The Full English Breakfast Guide

If you don’t enjoy a trip to Terry’s Cafe, you are either very serious about your cholesterol or need more hugs. The Great Suffolk Street stalwart perfectly straddles the space between a comforting British caff, an Instagram-ready, Britannia-themed breakfast spot for tourists, and somewhere local Borough office workers can get a decent Monmouth Coffee. Order The Blowout—the biggest of the fry-ups—because the addition of crispy, well-seasoned chunky chips is worth it.

It is possible to feel chic eating a full English breakfast, you just have to be in a stylish French restaurant in St. James’s. Presentation matters at Maison François. There’s no slopping of beans on plates here. Instead they come in a silver gravy boat, warm bread is presented in a cloth basket, and a little pat of heavily salted butter gets its own ramekin. The warm orange glow of the art deco dining room matches the runny yolks of eggs and juice is served in a wine glass.

Most mornings at Beppe’s Café, solo diners, spreading butter over a spread of broadsheets, can be found next to gilet-wearing bros and power suits. The common point of interest is the fry-ups: comforting plates piled high with crispy-edged sausages, charred rashers of smoky bacon, and decadent slices of fried bread. The family working here is always on hand with a cheery word or a bit of gossip, and the green booths at this Farringdon caff are primed for a post-breakfast nap.

Chunnel Bar is a straightforward Waterloo caff with meaty, herby sausages that have reached local legend status—for good reason. The white toast is soft and buttery, and the owners take on familial roles, questioning why you haven’t eaten your fourth slice. Plus the bacon is thick and smoky. For a bit of a fuss and a big, tasty meal, it doesn't get much better than this. Grab one of the wooden benches that spill out onto the street if the weather’s nice first thing, and watch Lower Marsh rumble into life.

215 Hackney's manifesto should be “a friendly cafe for people who believe there’s life outside of avocado and sourdough”. And we'll happily go around Stoke Newington canvassing for them. This Middle Eastern spot’s version of a full English is the Hackney Feast. It comes on a silver tray loaded with grilled mushrooms, crispy latkes, bacon piled on top of more bacon, and some of the most perfect fried eggs we’ve ever had.

When you want a breakfast that feels especially celebratory, Fallow fits the bill. The St James’s postcode, marble tables, and wedding-worthy flower and lighting arrangements are all giveaways that this is somewhere for a very fancy morning meal. And the Fallow Full breakfast is the dish to get. Bacon has been smoked for 24 hours, the mushrooms are herby, the sausages are practically bursting from their casings. The prices are steep, but for a faultless full English, a birthday breakfast, and some photos, it’s a good shout.

E Pellicci juggles being both a tourist destination for those seeking a glorious, coronary-inducing fry-up and a stalwart for regulars who have been coming to the Bethnal Green caff for donkey’s years. Plates here are whatever you want them to be, but its gargantuan English breakfast is royalty in these parts. Purists may argue against the inclusion of hash browns but nobody can deny that bubble and squeak always elevates our much contested national dish.

The Tufnell Park cafe prides itself on faultless, high-quality British breakfast and lunch classics. The plates of food and white bread sandwiches make you wistful for the playground or gasping for someone to put the kettle on. The breakfast sets are reliably delicious and a plate of sausage, egg, bacon, hash browns, and beans is a fine way to start your day. Although be aware that it will happily lead you straight back to bed.

The legendary Westminster cafe is just as popular with tourists as it is with blokes named Terry. One thing that never changes inside its beautiful black tiled exterior is the blood-curdling cries that match the colour of the floor. “FULL ENGLISH! Double eggs! Extra black pudding!”. A fried breakfast here is never not an event.

In an area filled with excellent brunch options, this North African cafe on Balham High Road is the one that will have you searching for flats in SW12. Heart Of Balham is a snug spot that’s often packed on the weekend, and is the place to come for an excellent halal full English. It comes with plenty of little fried potato bites, grilled mushrooms, beans, a halal beef sausage, smoked turkey bacon, and scrambled eggs. You won’t be needing another meal for a while. 

The phrase ‘this is nice isn’t it” is guaranteed to be said by at least one member of your group if you head to Beam on Westbourne Grove. Maybe they’re referring to the hanging lights or the exposed brick, maybe it’s the spaciousness of it all. Or maybe it’s the brunch menu that includes three great remixes of a full English—with vegetarian and vegan options. We’ll tell you—it’s all of the above.

Let's clear one thing up right away, this is an Irish breakfast. But it more than deserves a mention. From the thick bacon with just the right amount of crispy fat, to the meaty Ginger Pig sausage, peppery white pudding, and fluffy potato farl—we wouldn’t change a thing. Staff at this Hackney Wick spot will happily get involved in a deep and meaningful about sausages, or just flash the kind of smile that will turn around a bad day. And this British-Irish overachiever also serves one of London’s best Sunday roasts.