Brunch in London is a late, unhurried weekend meal, usually served from about 10:00 to 15:00, and "bottomless" means unlimited drinks for a fixed price within a fixed time, always sold with food. You need to book for Sunday, often a week or more ahead, and the bottomless slot is normally 90 or 120 minutes from the time you sit down.
The word is American, and so is the format. What London has added is the bottomless version, which now appears on menus across the city, and a slightly awkward competition with the Sunday roast for the same tables at the same hours.
Two things follow from that. First, if you want a roast, read our guide to the Sunday roast instead, because it is a different meal served in different places. Second, if you want brunch on a Sunday in a popular area, treat it like booking a restaurant on a Saturday night.
Brunch in London at a glance
- Usual hours
- Saturday and Sunday, about 10:00 to 15:00; some places serve it on weekdays too
- Bottomless time limit
- Normally 90 or 120 minutes from the start of your booking, not from your first drink
- Usually included
- One food course plus prosecco, a house cocktail, beer or soft drinks in rotation
- Usually not included
- Champagne, spirits, extra courses, service charge
- Whole-table rule
- Most venues require everyone at the table to take the bottomless option
- Booking
- Essential for Sunday in central London; a week ahead is normal, longer in December
- Legal minimum age
- 18 to buy alcohol. At 16 or 17 an adult may buy you a beer, a cider or a glass of wine, but only alongside a meal at a table
Why bottomless brunch always comes with food
This is not a marketing choice. Under the mandatory licensing conditions that apply to every licensed premises in England and Wales, it is an irresponsible promotion to provide "unlimited or unspecified quantities of alcohol free or for a fixed or discounted fee" to the public. There is one carve-out: the rule does not apply to a promotion or discount on alcohol "for consumption at a table meal".
That single exception is the whole reason bottomless brunch exists in its current form. To stay inside the law the venue has to serve you a meal at a table, which is why every bottomless offer bundles a plate of food you may not have wanted, and why you cannot buy the drinks package on its own at the bar.
It also explains the time limit. The exception covers a meal, not an afternoon, so venues cap the session and then switch to normal bar prices. If you stay on afterwards, check the menu before ordering: the second round is at full price.
The clock starts at your booking time, not when the first bottle arrives. If your table is booked for 12:00 and you turn up at 12:25, most venues will still finish your bottomless session at 13:30. Arrive on time, order the drinks immediately, and do not wait for a late member of your group.
What bottomless actually includes, and what it does not
Read the small print on the booking page before you choose. The differences between one offer and another are larger than the price differences.
- Which drinks. Most offers cover prosecco, a house cocktail or two, bottled beer and soft drinks. Champagne, wine by the bottle and spirits are usually extra.
- One at a time. Almost every venue serves one drink per person at a time and will not bring a fresh round until the glasses are empty. This is a licensing precaution, not rudeness.
- How much food. Some offers include one main dish; others include a starter or a side as well. "Bottomless food" is rare and is usually a buffet.
- Everyone or nobody. Most venues require the whole table to take the package. If one person is not drinking, ask before booking whether a soft-drink version is available at a lower price.
- Service charge. A discretionary charge, often about 12.5 per cent, is usually added to the total, which on a £45 package is another £5.60 a head. It is optional; our page on tipping in London explains how that works.
Prices in central London in September 2026 generally sit between about £35 and £60 a head for the package, and higher in hotels. Always check the venue's own booking page for the current price, the session length and the drinks list, because all three change.
Booking: why Sunday is the hard day
Saturday brunch is usually available with a day or two's notice. Sunday is not, for three reasons that stack on top of each other.
Sunday is the one day when almost nobody in London is at work, so demand is at its peak. It is also roast day, which means the kitchens that could take brunch bookings are running a second, larger menu. And a great many restaurants close on Sunday evening, which compresses the whole day into a single long lunchtime service.
Practical advice: book at least a week ahead for Sunday in Soho, Shoreditch, Covent Garden or the South Bank; book two to three weeks ahead in December; and take an early slot if you can, because 11:00 and 11:30 tables are far easier to get than 13:00.
If you cannot get a table, the fallback is a café rather than a restaurant. Cafés serving eggs and pastries rarely take bookings, turn tables quickly and will usually seat two people within twenty minutes even at noon.
What London puts on a brunch plate
You will meet the international brunch standards — avocado on toast, eggs Benedict, shakshuka, pancakes — but London has a few of its own.
The full English. Bacon, sausage, eggs, beans, tomato, mushrooms and toast, often with black pudding. It is a breakfast rather than a brunch dish, and our guide to the full English breakfast covers it properly.
Indian breakfast. One of the most distinctive brunch styles in the city: bacon or sausage rolled in naan, spiced scrambled eggs, and chai. See Indian food in London for the background.
Caribbean and West African weekend cooking. Saltfish, ackee and fried dumplings appear on weekend menus in Brixton and Peckham and are a proper meal rather than a snack.
Middle Eastern plates. Eggs with yoghurt, flatbread, labneh, za'atar and pickles, usually shared.
Coffee quality varies enormously between the restaurant brunch and the café brunch; if the coffee matters more than the cocktails, our guide to coffee in London points at the specialists.
Two menu words confuse people. Eggs Benedict means poached eggs and ham or bacon on a toasted muffin with hollandaise sauce; eggs Florentine swaps the meat for spinach; eggs Royale uses smoked salmon. All three are the same dish underneath, and in a poor kitchen all three arrive with the sauce split.
What brunch costs without the bottomless option
The package price is not the only way to do this, and for many people it is not the best one. A single brunch dish in a London café or restaurant generally costs between £11 and £18 in September 2026; add a coffee at £3.50 to £5 and a fresh juice at about £5 and you have a meal for £20 to £28 a head.
Against that, a £45 bottomless package only makes sense if you will drink four or more glasses in the session. Below three, you are paying for drinks you do not want. Work out how many you will actually have before you book, because the package usually cannot be swapped for à la carte once you are seated.
For a family, the sums change again. Most brunch menus have no children's section, but nearly every kitchen will split a dish or serve a plain version on request, and children's portions are commonly half price. Two adults and two children eating à la carte will usually spend £60 to £80 in a café and closer to £120 in a restaurant.
Where the brunch clusters are
| Area | Style | How far ahead to book on a Sunday |
|---|---|---|
| Soho and Covent Garden | Bottomless packages, big rooms, loud music | 1–2 weeks |
| Shoreditch and Hoxton | Bottomless and DJ brunches, later start times | 1–2 weeks |
| Brixton and Peckham | Caribbean and West African weekend cooking | A few days |
| Marylebone and Notting Hill | Quieter, café-led, family-friendly | A few days, or walk in early |
| Hotels across the centre | Buffets and set menus, the most expensive option | 1 week; longer in December |
A noisy bottomless brunch in Soho and a quiet plate of eggs in Brixton are the same meal in name only. Decide which one you want before you look at prices. For what happens after the session ends, see our guide to going out in London.
Brunch with children, and brunch without alcohol
Brunch is the easiest restaurant meal of the week to do with a family. It is early, it is informal and most kitchens will split a dish. Bottomless brunches are the exception: many are 18-plus, and those that are not tend to be loud, so check the venue's policy when booking. Our guide to London with a baby covers prams, high chairs and feeding.
The age rules are specific. Nobody under 18 may buy alcohol or be sold it. At 16 or 17 the one exception is a drink bought by an accompanying adult and taken alongside a meal at a table, limited to beer, cider or wine; spirits are excluded, and the venue may still say no. Our page on alcohol laws in London sets out the detail.
Many venues now sell a soft or alcohol-free version of the bottomless package, typically £10 to £15 cheaper. It is not always advertised, so ask. Our guide to drinking without alcohol in London covers what is on offer, and vegan and vegetarian London covers the food side.
Bank holidays and the Sunday that is not a Sunday
Brunch service usually runs on bank holiday Mondays, and so do bottomless offers, but kitchens often open later and close earlier. Our guide to bank holidays and opening hours lists the dates.
Two days to avoid planning around: Christmas Day, when almost nothing serves brunch, and Easter Sunday, when many restaurants run a set menu instead of the usual weekend one. Book directly with the restaurant on either.
Frequently asked questions
What does bottomless brunch include in London?
Usually one food course plus unlimited prosecco, a house cocktail, beer or soft drinks for a fixed period, normally 90 or 120 minutes. Champagne, spirits and extra courses are almost always charged separately, and a discretionary service charge of around 12.5 per cent is usually added.
Why does bottomless brunch always come with food?
Because of licensing law. Offering unlimited alcohol for a fixed fee is classed as an irresponsible promotion under the mandatory licensing conditions, except where the alcohol is for consumption at a table meal. Serving food is what makes the offer lawful, which is also why there is a time limit.
How far in advance should I book brunch on a Sunday?
At least a week for central London, and two to three weeks in December. Saturday is much easier. Earlier slots, around 11:00, are consistently simpler to get than the 13:00 tables, and cafés that do not take bookings are the reliable fallback.
Do I have to take the bottomless option if my friends do?
At most venues, yes: the package normally applies to the whole table. Some offer a soft-drink or alcohol-free version at a lower price, but it is often not shown on the booking page, so ask the restaurant directly before you confirm.
Can children come to brunch in London?
To an ordinary brunch, almost always. Many bottomless brunches are restricted to over-18s, and those that are not are usually loud. Nobody under 18 may buy alcohol, and the only exception for 16- and 17-year-olds is beer, cider or wine bought by an accompanying adult and drunk alongside a meal at a table.
Sources
- The Licensing Act 2003 (Mandatory Licensing Conditions) Order 2010 - Schedule, irresponsible promotions (checked September 2026)
- Licensing Act 2003, section 159 - definition of a table meal (checked September 2026)
- GOV.UK - Alcohol and young people: the law (checked September 2026)
- GOV.UK - Tips at work and service charges (checked September 2026)
- GOV.UK - UK bank holidays (checked September 2026)