Bacon, sausage, fried egg, baked beans, grilled tomato, mushrooms, black pudding, fried bread or toast. London's defining hangover plate, served all day at greasy spoons and gastro brunch rooms since the 1800s.
The full English derived from rural country-house breakfasts of the nineteenth century, codified by the Edwardian middle classes as a single plate to start the day. Mass production of bacon and sausage in the 1900s pushed it into working-class greasy spoons. The Regency Cafe (1946 on Regency Street, Westminster) and E Pellicci (1900 on Bethnal Green Road) still serve the canonical version: white plate, brown HP sauce, tea on the side. Modern London brunch rooms (Caravan, Granger and Co, Riding House) plate prettier takes; the survival of the form sits with the cafe institutions.
5 editor picks for Full English breakfast in London, ranked by editorial score. All London signature dishes · Full English breakfast across every city.
Regency Cafe ★ 4.5
westminster · 17-19 Regency Street, London SW1P 4BY
The 1946 Westminster greasy spoon on Regency Street in London, white-tiled formica-tabled cafe, runs the canonical London full English at the counter for under £10.
E Pellicci ★ 4.5
shoreditch-spitalfields · 332 Bethnal Green Road, London E2 0AG
The Pellicci family's 1900 east-London cafe on Bethnal Green Road, Grade-II listed for the 1946 marquetry interior, runs a daily Italian-British greasy spoon menu.
The Wolseley ★ 4.5
mayfair · 160 Piccadilly, London W1J 9EB
Chris Corbin and Jeremy King's grand European brasserie on Piccadilly in London, opened 2003 in a former 1921 Wolseley showroom, runs from breakfast to late-night supper.
Granger and Co Notting Hill ★ 4.4
notting-hill-bayswater · 175 Westbourne Grove, London W11 2SB
Bill Granger's Australian breakfast room on Westbourne Grove in Notting Hill London, opened 2011, runs ricotta hotcakes and an all-day brunch menu with serious flat white.
The Breakfast Club Soho ★ 4.2
soho · 33 D'Arblay Street, London W1F 8EU
Jonathan Arana-Morton and Allan Howe's American-style brunch counter on D'Arblay Street in Soho London, opened 2005, runs pancakes, eggs and a famous Mavericks burrito.