It's Wednesday which means the weekend is fast approaching, and it is definitely time to start planning some fun weekend activities 😃.
I am a great believer in brunch ☕️🍴on the weekend (this is partly because I like sleeping 💤 very much), but also because it is the perfect way to kick start a day that otherwise has the potential to be very lazy. I like brunch food - the choice of savoury or sweet, healthy or indulgent, and being able to order two drinks at once and not look like a weirdo.
I am, however, quite fussy about my brunch, and I am afraid a greasy fry up doesn't really interest me, and have to admit I have succumbed and am a self-confessed smashed avocado, flat white bruncher through and through 😘. What I really like, is an interesting menu with healthyish food that actually tastes nice (I am a secret healthy food lover), along with a proper coffee and a green tea. I'm not too fussed about alcohol, it's nice to start the day with a clean start, although I did once go to a prosecco soaked brunch at Bunga Bunga which was the best fun ever, I urge you to go.
I would also say one of the MOST important things about brunching is being able to walk straight in and sit down at a table. I DO NOT WANT TO QUEUE. There are places I have eaten very good food, The Breakfast Club and Brew are two, but I have absolutely no wish to stand on the street for 45 mins (usually in the cold) whilst they chivvy someone else away from their breakfast to make a place for me. Brunch is to be enjoyed and should be lengthy, if you want it to be, and relaxing, it is the weekend after all ☺️.
I also need to be able to either walk or cycle to brunch from home, having possibly indulged in a few too many cocktails the night before, so places I go, tend to not be too far from where I live (although I am doing a very dry January, and made it all the way to Notting Hill from the deep depths of Wandsworth on my bicycle in time for brunch last weekend, and I am perhaps feeling a little smug).
So here are a few of my local favourite brunching spots. 😃 ☕️🍴.
Alice xxx
424 Garratt Lane, Earlsfield, SW18 4HN
brunch at Bean & Hop
I like Bean & Hop. They are really friendly and their menu is interesting, and unexpected. You can choose between porridge with spiced poached pears, an excellent bacon butty (I always have smashed avocado in mine) or Black Bean Fritters which sound a little on the scary healthy side but taste delicious. They do really good coffee and always have a special smoothie, my favourite so far was a berry smoothie with chocolate brownies mixed in - superb 👌.
123, St John's Hill, Battersea, SW11 1SZ
Coffee at Birdhouse
For me, Birdhouse is a quick brunch place. This is THE best coffee, and they always ask if you want sugar, which I find weirdly endearing in the current 'sugar is evil' climate. I usually have the banana bread which they will butter for you even if you are taking away, but they also have a varied savoury brunch menu, including bocaditos - Cuban sandwiches.
63 Northcote Road, Battersea, SW11 1NP
Brunch at Cafe Tamra
Cafe Tamra is brunch with a twist, they have Moroccan, Mediterranean and Greek inspired dishes, so you can have Shakshouka (Moroccan baked eggs) and they also do all the normals too - eggs how you like them or pancakes, so there is something for everyone.
314 Trinity Road, Wandsworth, SW18 3RG
Brunch at Toast Rack
Toast Rack has a very friendly vibe to it, and a very good, more traditional menu. It's refreshingly not too trendy, being based in Wandsworth you more likely to encounter small children and small dogs than bearded philosophers. I like it a lot. They do an excellent selection of teas, and a good simple full english breakfast, or you could branch out and have kedgeree.
4 Bellevue Road, Wandsworth, SW17 7EQ
Brunch at Flotsam and Jetsam
If you are a yummy mummy living in Wandsworth I suspect you have been to Flotsam at least once.. Flotsam has a lovely atmosphere, although this is the one place on my list I am afraid you may have queue for. But once inside, they do a mean BLT Toasted Sandwich - bacon, lettuce, smashed avocado with ailoi, or you can feel really good about yourself and have the coco-mango bircher (in the photo) all sorts of healthy things looking pretty in coconut yoghurt.
79 Lower Richmond Road, Putney, SW15 1ET
Brunch at the Ground Coffee Society
This may be my current favourite. If you go, you must have the blueberry pancakes with bacon, they are the best and come with creme fraiche too. The fresh juices are terrific and so is the coffee (they first started with only coffee) and they have a fun outside seating area at the back, which is open to the air when it is sunny.
