The most fancy brunch menus in London

Hide

Brunch at Ollie Dabbous’s Michelin-starred restaurant Hide isn’t really brunch at all – more a three-course lavish lunch that can be paired with wine, if you wish. Sip on a ‘ripe peach and lime leaf mimosa’ and slurp up an oyster – one of an array of show-off appetisers that come served before the meal proper – while choosing your three courses.

On our visit, the star turn of the starter course came in the form of the foie gras parfait, which was served with a sweet apricot and moscatel chutney, and a warm buckwheat waffle simple enough to carry the rich flavours. Of the mains, the fresh linguine with Cornish crab, which came soaked in a garlic and parsley sauce, stole the show. Finally, if visit in the summer months, do round of your ‘brunch’ with the ‘summer fruit clafoutis with lavender and crème fraiche’, a sharing pudding for two with a moist, custard-like sponge dotted with berries and spiked with the unusual addition of lavender.

Dabbous has partnered with Hedonism Wines to provide the vinos, of which there are 4,000 to choose from. Our advice? Rather than being daunted by this list, let the sommelier pair each dish with an appropriate glass.

Price: £48pp plus cost of wine depending on bottle

Xu

With its wooden panelling, marble counters and all-round plush interiors, stepping into XU feelings like stepping into a luxe restaurant in the Taiwanese capital of Taipei circa 1930. Thanks to the recent launch of a brunch menu, trips to Xu no longer have to be confined to lunch, dinner or afternoon tea, either.

With 90 minutes of free-flowing Perrier-Jouët Champagne, this is a brunch deserving of its lavish setting. Food comes in the form of the five-course Mister XU Menu – made up of the restaurant’s greatest hits. Dishes include playful takes on classic Chinese and Taiwanese specialities, including cuttle­fish toast with whipped cod; aged middlewhite pork xian bing dumplings; and Xu’s famed shou pa chicken.

Teetotallers aren’t left in the lurch either; the brunch menu can also be enjoyed with a range of the teahouse’s most exotic brews, including soul plum tea and a 10-year oolong.

Price: £39pp for five-course Mister Xu Menu / £25pp for free-flowing champagne

Ella Canta

Mexican fine-dining restaurant Ella Canta takes the bottomless brunch concept and drapes it in colour, finery and, unsurprisingly, tequila. The menu, created by Chef Patron Martha Ortiz, offers three courses of refined-yet-decadent plates: think tropical ceviche; sumptuous, slow-cooked meats; and, of course, Ella Canta’s signature dessert of churros with caramel and chocolate.

No prosecco here, instead you have the choice of four unusual and stunningly-presented margaritas to accompany your meal: grapefruit and pineapple; lavender and sea salt; hibiscus; or pistachio. We’ll tip our sombreros to that.

Price: £45pp for three courses and unlimited margaritas or sparkling wine

The Ned

Between its setting in a Grade I-listed former banking hall and its status as part of the Soho House group, the Ned is firmly on the list of luxe places to dine in London. While its eight restaurants offer their own menu for most of the week – spanning Italian, French, British and Asian-Pacific cuisines between them – on Sundays, four of the restaurants come together to offer the Ned’s Sunday Feast: a regal spread served buffet style from a central counter.

Take a seat in Millie’s Lounge, The Nickel Bar, Malibu Kitchen or Lutyens Grill and enjoy a complimentary prosecco served in a cut-crystal flute, before making your way up to the central banquet-style table, where a buffet spread like none you’ve ever seen before awaits. Here, you’ll find lobsters piled high; roast meats with all the trimmings; 15-odd bowls of exotic salads; and more cheeses than you’ll find at your nearest cheesemonger.

Don’t fill up, mind, there’s an entirely separate bar for desserts serving cakes by the slice and all sorts of other puddings. Thirsty? Look to the bloody mary corner, or wait for the mimosa trolley to roll past your table.

Price: £48pp for bottomless brunch

Sea Containers restaurant

Brunch at the Sea Containers restaurant can be as decadent as you wish. Bottomless beverages include mimosas, prosecco or Grey Goose bloody marys for £18, while those after something a little more indulgent can opt for free-flowing Laurent-Perrier champagne for £59.

Whichever you choose, do kick off your meal with half a dozen oysters for £18 – you’re dining in a Tom Dixon-designed hotel overlooking the Thames, after all. Then soak up the champagne with a smoked salmon bagel (£13), the house burger (£17) or continue with the seafood theme and opt for the fish pie (£14) – all of which feature on the brunch menu.

Price: £59pp for free-flowing Laurent-Perrier champagne / £18 for bottomless mimosas, prosecco or Grey Goose bloody marys

Nobu Hotel

Sushi doesn’t have to be the reserve of lunch or dinner. At the suave Nobu hotel in Shoreditch – founded by Japanese celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa and Robert De Niro among others – guests can enjoy intricately-compiled takes on the delicacy along with two hours of unlimited pink prosecco, or a specially-curated ‘Japanese Palomisha’ cocktail: a fruity blend of Sake, tequila reposado, grapefruit juice, yuzu and pomegranate syrup.

Dining with a traditionalist? Nobu also serves takes on brunch classics, including eggs benedict, and avocado and prawn toast. Round your meal off with a selection of Nobu-style desserts which, joyfully for the sweet-toothed, are as unlimited as the bubbles.

Price: £75pp