The best brunch in London

I felt that this challenge was a noble pursuit for my most recent R&R because 1) at Syama I never get to have brunch - I'm up w-a-a-a-a-a-y too early for that, and 2) it was in keeping with my overall plan to relax as much as possible after a fairly heavy-duty stint and a seriously fast-paced year-and-a-half since I left Australia.

So I settled in for 3 long weeks of sleep-ins and lined up a few London-based contenders for the weekend brunch challenge. And let me just say - thankfully - it's not hard to convince most people to head out for a breakfast-like meal at the crack of noon!

Cathryn and Trudy left their babies behind and stepped out with me for a day of it, starting with fresh produce viewing at the Borough Markets! In fact, breakfast turned out to be a takeaway cappucino and a variety of cheeses, sausages, pastries, custards and fruit that we sampled. Cathryn was bravest mixing her coffee with a stinky French cheese tasting episode - don't think she'll be sticking her hand up for that job again.


Fresh veggies anyone?

After a ramble through the markets we stopped at Brindisa for a Spanish, small platter fest. Lovely traditional tapas and rosé on a gloriously sunny afternoon in London IN September - who would have guessed! And it turns out that my discovery from last summer is everybody's favourite bar/café as well - twice more during my stay, different friends suggested we go here for a meal. Trust those Spaniards to have so many fans.

So that was Saturday - on Sunday I met Anita at the Providores and Tapa Room which I discovered after doing an internet search for the best brunch in London. Of the 3 restaurants in the Top 10 list that weren't all-american-style-diners (wasn't looking for that) I chose this one because it had the most interesting menu, and guess what? That's right, the chef is a relocated antipodean - a Kiwi in London! Again, who would have guessed?


Anita does delicious!

As expected, the meal was very good indeed, and the restaurant friendly, cosy and comfortable. I think I'd have to say that our pear and tamarillo spiced cocktail really was the most outstanding flavour combination of the day. In contrast, the corn and blueberry fritters didn't quite make it for me - I'm still recovering from the sheer joy imparted by the corn fritters at Replete in Melbourne. Hmmmmmm ... just remembering your tamarillo vinagrette, Cat!

But sometimes you want a really traditional full English breakfast to get the day going. So Cathryn and Mike and Heath and I headed up the street to 'Big Chef' in East Finchley, which is always packed, to see whether we could satisfy our appetites.


Full English £4.50

And the answer is of course yes, so long as you enjoy everything liberally greased!

So verdict? I still have to say that the best short order cook in London, by far and away the best breakfast/brunch maker - entertaining his diners with stories and amusing musings all the while - would have to be the husband of Cathryn Gifkins, Mike Buchanan!

Thanks Mike - your breakfasts rule!