1. Hullabaloo Vegan Café, Ipswich
This local gem in the Saints area of Ipswich, a community of indie shops, cafés and restaurants close to the waterfront, was the town’s first plant-based café and has built up a loyal following thanks to its small seasonal menu of locally sourced ingredients. Go for its legendary Capel mushrooms on homemade sourdough in a Madeira cashew crème, stay for its gluten-free waffles with seasonal rhubarb and a side order of scrambled tofu and spinach (@hullabalosuffolk)).
2. Pritchard + Ure, London NW1
A curated space for book lovers and epicures. The small, seasonal breakfast menu in this rarefied bookshop-cum-dining destination above Camden Garden Centre includes wild and field mushrooms with wild garlic pesto on sourdough with shakshuka and dukkah (pritchardandure.com).
3. Albert’s Schloss, Manchester
Cracking cruffins and kronuts, great decor, Alpine crêpes, Turkish eggs and German sausages draw in a loyal crowd at Albert’s Schloss, Manchester’s Bavarian bier palace (albertsschloss.co.uk).
4. Pellici’s Café, London E2
A quintessential Italian postwar café with a primrose art deco facade and marquetry inside, Pellici’s is Grade II-listed. Have the Lot (Full English, meat or veggie), served at Formica tables in this epic family-run Bethnal Green greasy spoon (epellici.co.uk).
5. Birchwood Restaurant, Ticehurst
A seasonal all-day breakfast menu, including duck leg with crumpet or pastrami cured sea trout, awaits at bucolic Birchwood Restaurant. Ingredients are locally sourced or foraged and the vast raised terrace sits in 46 acres of woodland (birchwoodrestaurant.com).
6. Rockwater, Hove
Seaviews! Crab Benedict! Rockwater is a vibey clubhouse hotspot on Hove’s Western Esplanade. For sea dippers and early risers, its Love Shack (opens 7.30am) on the beach serves tasty breakfast brioche rolls (rockwater.uk).
7. Crwst, Cardigan
Brunch is the ticket at this bright, trendy Cardigan craft bakery. The Full Welsh Brekkie includes Crwst’s signature beans and a cockles and laverbread gratin, the halloumi is made locally, and the blow-out Sausage & Egg McDoughnut is filled with melted cheese (crwst.cymru).
8. Jubilee Pool Café, Penzance
It’s filled brioche buns all the way after a swim in the salt water or geothermal pools at Penzance’s sublime art deco Jubilee Pool Café (jubileepool.co.uk).
9. Turtle Bay, Birmingham
Soak up the limitless prosecco and cocktails with Caribbean specials, such as scrambled ackee and sweet-fried plantain or a soft bara roti stack with fried chicken at Turtle Bay Brindley Place’s bottomless brunch. Outside tables available (turtlebay.co.uk).
10. Teuchters Landing, Edinburgh
This dockside bar in Leith offers kedgeree by the mug, Loch Creran Argyll oysters and carnivorous and vegan versions of the Big Breakfast, which includes delicious black pudding, haggis and tattie scones (teuchtersbar.co.uk).
11. Fallow, St James’s, London SW1
Sustainable, plant-loving, high-end and glamorous, Fallow’s veggie full breakfast includes crushed courgette and pea spinach with confit garlic. Its talk-of-the-town mushroom parfait features in the Mushroom Royale, one of four signature brunch-tastic croissant rolls (fallowrestaurant.com).
12. The Cabin Beach Café, Penzance
A breakfast special on the South West Coast Path offering sensational views of Mount Bay from the terrace. Serving big fry-ups, the café is dog-friendly and a much loved pit-stop for campers and walkers (thecabinbeachcafe.co.uk).
13. The Temple Café, Isle of Harris
Reward a walk on Scarista’s sandy beach with fresh pastries, on-site roastery coffee or botanical-infused soft drinks at the Temple Café, a new version of an old stone temple with unparalleled views across the bay to the deserted isle of Taransay (templeharris.com).
14. Olives, Norwich
Famous for its barbecue breakfast and vegan special, featuring vegan black pudding and chickpea scramble, Olive’s new range of Gorillas cheese toasties includes the King Kong with pulled pork. Put a tune on the free jukebox and tuck in (olivesofnorwich.com).
15. Whelk Coppers Tearoom, Norfolk
Everything is fresh and local at Whelk Coppers, an old-school tea room with fairytale iron gates allegedly designed by Walt Disney. Serving French toast and a full English, the former fisher’s cottage is bang on the promenade overlooking Sheringham’s Blue Flag beach (whelkcoppers.com).
16. Café Sobar, Nottingham
If you’re hankering after a trad breakfast, you’re in safe hands at the relaxing and friendly Café Sobar. At this social enterprise for recovering addicts, the filled morning rolls and the plant-based bacon, sausage and cheese muffin spectacular are local favourites (doubleimpact.org.uk).
17. Finzean Farm Shop, Banchory
Popular with hungry hikers and cyclists, this idyllic Aberdeenshire farm shop serves Stornaway black pudding, Scottish pancakes, freshly baked bacon rolls and granola with local yoghurt and honey. The terrace looks on to the glorious Feugh valley and Clachnaben tor (finzean.com).
18. Midge Bite Café, Achnasheen
If you’re on a North Coast 500 roadtrip, break your journey from Inverness to Scotland’s West Coast at the roadside Midge Bite Café. Enjoy Scottish porridge with raspberries, haggis and bacon rolls, vegan sausages, excellent coffee, a small veranda and heavenly Highland views (facebook.com/midgebitecafe).
19. Gin & Juice Mumbles, Swansea
Live it large with parmesan and truffle eggs in Gin & Juice Mumbles’s spectacular rooftop conservatory. Overlooking the genteel Mumbles seafront, sip your Nutella latte and take in the winning views of Swansea Bay (ginandjuice.com).
20. Akub, Notting Hill, London W8
Kick off brunch at this Palestinian restaurant with a Zaatar Bloody Mary. Follow with cauliflower and coriander fritters and Arabic coffee French toast with sweet labneh (akub-restaurant.com).).
21. The Factory Kitchen, Newcastle
The Factory Kitchen in the Biscuit Factory, Newcastle’s imposing modern art superstore, has a huge roof terrace for brunch. Highlights include Middle Eastern Baked Eggs and the All Day Brunch served with a stottie from local bakery Big River, a social enterprise providing employment access opportunities (thebiscuitfactory.com).
22. Culloden Estate & Spa, Belfast
Whiskey-infused porridge, Ardglass kippers, or a full Irish breakfast served with potato and soda bread in Culloden Estate and Spa’s traditional hotel restaurant will set you up for a brisk walk around the former palace, with views overlooking Belfast Lough (cullodenestateandspa.com).
23. Six, Pier Point, Roker
The best place for breakfast in the whole of Sunderland, according to its fans, Six, Pier Point sits on Roker’s sandy beach. Two sea-swimming groups take a dip year-round before filling up on crab on sourdough or whipped cream cheese on toast (sixpierpoint.co.uk).
24. The Quarter, Liverpool
The much-loved Quarter is beautifully situated between the two cathedrals in Liverpool’s Georgian quarter. Enjoy a mimosa and pancakes with berry compote at one of the outdoor bistro tables on cobbled, historic Falkner Street (thequarteruk.com).
25. Norman’s Café, London N19
The great British caff lives on in Norman’s Café, with a no-frills fry-up and beans on toast with Red Leicester the order of the day in this stylised hipster hang-out (normanscafe.co.uk).
26. Café Lucca, Bath
After a day’s sightseeing, make for the sunny terrace at Bath’s Café Lucca where the Belgian waffles with maple syrup and vegetarian breakfast wrap steal the show (caffelucca.co.uk).
27. Black Dog Deli, Walberswick
Grab one of the few coveted tables in the tiny outdoor terrace at the Black Dog Deli, a breakfast hero in Suffolk’s picturesque Walberswick that bakes on the premises. Sausage rolls, fresh pastries, filled rolls and excellent coffee make for a perfect breakfast (theblackdogdelis.co.uk).
28. Elder Press Café, London W6
In a quaint lane off the Thames near Hammersmith, the sustainably minded Elder Press Café’s patio garden is a pretty spot to power up with porridge with rhubarb, apple berry compote and homemade almond butter, or kimchi fried rice with tofu and pickled ginger (theelderpress.co.uk).
29. Mooch Café Bar, Hebden Bridge
A laidback café in the middle of Hebden Bridge that’s a retro find – who could resist dippy egg and soldiers at £3.50 or eggy bread with bacon or banana and syrup at £5.50? There’s a pretty walled garden, and dogs are welcome, too (moochcafebar.wordpress.com).).
30. General Merchants, Belfast
General Merchants has five outposts in Belfast, with East Belfast working the group’s culinary eclecticism and hearty fare, from huevos rotos with triple-cooked potatoes, chorizo, and sumac, the GM Gaucho with spicy Mexican beans, and even Korean fried broccoli stir-fry (generalmerchants.co.uk).
31. Csons at the Green Café, Ludlow
Promising “proper breakfasts” for the super-hungry, even the vegan breakfast at Csons punches above its weight, featuring veg pakhora and gunpowder! The café’s setting by the weir on the river Teme, with the castle in the distance, is enchanting (csons.uk).
32. Claridge’s Hotel, London W1
Irresistible pastries on the breakfast trolley, Japanese tamagoyaki eggs, Chinese pork gyoza or good old baked beans with your veggie full English, breakfast in Claridge’s art deco Foyer & Reading Room is international and utterly glamorous (claridges.co.uk).
• This article was amended on 7 June 2023 to clarify appropriate activities at Scarista beach, Harris.
