planning to make the most of their bottomless cocktails.

Don’t miss: The bloody marys – they’re served in huge tankards and there are five to choose from (including one made with smoked dripping).

Brunch for two with service: around £30, or £80 with unlimited cocktails.

Lantana’s weekend brunch menu rings the changes when compared to the standard menus on offer throughout the week. A few classics (smashed avocado, honey granola with Greek yoghurt) sit alongside more unusual assemblies including duck and sweet potato hash or Mexican pork with ‘drowned’ eggs and spicy taco sauce. The corn fritters are surprisingly hearty, stacked with streaky bacon, roast tomatoes, poached egg and chilli jam, while coffee is expertly made from the café's own blend.

Don't miss: The ‘big bubble’ – a real monster with bubble ’n’ squeak, Cumberland sausage, black pudding, muhammara (Levantine hot pepper dip) and spinach.

Brunch for two with service: around £25 – unless you opt for the whole-table ‘blowout’.

At £20 per person it’s not cheap, but the leisurely sharing brunch at this buzzing Turkish-Cypriot restaurant in Shoreditch is worth the splurge. Oklava serves brunch in the style of a smorgasbord, a concept inspired by Sundays in Turkey, where people sit around for hours at tables laden with food. Dish after delicious dish starts with Turkish cheeses, fruit and dreamily light pastries, followed by menemen (spiced baked eggs), and pastirma sausage with fried eggs, whose runny yolks are perfect for dipping with the homemade bread. You’ll eat three meals’ worth of food in one sitting – enough to make brunch here suddenly seem a budget option.

Don’t miss: Spreading the delicious medjool-date butter onto the house bread.

Brunch for two with service: around £50.

Brunch at Antipodea is an Aussie affair. Sipping your flat white in the conservatory-style dining room, you could almost be in Melbourne. Apart from, you know, the British weather. There's brilliant variety here for brunch: all manner of eggs (poached, folded, soft boiled with Marmite soldiers), treacle-cured bacon sarnies, Turkish pides loaded with toppings, sweetcorn fritters, fish cakes, burgers or flat-iron steak with fries. See? Spoilt for choice.

Don't miss: The lobster brioche roll topped with poached egg and caviar.

Brunch for two with service: around £55.

Once a pub, this brick-walled space is now Madame Babette’s pride and joy – a neighbourhood restaurant with a Gallic vibe, chandeliers in the front room, Bermondsey beers on tap and blackboard menus focusing on ‘meaty’ and ‘veggie’ sharing boards. Weekend brunch (till 4pm) tells a different story, with everything from sultry croque madame and plates of scrambled eggs to homemade sausage, home-cured bacon, homemade beans, slow-roasted tomato, crispy mushroom Kiev and buttered kale – Saturday done right.

Don't miss:  The toasted bread with ‘herby’ butter or the French fries with ‘herby’ salt.

Brunch for two with service: around £20.

With its Clapham branch doing a roaring trade, Brickwood has upped the game for Balham, mixing a beautifully crafted shack-like interior and an extensive menu with cheerful Aussie service that’s even chummier than the norm. Brunch is served until 3pm, with imaginative dishes such as four-cheese sourdough toasties, sweet potato and feta with poached egg and kale pesto on toast or the Brickwood burrito – scrambled eggs, potato hash, pulled pork, red pepper salsa and sour cream. Best of all? You probably won’t have to queue – unlike the jam-packed Milk Café nearby.

Don’t miss: Wild mushrooms on brioche with a poached egg, grated pecorino and truffle oil – plus some morsels of ham hock (two quid extra, but worth it).

Brunch for two with service: around £25.

This buzzing Brooklyn-style café and cocktail bar in Balham comes courtesy of three school besties, who serve hip weekend brunches alongside gallons of silky smooth coffee. The brunch menu has something for everyone, from sticky pastries and fruit-topped cereals, to eggs most ways; signature serves include smoked salmon with asparagus and scrambled eggs, and cinnamon French toast with maple syrup and mascarpone.

Don’t miss: A slice of the house banana bread to end your feast on a sweet note.

Brunch for two with service: around £25.

Where to go for Saturday brunch in Peckham? How about the old ticket office next door to the station? Now an ever-so-cool small-plates eatery, the Coal Rooms has the lot – counter seating, a robata grill, and a kitchen that likes ramping up the transatlantic flavours. That brunch offer (from 10am) runs from Old Spike coffee and Blood Caesar cocktails to pastrami salmon with smoked cream cheese or chickpea tacos with black beans and chimichurri – plus Peckham Fatboy fries on the side, and apple and cheddar pie to finish. 

Don’t miss: Sharing a mighty full English – a right royal plateful involving smoked goat sausages, smoked pig’s head blood pudding, fried duck eggs, smoked bone marrow and more.

Brunch for two with service: around £25 (£40 with cocktails).

You wouldn’t guess it, but this all-day diner is actually the main restaurant for the Park Plaza Waterloo next door – and it’s a real treat. Take the brunch route by plundering their line-up of all-day egg dishes (omelettes, scrambled, florentine… ostrich!) or hit the flatbreads – anything from smoked burrata, aubergine and tomato to Tuscan sausages with Stilton and rocket. Otherwise, cherry-pick from the salads, pasta and burgers, with British bubbles and BrewDog beers on hand to wash it all down nicely.

Don’t miss: The full English with a huge fried ostrich egg – the whole plateful serves six and weighs in at a whopping £65. Ring ahead to check availability (those ostriches are temperamental birds).

Brunch for two with service: around £25. 

Foxlow more than holds its own among Balham’s bevy of brunch spots – decor-wise, it’s big on the ’70s vibe, and its olive-green leather banquettes are the ideal place in which to ensconce yourself with the (provided) papers after a heavy night on the Clapham strip. This being an all-day restaurant from the Hawksmoor team, it’s unsurprising that brunch offers comforting meaty grub – the order du jour being the fried chicken, egg and croissant waffle (with sausage gravy). Veggies need not panic, though – similarly hearty meat-free offerings include the chilli- and herb-laden sweet potato and kale hash, topped with a fried egg.

Don’t miss: Notably good soft drinks, including Vietnamese iced coffee and fresh grapefruit soda (there are brunch cocktails, too).

Brunch for two with service: around £35.

This bustling Sicilian café ups the ante on Sundays, when well-heeled locals descend for its all-day Italian-inflected brunches: think baskets of oven-warm breads to slather in Sicilian jam, silky caponata with a side of poached eggs, and Continental-style charcuterie and cheeses, all washed down with hand-pressed juices and superior coffee. It’s a slice of la bella vita in London.

Don’t miss: Dolci that include fresh cannoli, served with nuts for dipping.

Brunch for for two with service: around £35.

This Herne Hill hotspot is the perfect place to get your weekend off to a good start – take a dip in the open-air pool (if you dare), then load up on calories via the all-day brunch menu. 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, granola with Greek yoghurt and honey, or avo on toast.

Don't miss: Prosecco brunches and bloody marys will make your poolside brunch feel even more like a spontaneous mini-break.

Brunch for two with service: around £35.

This small but perfectly formed café gets its name from the unhealthy smog that choked the capital back in the 1950s, but its vibe is, thankfully, more wholesome. Satisfying brunches focus on dishes that use seasonal produce, such as garlicky mushrooms piled onto toast with spinach and goats’ cheese, or a brunch bowl that takes the full English far away from greasy spoon fare. Even the bacon sandwich comes with salad.

Don’t miss: A seat outside, if it’s sunny and you’re early enough (there’s not much space inside anyway).

Brunch for two with service: around £25.

Airy, elegant and laid-back, Farmacy has ‘meet me for brunch’ stamped all over its chic interior. The free-from menu suits vegans, vegetarians and anyone avoiding gluten or dairy. But, happily, ‘no additives’ doesn’t mean ‘no taste’. In fact, dishes such as sweet potato cakes and calzone are packed with flavour and interesting textures. Stylish salads and hearty ‘earth bowls’ sit beside brunch classics including the (meat-free) English breakfast.

Don't miss: The Farmacy burger – trust us, you won’t miss the meat.

Brunch for two with service: around £60.

Bill Granger has built a TV cooking career out of selling the Aussie dream: lots of sunlight, casual vibes, easy-going photogenic dishes. As one of his London outlets, this Notting Hill eatery ticks all the boxes: it's spacious and bright with big windows and verdant views. Less obvious brunch choices include a ginger prawn egg-white omelette. Booking is essential – the place fills up quickly with affluent-looking folk.

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

Brunch for two with service: around £45.

Brunch 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 lazy but classy afternoon 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, whether it’s Benedict or a veggie version of eggs Royale, served with perfect, chunky chips on the side.

Don’t miss: The French dip – a steak sandwich with a mouth-watering combo of caramelised onions, horseradish mayonnaise with burgundy sauce and chips that ought to put any hangover to rights.

Brunch 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: The delicious riffs on reliable dishes – beans and eggs on toast among them.

Brunch for two with service: around £20.

Here’s the brunch drill at Parlour: show up and place your order, then hit the bread station while you wait. The USP is an unlimited supply of yesterday’s bread for just £1 per person: simply help yourself, have it toasted or plain and take your pick from the various jams and spread on offer. Don’t carb-load too crazily, or you’ll struggle to finish the ensuing brunch dishes, such as hash browns with eggs any style, the bacon bap with Oxford sauce, or the massive (No Subs) Full Parlour Breakfast. Lovely juices and drinks are another plus.

Don’t miss: The double bloody marys (£8 a shot).

Brunch for two with service: around £30.