A Stubborn American Brunch at Christopher’s Covent Garden

Christopher's in Covent Garden doesn't open until 11.30 at the weekends. It's the kind of stubbornly old school restaurant that is certainly not going to kowtow to newfangled trends like taking 'brunch' at 9am on a Sunday – God forbid! - but they know their way around a US style brunch menu, I’ll give them that.

Having managed to arrive a quarter of an hour early for our 11.30 table, I stood outside for 15 minutes watching the glorious tropical summer rain and listening to my stomach howling.  Does an 11.30 brunch necessitate breakfast first?  I’d certainly think twice about leaving the house without it in future. As the doors opened at 11.26, I waited four minutes, to avoid an air of desperation by running through the doors immediately and clawing at the bread rolls. 

Inside, Christopher's was like a grand old American dame, with plenty of opulent wood panelling, polished wooden floors, high ceilings and huge windows. Downstairs, a wood clad bar area offering a casual diner type brunch spot and upstairs a slightly more formal restaurant.  We chose the restaurant upstairs and selected our own white tablecloth adorned table as the restaurant was virtually empty.  In fact the staff seemed rather surprised to see anyone there that early and a little nervous of our insistence that we order right now. 

Empty restaurants usually make me feel self conscious but in this case I didn't feel like anyone was listening, perhaps because all I could think about was filling my face. When gradually the room did gradually fill up, it was with a huge American family with lots of young kids, several quiet couples and groups of champagne drinking 20-30 something's already with their Olympic lanyards and flags on display ready for a (presumably somewhat tipsy) trip to the Olympic Park.

The menu at Christopher’s is a very American brunch - eggs, pancakes and the like with no fry up options. In keeping with the spirit of the place (and because we were, frankly, starving) we decided to go for a brunch with several courses. First up, a fresh fruit cup for me with a dollop of crème fraiche (£5.75). The fruit was indeed fresh - melon, blue and raspberries, orange slices with pith removed - and it came in a ginger syrup that thankfully was more juice than gloopy syrup. Across the table wild mushrooms, garlic and caramelised onions on toasted bread with rocket salad (£8.95), which disappeared in around three minutes.

Next, the main event, buttermilk pancakes with bacon (£7.25) for me and Huevos California (£10.95) across the table. The buttermilk pancakes were fantastic - light and fluffy and served with a pour yourself pot of just sweet enough maple syrup. My only complaint about this dish was that it came with only two slices of bacon - streaky bacon, so the slices were pretty thin. The bacon was really good, mouthwatering in fact, but it was a stingy portion and I hate that.

The Huevos California did not impress as the tortillas, spicy tomato sauce, avocado, fried eggs and Monterey Jack were too claggy and soggy and mostly remained on the plate. My Sunday bunching partner at Christopher's was, for a while, a temporary New Yorker and without fail likes to finish off his brunch with a slice of cheesecake. Today was no different and so we shared a pleasingly thick and sweet piece of baked New York cheesecake (£7.95) with some kind of sweet cream. We didn't get all the way through it but this simply was a case of eyes being bigger than stomachs.

(Unfortunately this is the only photo I remembered to take as I was too busy eating the food to take pictures of it…)

Drinks wise, Christopher's does free refills of filter coffee (£3), which my friend availed himself of to the count of four and I had two lattes (£3.95 each) which were average and lacking in creaminess. When it came time for the bill at £29 each it did seem rather a lot for brunch, despite our several courses. The cost left me with a slightly sour taste, simply I think because I felt like I'd been duped with the bacon. Would I go back to Christopher's?  Maybe. It's the kind of safe place I know I could take my parents where they wouldn't be leaned on by hipsters or screamed at by babies. On my own though I'd probably choose somewhere more generous with the bacon.

Christopher’s

18 Wellington Street 

Covent Garden

London

WC2E 7DD

www.christophersgrill.com