The Modern Pantry

Clerkenwell’s Modern Pantry

Remember the Jubilee four-day weekend? Feels like ages ago now doesn’t it?

We knew that come the Tuesday we’d be feeling a bit Jubileed-out so the girls, friends R, G and N decided to meet for a Kiwi-style brunch at The Modern Pantry. N had been there a few times already and loved it so we knew it would be good. The place was definitely no disappointment. N also seems to live near a lot of amazing food places – perhaps Islington is the place to be? (Lady loves Cake buys a lotto ticket)

An extensive brunch menu – much to the irritation of my girls it took me ages to decide what on earth to eat.

I had eaten more than my fair share of the world’s calories over the Jubilee weekend so stuck to honey-roast oats, nuts and grated apple over Greek yoghurt and half a pain au raisins. The others went for smoked salmon with poached eggs and feta, polenta and curry leaf waffles served with bacon and maple syrup. This menu is very similar to the brunch menus in great restaurants across Australia and New Zealand, a wonderful thing in my view.

N’s salmon and poached eggs

My granola and Greek yoghurt – I could have eaten this all day, delicious.

I loved my food as it was so fresh and felt healthy (even though it probably wasn’t!). It also went great with the earl grey, elderflower and mint iced tea plus the pot of green tea. The others had smoothies which were fantastic.

An excellent spread with fantastic drinks – it’s not often that I rave about the drinks but the iced tea was gorgeous.

The service was a bit aloof but they were nice enough and definitely didn’t show any signs of wanting us to leave, quite the opposite really. It was a few hours into brunch that the Queen’s flyover went past – hello Red Arrows! We could have spent the entire afternoon there to be honest. I also liked the décor - light and airy with a focus on the food.

Nice modern décor that allows for focus on the food.

So all in all, a definite winner. The bill came to £17.50 each so slightly on the pricey side but it was really good quality and we did have a lot of things. I have yet to be disappointed with an Antipodean brunch in London but this is up there with the best of them.

The Modern Pantry can be found in Clerkenwell at 47-48 St John’s Square. You need to book in advance but it’s worth the quick few minutes it takes to do so. Excellent place for a good quality weekend brunch. 

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