Best Breakfasts and Brunches of 2018

Good morning! Who’s hungry?

Welcome back to the Best of 2018. Here’s a plateful of hearty recommendations for breaking fast in London and elsewhere, and in this case elsewhere means San Antonio and the Texas Hill Country, Dublin, Edinburgh, Milan and Hiroshima.

For suggestions regarding coffee and cafes, take a look at my 2018 list of best cafes.

Please note, this list merely reflects how I chose to spend my time during the year and is comprised of well established and brand new venues as well as businesses that are somehow related to where work and play took me.

Items appear in alphabetic order, not ranked.

Best Breakfasts and Brunches in London

Boondocks
205 City Road, EC1V 1JN

Big Americana flavours for big breakfasts and brunches plus Southern style biscuits and biscuit sandwiches made me feel at home when I dropped Chef Bea Vo’s Boondocks for a satisfying a.m. meal.

Benita Bakery
239 Upper Street N1 1RU

I happened upon Benita Bakery when looking for a pit stop near Highbury & Islington Station. It’s a good one for just that and more. Decent coffee, great pastries and baked goods (I like Benita’s breakfast pizza) and a friendly vibe make this Upper Street eatery a safe bet for a morning pause.

Fabrique Bakery
8 Earlham Street, WC2H 9RY

If cinnamon is synonymous with breakfast treat for you, then you can’t beat Fabrique. Service is quick, coffee is good, the aroma is intoxicating. I’m familiar with the Earlham Street bakery, but Fabrique has other outlets in London.

Best Breakfasts and Brunches Beyond London

Garcia’s Mexican Food
842 Fredericksburg Road, San Antonio, Texas 78201, USA

I thought I knew how good breakfast tacos could be. Then I went to San Antonio, where a couple of morning meals at Garcia’s broadened my horizons and my belly. Highlights included brisket tacos with guacamole, patty sausage with egg, and chorizo with egg. Warm appreciative service and an ever filled coffee mug didn’t hurt either.

Odilla Chocolat
Corso Garibaldi, 38, 20121 Milano MI, Italy

The Milan addition of Turin-based Odilla hot chocolate bar, Odilla, was a welcome discovery when roving the streets of Brera design district. So much flavour and thick texture in a cup! What? You need more than ultra rich hot chocolate for breakfast? How about single origin coffee, and limited menu of pillowy pastries known as bugie?

O.S.T. Restaurant
311 Main Street, Bandera, Texas 78003, USA

Howdy from Bandera, Texas – cowboy capital of the world and home to the most downhome breakfast I had this year. Chicken fried steak with biscuits and gravy and eggs at O.S.T. Restaurant on the main drag in Bandera was just the right start to my day after a late night of honkytonking and before setting out for a drive across the Hill Country.

Oxmantown
16 Mary’s Abbey, North City, Dublin 7, Ireland

Oxmantown’s Black Pudding breakfast sandwich was a morning meal worth waking up for. An assemblage of Jack McCarthy’s “Queens” black pudding with tomato relish, pickles, aioli, and rocket on supremely spongy sourdough, it hit the spot and kept any inkling of hunger at bay well past my usual lunchtime. Coffee (an Americano) was lovely too, made with beans supplied by local micro-roastery Cloudpicker. If I lived in Dublin, I’d go there all the time.

The Pepper Pot
Powerscourt Centre, 60 William Street South, Dublin 2, D02 CH28, Ireland

The toasted homemade bagel (or “bagle” as it’s presented in the menu) that I had at The Pepper Pot was the tastiest and most texturally pleasing I’ve had outside New York and New Jersey – and better than most I’ve had in those states. What made it even yummier was the thick layer of Burren Smoke House salmon with an equally generous spread of chive cream cheese and squirt of lemon. A salad, flavoursome pickles and my choice of hot drink (a black Americano – and not bad either) came with it at a reasonable price.

Royal McGregor
154 High Street, Edinburgh EH1 1QS, UK

The Royal McGregor is a whisky bar and restaurant about midway up Edinburgh’s Royal Mile. For morning passersby a menu of inexpensive and generously filled rolls is offered. I loved the haggis roll especially. Even an early breakfast here might be you can skip or at least put off lunch. Service is personable and efficient.

Shimada Fisheries Oyster Hut
739-0412 Miyajimaguchi Nishi 1-2-6, Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima, Japan

One of Hiroshima’s main producers of oysters, Shimada Fisheries runs a small oyster hut on the side of its facilities on Hiroshima Bay. A picnic style breakfast of DIY grilled oysters and a bowl of oyster congee was a marvellous breakfast and a great way to experience local culture. The oysters were maybe the most delicious I’ve ever had with a clean and sweet taste of the sea.

Honourable Mentions