What did the I stand for in IHOP?

August 18, 2007 4:57 PM

A recommendation for a place in London to get a hearty American-style breakfast?

Ideally this would include buttermilk pancakes, omelettes, bacon, hash browns, coffee etc. I'd prefer a non-chain place. And any place that serves black pudding for breakfast (that link is to Christopher's) is automatically disqualified. :)

Thanks!!

posted by vacapinta to food & drink (20 comments total)

Harlem Soul Food does American-style breakfast. Never had it, but their dinner food is decent. No black pudding.
posted by grouse at 5:20 PM on August 18, 2007

Oh yeah, please note the late hours—it is actually "brunch."
posted by grouse at 5:21 PM on August 18, 2007

McDonald's?

When I was England for two months, what I learned to be an "English Breakfast" was awesome. Eggs (usually fried), thick sausage, bacon, tomato, bread, coffee. At least half the restaurants I ate breakfast at had hashbrowns as well. I can't imagine you not enjoying that, given what you're asking for.

As for a recommendation, there is an exceptionally awesome (and inexpensive) cafe about 20 feet from the ticket kiosks at The Tower of London. I had almost the exact breakfast you describe there, sans omelet. But I think they offer them.
posted by chudmonkey at 6:58 PM on August 18, 2007

I'd like to add that this is not for me but for a friend in London who desperately misses American breakfasts/diners and has been unable to find one. Thanks.
posted by vacapinta at 6:59 PM on August 18, 2007

A bit of drive/train trip from the city, but the Sheraton Heathrow serves a hearty breakfast buffet...not 100% American, but pretty close.
posted by clh at 8:41 PM on August 18, 2007

It's not a properly, 100% American place, but the Battersea Grill, in Battersea just over the river from Chelsea, does a good approximation of an American breakfast.
posted by greycap at 1:08 AM on August 19, 2007

The Diner in Shoreditch has mixed reviews: in essence, shit service, decent food, very Shoreditch. They've got one in Soho now too. And there's Fatboy's, way out east. No black pudding to be seen.

But your friend may have grasped that the British conception of American diner food is basically 'Happy Days', and I can't remember the Fonz being up for breakfast.
posted by holgate at 1:16 AM on August 19, 2007

... he could just ask for it without the black pudding. Christopher's seems to have everything he's looking for.
posted by missmagenta at 1:23 AM on August 19, 2007

The Breakfast Club on Camden Passage in Islington does all-day breakfast and has a pretty comprehensive menu. It's really popular (as in, people queue to eat there) but IMO, totally worth it.
posted by cardamine at 2:47 AM on August 19, 2007

Eagle Diner supposedly do a good American-style pancake breakfast.

There's also Ed's Diner, which doesn't do breakfast, but is definitely diner-style. I can personally vouch for the burgers and chilli-cheese fries.
posted by wayward vagabond at 2:50 AM on August 19, 2007

I was always able to wrangle out an American breakfast by ordering the standard breakfast and asking them please to exclude things like black pudding, etc.

Chapel Market St has loads of really good diners and I recall one of them will make eggs to order (i.e. poached, scrambled) *and* has pancakes as well I believe.

It's pretty much impossible to get American-style pancakes, though. Pancakes in the UK are all very very thin. The kind you get in the States are known in the UK as Scotch pancakes and I've never seen them in a restaurant.

Maybe one of these places is open for breakfast? In my experience london-eating.co.uk is the best site for finding places to eat.
posted by Deathalicious at 4:39 AM on August 19, 2007

Oh, and I believe the I in IHOP comes from the idea that the pancakes they offer provide flavors that span the globe, or something. I've never seen an IHOP outside of the States.
posted by Deathalicious at 4:40 AM on August 19, 2007

Even if you could get American-style pancakes in the UK (you can't), you can't get maple-flavored syrup (which is trashy anyway) and certainly can't real maple syrup.

So this search will not end well. Even if every other breakfast food cited is as British as it is American, the US is generations ahead in pancake technology.
posted by Mayor Curley at 5:11 AM on August 19, 2007 [1 favorite]

Even if you could get American-style pancakes in the UK (you can't), you can't get maple-flavored syrup (which is trashy anyway) and certainly can't real maple syrup.

There have been no fewer than three restaurants linked here which offer on their menu either "buttermilk pancakes" or "American pancakes," and advertise either "maple syrup" or even "Canadian maple syrup."

So have you actually been to all three of these places and can certify that they are all lying? Or did you just not bother to read the previous answers?
posted by grouse at 5:54 AM on August 19, 2007

There have been no fewer than three restaurants linked here which offer on their menu either "buttermilk pancakes" or "American pancakes,"

All I saw was the Harlem Diner offering "maple syrup."
posted by Mayor Curley at 6:11 AM on August 19, 2007

Mayor Curley, I must protest:

Warsaw Diner in Nottingham, purveyor of fine American breakfasts.

And I have a bottle of 100% pure maple syrup downstairs in my kitchen. I picked it up at Morrisons. It cost around £3.

However, it hides in the dessert aisle, not the breakfast aisle.
posted by Katemonkey at 10:21 AM on August 19, 2007

You are asking for the Chelsea Bun. Take my word on this. It's in a transport blackhole close to none of Fulham Broadway, South Ken or Sloane Square but it has exactly what you are asking for. Not cheap but by a million, billion miles, the best breakfast in London.

Sample from their breakfast menu:

SAN FRANCISCO BREAKFAST £8.95
TWO ENGLISH MUFFINS TOPPED WITH HONEY ROAST HAM, SMOKED TURKEY & SCRAMBLED EGGS, COVERED IN HOLLANDAISE SAUCE, SERVED WITH FARMHOUSE SAUSAGE, GRILLED TOMATO AND HASH BROWNS.

LATE MIAMI BREAKFAST £8.70
POTATO SKINS TOPPED WITH SPINACH, SCRAMBLED EGGS, SMOTHERED IN A CREAMY CHEESE SAUCE, SERVED WITH FARMHOUSE SAUSAGE, BACK BACON AND HASH BROWNS.

SHRIMP SCRAMBLE ROYALE £8.70
SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH SHRIMP S, SERVED ON TOASTED MUFFIN, SMOTHERED IN HOLLANDAISE SAUCE, WITH BACON, FARMHOUSE SAUSAGE & HASH BROWNS.

MALIBU OMELETTE £8.95
A1 FARM FRESH EGG OMELETTE(4 EGGS) FILLED WITH SMOKED SALMON, AVOCADO & MASCARPONE CHEESE, WITH A TOUCH OF CAYENNE PEPPER, SERVED WITH HASH BROWNS

NEW YORK BRUNCH £8.95
TWO EGGS (SCRAMBLED OR FRIED) HOT GRILLED HAM, FARMHOUSE SAUSAGE, HASH BROWNS, TWO FRENCH TOAST, 3 PANCAKES, CANADIAN MAPLE SYRUP AND CLOTTED CREAM.
posted by dmt at 2:21 PM on August 19, 2007

Thanks everyone! We'll have to give these a try and report back!
posted by vacapinta at 9:21 PM on August 19, 2007

NB - Battersea Grill is run by the same people as Chelsea Bun. (The menu options are the same, so whichever is nearer to you should do the trick).
posted by greycap at 3:00 AM on August 20, 2007

There's a diner in Perivale (London borough, Middlesex postcode) which always makes claims of its authenticity. From its breakfast menu:
American style pancakes with maple syrup, grilled bacon, two eggs (any style), hashed brown potatoes and bottomless coffee or tea. £4.95.
posted by boudicca at 3:24 AM on August 20, 2007