Joe Allen is an American restaurant housed in the basement of an unassuming building in the backstreets of Covent Garden. The clientele is also largely American, with many families and expats attending, particularly during the holidays. We’ve had brunch, Thanksgiving dinner and lunch here at different occasions, and we have never been disappointed. This time we were here for a birthday brunch and in addition to the very good brunch menu (£20,50 for three courses, a glass of champagne and coffee) the resturant was happy to make a delicious chocolate cake for the birthday boy. On the downside, it’s a little cramped and you can only book a table for two hours, which can feel a bit rushed. www.joeallen.co.uk
Food: 8 | Service: 9 | Environment: 6 | Value: 7
Christopher’s has long been our favourite brunch place with its pleasurable combination of luxurious feel and great food. This time there had been changes to the menu that entailed higher prices and a slightly more complicated dish selection process. The deal is you pay for either two or three courses and there’s a choice between light dishes, main courses, sweet treats and something inbetween’s. Our advice is: have the pancakes and the blueberry salad, yum! We tried an overly cheesy tortilla and a not so great fish cake – better stick to the clean and straightforward. Service is great and the coffee is strong and plentiful. www.christophersgrill.com
Food: 8 | Service: 8 | Environment: 7 | Value: 6
We went to 140 PK for brunch and quite enjoyed it. It was a sunny weekend morning and we sat at a table by the window overlooking the park. The brunch buffet was tasty and the foods on offer were definitely high quality, but we couldn’t escape the feeling that we were having a nice hotel breakfast in a nice hotel restaurant (which we were – the restaurant is housed in the Marriott hotel). We used a TopTable offer which made the brunch pretty good value, but sadly I don’t think we’ll be going back – there are simply too many good brunch places in London and this one doesn’t warrant a return visit. We might try it for dinner sometime though… www.marriott.com/hotels/hotel-information/restaurant/lonpl-london-marriott-hotel-park-lane/
Food: 7 | Service: 7 | Environment: 6 | Value: 6
