Best breakfasts in London

Bullseye: The classics are where it’s at - fluffy ricotta hotcakes, banana and honeycomb butter and sweetcorn fritters with toasted tomato, spinach and bacon.

To read our full review of Granger & Co click here

Best for coffee – Bar Termini, Soho

Headed up by coffee expert Marco Arrigo and famed cocktail maestro Tony Conigliaro, this idealised Italian coffee bar as one might have been in the 1950s serves expert quality coffee on Old Compton Street. Quickly down the 10g espresso al bar glass, or enjoy the triple-espresso al tavola at leisure. The bianco is, in Marco’s words, ‘an Italian answer to the flat white, basically an exaggerated macchiato.’ And then there is the café latte; the steamed milk and espresso are served separately for the customer to combine themselves, which has led to an unofficial latte art competition developing among the bar’s regulars. Enjoy the top-quality coffee with a mini panini or a zingy grapefruit half with Campari salt.

Bullseye: Bar Termini serves an incredible chocolato bicherin, the classic Turinese chocolate and coffee hybrid made with the Arrigo touch. Espresso is made into almost an oil, which when mixed with the thick chocolate remains separate in the mouth in both texture and flavour.

To read our full review of Bar Termini click here

Best for tea and crumpets – Good and Proper Tea, Leather Lane

London is full of trendy third-wave coffee shops and cute vintage teahouses, but Good and Proper Tea stands out with its smart, no-fuss tea shop with a focus on excellent quality loose leaf tea.

Explore the extensive range of teas laid out in glass jars on the counter – you can have a proper sniff before deciding what to go for. The tea experts guide you according to your preferences, but we suggest Rwanda Op black tea with caramel notes; sweet and toasty Honey Orchid oolong tea; or fragrant hibiscus.

Pair with squidgy and comforting crumpets, oozing with butter and Nutella. If you want something more substantial, ramp up your crumpets with the savoury toppings on offer – avocado and cream cheese or ham with melted cheddar and Worcestershire sauce.

Take your tea and crumpets away, or slide onto a wooden bench in the calm seating area at the back of the shop. The space is very zen – cream painted brick walls, neutral tones and the odd cactus make this an ideal working environment for those who work remotely.

Before you leave, check out the funky range of tea utensils on shelves by the door – mustard yellow teapots, intricate filters and geeky tea contraptions for tea connoisseurs.

goodandpropertea.com

Best for something different – Sticks 'n' Sushi, Canary Wharf

Sushi for breakfast? Not quite. ‘Sticks ‘n’ Sunrise’ includes a line up of Skandi and Japanese influenced breakfast dishes that add a dash of colour to the cool, industrial interiors. Order a selection from the lighter bites: Nordic rye breads, Japanese savoury dishes, cakes, granola and pastries, or choose one of the breakfast trays for a bit more substance. The wake-me-up cocktails include green and yellow tomato Bloody Mary with Camm & Sons, and rhubarb and sake fizz.

Bullseye: The rye breads. Thick-cut smoked salmon from North-West Scotland and smooth cream cheese is garnished with delicate trout roe and herbs. Or perfectly-sliced avocado sits on top of light goat’s curd with a scattering of pine nuts, cress and tsume soy. Both sit on the most delicious crisp-but-light toasted rye bread, baked with miso, seaweed and coal. We also loved the Tebirkes: a poppy seed Danish with a bright green matcha paste inside - a fun and interesting twist on a Pain Au Chocolat.

To read our full review of Sticks 'n' Sushi click here.

Best for a healthy start – Shoreditch Grind, Old Street

Old Street’s Shoreditch Grind is an easily accessible breakfast spot for morning commuters, perched as it is on the edge of one of London's busiest roundabouts. The recently introduced breakfast menu makes this spot ideal for casual business meetings at large wooden tables, or a people-watching session while sat on one of the wooden bar stools.

A generous portion of smashed avocado on toast is spiced up with chilli and your choice of extra topping (smoked salmon, prosciutto, poached egg and feta can rack up quite the mound). The crispy quinoa eggs dish is a substantial and healthy start to the day with plenty of crunch and perfectly poached eggs. For a refreshing palate-cleanser before you head off to work, try iced fruit salad with zingy lime granita and crunchy hazelnuts (though we would have liked the addition of more seasonal fruits as well as the berries). We’ll definitely be back to try the banana bread with crème fraiche and honeycomb.

On the drinks side, try a freshly pressed colour-coded juice – ‘green’ gets you going with avocado, spinach and pear; and ginger adds a fiery note to the orange and carrot ‘amber’ juice. Shoreditch Grind is still all about the coffee, and cortados and flat whites made with The Grind’s own blend were brought straight to the table – no waiting around on the side.

Bullseye: Iced berries fruit salad with zingy lime granita and crunchy hazelnuts

Best for a treat – The Black Penny, Covent Garden

A Covent Garden coffee shop with a short but thoughtful menu that focuses on British seasonal ingredients. House baked beans are slow-cooked and served with goats' cheese and a poached egg on fresh sourdough, and Ozdemir pasha fried eggs with grilled halloumi, butterbean hummus and a sweet-sour hint of sumac with homemade grilled Turkish bread are a real treat.

Lighter Bircher muesli and compotes - including zingy grilled pineapple, chilli and lime - sit alongside a range of cakes and pastries. Coffee is taken seriously, too, with several different blends from South London roasters, Alchemy. Expect to find cortardos, syphon and buttered espresso alongside your usual flat white, as well as matcha lattes and a selection of teas, each served with a timer to make sure it’s brewed just right.

Bullseye: Duck for breakfast? Yes, please! Particularly if it’s in the form of crispy confit of corn-fed duck and sweet potato hash with fragrant coriander.

To read our full review of The Black Penny click here

Best for a posh fry-up – Mele e Pere, Soho

A relaxed breakfast in a warm and cosy Italian trattoria decorated with gnarled wooden tables and a wall-to-wall display cabinet of beautiful Murano glass apples and pears. Start the day with a freshly squeezed orange juice, coffee from The Terrone Coffee Company and a sweet pastry (we love the jam biscotto) on a comfy bar stool with a view of bustling Soho streets outside.

Bullseye: the full breakfast boccone: gamey, rich sausage (homemade), smoked pancetta, free range egg, crisp mushrooms and house relish on chewy sourdough. Despite the mammoth filling, it’s beautifully presented – a work of art, with impossibly neat layers and not a dollop of relish out of place. It’s that tangy, homemade relish that takes this breakfast sandwich into 5/5 territory, lifting it to a much more mature and savoury bite than your usual breakfast bap.

To read our full review of Mele e Pere breakfast click here

Best for a crowd – The Alice House, Queen's Park

What could be better than a pub that serves breakfast? Spacious, relaxed and flatteringly lit, The Alice House just outside Queen’s Park tube is the kind of place where you could sit for hours – breakfast merges into lunch, and lunch merges into an afternoon of (responsible) drinking with friends.

The breakfast menu, served until midday, is pretty unique: oat porridge with local rhubarb and hazelnuts; Speldhurst sausage in a fried onion bap; and Cullen skink omelette with horseradish cream are among the most exciting options. There’s also a great range of fresh fruit juices, including the rejuvenating green apple, celery, cucumber and lime.

We tried buckwheat pancakes with Dorset blueberries, whipped crème fraiche and East London Honey (can you tell they’re keen on locality here?) – a pretty plate, but slightly marred by the fact that our pancakes were on the heavy side. The topping was great though, and we swirled spoons of it through homemade jam for our toast.

The potato cake lacked crisp edges and the black pudding could have been smoother, but sausages here are meaty and plump, and eggs are cooked well. The breakfast menu had only been going for a week at the time of writing, and we’re pretty confident that the blips we experienced will be ironed out soon.

Bullseye: anything with a Speldhurst sausage in it, and all four of their fresh fruit juices.

Best hidden gem – Cambridge Street Cafe, Pimlico

Tucked away in the back of Pimlico, away from the bedlam of rush hour at Victoria, Cambridge Street Café (set in the boutiquey Artist Residence hotel) is the perfect setting in which to enjoy a leisurely start to the day.The room itself is bright and airy with exposed wood in muted, distressed greys, cloth-covered banquette seating and quirky art on the walls. The kitchen is open, and there are comfy stools for you to pull up and see, as it says in neon above, ‘where the magic happens’. There’s further seating through the back, so both spaces are kept cosy.

The breakfast menu here is quite extensive; there’s a whole page dedicated to drinks, which includes your usual coffees and teas as well as more interesting juices (such as beetroot, apple and celery) and smoothies (spinach, lime, cucumber, kiwi, avocado).

Food is divided into cooked, grains and pastries, and sides. All the classics are here (eggs Benedict/royal/Florentine and full English) and if you’re not indulging, yogurt with quinoa, peach goji berries and mint is a generous portion bursting with fresh flavours.

Bullseye: avocado, poached egg and rocket on rye – a safe choice done very well, with a kick of chilli and zing of lemon – and fluffy banana pancakes served with crisp smoked bacon and maple syrup, which had an almost cake-like texture without being too heavy for that time of the morning.

To read our full review of Cambridge Street Cafe click here

Best for shakshuka – Nopi, Soho

The ground floor of the latest arm of the Ottolenghi empire is an impressive start to any day. The decor's clean and contemporary but luxe – a classy mix of black and gold.

The menu, too, is hard not to be in awe of. There are the breakfast staples you’d expect, such as scrambled eggs with smoked salmon on sourdough and croissants, but also more unusual starts to the day such as black rice with coconut milk, banana and mango; beef brisket hash with gremolata and a fried egg; and French toast with a star anise sugar, berry compote and orange yogurt. There are freshly pressed juices, too, which you can load with greens or keep fruity like I did.

Bullesye: The shakshuka – imagine the most flavourful tomatoes and peppers you've ever tasted, baked with eggs with the most golden, rich yolks and then a topping of awesome smoked labneh. That is what breakfast dreams are made of.

Best for eggs – Egg Break, Notting Hill

If you’re into eggs, this cute Notting Hill café is the breakfast spot for you. Split into basics (eggs on toast, egg benedict), buns, plates, salads and sides, most dishes at this daytime café come with an egg of some sort, be it poached, fried or – surely the most fashionable egg of the moment – 63 degrees: cooked slowly in a waterbath at, you guessed it, 63 degrees.

There are cocktails, wines and excellent coffee, too. Cream tongue-and-groove walls, scuffed tile flooring, filament light bulbs and chipped painted metal chairs give Egg Break a homely, lived-in feel. Cocktails come in tumblers, there’s ketchup and brown sauce on the table and plenty of newspapers knocking around. The ground floor is light, airy and dominated by a wooden coffee and cocktail bar, and the basement has more space and bigger tables for groups.

Bulls eye: The buns. Oh my goodness, the buns. Seeded or brioche, they're terrific value at between £5 and £7. Fillings range from pork belly, fried egg and sriracha to fried chicken, green tomato, red onion and mayo.

For opening times and to read our full review of Egg Break click here

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