The London Review of Breakfasts: August 2005

We love going out for breakfast. We love the hungry hours of anticipation before we decide on a venue. We love the splendid taste of expertly cooked, herb-filled sausages, the aromatic texture of crispy bacon, the burst of yellow yolk as a knife breaks the surface tension. We love piping hot beans, buttered toast and squidgy grilled tomatoes. We love to wash it all down with a reassuring cup of tea as - deliriously hungover - we babble about the dodgy antics of the night before.

But we hate bad breakfasts. We hate nudging limp forks at greasy microwaved sausages, miserable pink bacon and the clear and runny white of an unloved fried egg. We hate beans that are room temperature and bread that's only toasted on one side. We despise cold hard tomatoes. Hate it when we order tap water and it never comes and we don't know what to say to each other and we have a relationship crisis and suddenly everything seems too cramped and stuffy and the night before embarrassing.

The "full English" refers not to our technological, cultural or military achievements. No: we live in a country where the 'full us' proudly refers to the first meal of the day. And yet here, in that country's capital, there seem to be (far) more bad breakfast opportunities than good ones: Cafe Euro Med in Kentish Town, the Bishop in East Dulwich and Mac Bar in Camden, to name but a few recent crying failures.

And so we bring you a new champion: the London Review of Breakfasts. Because we've had enoeuf.

Malcolm Eggs, Site Editor
August 2005

What the papers say:

"With reviews from a panel of testers, your first (and most important) meal of the day need never be a disappointment again." (Time Out "50 Best London Websites" Feb 2008 - full article here)

"Reviews written in the style of maths equations and Mills & Boon novels. Fun to read even if you never eat out before lunchtime." (The London Paper, 20 Dec 2007 - click here)

"Quirky look at eating around London..." (The Guardian - 'Best of British' blogs, 9 Nov 2007 - here)

"Reviewers include Cathy Latte, Chris P Bacon, Ed Benedict, Rhys Chris Peese, HP Seuss and, my personal favourite, Veggie Kray. These, I submit to Eggs, are not their real names." (Stuart Jeffries in The Guardian, 6 Aug 2007 - full article here)

"A band of breakfast-obsessed radicals - each armed with a punning nom de plume - write reviews of the most important meal of the day with the same amount of seriousness, humour and interest as you would bestow on Ian McEwan's latest novel." (The Independent on Sunday, 'Talk of the Town', 1 Oct 2006 - see here)

"Armed only with rigour and a good, strong mug of tea, the LRB’s dedicated critics, led by Malcolm Eggs, review the most full-on English fry-ups in the capital, writing with humour and literary elan... Whether you seek bacon and eggs in Balham or succulent sausages in Shoreditch, the LRB ensures never again having to suffer the indignities of soggy bubble and squeak." (Sunday Times, five star review, 25 Jun 2006 - full article here)

"An idiosyncratic and well-written guide, whose authors' powers of description could never be described as cliched." (The Times, 'Blog of the Week', 8 April 2006)

"Given the recent controversy within these pages about the art (and cost) of decent breakfasting in London, we thought it would be a good idea to point readers in the direction of [the London Review of Breakfasts], a really rather excellent website devoted to London's premier breakfast experiences. There's no snobbery here: classic caff E Pellicci of Bethnal Green is reviewed alongside the more salubrious (if less characterful) Charlotte Street Hotel, and there's even a mention of Garfunkel's at Heathrow Airport." (Time Out, 'London Website of the Week', 7 Feb 2006)

"It is, as we all know, the most important meal of the day, and this site is a comprehensive guide to the best hangover beating breakfasts to be had across the capital. It's very well written, and is growing all the time, so there's bound to be something near you." (Evening Standard, 'London on the Web', 6 Feb 2006)

"We've been monitoring this brekkie blog carefully and it's very good indeed. In fact it could be said to be a little 'too good' as our breakfasting standards have now shot up to ludicrous levels and we often find ourselves hankering for a fried egg at the weirdest of times." (Londonist, 7 Dec 2005 - full article here)

"A little London-centric." (The Birmingham Plus forum)

"Very amusing." (The Australian, 28 July 2007 - bottom of this page)

The London Review of Breakfasts

Monday, August 29, 2005

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Sunday, August 21, 2005

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