Riding House Cafe, Great Titchfield St
Positioned about 5 minutes walk from road work riddled Oxford St, I read about Riding House Cafe earlier this year. However, I didn't stumble past it until late August when visiting Kaffeine (an excellent cafe) opposite. Having apparently replaced a Slug and Lettuce, you'd be forgiven for missing RHC even when you do pass it. The understated outer and stripped back inner (all bricks, metal and whatnot) are a welcome contrast to the shouty sites of it's nearby shopping destination and a relieving retreat in itself. However, most of all I felt like I'd somehow stepped across the Atlantic into a Lower East Side dining room, an impression which was only reinforced by the breadth and depth of the menu. Seemingly devoid of a decent bloody mary, I was pleased to be offered a strong, black filter coffee within seconds. In fact the pouring was so liberal I wondered if a London restaurant had finally adopted the caffeine generosity I so fondly associated with NYC.

That said, coffee became a bit of a side show when we saw the range of milk bottle milkshakes, particularly our choice called a "Racer". The blend of chocolate, banana, espresso and milk tasted even more indulgent and energising than it's ingredients would suggest, albeit I'd recommend one between two unless you're planning to skip the main act; the food itself.

Ranging from chorizo hash browns to bircher muesli, and cured sea trout to avocado on toast, I have never been so spoilt for choice as to how I should start my day. That said I was intrigued to try RHC's "Full & Proper Breakfast" which came in at a fairly reasonable £9.40. Well presented and clearly prepared with care, I was impressed by the black pudding and field mushroom in particular. The streaky bacon was a little too brittle in my books, but compensated for by two delicious sausages and gently runny eggs.

Watching others tuck into the chorizo hash browns and even the orkney bacon sandwich, I do rather wonder if I made the wrong choice. While I'm always keen to ensure a level playing field by tucking in to the full works, on reflection I think that the RHC is less about this classic dish and is instead more proud of the breadth of it's breakfast menu. Having then tasted the chorizo dish, I think it's fair to say that when it comes to RHC, the "Full and Proper Breakfast" is just that, but unfortunately not half as tasty as the more unique corners of the menu.

Scoring: 8/10
Visit it: RHC
Find it: Map
Pay for it: £42

St. John Hotel, 1 Leicester St

Having originally booked for breakfast at the new outpost of St. John in late December, I was excited to get an email in late March announcing that everything would be ready for the hotel to open in early April. Wasting no time, I booked for a 9:30 start just a week after it opened, being careful to ensure we arrived in time to catch the end of breakfast service so that I could go back on a separate occasion for elevenses.

Overlooking the back of the new W Hotel (what a contrast between SJH and this disco ball beast) the dining room is the customary St John mix of white walls, wooden furniture and stainless steel open kitchen. Spotlessly dressed staff were clearly still learning the ropes, but service was good and helped by a quiet morning. 

The menu is broad enough to cater for most, whether you're recovering from the night before or somehow tempted by a healthier option. Devilled kidneys on toast was an easy choice, reinforced by the chef explaining the dish's preparation to our server when he asked for service. The kidneys were soft and rich, complemented extremely well by one of the best devilled sauces I have had, apparently prepared over several hours with Guinness added for good measure. More bread or toast to accompany would have been a nice touch, but otherwise a faultless execution of a St John favourite.

Devilled Kidneys on Toast 

The ham and eggs were equally tasty, albeit they are not done justice by our picture. The ham was generously thick, grilled to perfection and thankfully not dry by any means. The fried toast was leagues better than homemade equivalents given the quality of St John's Bermondsey-baked bread, with one piece leaving a healthy appetite for more. 

Ham, Eggs and Fried Bread 

We both chose tea to accompany our meal, but were a little disappointed that a £4 pot barely filled a cup. However, refills turned out to be on the house and we were quite taken by the little mesh umbrellas wedged in the pot's spout in place of separate tea strainer (must find one online). The grapefruit juice was suitably tart and clearly freshly made, though perhaps not the best match with kidneys. 

I will certainly be back at St John Hotel in the near future, most likely for elevenses and hopefully one day to stay the night. In short, breakfast was excellent and everything I expected it to be with the added benefit of perfect portions meaning that I could have lunch after the walk home too! 

Scoring: 9.3/10

Visit it: St John Hotel

Find it: Map

Pay for it: £20/head  

Hawksmoor, Spitalfields

Hawksmoor is a stone's throw up Commercial St from my last breakfast outing at The Luxe. Long a retreat for City workers with expenses budgets and beef lovers in the know, Hawksmoor has been serving Ginger Pig sourced beef of many breeds since 2006. Having opened another site in Covent Garden to much critical acclaim last year, I thought this was a good opportunity to go back to the original and sample it's breakfast credentials.

Having noted the exceptional brunch menu, which features everything from Tamworth bacon and eggs to a sausage and egg muffin, I was left with one choice; the signature Hawksmoor Breakfast. Coming for two to share, this beast of a morning meal includes no less that 12 items, all quite exceptional in their own right: Smoked Bacon Chop, Sausages (Pork, Beef & Mutton), Bury Black Pudding, Short Rib Bubble & Squeak, Grilled Bone Marrow, Trotter Baked Beans, Fried Eggs, Grilled Mushrooms, Roast Tomatoes, Unlimited Dripping Toast & HP, Onion and Bone Marrow Gravy

Breakfast for two.. or three

Clearly not for the faint-hearted, the breakfast arrived in a piping hot cast iron pan direct from the oven, with gravy and beans on the side. Quite taken aback by the sheer volume of the dish's contents, we started on the three sausages which were meaty and satisfyingly complex in flavour. The chop was expertly cooked and probably the most refreshingly novel aspect of the meal given the limp and watery bacon often slapped on your plate as part of a typical full English. Sat their carving the bacon off the bone mid-morning and scarping bone marrow onto toast made me a feel a little cheeky, but then again there is nothing wrong with a hearty breakfast to set you up for the day! The Bury Black Pudding added to this heartiness and would have been a dream sandwich filler if others ever found it acceptable to put HP and pudding between bread at lunch.

Aside from the meaty elements, I was particularly impressed with the beans which made the usual canned effort seem lacklustre, one-dimensional and watery. Rich, slightly spicy and full of pork flavour, they were probably the best beans I have ever had, though not dissimilar from some recent home cooked efforts. That said, something about the richness of the breakfast as a whole made me yearn for a less filling flavour, with only the tomatoes to refresh the taste buds and no clear sign of a bloody mary anywhere to be seen on the menu; surely with such an hearty and original approach to the meal itself, drinks would be more than an after thought?

It is difficult to really do this breakfast justice without resorting to the cliche that I haven't ever had anything quite like it. From the provenance of the meat to the attention paid to the otherwise secondary elements (the bubble and squeak was excellent too), this is both a breakfast of champions and a champion breakfast. At £35 per head a Hawksmoor breakfast won't be a weekly event, but if you are looking for a hearty and truly delicious morning meal, look no further... just have a long walk planned after to work it off!

Scoring: 9/10

Visit it: Hawksmoor

Find it: Map

Pay for it: £35-£40/head

The Luxe, Spitalfields

New Year's Eve and all the excesses that go with it just a few hours away, Dec 31st seemed like the perfect opportunity to sample John Torode's East London version of the much-loved multi-levelled tower of meat, Smiths of Smithfields. Wandering in mid-morning, I grabbed a table near the bar and in sight of the busy kitchen. Staff seemed available if slightly distracted by a range of families on tour, locals and young market-goers already seated around the u-shaped cafe/bar. The kiosk outside was serving coffee, though the terrace area was understandably quiet given that the temperature was in low single digits.


The menu was versatile and clearly aimed at catering for breakfast crowds from the nearby City, as well as passing tourists and those wanting to bridge breakfast and lunch with a mid-morning burger or all day fry-up. Alongside the usuals, highlights include 'Thick Cut Ham, 2 Fried Eggs & Chips' (£7.50), 'The LUXE Butty' (bacon or sausage £4.50) and 'Flat Mushrooms on Toast, Poached Egg & Hollandaise' (£6.50). Despite being rather tempted by the brunch and lunch options available so early (especially the 'Mac & Cheese, Smoked Haddock & Poached Egg' at £9.50), I went for 'The LUXE Big Breakfast'.

It proved to be rather dominated by toast, and the single portions of egg, sausage and hash brown all struct me as evidence that 'medium' rather than 'big' would be a better moniker. Still, if we follow Starbucks measurement principles ('tall' is medium etc) and bearing in mind my larger than normal appetite, perhaps this level of pernikety is unfair. Focussing on what was on the plate, the sausage was reassuringly moist (not that I have seen that as key factor before), the bacon was superb and the tomatoes another delicious hybrid of sun-dried and roast ; not too wet, not too dry. I was a little disappointed with the blood pudding, which instead of being almost unbearably rich, was slightly floury and needed beans on the same fork for the flavour to really work. As mentioned, toast was a large part of the plate rather than the side plated accompaniment I prefer, but it was toasted perfectly and a second piece would have been a welcome mop for my beans.


This was all washed down with a 'Bottomless Cup of Joe', for a reasonable £2... or it would have been reasonable had a refill been offered and the drink not so hot (as an Americano, it seemed) that I couldn't drink it until afterwards. Bit of a shame given early excitement that coffee was now available in limitless New York style in London. All the other coffee drinks were available, but I was more impressed with the  range of drinks from the 'Juice Bar' including 'Veggie' which incorporated carrot, tomato, celery, ginger and coriander, as well as the smoothies, though the 'Breakfast' should have probably been called the 'New Year's Resolution' with honey, banana, greek yoghurt and muesli (yes, muesli in a drink....).


In summary, not a bad choice for the atmosphere (liked Little Green Bag by George Baker played out loud) and location, but don't get too excited about the impressive menu until you see what that means on your plate. Don't get me wrong, I didn't think it was particularly bad, I just really don't believe it was particularly good. I would expect better given the need to appeal to corporate breakfasters and given the Smithfields heritage. With St John Bread & Wine over the road, it would never be hard to choose between the two.


Scoring: 6.5/10


Visit it The LUXE
Find it  Map
Pay for it: £8