Forget burnt toast and soggy cereal, London knows how to deliver a great breakfast (which is good news, given that it’s the most important meal of the day). Whether you’re hankering after a stack of buttermilk pancakes, perfectly cooked eggs benedict or delicious French toast then we can help.
The city is packed full of restaurants but knowing where to go for a full English is not always obvious. But we’ve done the research (tested our waistlines) and come up with this list of the best breakfasts in London – enjoy!
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The best breakfasts in London
Table of Contents
We’ve marked the best places for breakfast in London on the map below to help you plan your day. Note that some of the restaurants listed below have more than one address, not all of these have been included on the map.
The Wolseley
One of the best places to have breakfast in London has to be The Wolseley (it’s also a great option for a traditional afternoon tea). Located in a large, converted 1920s car showroom on Piccadilly, this beautiful restaurant also serves up a mean breakfast.
The restaurant is famous with the celebrity set but The Wolseley is as welcoming to regular folk walking in off the street as they are A listers (although make sure to book, it’s very popular!).
The breakfast menu is simple and delicious. Pastries, smoothies and cereals are all available as is porridge, bacon rolls, pancakes, mashed avocado, and French toast.
The English is, not surprisingly, a full English breakfast or opt for scrambled eggs, omelettes, or even grilled kippers.
Regency Cafe
The Regency Café has been serving fry ups since 1946 and regularly have queues out the door even today. Named after its location on Westminster’s Regency Street this Art Deco style cafe as popular for its interior decorations as it is its breakfasts – its been used as a filming location for films including Layer Cake and Brighton Rock and has featured in a number of BBC series including Judge John Deed and London Spy.
Breakfast is a excellent and a bargain. Choose the set breakfast deal or build your own dish choosing everything from liver and bacon to hash browns.
The Breakfast Club
There are various locations of this popular breakfast spot around town but we particularly like the original branch in Soho. The American-style diner has a huge breakfast menu with everything from classic fry ups and big stacks of pancakes to scrambled eggs on toast and even chocolicious pancake balls (mini doughnut style fried pancake balls!).
There’s inevitably a queue outside no matter which branch you choose but these brilliant breakfasts are well worth the wait.
The other reason we’ve got such a soft spot for the Breakfast Club? They are really community focused and host regular get-togethers for older people in the community who often live alone hosting folks from all walks of life in their cafes for tea, cake and Prosecco.
Dishoom
Hands down one of London’s best breakfasts can be found at the Indian chain, Dishoom. Founded in 2010 by cousins Shamil and Kavi Thakrar, Dishoom is now one of the most popular restaurants in London (they have numerous branches including Kings Cross and Covent Garden) thanks to their smart take on Indian food and drink.
The most popular breakfast is the Big Bombay, a plate piled high with akuri, char-striped smoked streaky bacon, peppery Shropshire pork sausages, masala beans, grilled field mushrooms, grilled tomato and buttered, home-made buns. My personal favourite are the sausage naan rolls; Shropshire pork sausages served in a naan bread, freshly baked in the tandoori oven.
Dishoom is incredibly popular so be prepared to wait.
Duck & Waffle
For breakfast with a view take the lift up to the 40th floor of the Heron Tower to the Duck & Waffle.
This sky-high restaurant sits in the financial district and is open 24 hours a day. Despite never closing, it’s breakfast that you want to book for. The signature meal is the eponymous Duck and Waffle, a traditional waffle served with duck leg, a fried duck egg and topped with mustard maple syrup.
Other breakfast options include shakshouka, Colombian eggs and duck egg en cocotte (served with wild mushrooms, Gruyère, truffle, and soldiers). Healthy breakfast options are also available in the form of yoghurt and granola, and fruit salad.
A second Duck & Waffle can be found on Haymarket Street serving the same delicious food just minus the view.
Where the Pancakes Are
If it’s pancakes that you’re after then Where the Pancakes Are is the perfect place for breakfast. The good news? They also serve pancakes for lunch and dinner!
Choose from savoury or sweet toppings or opt for a Dutch baby, an American interpretation of a 17th century German oven-baked pancake recipe, reminiscent of a ‘giant Yorshire pudding’. These pancakes come with all manner of filling options including cheese, shakshouka, polenta corn fritter and avocado, or apples and almonds.
If visiting London with kids then you’ll be pleased to hear that a children’s menu is available.
Where the Pancakes Are have locations in Fitzrovia, London Bridge and Battersea Power Station.
26 Grains
If it’s healthy breakfasts that you’re after then make a beeline for 26 Grains in Neal’s Yard.
Quite honestly, the breakfast menu is fantastic (and it’s served all day too). Choose the 5 grain porridge topped with banana, tahini, honey, cinnamon, sesame seeds and cacao nibs. Or try the caramelised brioche which, admittedly is not that healthy but it is delicious.
Savoury options include fried eggs in Ras el Hanout, a toast made with wild garlic, basil and mushroom and sautéed asparagus with pancetta, peas, goats crud and pickled radish on sourdough bread.
Avobar
One of the best breakfast spots in Covent Garden is also one of the most unusual. After all, there aren’t many restaurants dedicated entirely to the humble avocado! Yes, this pale green restaurant on Henrietta Street is dedicated to the popular fatty fruit.
The breakfast menu is fairly limited (a salmon and avocado croissant or a range of pastries, which are not avocado flavoured!) but the all day dining menu is excellent. Among the highlights are savoury matcha pancakes, the ultimate avocado toast and eggs Royale. You’ll be pleased to know that all of the food ingredients are sourced from ethical farms and locations.
The Avobar also serve up a good selection of juices and smoothies.
Eggbreak
If you can have a restaurant dedicated to avocados then you can certainly have one focused on eggs. Located in Notting Hill, Eggbreak serves “eggs all day, every day, any way”.
Whether you’re looking for a traditional breakfast of avocado on sourdough toast topped with a poached egg or a Korean inspired dish with BBQ lamb, rice and a poached egg then Eggbreak is the place to come.
Also on the menu are salmon fish cakes (topped with poached eggs), jerk spiced pork (topped with a poached egg) and sweet potato rosti (topped with – you guessed it – a poached egg!).
The drinks menu is just as extensive with juices, smoothies, cocktails and a very good Bloody Mary.
Norman’s Cafe
Norman’s looks as though its been in business for decades but in reality this traditional British greasy spoon only opened in 2020, mid-pandemic but it’s already one of our picks for the best breakfasts in London.
Inside the cafe is small and simple with a black and white chequered tile floor, red and white chequered fabric curtains and white formica tables lined with ketchup, brown sauce and Colman’s English Mustard – the staples of any good ol’ British breakfast.
The menu is simple and there’s no deviating from what’s offered. Choose from your traditional fry up or go rogue with Set 2; bubble n squeak, egg, hash brown, grilled tomato and beans. Personally, my favourite is the bacon sandwich closely followed by the chip butty.
E. Pellici
E Pellicci is a Bethnal Green institution, a family-run cafe that has been serving the local community – and some of the best breakfasts in London – for the past 123 years. Named after Elide, wife of Primao Pellicci who first started working in the cafe in 1900, the traditional cafe is still owned and managed by the family.
And just how management hasn’t changed, the decor hasn’t either. The orange panelled wooden decor was carved by regular customer and carpenter Achille Capocci in 1946 and, thanks to his handiwork, the cafe has been granted Grade II listed status.
Pull up a seat at this charming caff and enjoy a full English, egg and chips, or pancakes. The food is good but the real reason you come to E. Pellicci is for the warm Italian welcome, the atmosphere and the history.
Mount St Restaurant
If you like your breakfasts a little more bougie then head to Mount St Restaurant. Sitting above a revamped pub in Mayfair, this is very much a restaurant but with a very strong artistic bent.
Some 200 pieces of art feature throughout the restaurant including works by Andy Warhol, Henry Matisse and Lucian Freud. But it’s not just on the walls where you’ll find the art, the table lamps, dining chairs, cabinets and even the floors have all been commissioned specifically for Mount St Restaurant.
Doors open at 7.30am for breakfast and the morning menu includes devilled kidney on toast, smoked salmon and scrambled egg, kedgeree and a full English breakfast (and more!). It’s the perfect place to celebrate a special occasion.
Caravan
One of my favourite places for breakfast in London is Caravan. With branches across the city, Caravan is a great place for all-day dining (and is a London brunch favourite) but we’re big fans of their breakfasts.
Caravan was started by three New Zealanders who were on the hunt for the kind of coffee culture they had back home. They opened the first branch in Exmouth Market in 2010, roasting their own coffee in the basement, and creating the kind of restaurant vibe where people would want to stay all day.
Their excellent breakfast menus feature bowls of fresh fruit, golden spiced yoghurt with berries and granola, porridge, smashed avocado on toast, pancakes, fried jalapeño cornbread (my favourite) and much more.
Kissa Wa
If you’re not in the market for black pudding or even fluffy pancakes then Kissa Wa Cafe is where you need to be. This delightful Japanese cafe is located behind Highbury Fields and serves traditional dishes inspired by the land of the rising sun.
Their Japanese Style Breakfast includes poached egg, tofu, wake and vegetables in the cafe’s own miso soup served with a multigrain rice ball.
Other Japanese breakfast options including Teriyaki chicken panini toast and Teriyaki mushroom panini toast. They also serve homemade granola which comes with seasonal fruit compote, fresh flirts and yoghurt. Order a Japanese tea to accompany your breakfast.
Sunday in Brooklyn
For the kind of hearty breakfast typically found din the US, head to Sunday in Brooklyn. This good looking restaurant sits in the heart of Notting Hill, West London, with floor-to-ceiling windows that are perfect for people watching along Westbourne Grove.
It’s open all day but it also happens to be one of the best breakfast places in town so we say get there early. This is the place to come for American-style pancakes, a fluffy stack topped with hazelnut maple praline and brown butter.
If you don’t have a sweet tooth then choose from the cheddar scramble, shakshuka, omelette or egg sandwich. Other options include avocado toast, chia pudding and delicious ricotta and jam brioche.
Brother Marcus
There are four branches of Brother Marcus across London meaning four places serving amazing their sweet potato fritters (try the one near Borough Market).
Other favourites include the smokey shakshuka, fried chicken roti, and the Marcus Breakfast, a fancy full English breakfast. Got a sweet tooth? The chocolate pancakes are out of this world.
Terry’s Cafe
If you’re doing in south London then stop by Terry’s Cafe, a self-proclaimed “diamond in the rough”, that’s been serving breakfasts since 1982. The family-run cafe is only open for breakfast and lunch serving good value home cooked meals.
They’ve got a great breakfast menu but the star of the show is The Blowout; two free range eggs, bacon, Cumberland sausage, bubble & squeak or chunky chips, baked beans or grilled or tinned tomatoes.
You’ll find Terry’s Cafe (now run by his son, Austin) in Bermondsey, not far from Borough Market.
Farm Girl
If it’s a healthy breakfast that you’re after then Farm Girl is the right place. Founded in 2015 in Notting Hill, this chain of health-focused cafes and restaurants serve delicious breakfasts and excellent coffee.
Their signature coffee is the Rose Latte, created with rose water but they also serve plenty of other instagrammable drinks including a butterfly matcha, latte black and a liquid gold latte.
The breakfast menu includes porridge, apple and pear pancakes, granola with fruit and yoghurt, banana and almond butter toast and other healthy options.
We especially like the branch in South Kensington. It’s also a good place to stop if you’re looking for a restaurant near the Natural History Museum.
Granger & Co
We’re big fans of Granger & Co, the Australian restaurant and cafe chain that’s popular for bringing a slice of life down under to London.
There are five branches across town (we particularly like the one in King’s Cross), and all guarantee a delicious breakfast.
Breakfast options range from the sunshine fruit bowl served with coconut or greek yoghurt and tofu with fresh ginger, brown rice, mushrooms, spring greens and pickets to grilled cheese with green kimchi and potato and feta rostis with poached eggs.
Megan’s
There are 11 branches of Megan’s across town (many in South London) and they all boast a stellar breakfast and brunch menu. From hash browns and pancakes to the N’duja brunch brioche and Turkish brunch feast, it’s an eclectic and delicious menu with something for everyone. Their bottomless brunches are particularly popular.
Megan’s are also dog-friendly.
Coppa Club Tower Bridge
Enjoy breakfast with a view at this buzzy riverside restaurant that sits close to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge.
Even better, book one of the Coppa Club’s see-through igloos and watch life on the River Thames pass by as you tuck into pancakes, pastries or a full English breakfast (there’s a great vegetarian options available too).
