Since I came to London from the States years ago, I spent ages searching for a decent place for brunch. I managed to find a few nice french pattiserie-style places that serve dainty omlettes and watery french-press coffees; and the lovely Balans, which serves English breakfast food with a slight American-style twist; and the Four Seasons brunch buffet, which can pretty much satisfy any craving you could possibly have within their vast buffet offering and made to order kitchen; but alas, I still woke up slightly empty inside, longing for what I always took for granted as one of those simple pleasures, something resembling a true American-style brunch.
In the States it is so easy, you wake up late and head to the nearest IHOP, they are nearly as ubiquitous as Starbucks. And open 24 hours. And insanely cheap. Or for a more special, more unique experience, there are places such as Fonda San Miguel or BreadWinners.
And then once I started to get into the know of the London foodie world, I discovered Lucky Seven. After reading about it, I had to go that next weekend. And since then I’ve been back on several occasions – afterall it’s not too far to travel for a special breakfast.
Despite the high rankings of Hache and Byron on many a burger-shootout, Lucky Seven is a strong contender for best burger in town, and really does a better job of replicating the American burger experience. However, we came for brunch this time.
The way it works is a bit different to other restaurants. Because it is a rather busy place on the weekends, there is usually a bit of a wait. And the restaurant is tiny, so there is really no place to wait inside. So they send everyone next door to the sister restaurant, Crazy Homies. Being a Mexican restaurant, this sometimes ends up with a funny result – morning margaritas. To kill the 15 minutes we usually have to wait for our table next door, we go ahead and order some margaritas (they have a wide selection) and also perhaps some chips and salsa. We invariably are only halfway through this when we are called over for breakfast. So we end up bringing our margaritas next door with us, and finishing them up as we order our breakfast. Very odd, but not bad as a hangover cure.
But for the first time ever, somehow we were seated straight away this time – so no need for the morning margaritas ritual. My liver was thanking me already.
There are truly few decent places in London for a decent offering for brunch on weekends, even fewer who are able to execute a meal that comes close to the authentic American style. Breakfast menu served here until 5pm on weekends. Sweet.
The ambiance is a bit noisy, some old Elvis or Buddy Holly music playing a bit loudly, everyone seems to be sort of yelling across the tables to make their conversation heard. The vibe in this place is a bit swinging.
No menus at the table – one big menu is presented high on the wall above the kitchen, turn around, squint, and make your choices quick! In true American service style, the waiters are at your table to take an order before you’ve even realized where the menu is!
Milkshakes – Chocolate malt extra thick, and bananana malt medium thick. I have seen a number of places that purport to offer a “milkshake” in London, but really I think this might be the only place that does it properly. If you come to Lucky 7, don’t you dare forget to order one, and for goodness sake please make it extra thick. Malt flavoring is optional. If you are not familiar with this, it is the same flavor you get in Maltesers sweets, so if you like those, you will love a malt milkshake.
Guacamole and fries. I think this was ordered by the couple sitting next to us at our table. But the guac looked so good I wanted to get a shot in there. This reminds me to mention one of the funny things about Lucky Seven. The entire restaurant is about 6 or 8 big diner-style booths, reminiscent of what we used to have at the House of Pancakes or something like that. Since this place is always in such high demand on the weekends, and since many of the patrons come in couples (ourselves included), you often end up basically sharing the booth with another couple. Now, in offstandish London, this may sound like a rather uncomfortable situation, and yes it can be if you’re not the social type, so beware. But the booths are really big, so don’t worry, it’s not as if you are actually sharing the meal with the couple next to you. Oh, and there was also some guac served with my breakfast burrito, keep reading…
Fresh squeezed orange juice. Plenty of drinks on our table, we might have also had some coffees. The orange juice is very nice, fresh, chilled, even served the American way with the straws still covered with the wrapper on the top bit.
Breakfast burrito – filled with black beans, chorizo, eggs, etc., with sour cream, guacamole, fresh salsa, and lettuce salad on the side. Ok, I’m not going to go all out and say this was truly “American”, or perhaps it was if you go to Boston and order a burrito I guess. But it certainly wouldn’t qualify in Texas. The black beans are a nice touch for authenticity, although they probably wouldn’t appeal to everyone. But the chorizo is really more in that “Spanish” chorizo category, which is basically like a more paprika-heavy version of an italian salsiccia, and nothing like a Mexican chorizo. The eggs were cooked ok but not fluffy or anything. And the salsa – what is that? basically a bunch of diced up veg including bell peppers of 3 colors and onions? No cilantro (corriander for you anglophites), parsley, cumin, lime juice, tomato juice, oil, salt, pepper, or anything else that would make this resemble any real kind of Mexican salsa or pico de gallo. This is especially distressing since Lucky Seven is the next door companion of a supposedly Mexican restaurant, “Crazy Homies”. Being honest I would probably rate the breakfast burrito at Balans higher than this one.
Pancakes, blueberry I think. Now these were nice, very thick and fluffy, even buttermilky, and almost a true American-style breakfast portion (4 big ones, where IHOP serves 5 big ones). But for London, you definitely can’t beat these pancakes. I remember when I first moved here and spent ages searching for anywhere to have pancakes, and “My Old Dutch” was the best substitute I could find. It’s nice for what it is, but you really have to stretch your imagination to call those “pancakes” from the American point of view.
Of course I’m a big fan of Lucky Seven. If it was in my neighborhood I would probably be there at least once every weekend. It’s the kind of place that you take into consideration as a potential “local spot” when you think about moving home. Service is mostly quick and no-nonsense, although when it gets very busy there does seem to be a shortage of waiters so it gets tougher to grab someone’s attention. The decor will really give you that back home feeling, although maybe moreso for someone who considers “home” Austin or San Francisco, rather than Houston or Dallas.
On this visit we paid £43 including service for two, which is excellent considering we both had fresh OJ and malt milkshakes, plus all our food, and a side of bacon. No doubt we’ll be back soon for the upteenth time, but I might not go for the breakfast burrito next time. I’ll save that for Balans, which is just a short walk down the road from me.
Lucky Seven Diner
http://www.lucky7london.co.uk
127 Westbourne Park Road
London
W2 5QL
0207 727 6771
The original set of high-res photos is here.
