Brew – Clapham

We went to brew for a Sunday brunch. We both had the poached eggs (£7.90), which is a platter including 2 water tasting (wasn’t patted dry) poached eggs sitting on 2 extremely hard thin slices of sour dough bread. We were also given hard cold butter, which was a challenge to spread given our bread was hard as rock and cold.
Husband also ordered orange juice (£5.5/glass –whoa, right?-), which had more pulp than juice in it.
Very disappointed with the overall experience as food lacked flavor and quantity (put a little bit on the side, like avocado or sliced tomatoes?) for the price we paid. Not recommended.

There are only positive things I can say about this place. The owner and staff are very friendly and helpful. We go in with two kids and they are very accommodating. The chef makes the most delish food and everything we’ve had is so yummy and creative.
We even pop in for coffee Togo and Tony always remembers how I prefer it. Thank you!

Food was great, friendly staff. Priced on the higher side.

Pretty disappointed. I always see this place packed full so wanted to see what the fuss was about.
It was busy at all, lots of empty tables however the service was below average.
We asked a few normal questions which the waitress had no idea about. Just everything that I thought would be standard service seemed a bit of an effort.
I got the duck burger which was yum but chips stale and cost me £14 :/​next time I’ll be going to GBK.

— Let’s just say that this incident happened outside ‘The Priory’. Personally, I patronise establishments where I don’t feel likely to be attacked by my host. Avoid — overpriced & unoriginal.

Run by a psychotic cycling hating swearing maniac. Now part of a growing movement to boycott this outrageous behaviour. Avoid. Avoid. Avoid.

Brew sadly has been a constant disappointment. The coffee is mediocre at best, tasting bitter and burnt. It’s a nice spot to sit outside, but the owner’s recent violent behaviour loses a couple more stars. I highly recommend the nearby Birdhouse and Story Coffee for much better coffee from nicer people.

The owner of Brew…
Delicious food, right?

I am going to be kind and give Brew 4*, why doesn’t Unilocal allow for half stars?! It deserves 3.5.
We arrived around 11am on a bank holiday Monday and had a small wait. Thankfully they were sitting people next door at the Indian Restaurant (slightly strange).
I had the treacle cured bacon sandwich with avocado, which I extremely enjoyed. The bacon and the tomato jam went perfectly together. I thought the pot of aioli was slightly pointless, as it really didn’t accompany the flavours of the sandwich.
The flat white was slightly disappointing, but can we really expect everyone to know how to make a good coffee?
Overall, it is definitely worth a visit for an area that is lacking in non-​chain breakfast/​brunch spots.

Absolutely delicious! I’ve been here twice so far, both for Sunday brunch. They are very welcoming, they also seat you promptly no matter how busy they look. Their menu has a lot to choose from, I’ve had the eggs florentine and turkish eggs on a separate occasion. It’s always very fresh and delicious, they seem to use quality ingredients, which is always a plus! The atmosphere is pretty neat too, a trip to the Pacific Northwest if you will.
I recommend for breakfast, well done Brew!

What’s not to like about an Antipodean coffee and brunch place? Half of Clapham certainly seems to agree given how rammed Brew is at the weekend. Their MO is pretty simple: straightforward brunch dishes with a little more inspiration than a Full English and decent coffee, and they do pretty well.
First off: there’s not a whole load of room to manœuvre in here. Tables are stacked pretty closely together and even with the covered outside section (complete with blankets in winter) it’s pretty rammed and a little claustrophic. To be honest, they could probably do with upscaling a bit, but then again I’m not sure how busy it is during the week so maybe it wouldn’t be economical. I don’t mind the crampedness all that much, but it doesn’t do the service many favours. The service here has been generally good, but the staff seem a little flustered at times which is totally understandable given the number of people and the little room with which the staff have to, you know, do their job.
Anyway, that aside. First time I went I had a bacon and avocado sandwich with a toasted banana bread on the side. Both were good, my only mini gripe being that the avocado was a tiny bit hard, but then again we are in the UK; all in all, simple dishes put together well. Personally, I’d prefer the banana bread with butter rather than yoghurt but, well, I’m a fatty so…
The second time I went I had a chicken burger. Now… this would have been all fine, but the chicken was probably a day or two older than it should have been. Not enough to make me ill, but it had that slightly off taste. In one of my more British moments, I said nothing. I hate waste, and it was still *edible* so that combined with my desire not to rock the boat overrode my sense of right as a customer. For better of for worse. The rest of the burger… I mean, it was nice although nothing particularly special; the chicken was a tad on the dry side too. Not a horrible experience, but the kitchen staff should really watch out for stuff like that. And as a customer I should really make more noise.
Brew does Allpress coffee — not my favourite, but it’s pretty decent and far better than your bog-​standard, so I’m happy with that. All in all, I’d go back here again, for sure. I like their menu and it always has attractive options on it; that said, it does need a few improvements to send it over the edge and for me to think «mm, this is pretty awesome». Maybe it’s a little je né sais quoi, or perhaps it’s something utterly tangible that I’m not discerning enough to be able to pick out explicitly. I’m not sure. But if you want a decent breakfast, then you could do much much worse.

came into this tiny restaurant on a week day and was surprised by how full it was. brew was wonderfully toasty warm inside and service was quick. i had the corn fritters which were pretty good, the combo of the sweet jam and the avocado on top of the fritters was a little odd. i think i would have prefered one or the other, not both at the same time. the corn cake itself was nice though and came out nice and hot so you could tell it was freshly prepared. only downside was that i felt a little rushed by the staff, like they were trying to get me out quickly.

Popped in to Brew with my daughter… we sat outside under the heaters wrapped in the blankets they provide and ate yummy cakes and drunk tea. My daughter had just had her hair cut in Edward James over the Road (A-​mazing by the way) we then went to the little toy shop for a treat (tiny but has everything!!) popped in to trotters for new hair clips for school and then BREW… Love love love BREW and Northcote Road is just brilliant

We had to queue to get in, but once my food came I realised why!
We were sat outside, and they provided us with blankets etc. as it was raining.
I ordered the Turkish poached eggs which were FANTASTIC I have never found anything else like them anywhere else in London. Perfect brunch place if you are around C-​Town and I highly recommend the Turkish Eggs!

Really small café in a nice, central location in Clapham Junction. Came here on a Sunday at 2pm as part of a group of four and was seated quickly. The menu is really varied with loads of interesting brunch options so found it hard to choose! All our food was gorgeous (club sandwich, scrambled egg variations.) and would love to come here again soon to try something else! Sides were quite pricey but overall the bill was average for a nice brunch.

This little place gets packed out at weekends but is the perfect place for coffee and a light meal. I often go here to catch up with girlfriends. It’s always buzzing and part of it is outside so in the summer it’s popular but it’s also a cozy little place for the winter time too!

Brew is one of our favourite ‘locals’, although being more than a quick walk, it’s in a nice location on Northcote Road and easy enough to get to. The coffee is consistently better than the main franchises in the UK and on par with some great Melbourne coffees. Loving the flat whites, which hit the spot better than more milky lattes. Staff are friendly and don’t rush us out, even when it’s busy. Wifi is a bonus, and often entices me to hang around a little longer for a second cup!
Food is yummy and fresh, and there are often very creative and interesting dishes on the specials board,
It can get crowded, a tad cramped and noisy, and busy at peak hour over breakfast, lunch and weekend brunch, so be willing to wait.
Love the little Australian touches. A flavour of home.

I really love Brew. It’s just so solidly good. Fresh-​tasting, delicious food, really good coffee, decent service. You can always count on it. This morning I went for Turkish eggs (poached eggs, hung yoghurt & hot chilli butter with toasted pide) — such a great dish & the eggs are always perfectly poached so you can mix the runny yolk in with the yoghurt. The treacle-​cured bacon is always a winner side and the fresh juices make me happy (they’re too rare in London).

i’d been to Brew once before for cake and coffee with a friend. On that occasion we both left our cakes unfinished as they were not good at all. (It should be noted that I rarely ever don’t finish a piece of cake. Cake is one of life’s joys).
My more recent visit was for brunch with family & friends. I had the banana pancakes. My pancakes were good, though lacking a proper amount of syrup. The portion, for the price, wasn’t very big. I liked them, but still don’t get the hype of many other reviews. Everyone else enjoyed their meals, but none of us were wowed.
Seating is cramped. I don’t enjoy having to climb over something to find a seat and then have to move tables for any of us to get in or out. Some of our food was passed over, rather than directly to us as even the servers couldn’t quite access our shoved-​ino-​the-​corner table. The tables had trouble holding 2 meals due to their size. That was less than idea.
Overall: good food, but nothing to shout about; fair service; overly crowded and cramped seating. Maybe better to just go for coffee?

Great and simple food, nice staff, good music.

The food at brew is certainly worth the trip, and I have often dropped by in the week for a quick lunch. However its a different story on the weekends, we managed to grab a table inside this Sunday, and the small eatery was overly crowded. I was sitting on ‘the aisle’ which meant I had waitresses knocking my elbow every time they passed by.
The food is great though, this time round service was a little disappointing. Our waitress would not swap two poached eggs that came alongside a haloumi and sourdough maincourse for some mushrooms, a bit of a let down considering the fact that it was a pricey main, (and my wife is not a fan of eggs). So we kept the eggs (as we were paying for them), and I end up eating more than I need to.
My toasted banana bread served with honey yoghurt topped with pistachios was a real treat, and our friends were equally happy with their Turkish Pide dishes. Great brunch, just make sure you arrive early to beat the rush.

I came here with Dza D. for brunch and he totally beat me in the «who can order the better meal» contest. He ordered the chorizo and egg special which looked, smelled and tasted divine. Really well done and if it can satisfy one huge man as Dza, then you know the portion is on point.
I had the small, but filling croissant with ham, cheese and tomato. At first they brought it to me w/​o the tomato and I think I liked it better than with the tomato which they later brought out to me after realizing the mistake. It was around £4 and very tasty, but nothing like the rest of the dishes that I saw pass me by.
The space is small but nicely lit and bright. I had a ginger & cucumber drink that was really refreshing and made me miss my juicer.
All in all a great place to meet the girls, catch up and have a healthy breakfast.

Barring one pretty incompetent and/​or disinterested weekend staff member, BREW on Northcote Road couldn’t get better.
I came rocking up to this fully packed café at 12.30pm on a Saturday and asked for a table for three. Some tables were available outside, but the unpredictable English June weather had it feeling more like a brisk March morning than a sunny summer afternoon, so we opted to wait for a table inside, although this was only after we had been rudely rebuffed by said incompetent server and reconciled by the manager. The manager of the day, I have to say, was incredible. Friendly, hospitable. He directed us to some stools along the pavement outside and took our drink order. He even offered us some blankets. We were soon seated inside, though, and our warm coffees arrived promptly.
They were perfectly good despite not claiming Square-​Mile– or Monmouth-​sourced beans. They didn’t blow my mind, but they would certainly be worth going out of your way for if you’re in Clapham (BREW seemed to do some pretty all right take-​away coffee business). They were obviously crafted by an experienced barista on a la marzocca machine.
On to the food. Well, the menu was full of breakfast/​lunch amazing. This place has lazy SW weekend brunch written ALL over it. We ordered blueberry pancakes, the daily special (roasted salmon, roasted vine tomatoes and scrambled eggs served on sourdough toast), a chorizo scrambled egg on sourdough toast and a side of homemade Boston baked beans. Everything tasted fabulous. Seriously delightful and moreish. Usually, I can find at least ONE criticism when it comes to food (I am one picky bitch), but I was at a loss. I ate my entire meal and considered getting a slice of the homemade banana bread. Or a muffin. Or one of the croissants. Or a piece of cake. I settled on another coffee, which was just as good as the first one. I should add, I saw the barista sampling coffee behind the counter as he worked, which is always a good sign.
The service was unobtrusive and always readily available if you needed to flag someone down for something (the place is rather small inside, after all, and they had at least six people actively serving customers, although one of them was the aforementioned absent-​minded and completely ineffective server, which I’m choosing to believe was the exception rather than the rule since the rest of the service staff we encountered was fabulous).
So there you have it. I loved this place. As for the price, it wasn’t what you’d call inexpensive. But I’d say it was excellent value for money — well worth the quality and experience in the end!
£30 for three brunch mains, one side item and six americanos, not including service.
Cash only.