The Wolseley

Housed in a spectacular former car showroom next to The Ritz, The Wolseley is where Londoners go for a breakfast with a sense of occasion. The menu runs from eggs Benedict, kippers and haddock kedgeree to a proper English breakfast and a counter of Viennese pastries, all delivered with polished brasserie service beneath soaring vaulted ceilings and marble floors. It is not cheap and it is not quick, but the setting is genuinely grand and reviewers rate the cooking as classic and precise. It sits below Dishoom mainly on price and value rather than quality, so choose it when the occasion, not the bill, is the point. Book ahead for weekends, and note it leans more traditional breakfast than trendy brunch, served from early morning rather than late into the afternoon, which is precisely the appeal.