Going out for brunch is one of my all-time favourite pastimes.
There is something truly luxurious about toiling away the hours during the daytime over a meal that combines the best of two gastronomic worlds, more often than not in an environment completely disconnected from the rest of the week and its more serious distractions.
A few weekends ago I spent the better part of Sunday doing exactly that. With a bride-to-be friend in tow we appeared out of the shiny lift doors on the first floor of London’s trendy W Hotel to join another group of in-the-know brunchers leisurely grouped throughout the upstairs sleek lounge bar.
On a Sunday the vibe here is a little less high-gloss, more go-easy – summed up visually by the W Hotel tartan slippers you’ll find next to your allocated dining spot: the sofas.
Your only challenge from here on is to relax and repose, balancing food and drink with hot tracks from silver-clad DJ Anna, the Sunday papers and senseless chit chat next to glass pillars that provide an unusual take on the modern fireplace.
This linear design of the W bar is one of the main attractions of visiting this vast, glamorous, white building that sneaks itself into the corner of London’s Leicester Square. And yet for such a busy part of town, you barely notice the crowds that throng beneath.
Attentive staff tend to your every need bringing you bottomless Bloody Marys or gin-based Red Snappers (£25 a head) that you can also learn how to make in-bar masterclasses if you so desire.
Kicking off with a jamjar of granola and yoghurt, what follows is a beguiling silver tea-tray of delights, big enough to satiate even the hungriest of the bar’s well-dressed visitors.
Posh cheese on toast, a salmon and haddock scotch egg, smoked salmon bagels, and Caesar salad come just for starters.
The hot ‘main course’ requires room to be saved – giant Yorkshire puddings on a cushion of mashed potato, broccoli, gravy and perfectly pink beef arrive next to petite dishes of macaroni and cheese laced with recognisably pungent truffle oil.
Slurp another bloody mary before filling a pink and white striped paper bag full of old-school sweets and cookies, neatly contained in glass jars – they’ll serve you well in the red cinema-style chairs in the adjoining Screening Room.
When I was here, episodes of back-to-back Absolutely Fabulous were playing as others later indulged in rock-star themed afternoon tea.
For £25 a head for food, plus another £25 for bottomless beverages, this could easily add up to be an expensive afternoon if you’re footing the bill for more than a couple of you.
However, once you break down the size and relative cost of the individual courses and factor in price per cocktail otherwise, overall this becomes an afternoon well spent – and you’ve got to break up the shopping somehow!
For further inspiration for brunch in London, read our guide here or try out some of our suggestions for champagne brunch in London.
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