Guide to brunch in Hackney

With a name like “The Breakfast Club”, you’re probably not surprised to hear that they take the first meal of the day pretty seriously here. This award-winning café takes it up a notch when it comes to breakfast and brunch, with a menu stuffed with every kind of breakfast dish you can imagine. Talk about a breakfast of champions - from a classic Full Monty and all-American stacks of fluffy pancakes to brekky burgers and burritos.

It’s totally fair if you want to go to Mare Street Market solely for the vibes; it’s quirky, eccentrically decorated with hanging light fixtures and jungle-like plants, and a trendy hipster crowd adds to the air of coolness. Plus, if you swing by on the weekend, there’s usually a live DJ spinning fresh tracks. There’s a separate weekend brunch menu chock full of elevated classics, like toasted English muffins with a sausage patty, fried eggs, and more than ten options of sourdough pizza. They don’t slack on drinks either, draught beers, cider, cocktails, and spirits come by the dozen, so there’s something for every kind of brunch mood.

Cocotte is a French farm-to-table restaurant serving healthy-ish, homemade brunch dishes made from home-grown ingredients. A separate weekend brunch menu is served between 10 am and 4 pm, offering organic açai bowls with homemade granola, avocado on toast sprinkled with seeds, and 24-hour marinated sweet chilli chicken served on a baked croissant waffle and drizzled in special sauce. If you like truffle, then the truffled mushrooms with parmesan cream and rosemary is a must-order. Add on bottomless prosecco or champagne for a small surcharge.

With a motto like “Brunch is King”, it’s fair to expect big things from this husband and wife duo at Hash E8. This Dalston hotspot specialises in all-day brunch that claims to cure all hangovers. Expect dishes like chorizo and sweet potato hash, bacon French toasties and buttermilk pancakes doused in maple syrup, with sides like a bucket of bacon drizzled in maple syrup (shock face). It’s a cosy, simple spot with a handful of seats and blackboards scrawled with the menu items.

The Good Egg in Stoke Newington serves Jewish-inspired breakfast dishes all day long, such as the shakshuka with preserved lemon yoghurt and the cauliflower brunch bowl with dressed cauliflower, fried egg, pumpkin-seed relish and a warm pita for dunking and mopping. There’s a brunch drinks menu featuring classic cocktails like the Bloody Mary and Aperol Spritz, and wine, beer, soft drinks and hot drinks. The café is located on Church Street, the bloodline of Stoke Newington, lined with quaint boutique shops and independent stores.

Acoustic Brasserie is another popular brunch spot on legendary Church Street in Stoke Newington. They serve breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner throughout the day, with standout dishes like Turkish eggs with halloumi and wood-fired flatbread. It’s a trendy spot with a handful of outside seats for alfresco streetside dining.

The food at Morito on Hackney Road is inspired by Southern Spain, North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean, including the head chef, Marianna Leivaditaki’s, home town Crete. The space is chic, decorated with concrete flooring, bright lights and minimalist decor, making for a more sophisticated brunch spot. They serve mainly tapas-style dishes, like cheese fritters with thyme honey and fried aubergine with date molasses and feta.

Brunswick East know how to put on a show when it comes to brunch. This popular Dalston spot has its own sky farm on the premises, where they grow all sorts of fresh produce to use in their dishes, which are inspired by a variety of international cuisines. They also serve a selection of baked goods made at Brunswick East’s bakehouse in Hackney, like the spinach and feta croissants or cardamom and lemon buns. They also serve breakfast buns, poached eggs, salads and other more substantial dishes.

You’ll find E5 Bakehouse nestled between three railway arches in Hackney, where they use locally-sourced ingredients to craft a menu of fresh, delicious baked goods. This artisan organic bakery sells bread made from heritage wheat, cookies, pastries and brownies. It has a separate breakfast and brunch menu, with dishes like halloumi buns with harissa scrambled eggs and seasonal jam on toast. The space is trendy and stylish, exactly as you’d expect from an East London establishment.

Breakfast dishes come elevated at cosy coffeehouse Esters, a minimalist café in Stoke Newington. They serve high-quality coffee and innovative, seasonal breakfast, brunch and lunch in their bright, cosy space. Dishes come with a gourmet flair, like the French toast with poached loquats and fried eggs on toast with Tokyo turnip escabeche and wild garlic chimichurri.

Snackbar is a trendy café serving a simple all-day menu of brunch and breakfast classics, like avocado on toast with salsa mocha and the mortadella sandwich with chicken liver parfait and carrot daikon pickles. They also serve a handful of baked goods, like gooey butter cake and tahini banana bread.

If you’re acquainted with London’s bakery scene, you will have heard of The Dusty Knuckle Bakery in Dalston. This iconic bakery is a purpose-driven enterprise helping young people at risk of unemployment and long-term criminality get back on their feet and find purpose within the work world. They serve sourdough sandwiches, like the roasted pesto chicken and aubergine katsu, with ample outside space for those warmer days.

Well Street Kitchen is a small, friendly café serving tasty brunch and lunch dishes on Hackney's historic Well Street Market. They use only the freshest produce for all their dishes, including their brunch menu, which includes dishes like baked eggs with asparagus and wild garlic and BBQ pork on corn tortillas with sriracha scrambled eggs. The café is small and cosy, with black and white chequered tables and a handful of seating.

For a classic, hearty English breakfast with all the trimmings, head to E Pelicci on Bethnal Green Road. This Art Deco-inspired cafe has served hungry customers English breakfast and Italian classics since 1900. There’s a basic menu of meat-based and veggie breakfasts, including sandwiches and homemade Italian dishes. The café is a legend on London’s breakfast scene and offers a no-frills, relaxed space to enjoy your first meal of the day.

Martello Hall in London Fields offers a relaxing place to grab an easy bite to eat and drink from morning until night. They have a separate bottomless brunch menu where you can enjoy free-flowing pink bubbles surrounded by an Italian-inspired interior for more than two hours. They also host a range of masterclasses, like cocktail making, gin tasting, gin blending, and more.