Ever heard of B&H Buildings? Nope? Well neither had I until not too long ago. If there was ever a hidden brunch spot in London – it has to be this place. The restaurant is completely hidden away down a quiet, uninspiring residential area off the busy Farringdon Road. When a restaurants excuse is because they’re in a bad location, I ask you to simply look at this place as a business model – it was thriving and not a spare seat was in sight. One thing that did strike me about this place however and quite surprisingly, is that it was full of almost entirely females, glamorously dressed up – I suddenly felt very under-dressed. On top of my lack of suitable clothing, my camera decided to fail on me too – so excuse my lack of quality photos.
Food wise here it was nothing less than extraordinary and in fact was one of the best brunch experiences I’ve so far ever experienced in London. Nothing turns a good brunch into a great brunch better than bottomless booze too. We had the choice of bloody mary’s or a seasonal fruit bellini. We opted for the bellini which was mixed with sweet, ripe strawberries. Food wise we struggled to fault just about anything. Poached eggs on English muffin, huevos benedictos style – was made up of chorizo, avocado, bernaise sauce and picco de gallo. It was a stunning plate of food with big and bold flavours. This dish had just about everything going for it. Believe it or not, it got only better from here on in. Crispy potato hash with fried duck egg, braised beef, HP hollandaise and crispy shallots. A healthy dish? No. A tasty one, unbelievably – yes. There is nothing ordinary about any of the food here, it’s all a little eclectic (much like the colonial décor) and the depth of flavour just keeps on giving. The braised beef was falling apart from the sight of my fork, the potatoes were perfectly crisp and the HP hollandaise should have been bottled and sold to only me – it was delicious.
Being a little greedy and wanting to get the full B&H Buildings experience, we had to order something sweet too and that came in the form of French toast, topped with caramelised banana and mixed nuts – drenched in sweet caramel syrups. I’ve eaten my fair share of French toasts in my time, but nothing quite prepared me for this. The toast itself was excellent, thick and firm, soaking up all the flavours and juice, but still keeping its shape. Banana was plentiful and the mountains of nuts gave it all another texture and good bit of crunch. The perfect end to our Saturday brunch – not before a few more glasses of those fruity bellinis that is.
When it comes to brunching in London I can’t recommend B & H Buildings highly enough. The place looks great interior wise, the atmosphere is to no end and the food – well it’s all rather splendid. I’ve no idea what the normal lunch/dinner menu is like, but if it’s as good as this then I can’t wait to come back and try it. With the added bonus of bottomless bubbly – I can’t think of a single reason why you all shouldn’t be booking a table right now, before the queues start spiralling out the door.
8/10
