The London Review of Breakfasts

"Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper." (Francis Bacon)

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Clarke's, Kensington

***CLARKE'S IS NO LONGER SERVING BREAKFAST***

Clarke's
124 Kensington church Street
Kensington
W8
020 7221 9225

by Pam de Mie

A smiling welcome comes packaged in a fresh summer's day atmosphere as you squeeze your way through the tiny entrance to Sally Clarke's restaurant. It is dedicated to brunch on Saturdays only, from 11am - 2pm. I love coming here after a morning spent at the local farmer's market, as choosing ingredients for cooking serves to titillate the taste buds in preparation for Sally's bountiful fare. There is an individual and very comprehensive menu to select from and you make your own combination if you like, but Sally has chosen flavours that marry perfectly.

We always start with her gusty take on a Bloody Mary as I adore that celery-laden kick of tomato juice & alcohol at midday. Should you choose 'Anton Mosimann's Birchermuesli with Apple', 'Toasted Hazelnuts and Yoghourt' or an 'Open Omelette with Irish Organic Smoked Salmon, Jersey Royals, New Season's Peas, Chives and Soured Cream', you are getting the best ingredients the UK can provide. This is the secret to Sally's success.

Our brunch for 3 cost £61.00 and there is a minimum spend of £12.00 per person, as well as a mobile phone ban. My order of 'Eggs Benedict on a Homemade English Muffin' was accompanied by spinach at my request. The eggs had perfectly runny bright yellow yolks and were high and round, not flat and watery. The muffin was not doughy in any way but light and crisply toasted, as was the pancetta. But the Hollandaise sauce was the piece de resistance: a generously vinegary presence which was perfect with the richness of the other ingredients.

As if that wasn’t enough, there’s another Clarke’s next door, which sells take-home versions of the very same breads, cakes, biscuits, eggs, fruits and vegetables, muesli, olives, cheeses - the list is truly, delectably endless.

5 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Im quite envious of your fine brunching experiences. You are a beautiful writer and truely paint mouth wattering picture of the food you are served. Have you ever considered adding pictures to your blog?
Ciao
Az
http://www.breakfastblogger.com/

9:40 PM, August 09, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hmph. Reads a bit like a press release, if you ask me.

And the further away one stays from a 'gusty' gazpacho, the better for all involved. All that raw garlic. Goodness me.

10:17 PM, August 09, 2006  
Blogger London Review of Breakfasts said...

No press release will ever appear on this website. We will always stand up to the powerful breakfast PR industry.

And as yet, no mention of gazpacho has appeared either.

Best wishes,


Malcolm Eggs

10:52 AM, August 10, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

These are unimpeachable points, Malcolm, and indeed Ms de Mie, I beg your pardon. My brain was slightly shaken by the lack of comment on the fact that brunch for three cost over 60 whole pounds. Still, it is in Kensington, so when in Rome...


Of course, I meant the Bloody Mary, not gazpacho. Gazpacho? Where did that come from?

8:39 AM, August 16, 2006  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Monsieur Eggs
Pam de Mie writing...
Clarkes are no longer doing brunch on Saturdays so I think we need to adjust the critique.
Now off to find a similar venue in Kensington and will write another review when I have success.
Hx

9:34 AM, February 04, 2012  

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