The honest bottomless brunch guide
The honest guide to bottomless brunch in London: where it is done well, where it is done cynically. Always book the first sitting. From the Vivi editors.
Bottomless brunch is, at this point in London restaurant history, an entire genre. It takes place between roughly 11:00 and 15:00 on a Saturday or Sunday; it involves a fixed menu of some kind; it involves an unlimited pour of something sparkling; and it involves, almost universally, a ninety-minute time limit policed to within five minutes.
What we look for
The honest bottomless brunch operators share a few traits. The food is actually good - not a plate of sad hollandaise served so that the bar can keep pouring. The pour is fast and cheerful, not rationed. The ninety minutes are ninety minutes, not seventy-eight. And the room is one you would happily sit in for two hours at a stretch anyway.
The list
- Dishoom Carnaby - the Big Bombay breakfast with unlimited chai (yes, it counts). About £25 a head.
- The Wolseley - not technically bottomless, but the Viennoiserie basket and the pot of very strong tea at 10:30 is the civilised, pretend-you-are-on-holiday move.
- Quo Vadis, Saturday - two courses and a glass of something for about £30. Bottomless, if you ask politely, on the house Prosecco.
- Dorian, Notting Hill - serious food, steady pour of Champagne, a room that looks good at eleven in the morning.
- Riding House Cafe - a dependable default with a predictable ninety-minute window.
- Ottolenghi Nopi - not sold as bottomless; the brunch menu is good enough you will not miss it.
How to do it
Book the first sitting. You will get to the restaurant when the kitchen is fresh and you will leave at a civilised hour. Eat first, then drink. Tip properly.
What to avoid
Anywhere with “BOTTOMLESS” in the name on Google Maps. Anywhere where the Prosecco is cheaper than the orange juice. Any brunch that advertises itself as “an experience.”
Clara Whitfield
Editor and restaurant critic
Clara Whitfield is the editor and lead restaurant critic of Vivi. She has eaten through the London restaurant scene professionally for over a decade, contributing reviews and features to regional and national food publications.
She writes Vivi's weekly restaurant review and the Saturday essay. She prefers early dinners and a table facing the room.