Top 5: Ways to Eat Brunch in London This WeekendBy Alicia Grimshaw
Let’s talk about our favourite subject: brunch. From a brunch with a side of yoga to a bottomless banquet, we’ve discovered 5 fantastic places to brunch in London this weekend. Have a good’un, folks:
1. For a New Brunch Hangout: Morito
What: Morito on Hackney Road is now open on weekends for brunch! Hurrah. The restaurant, which opened in May this year, is now serving breakfast every Friday, Saturday and Sunday. For the early risers, breakfast will be served from 9:30am, and some dishes will continue to be available during lunch service, which starts at 12pm.
Eat: In true Morito style, the Moroccan breads, seasonal jams and granola, amongst other new dishes, will be made daily in-house. Typical dishes from the menu include: homemade granola with cardamom, yoghurt, pomegranates and pistachios; Msemen (Moroccan bread) with fresh seasonal jam and butter, and Beghrir (Moroccan pancakes) with fresh sheep’s cheese and thyme honey. If eggs are your thing, there’s plenty of dishes to choose from; poached eggs, with spinach, chilli butter, seasoned yoghurt and crispy sage; traditional Turkish menemem eggs (with/without sujuk sausage) and Huevos rotos with sweet peppers, chorizo and smoked paprika. Wash it all down with one of Morito’s new punchy Bloody Marys made with harissa.
Where: 195 Hackney Rd, London E2 8JL
2. For a Boozy Brunch: Mercante
What: Mercante, the new Italian restaurant delivering fresh and seasonal Italian dining in Mayfair, has launched a Prosecco Brunch with traditional homespun Italian recipes. If there’s one brunch to take your mum to this weekend, make it Mercante.
Eat: The star of the show has to be the roast porchetta, an Italian take on roast pork, served with traditional Italian garnish – it’s a proper brunch feast. Other dishes on the menu will change on a regular basis, but expect the likes of croissants with parma ham and scamorza cheese; baked eggs with mozeralla and tomato; and eggs with hearty Italian Tuscan sausage. Or just throw everything else out of the window, and opt for the hearty platter of Italian cheeses and meats. And the guys at Mercante stick to their promise when it comes to bottomless booze. Knock back glasses of Prosecco, Bellinis or Rossini.
Where: Park Lane Hotel, Piccadilly, London W1J 7BX
3. For an Asian Brunch: Chinese Laundry
What: Exactly one year after opening, Chinese Laundry on Upper Street have transformed their intimate ground floor space to accommodate an extended bar area at the front of the site. Upstairs, the new airy and bright mezzanine floor seat a further 28 guests and now serves the new Chinese brunch menu from Tuesday through to Sunday, 12pm to 3pm (from 10am on a weekend).
Eat: The brunch menu fuses together traditional Chinese breakfast dishes with British flare, using the finest quality, free range ingredients, sourced from the UK. Dig into XO potato, crab congee, dumpling green bowl, and Chinese date and goji berry granola, and a selection of Baozi on the weekends. These are served alongside Chinese Laundry’s already popular brunch dishes including dumpling stir fry, cong you bing (crispy scallion pancake), and the Laundry full, a Chinese take on the full English breakfast.
Where: 107 Upper St, Islington, London N1 1QN
4. For a Brunch Event: Mira Manek x Mona Heep x Raw Press
What: Healthy Indian chef Mira Manek has teamed up with Raw Press Mayfair for a special yoga brunch happening on Saturday (15th October). The event kicks off at 10:30pm, with a liquefying yoga led by Mona Heep, and finishing with a slap-up brunch. Yoga and nourishment? We’re in.
Eat: The class will incorporate mindfulness, power poses and restorative stretching, and will be followed by a virtuous spread by Mira Manek, whose coco fudge and chai spice mix is stocked at Raw Press. Mira’s Indian inspired brunch menu will include her chai spiced tea, a light saffron and coconut porridge, mung bean and sweet potato falafels, and cardamom and honey yoghurt with berries.
Where: Raw Press, 32 Dover Street, London, England, W1S 4NE. Tickets here
5. For a Musical Brunch: Royal Albert Hall
What: If you fancy a slice of music with your eggs Benedict, get yourself down to the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday (16th October) for their special live music brunch. Sunday’s event will see singer Lorraine Clarke-Mcghie take to the stage in the Hall’s Verdi restaurant overlooking the beautiful views of Kensington.
Eat: For the brunch traditionalists, there’s the classic Eggs Benedict topped with Canadian bacon and hollandaise sauce, Eggs Florentine, and granola with plain yogurt and mixed berry compote. Need your egg fix? Order the H.Forman & Son smoked salmon served with scrambled egg, toasted muffin and hollandaise sauce, or switch the salmon for smoked honey roasted Yorkshire ham. Both are fantastic. And not forgetting haddock and leeks fishcakes, with lemon mayonnaise, salsa verde and spinach, and the veggie friendly aubergine, pepper and herb bubble n’ squeak with tomatoes, feta, spinach and sunflower seeds.
Where: Royal Albert Hall, Kensington Gore, London, SW7 2AP. Tickets here
