London has seen something of a breakfast Renaissance in recent years. Gone are the times when a greasy spoon fry-up or McChain hot muffin were the main options. Early morning dining is becoming something of an artform, no doubt given a fillip by the American and Australian obsessions with both breakfast and brunch. You can now break your fast with cuisines from all over the world. As with other food and drink sections in this book, space does not allow for anything approaching a comprehensive survey. Treat the following as a handpicked selection – some chosen for curiosity as much as quality – from the hundreds of excellent venues across town.
Hamilton Hall
Liverpool Street Station, EC2M 7PY (Liverpool Street)
An increasing number of pubs now offer breakfast. The grandest and busiest of them all is this former hotel ballroom, long since converted into a mega-boozer by the Wetherspoon chain. The breakfast menu runs the full gamut of early morning favourites, from fry-ups to American-style pancakes. The real reason to visit, though, is to witness the troubling number of besuited executives necking a pint or two at 7am. No wonder we had a banking crisis. Most other Wetherspoon pubs in central London open for breakfast. I can also recommend the Fox and Anchor (115 Charterhouse Street, EC1M 6AA), which notionally caters for porters at Smithfield Market coming off shift, but is more likely to be filled with yet more office workers – a demographic catered for by the pub’s ‘City Boy Breakfast’ option.
Regency Café
17–19 Regency Street, SW1P 4BY (Pimlico)
When it comes to the ‘traditional café’, plaudits usually go to the likes of E Pellicci’s or M Manze, but there are many other examples in less fashionable neighbourhoods.
The Regency is one such, occupying a quiet corner of Pimlico, and reasonably handy if you’re visiting Tate Britain. The black tiles and frilly curtain give it an anachronistic film-set look from the outside (indeed, you might have seen it in the film Layer Cake). Within, you’ll find a similar timewarp of Formica tables and photos of old football stars. This is a proper greasy spoon, where a stodgy Full English is the order of the day.
The Breakfast Club
31 Camden Passage, N1 8EA (Angel)
The Breakfast Club, despite its name, offers top nosh at any time of day (and see 9pm for a rather special bar at the Spitalfields branch), but the queues often snake for a breakfast bite. Expect diner-style looks and a menu that mixes Full English, pancakes, oats and various egg creations – not all on the same plate. You even get a welcome from a cardboard Elvis, an ambassador for extraneous carbs if ever there was one. Other branches of this popular chain are popping up like toast across London, and now in Brighton.
Camino
3 Varnishers Yard, N1 9FD (King’s Cross St Pancras) This tucked-away Spanish restaurant has served up the tapas for more than a decade, but still feels fresh. The breakfast menu offers hams and cheeses, plus a Full Spanish that runs along English lines, with clever substitutions. Enjoy chorizo in place of British sausage, morcilla rather than black pudding, a roasted pepper standing in for tomato, and toasted mollete bread instead of your standard sliced white. If you really must, there’s a churros + chocolate option, too.
Aqua Shard
Level 31, The Shard, 31 St Thomas Street, SE1 9RY (London Bridge)
Start the day by overseeing the capital from this stylish panoramic restaurant in western Europe’s tallest building. Aqua Shard has proved very popular, and evening reservations must be secured at least a month in advance. Not so breakfasts, which start from 7am and can usually be booked just a couple of days before. To its credit, the restaurant doesn’t simply rely on its views to wow diners. All the usual morning classics are present and correct, but you can also sample a Lobster Benedict or sup a breakfast cocktail (one of which includes cornflakes).
Lido Café
Brockwell Lido, Dulwich Road, SE24 0PA (Herne Hill)
They say you should never swim on a full stomach. The temptation is certainly there at Brockwell Lido, which combines a gorgeous 1930s outdoor pool with one of the best cafés in the south. The caff offers the full range of usual suspects, with particularly good sourdough toasts and three degrees of Full English, to cater for different hunger levels.
Andina
1 Redchurch Street, E2 7DJ (Shoreditch High Street)
You could easily walk past this Peruvian kitchen, so very plain and understated is its façade. But this is London’s trendiest street and, inside, all is vibrant – from the tightly packed tables to the swirling waiting staff. The food and drink is so colourful, you might want to bring sunglasses. Breakfast options (from 8am) include a Full Peruvian (fried eggs, pork rind known as chicharron, quinoa pancakes and more), and filo pastry with dulce de leche filling.
332 Bethnal Green Road, E2 0AG (Bethnal Green)
Whole articles have been written about this traditional East End café. Queen Victoria was still on the throne when the Pellicci family, fresh from Tuscany, opened shop in 1900. It’s still going strong with an interior untouched since the 1940s. Every Londoner passes this way sooner or later, from the Kray twins to A-list celebrities, to the legions of regular customers who live more humble lives. Serving from 7am, a huge Full English will cost you little more than a fiver, and in the most traditional setting you will ever witness.
Granger and Co.
175 Westbourne Grove, W11 2SB (Notting Hill Gate)
Aussie chef Bill Granger offers a taste of downunder, if that’s not too unfortunate a mix of metaphors. First-timers should opt for the ‘Full Aussie’, an antipodean take on the traditional British breakfast, with added chipolatas and sourdough toast. You’ll also find plenty of novel dishes, such as ricotta hotcakes (basically, American-style pancakes) with banana and honeycomb butter, or courgette fritters with deep-fried egg and halloumi. The whole ethos purports to be ‘relaxed’, but the place is always much too busy for that. A second branch can be found in Clerkenwell (50 Sekforde Street, EC1R 0HA).
Habanera
280 Uxbridge Road, W12 7JA (Shepherd’s Bush Market)
There was a time when you couldn’t find decent Mexican food in London for love nor money. Now you can chow down on Central American delights for any meal of the day. This colourful restaurant opens early on weekdays to dish out breakfast tacos and ‘bacon & eggs burritos’ to those who can stomach such things at the crack of dawn.