Top Breakfast Choices in Bloomsbury

Where’s Best for Breakfast in Bloomsbury?

The first meal of the day is the most important meal of the day, so they say. Here in Bloomsbury, there’s an abundance of places to tuck into your favourite breakfast. Whether it’s a healthy light bite or a hearty Full English, there’s something to suit everyone. From personal family recommendations to popular favourites, this list should help point you to the best breakfast in Bloomsbury, so you can start the day as you mean to go on.

Fork Deli

85 Marchmont Street, London WC1N 1AL
1 minute walk from the hotel
Open Monday to Friday from 8am, Saturday from 9am and Sunday from 10am – breakfast served till 11.30am
Tel: 020 7387 2860

This friendly coffee bar made my list of favourite places for brunch in Bloomsbury, but it’s definitely a great place for breakfast in Bloomsbury too.

The Fork is a favourite of ours because it prides itself in supporting local, London-based suppliers. And being just a minute’s walk from the hotel helps too.

On the menu you’ll find the likes of sourdough toast with a selection of jams, and porridge with fresh fruit. Or there’s avocado on toast with smoked salmon and dill, halloumi with chilli flakes, or basil, lime and chilli.

If you like your eggs, there’s plenty to choose from, including fried eggs with avocado, tomato chutney and sourdough; smoked salmon or Parma ham and scrambled egg muffin, or bacon with fried egg and tomato chutney on sourdough to name just a few.

Fig & Walnut Kitchen

75-77 Marchmont St, London WC1N 1AP
2 minute walk from the hotel
Open every day 8am to 11pm

This place on the corner of Marchmont Street and Tavistock Place is owned by the same people as one of our favourite restaurants, the Pitted Olive, which I wrote about in my blog on where to eat around Cartwright Gardens.

It’s not long opened after the owner – good man, passionate about his food – transformed it from the old Balfour Restaurant.

It’s a traditional Turkish restaurant, but you can still get your full English-style fix here, albeit with a continental twist.

Breakfast menu highlights include the Fry Up featuring turkey rashers, sucuk, eggs, hash brown, mushrooms, tomatoes, beans and toast, and the Mediterranean which comprises scrambled egg, sucuk, halloumi, feta cheese, tomato, olives, filo pastry, honey and cream and Turkish bread.

Or go for Turkish eggs – poached eggs on a bed of garlic yoghurt, drizzled with chilli butter and mint and served with Turkish bread – or Shakshuka, which is baked eggs in homemade tomato and pepper sauce with crumbled feta and Turkish bread.

There’s also eggs benedict on sourdough, avocado on toast, French toast, pancakes, and granola bowls.

But for a true breakfast treat and definitely up there on the best breakfast in Bloomsbury list, you’ve got to try the house special – ‘Fig and Walnut Breakfast’ – a proper feast of pancakes or French toast served with fruits and maple syrup with scrambled eggs, sucuk, halloumi, mushroom and tomato.

La Dolce London

76 Marchmont St, London WC1N 1AG
2 minute walk from the hotel
Open every day 8am to 5pm

This local independent café serves a range of sandwiches, cakes and pastries as well as a variety of hot and cold drinks.

On the breakfast menu, apart from the avocado on toast staple – and porridge topped with berries – you’ll find a couple of nice bagel options, including smoked salmon with cream cheese and dill, and the ‘Caprese’ with pesto, cherry tomatoes and mozzarella.

Sandwich Street Kitchen

Sinclair House, 6 Hastings St, London WC1H 9PZ
3 minute walk from the hotel
Open: Tuesday to Friday 8am to 3.30pm
Saturday & Sunday 8.30am to 3pm
Closed Mondays
Tel: 020 7388 9955
Website

One of my local favourites for breakfast in Bloomsbury, this traditional café has in recent years branched out to offer a few more trendy options, but I’m pleased to say you can still get a good old fry-up here.

Choose from the traditional ‘Fry Up’ or make it a double with the ‘Full Up’, go for the veggie option (avocado, veggie sausage, falafel, hash browns and more), or go continental with a ‘Mediterranean’, a proper feast of garlic beef sausage, halloumi, scrambled eggs, grilled tomatoes, feta cheese, filo pastry, jam, olives, honey with cream and Turkish bread.

If you fancy something different, try the ‘Sucuklu’ – scrambled eggs on toasted sourdough, topped with sucuk (spicy Turkish sausage), chilli butter and chives – or opt instead for a pancake stack, with a choice of American, ‘Tower of Berries’ or the Istanbul, which is basically the aforementioned Mediterranean breakfast served on pancakes.

Gail’s

48-50 Brunswick Centre 23-39 Handel St, London WC1N 1AE
5 minute walk from the hotel
Open from 7am Monday to Saturday, from 8am Sunday
Tel: 020 7837 3144
Website

This is a favourite of ours located in the Brunswick Centre. All their bread, pastries and cakes are hand-baked fresh each day, and there’s always a seasonal twist to the menu which makes it quite interesting.

Gail’s is a national chain, but it’s very much personal service with everything made to order with a traditional artisan approach. What we also like is that they send all their surplus food to local charities, so there’s no waste.

Breakfast menu highlights include avocado on seeded sourdough, toasted bagels, baked eggs with sourdough soldiers, and currant and sour cherry toast. Add a cup of Darjeeling or a blackcurrant and hibiscus tea and you’re set for the day.

Riding House Bloomsbury

The Brunswick Centre, 1 Brunswick Centre, Bernard St, London WC1N 1AF
6-minute walk from the hotel
Breakfast served Monday-Friday 9am to 11.45am
Website
Breakfast menu
Tel: 020 3829 8333

A pleasant stop-off for breakfast in Bloomsbury, Riding House is also located within the Brunswick Centre. There’s a nice terrace if you fancy going al fresco during the warmer months. Otherwise sit yourself inside and enjoy the atmosphere.

The breakfast menu is extensive and includes a selection of malted deep dish pancakes, plus a tempting choice of hollandaise egg combos, and sourdoughs, breakfast buns and omelettes.

If you’re feeling particularly hungry, go for the ‘Full & Proper Breakfast’ with Dingley Dell bacon, Old Spot sausage, black pudding, St. Ewe egg, BBQ beans and roast field mushroom. There’s a slightly more conservative version too minus the black pudding, tomato and mushroom.

Café and coffee shop breakfasts in Bloomsbury

If you prefer to grab a quick coffee and pastry for breakfast, check out my blog on cafés and coffee shops in Bloomsbury – there are plenty to choose from.

You’ll also find numerous eat-in and takeaway bakeries in the Brunswick Centre, such as:

• Fatty Cat – opens 10.30am Monday to Saturday
• Matris Bakery & Patisserie – opens 7am weekdays, Saturday 8am, Sunday 9am
• Bex Coffee & Chocolate – opens 8am daily
• Common Room – opens 8am daily

Too late for breakfast? Have a look at my suggestions for a slap-up Bloomsbury brunch.

Planning a trip to Bloomsbury London? We look forward to welcoming you at the Mentone Hotel!

Located alongside a variety of attractions, the Grade II listed Mentone is nestled in the tranquil gated gardens of Cartwright Gardens. We offer more than 40 rooms including singles, doubles and en-suites.

To secure your room, please get in touch. All direct bookings benefit from a 10% discount and complimentary breakfast. Of course if you’d prefer to head out for your first meal of the day, we’d be happy to point you towards our favourite places for the best breakfast in Bloomsbury!

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