Caramel, Victoria

Address: 77 Wilton Road, Victoria, London, SW1V 1DE
Phone: 020 7233 8298
Nearest station: Victoria / Pimlico
View Streetmap.co.uk Directions

Caramel is a great casual London brunch cafe with modern decor. The brunch menu offers a staggering number of egg and bacon breakfast options including "Traditional English" (with an 'award-winning' cumberland sausage), "Big English" (with two 'award-winning' sausages & bubble-and-squeak), "Salmon Scrambled Eggs", "Cowboy" (with roasted tomato, steak and chunky french fries), "Vegetarian", "Mediterranean" (with grilled garlic sausage, grilled halloumi, olives, salad and a slice of melon) and even a "New York Brekky Salad" with smoked streaky bacon. You can also opt for Blueberry Pancakes and maple syrup, a big BLT, Bacon Sarnie, Fruit Mueslie, Fresh Fruit Salad, Eggs Benedict, or an Omelette with your choice of 3 toppings (including spinach, fetta, bacon and mushroom!) For a lunch option, the menu offers great sandwiches and wraps (my personal fave is the mediterranean wrap with haloumi and pesto - yum!), and fantastic fresh smoothies including Nicole's favourite after a heavy session of yoga, "Body Repair". Freshly squeezed juices and herb teas are also on the menu, and I mean "fresh". The ginger tea came in a pot with fresh ginger chunks and the apple juice had just been blended and was suitably frothy. The staff are very friendly and attentive. The cafe is walking distance from Victoria station. It's a perfect place for brunch or work lunch. Caramel also serves some tasty cocktails perfect for pre-dinner drinks!

This London Brunch Review was by the Brunch Book Club London. We like to visit great breakfast cafés and brunch restaurants around London and provide independent brunch reviews. We only make recommendations for good brunch places in London such as Caramel Brunch Cafe, Victoria, Near Victoria tube and main line train stations, Westminster, Central London.

Fig & Olive, Islington

Address: 151 Upper Street, Islington, N1 1RA
Breakfast & Lunch: 10:00-18:00
Phone: 020 7354 2605
Nearest Station: Highbury & islington Tube (Victoria line)
View Streetmap.co.uk Directions

Situated on Upper Street, Islington's foodie mecca, the Fig & Olive faces some pretty steep competition from the likes of Ottolenghi, Carluccio's, and Mr Christian's Deli for brunch. But there is something about the Fig & Olive that makes me walk through its doors everytime... could it be the Mango & White Chocolate Cheesecake cunningly displayed in the window perhaps? They serve a great brunch menu including croissants, pastries, toasted panini's, smoked salmon scrambled eggs, wraps, salads and freshly squeezed juices. The "Big Breakfast" is a treat for £6.50 where you get fried eggs, smoked bacon, mushroom, tomato, sausage, beans and hash brown. They also cater for vegetarians with a "Veggie Quesadilla" and a "Vegetarian Breakfast" which includes fried eggs, vegetarian sausage, beans, mushroom, tomato, grilled halloumi and hashbrown. But if you are hung-over (like we were), on a Sunday (like it was), then you can't go past their roast carvery. The servings are massive, the meat tender, the roast veges flavoursome and the yorkshire puds just scrumptious! Even though we were all completely full from our brunch-come-lunch (we were all late again) everyone still managed to fit in one of the amazing passionfruit creme brulees before rolling home. A contemporary minimalist interior with a few decadent touches - like candelabras, a large gilt-edged mirror and glass atrium - make the Fig & Olive a nice place to spend a Sunday. And if you have a large group, the long wooden dining table at the back of the restaurant seats up to 12.

This London Brunch Review was by the Brunch Book Club London. We like to visit great breakfast cafés and brunch restaurants around London and provide independent brunch reviews. We only make recommendations for good brunch places in London such as the Fig & Olive Brunch Restaurant, Upper Street, Islington, North London.