My ideal Saturday (or Sunday) involves a workout followed by brunch with friends and that’s exactly how it panned out this past weekend: a leisurely 5km run around the Outer Circle in Regent’s Park before brunch at Granger & Co in Notting Hill with a couple of friends. You guys, this place has been on my “To Eat” list for the past 2 years and I finally ticked it off…and boy was it worth the wait! As Granger & Co doesn’t take reservations, there is almost always a queue outside the restaurant. Given my mom once waited 45 minutes for a table, we lucked out with a mere 15-minute wait. Once seated and a quick glance at the menu. I knew what I wanted to order. I say ‘quick because obviously I looked at the menu online beforehand #foodie. I went with an English breakfast tea & the Fresh Aussie:
Tea smoked salmon, scrambled eggs, avocado, roast tomato, miso chestnut mushrooms & sourdough toast
Just look at those scrambled eggs! I tend to opt for poached eggs to avoid dairy but the server offered to make their iconic scrambled eggs without dairy if I wanted…er yes please! The service was superb till this point, but this is when they really impressed me. A minute after serving our food, our waitress ran back to our table to apologise that the eggs she served me did contain dairy and she would bring over a fresh plate within a few minutes. Kudos for the extra caution on her end! I don’t know how the chefs at Granger & Co managed without the cream or butter, but the eggs tasted so creamy.
This is a pretty bold statement given I’ve eaten brunch out every weekend over these last 2 months in London, but Granger & Co is undoubtedly the best brunch I’ve eaten in London yet…and I am not even eggs-aggerating ;)! In case salmon isn’t your thing, here are a couple of the dishes that my friends ordered & raved about:
Prawn, chilli & ginger spaghetti, spring onions:
Full Aussie – scrambled eggs, sourdough toast, bacon, roast tomato, miso chestnut mushrooms, chipolatas:
Australians are renowned for their coffee and given Granger & Co is originally Australian, I just had to cap off my meal with a soy cappuccino:
Starbucks suddenly seems so meh! We also ordered a plate of their renowned Ricotta Hot Cakes with Banana & Honeycomb Butter:
I was too stuffed to try them this time round, but I guess that only means I need to go back sometime soon! A little tip for the readers in London who can’t be bothered to queue up: word on the street is that the Granger & Co in Clerkenwell does take reservations.
What’s your favorite thing to order at brunch? If it involves eggs & avocado, chances are I am ordering it!
What does your ideal Saturday involve?
Ahhh that looks so good! I’m not usually a big mushroom person but miso mushrooms sounds intriguing.
As for brunch, for me it depends: if I’m feeling something sweet I love french toast or waffles, and if I want savoury, I love Eggs Benedict or anything with smoked salmon. And now I want brunch…
Ooh smoked salmon added to eggs is always a good idea! Love ordering French toast/waffles for dessert at brunch!
Definitely putting this place on my list for the next time I’m in London!
And my brunch order usually depends on my mood – sometimes I want something sweet and sometimes/most of the time I’m craving something savory. And if the option is available I’ll get both!
Love the sweet & savoury combo, especially waffles topped with a runny egg!!
I went to the Clerkenwell branch in my final weekend in London. It had been on my wish list forever and I wasn’t leaving London without going! I never order sweet things for breakfast, but I had the hotcakes and OMG were they good. Definitely go back for them! And Australian coffee is about a million times better than anything in London! haha
Did it live up to the hype for you? And dude, based on coffee alone I don’t know how you moved to London from Australia!!!
my ideal Saturday usually involves a early morning run followed immediately by brunch as well. i usually crave savory things then maybe a bite or two of something sweet 🙂
Looks like our taste buds are totally in sync :)!
hello ricotta hot cakes! at starbucks? dude, starbucks in london must be very different than the manhattan one. i wanna try the one in india someday.
looks yummy!!! 🙂
I think you misread my post, Nisha- the hotcakes were at Granger & Co 🙂
I love eggs for breakfast, all kinds, all ways. I’m pretty easy that way and if I’m making scrambled, I always use plain almond milk so I guess if I skipped buttering the pan, they’d be dairy free. They’d also be stuck to the skillet but you can’t win ’em all. 😉
Giiirl you gotta get yourself a non-stick skillet- works like a charm for preventing eggs sticking to the skillet!!