Brunch O'Clock

On account of my bizarre work "schedule", I actually struggle to make it out for food most weekends during that magical window of opportunity, but I have managed to squeeze in a few breakfast-lunch hybrids recently. Here's some inspiration for the weekend ahead. Ready, set. BRUNCH.

Warning : This post contains strong coffee and scenes of an eggporn nature...

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Salon, Brixton - The One That Takes Reservations

Surely not, right? No one takes reservations anymore. ESPECIALLY for brunch. Alright then, if you say so - see you tomorrow at 10.45 - "Isn't that still breakfast time?" (Flatmate M).

And just like that, the wait for a table was gone. Five of us rocked up to the lovely Salon in Brixton's Market Row on a Saturday morning for a spot of brunch ahead of an afternoon at Beavertown Brewery's birthday party - Flickr photos here.

In the evenings (Tue-Sat), Salon has a serious set menuto get stuck in to (£33/head at the time of writing) . The most recent list I saw had such delights as burata with blood orange, bitter leaves and hazelnuts and scallop with 'nduja, burnt apple, and grilled leek. Seasonal and inventive is their thing, and this also applies to their wonderful, affordable brunch menu.

Here's what you should look out for:

- Warm banana bread, hazelnut ganache - £3.50

- Smashed avo on toast, super seeds & pickled chilli with smoked pig's cheek lardons - £6.50

- Scrambled eggs & 'nduja on toast - £6.50

- Roast mushrooms, pickled shallots & cow's curd on toast - £7.50

- Three cheese cornbread, shredded ham hock, chipotlé slaw, poached duck egg - £9

If you ask nicely, they might just bring you some of their rather excellent sourdough doughnuts too...

Warm banana bread, hazelnut ganache - £3.50

Three cheese cornbread, shredded ham hock, chipotlé slaw, poached duck egg - £9

Three cheese cornbread, shredded ham hock, chipotlé slaw, poached duck egg - £9

Scrambled eggs & 'nduja on toast - £6.50

Smashed avo on toast, super seeds & pickled chilli with smoked pig's cheek lardons - £6.50

Smashed avo on toast, super seeds & pickled chilli with smoked pig's cheek lardons - £6.50

Salon's sourdough doughnuts

Sourdough doughnuts and flat whites

We had a roomy table to ourselves, we didn't feel rushed, portions were generous, and everything was under a tenner. Bloody Marys are £5.50 compared to £15 at Duck & Waffle. What's the catch? 

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No catch. Salon is the real brunch deal. I even went back the following week for more banana bread and doughnuts. Don't miss the 'nduja scrambled eggs - they're something else.

Did I mention that you can book? Call ahead on 02075019152 if you still remember how to ring people from your smartphone.

Salon - www.salonbrixton.co.uk

18 Market Row, Brixton, SW9 8LD

Photos on Flickr - click here

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Fields, Clapham Common - The One That's Literally In A Field

Fields is a funny little place, standing all alone on Clapham Common, like the poor kid that's been left behind after team captains have chosen their players. Except that on this occasion, they foolishly overlooked Lionel Messi, for there is some magical stuff going on in this tiny kitchen from the folk behind the outrageously popular Milk in Balham (another super brunch spot).

The menu is ever changing, but one dish that is always bound to be on there is their outstanding plate of poached eggs with Workshop Coffee's Cult of Done espresso hollandaise, and drycure bacon (or Hansen & Lydersen salmon) - one of the finest brunch dishes in the capital. There will also be a fair few smoked ingredients, as they do a lot of smoking on-site.

Here are some enticing examples from my most recent visit:

- Sprouted grain granola, suffolk yoghurt, smoked cos apple, cardamom, filo - £7.50

- Sourdough croque madame, gloucester old spot ham, smoked egg yolk, emmental - £9.50

- Carribean doubles, chickpea, plantain, tamarind ketchup, cucumber pickle - £8

- Ghetto omelette, seared wild mushrooms, burnt brie, black garlic marjoram - £9.20

- Masa breakfast taco, grilled octopus, smoked pumpkin mayo, spring green slawo - £9.20

- Peat-smoked lardy cake - £2.50 // - Pandan softserve & toffee popcorn - £3

Sourdough croque madame, gloucester old spot ham, smoked egg yolk, emmental - £9.50

Sourdough croque madame, gloucester old spot ham, smoked egg yolk, emmental - £9.50

Poached eggs with cult of done espresso hollandaise & drycure bacon - £8.50

Poached eggs with cult of done espresso hollandaise & drycure bacon - £8.50

Pandan softserve & toffee popcorn - £3

Fields is currently only open Friday-Sunday, from 9am-5pm (4pm on Friday), but check the website before you go to be safe. Wrap up warm, there's more space outdoors than in, and it's not the cosiest of cafés. But you'd be a fool to skip it on those grounds.

Fields - www.fieldscafe.com

2 Rookery Road, Clapham Common, SW4 9DD

Photos on Flickr - click here

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Flour To The People, Battersea - The One At The End Of My Road

No matter what I throw at you, your ideal brunch spot is probably still the one at the end of your road, right? In my case, that's Flour To The People on Battersea Park Road, a snug sourdough bakery and brunch café with see-through toasters on every table. 

If you want your money to go a long way, order Toast To The People - for £6.95, you have access to an endless supply of freshly baked sourdough, plus two sides, and homemade spreads. Alternatively, I can recommend the Eggs Benedict-ish that involves bacon, eggs, hollandaise and their own sourdough crumpets, and the Avo & Egg Slam - smashed avo, sweet chilli, lime, feta, and two poached eggs on sourdough. Both dishes are pictured below.

Avo & Egg Slam - smashed avocado with sweet chilli, lime, feta & two poached eggs on sourdough - £9.90

Eggs Benedict-ish - sourdough crumpets, 2 eggs, bacon & house made hollandaise - £8.75

Tie it in with a visit to Park Road Kitchen, Draft House Westbridge, Battersea Flower Station, and La Moka Café to make the most of an awkward trip. Swing by Battersea Park for a round of minigolf afterwards too.  If you are still in the area come the evening, Flour To The People have just started serving sourdough pizzas from 5pm-10pm. Read more here.

Flour To The People - www.flour2people.com

Breakfast / brunch served everyday from 8am

573 Battersea Park Road, Battersea, SW11 3BJ

Photos on Flickr - click here

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Here's a few more thoughts from my back catalogue / to-do list...

If you want to start early, get over to Dishoom from 8am on weekdays and 9am on weekends for their bacon naan rolls and chai.  Pimlico Fresh's french toast is second to none, and they open at 7.30am on weekdays (9am on weekends). Also, Ember Yard & Dehesa in Soho have just launched an enticing breakfast menu - read more here. Of course, Duck and Waffle is there for you at all hours!

Eggporn at Duck & Waffle

If you can make it through to 12pm, you should also get yourself over to Brunswick House in Vauxhall for their "weekend lunch", or Donostia Social Club in Pop Brixton as it opens, before the crowds descend.

Brunswick House

Donostia Social Club on Flickr

Top of my to-do list is The Good Egg in Stoke Newington. After a couple of successful years on the street food & popup scene, Joel Braham, Alex Coppard & co. successfully crowdfunded and opened an all-day Jewish soul food spot on Church Street. Pretty ashamed I haven't been in to say hello yet! 

Elsewhere, exciting brunch menus have appeared at Berber & Q, The Other Room, Shotgun. Street Kitchen London Fields, Kricket, and more. 

If you are more of a lie-in and Sunday roast fan, then look no further than Blacklock and Zelman Meats in Soho. Sorted.

Zelman Meats photos on Flickr

Happy eating!

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P.S. You may have noticed the word Flickr flying around. I've just started putting photos up there, and I will be updating it most days so please check it out here, and follow me if you have a Flickr account!

Crater Lake, Oregon

Matt The Jaunts : Duck & Waffle to Dandelyan

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Route 2 : Duck & Waffle to Dandelyan

Monday 24th August - A slightly mad team of 12 committed to a 6am breakfast in the sky at Duck & Waffle on a Monday morning with visiting Americans. It transpired that it was also Ella's birthday, and that most people had taken the day off.  That's how to start the week. The only hitch - Duck & Waffle's booking skills. My word, what a shambles. Don't fall into their group booking traps. Use the Regina Phalange approach if you have to.

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5.30am - After a team sleepover with copious amounts of pasta, thimbles, cat videos, and a hard to come by bottle of Surly Brewing Pentagram from Minneapolis (thanks to Shannon and Amr!), we bundle into a couple of Ubers and mumble something about ducks and 5 stars.

6am - That lift. What a view. Well done London. We spend the next half hour gawping out of the window (or at Dan Doherty - focus ladies) as the sky turns all sorts of funky colours. And no, it's not Independence Day, those are window reflections. We will go quietly into the night.

6.30am - The Bloody Marys and coffees start coming. This doesn't stop for approx. 2.5 hours. The staff soon spot patterns and just bring them out every few minutes. Food wise, most can't resist the signature Duck & Waffle, but some of us go off piste with Colombian Eggs, Bananas Brulée and "The Full Elvis".

After a steep learning curve in America, Sarah finally nails the perfect poached egg breach for camera

Sarah's eggporn masterpiece

Bananas Brulée

9.15am - It's probably time to leave Duck & Waffle. Some people have to go to work (hah!). We throw £400 or so at them, and make for the door. Head Bartender Rich Woods has arrived - is it too early for a Nutella Negroni? Stop it, focus, get back in the lift. Weeeeeeee.

In need of late night / early morning food nearby without the price-tag and vertigo? Polo Bar and the iconic Beigel Bake are both open 24/7 round  the corner. 

Other breakfast options around Shoreditch and Liverpool St.? Try Cream, Jago, Patty & Bun (Thu-Fri only), Friends of Ours, Dishoom, Bad Egg, The Modern Pantry or The Ace Hotel.

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9.30am - A quick jog through the rain brings us to Association Coffee - it's a bit of a looker. Eight of us make the funky long table our own, and settle in for more caffeine. I'm on the verge of saying something charming to the girl behind the counter, when Katie beats me to it - pesky friendly Americans. Instead I panic order some tea. It comes with a timer though which keeps me entertained.

10.30am - We say goodbye to some jetlagged Americans and a confused school teacher who doesn't seem to know that it's still the summer holidays. Time to move on. Draft House Seething Lane sadly isn't open yet.  Grand plans to play Time Run or Hint Hunt have fallen through. More coffee it is I guess.

N.B. Association Coffee, like many other places around here, is only open Mon-Fri. Curator's Coffee is another local gem with similar opening times.

Association Coffee - photos from website

Association Coffee - photos from website

Association Coffee - photos from website

Association Coffee - photos from website

10.45am - Five of us remain. It's still drizzling so we hop on a bus towards St.Paul's to reach The Wren, an independent coffee shop inside St.Nicholas Cole Abbey which still holds services. The church was rebuilt by the office of Sir Christopher Wren after being destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. Pretty cool location for a cuppa joe I'm sure you'll agree. Though if this was Belgium there would be beer. 

It's almost 4 hours since breakfast so I claim the last bacon sandwich whilst the others enjoy Workshop Coffee over a game of cards. N.B. The Wren is only open Mon-Fri!

The Wren - coffee in church

Coffee at The Wren - photo from website

Sandwiches at The Wren - photo from website

12pm - Right, that's enough coffee I think. Next stop - The Pelt Trader for all the craft beers and pizza. It's a personal favourite of mine having used it for a couple of private parties, plus there's nowhere else nearby to rival their beer range. And Mark the manager is a true gent. Guess what though? It's only open Mon-Fri. Spotting a pattern?

The birthday girl rejoins us and we start strong with Lagunitas Fusion XXXI Mozango - a 9% Mosaic & Mango Double IPA. Oof. Tim orders one of Ray's 18" pizzas to offset the beers.

Did you know that The Pelt Trader is related to Euston Tap and Holborn Whippet? Two more fantastic London beer outposts. And they just announced that they will soon be opening Waterloo Tap and The Resting Hare. 

The Pelt Trader

Anything else nearby? Not really, except for the wonderful Merchant House - an underground temple to rum and gin with great bartenders and a ridiculous back bar. Their ground floor booze shop - "The Pantry" - has just opened. 

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2pm - Time for a bit of culture I reckon. I fancy a trip to the Barbican's hidden tropical Conservatory that I've still never made it to, but it's only open a few Sundays a year. Instead, we head across Millennium Bridge towards Tate Modern. Ella and I go into a Rothko trance, whilst the others veer off to soak up The Bard in pint form at the Swan at Shakespeare's Globe. Anspach & Hobday Cream Ale on tap - sorted.

3.30pm - The group remains split by outrageous weather, so four of us duck into The Thirsty Bear. Here you can pour your own pints at the table (be careful not to spill - every drop counts) and order food and booze through iPads. Sounds fun (ish), but the drinks selection isn't on point and the atmosphere is pretty flat. Shame. Not much else around here either, apart from the Mondrian hotel. There's a thought.

iPads & taps at your table - Photo provided by The Thirsty Bear

4.30pm - Carsten Höller at Southbank is rained off and Bompass & Parr's Alcoholic Architecture is booked up for the day, so there's only one thing for it - afternoon cocktails at Dandelyan, Ryan Cheti's stunning bar in the Mondrian that has been winning awards left, right and centre since it opened in October 2014. And rightly so - Tom Dixon's interior design never fails to impress, and Ryan's cocktails are next-level.  Just make sure you've got some money in your account - you're gonna need it.

Ella and I ignore the Night cap / Post Dinner labels and order a Heartwood Old-Fashioned and a Crimson Waxwork. We have been up for almost 12 hours after all. The former is a combination of Johnnie Walker Black Label, oak lactone syrup and Dandelyan resin bitters, whilst Crimson Waxwork involves Beeswax Cognac, bee pollen, Cocchi Americano and oak bitters - a Cognac-based Manhattan of sorts. We make them last an hour (£13.50 a pop...) and watch umbrellas with legs go by on the Southbank.

What else is in the Mondrian? You'll spot Seamus Mullen's Sea Containers and The Den on your way through to Dandelyan, but you'll need to seek out the lift to find the Rumpus Room, a stylish rooftop bar and lounge with more outstanding drinks.

Crimson Waxwork - Beeswax Cognac, Bee Pollen, Cocchi Americano, Oak Bitters

Crimson Waxwork and Heartwood Old Fashioned

Heartwood Old Fashioned - Johnnie Walker Black Label, Oak Lactone Syrup, Dandelyan Resin Bitters

From Dandelyan on, it became Ella's birthday evening - out of my hands. It involved chops. Lots of chops. Had we continued along the Southbank path, we would have come across the likes of Bleecker Burger and Beany Green. Read more about beer on the Southbank here.

Got some suggestions for additions to this route? Want to send us out around another part of London? Leave comments below and I'll get back to you as soon as possible! In the meantime, why not plan your own trips using Map The List : London?

More Matt The Jaunts - Route 1: London Fields to Hackney Wick

Coming up : King's Cross to Camden // Balham to Brixton 

Meat Liquor - Underdog - Duck and Waffle

Friday 23rd February - As my friend Natalie can confirm from my numerous facebook messages about pop-up bars and restaurants last week, I am already pretty obsessed with The List. Just visiting Underdog would not be enough to kickstart the campaign. Since I needed to be in Bond Street anyway to watch three of my violin students perform at the Wigmore Hall with Midori (the violinist as opposed to a bottle of melon liqueur), I decided to squeeze in a trip to an underground burger bar called Meat Liquor around the corner afterwards with my friend Sam.

I told him about the place over the phone and instructed him to look it up and meet me there at 3.30pm for a filthy burger and a drink when the queue would hopefully be non-existent.  It was only when I texted him on the day that I discovered that he had thought the place was called Meat Licker.  The fact that this didn't put him off suggests that Sam is going to come in handy over the next 10 months of adventurous eating and drinking.  There was no queue but it was packed inside and we had to wait at the bar for a table.  Luckily they had some cans of Hobo beer to keep us busy.  Sam went for a Buffalo Chicken Burger ("Dirty chicken burger slathered in house hot-pepper sauce with blue cheese dressing") whilst I tried to find out from the waitress (or "burgerette" apparently) what I could expect from Dead Hippie Sauce.  It is a place for meat lovers (and not recommended as a date after the mess we made trying to eat) though there are veggie options under the "Rabbit Food" section of the menu. With a "Meateasy Triple Chilli Challenge", Philli Cheese Fries (fries, shaved rump steak, onions, mushrooms, provolone cheese) and much more besides still left to try, I intend to return.  However, I have heard rumour of other burger bars that are in the running for Best London Burger 2013 such as Honest Burgers, Dirty Burger, and Patty and Bun that I might have to try first...

After a swift pint in the Cock and Lion pub on Wigmore Street, I left Sam behind (who was off to a Safari party - points to anyone who knows what that is) and ventured off to Brewdog Shoreditch to meet several friends keen to try out Underdog.  After a couple of standard Brewdog pints we moved downstairs through a hidden door in to Underdog.  The downstairs bar also serves Brewdog beer so there is no real reason to stay upstairs unless you crave a particular rare bottle and have a burning desire to shout at your friends all evening.  The cocktails were tasty, the atmosphere was great and the decor is fun - a few risqué photos taken with a skeleton hanging next to our table haven't yet materialised. 5 hours later, the committed few still left were in need of food.  I saw this is a great opportunity to push on with the list and so we ventured out into the freezing cold to make our way over to Heron Tower where a 24/7 restaurant bar on the 40th floor called Duck and Waffle was waiting...

There was a woman on the ground floor who worked for Sushisamba (also on The List) organising the queue.  She bizarrely made us make a reservation before going up in the lift and said there would be a 20 minute wait in the bar. The view from the glass walled lift was impressive as it zoomed us up 40 floors in a few seconds whizzing high above the Gherkin and putting us up near the heights of the Shard.  Once up there, there was no waiting time and many tables were empty (silly woman) as you might expect since you can visit the restaurant all night long!

4 out of the 5 of us settled on the signature dish, Duck and Waffle, and we were not disappointed!  A fry up, main meal and pudding in one, it is pretty good value at £15 considering the venue. I should imagine it is not the last time that I will end up in the Duck and Waffle since the 344 bus runs all night long to my flat from outside - next time I will aim for a sunrise sitting.  We all disappeared off into to the night at about 3am to catch various night buses having made a great start to The List.

Next up... B.Y.O.C? Purl? Southsider Cocktail Club? Opium? Pitt Cue Co? House of Wolf? Bubbledogs? Bounce? Hot-tub cinema? La Bodega Negra? Bone Daddies? Ceviche? The Mayor of Scaredy Cat Town? Circus? Disco Bistro? Who knows... but it is going to be fun.

List Team: Sam (Meat Liquor), Ali, Lauren (Underdog), Luke, Natalie, Taro, Maggie (Underdog, Duck & Waffle).