Bill’s

I like Bill’s. Although it’s a chain restaurant it doesn’t feel like it.
They have a lot of branches and are open from breakfast to late dinner and the menu can please everyone: Salads or small plates if you’re on a diet, vegetarian mains, tapas to share… they have something for everyone so it’s a great place if you have fussy friends.
This time I tried the Mac&Cheese rarebit and was a bit disappointed: there was no bread (I mean that’s the main ingredients of a rarebit) and the cheese sauce was a bit too liquid to my taste.
On my last visit I tried the pasta and they were really good. I guess you can’t be a winner everytime.

I love a good ‘ol bills! The place is always rammed which proves just how popular it is.
Come here for a late breakfast or a bite to eat at lunch — you won’t be disappointed. Order from their extensive menu and soak in the buzzing vibes. The walls are plastered with fascinating merchandise which keeps you thoroughly distracted until your food arrives.
Great for big groups and even kids!

Aside from it being very loud with Christmas parties now, Bill’s is a safe bet at Angel with nice drinks and good quality food. The service is friendly but not so attentive which is why I deducted a star.
Offering water at the start is always a positive opener.
During December seems that reservations are necessary.

As soon as we walked in, we said «this is a cool place.» The atmosphere is great! A very relaxed environment, they have an eclectic décor of farm style tables, industrial glass separators, and even strings of dried vegetables hanging from the ceiling. The music in the background was fun, but not too loud to talk over.
The food was excellent! I had the eggs Benedict and my wife had scrambled eggs on a toasted bloomer with bacon. We also had the breakfast tea. I recommend the tea. It really set the tone for our outing.
And the service. What wonderful service. Our server had a great attitude. She didn’t hover, but she also didn’t disappear. Like magic, she seemed to show up right when we needed her assistance.
Overall, a great find! And we plan to be back in the very near future.

We when with a large group (9 people) and every single person loved there food. Each meal was very well presented and very tasty. My favorite was the «Bill’s Breakfast». It was nice take on the tradition English breakfast, but not was greasy and was much nicer to look at :).
It was not cheap, but the staff was friendly and the food was good, so we will go again for sure.

Great brunch spot with healthy, fresh food and pretty affordable too!
Their marinated chicken skewers are awesome.

After a short wait, we were seated by friendly staff. The food was really good. I went for the veggie breakfast. My only slight disappointment was the size of the portion, which I would have expected to be a bit bigger as a ‘brunch’. All in all, it was just as good as the Breakfast Club, but I didn’t have the hour long queue that comes with it!

Huge fan of bills. Came to this one for the first time yesterday for brunch and it was lovely! Being incredibly hungover, the comforting surrounding with warm comforting food was just what I needed. The peach and mint ice tea was refreshing and the food was lovely. The staff were attentive and service was great. Well recommended!

Perfect! Perfect food, perfect service, perfect place !
Voilà ce qui résume ma soirée au Bills samedi soir. Nous étions partis avec chiwi d’amour pour une soirée musique live et burger dans un pub mais il s’est avéré que le pub n’était qu’un bar, avec de la musique live certes, mais pas de burgers…
Ni une ni deux nous voilà partie à la recherché d’un endroit où nous sustenter avec de revenir guincher au son du Rock’n’roll! Yeah !
Le problème c’est qu’on avait pas prévu le coup et qu’à Londres, sans 3G ni connection wifi, point de Unilocal pour nous aider!
Misère… C’est donc la bonne vieille technique du «je regarde le menu, je jauge la deco par la fenêtre et le nombre de tables occupés» (toujours un bon indicateur, surtout un samedi soir !) qui nous a sauvé.
Et c’est donc tout à fait par hasard que l’on se retrouve à pousser la porte de Bills!
Et quel bonne idée nous avons eu la! Des l’entrée, un accueil chaleureux et souriant. Une atmosphère cosy malgré la taille de l’endroit. Peut être du aux chandelles sur la table.
La déco est très sympa. Des tables en bois bruts, des chaises dépareillés tantôt en fer forgé, tantôt en bois style écolier, tantôt des fauteuils en velours cloutés. Aux murs un pèle-​mêle d’objets styles récup de vieilles brocantes, des guirlandes de piments qui pendent du plafond, des bougies, bref tout un ensemble disparate qui donnent beaucoup de charme à l’ensemble.
Le menu était, pour ma part, très original. Pas vraiment les plats qu’on est habitué à voir à Londres. Des mélanges de saveur assez simples mais bien différents des pubs traditionnels.
Nous avons pris pour le repas un burger au poulet agrémenté d’avocat et d’une sauce au paprika pour chiwi d’amour et des doigts de poisson frit, sauce béarnaise et roquette pour moi. Des frites fraîches en accompagnement. En dessert un trio de beignet à la cannelle sauce chocolat fondu et fruit frais pour moi et fondant au chocolat avec glacé au lait pour lui.
Ce fut un régal! Les plats comme les desserts. Ce né sont pas de grands mets exceptionnel non, mais on sentais que tout était très frais, préparé avec soin et maîtrise. Et c’était très bon. Tout simplement.
Pour le service, impeccable! Le serveur était charmant, de bon conseil et sympathique.
Je lui ai demandé si on pouvais fermer la porte parce que j’avais un peu froid il s’est exécuté en s’excusant de la gèné. Il est venu nous voir plusieurs fois pour s’assurer que tout allait bien. Mais il n’était pas trop présent non plus.
Pour résumer, on a passé une excellente soirée! A tel point qu’on s’est éternisé et que le concert était fini dans le café… Mais aucun regret ! C’était chouette :-)
Ah et ils font aussi les brunchs et petit déjeuner! La carte était alllechante ! Une bonne raison du revenir lors de mon prochain passage à Londres. J’en salive déjà!

I must say it: Bill’s is mediocre. There. It’s out there.
I’ve now visited the Angel and Hoxton Square locations, and unfortunately… the food is just not that good. The service is OK, dipping into «barely OK» at times. The décor is a bit contrived. I don’t think this varies much location to location…
We came here with a fairly large group (reserved in advance) for a Saturday lunch. Despite booking in advance, they seemed surprised to see us… even though the table was set up for us. One server for 16 people? Probably not the best delegation. Things arrived slowly, and haphazardly.
That’s not the real crime though — that is the food. It is boring and it is poorly executed. It’s a chain, so you know what to expect, and now I expect a meal at Bill’s to be fairly sub-​par, and boring.
I had the haloumi sandwich and sweet potato fries. The sandwich basically fell apart and the £3 fries (extra) were soggy, served in a steel cup and uninspired. My husband had the peri peri chicken salad, which was a sad little piece of chicken hiding under some leaves. It looked like an appetizer, and was priced like a main. He was still hungry after eating…
I don’t know. It’s just not for me. The menu is a bore and the place seems tired. Even the new one in Hoxton Square. After 3 tries, I’m out. Bill and I are not in love.

What to say about Bill’s?
With several locations dotted around the city, it’s an easy choice for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I’ve been to the Soho, Covent Garden and Hoxton locations, and never had any issues, but sadly the Angel location let me down.
To start, I got the carrot, orange and ginger juice. I always enjoy this drink at Bill’s in Covent Garden, but here, it just tasted like Carrot juice. I don’t even think there was any ginger in it.
For the main course, I got the Bill’s Breakfast with «crispy potatoes», which I imagined would be something resembling Canadian-​style hashbrowns. Nope. They were just soggy lumpy potatoes. Additionally, my «fried» mushrooms tasted rubbery, almost as if they’d been microwaved.
To top off my disappointing breakfast, we had an incredibly awkward and terrible customer service experience.
When finishing our meal, we handed them £30 for the £27 bill (there was a £3 service charge *already* included), and asked for our change.
10 minutes later, we’re still waiting for change.
When I asked our server about it, he got flustered, visibly annoyed, saying that I hadn’t asked for change. He had to go ask someone else to scrounge up some change for us, continuing to throw surly glances in our direction. I questioned myself at first, but my companion agreed that I had very clearly stated that I wanted my change. Besides, even if he had mis-​heard me… did he really expect a £6.00 tip on some crappy breakfast?!
I’ll continue to frequent other Bill’s locations around the city, but I don’t think I’ll be returning to the one in Angel… It was a pretty sub-​par brunch experience.

une amie à Londres me propose de la retrouver chez Bill’s pour pti dej/​café. C’est un resto australien me dit-​elle. Aha! Dans ce cas là, c’est un oui tout de suite! :D Ayant vécu en Australie pendant 3 ans, ça me fait toujours plaisir de retrouver l’atmosphère et les menus des coffee-​shop de là-​bas :)
L’endroit est plus grand que la plupart des cafés qu’on trouve en Australie, mais il est chouette et la déco et le lay-​out arrive a le rendre cosy quand même :)
Après un accueil super gentil, je m’installe et scan le menu en attendant mon amie. Il ressemble en effet à celui qu’on pourrait trouver en Australie :) mais, malheureusement, il manqué une chose sur le menu! ma chose préféré des cafés en Australie n’y était pas, pas de toasted banana bread… :(ok, ce n’est peut-​être pas typiquement Australien, beaucoup diront que c’est plutôt américain… mais pour moi, le banana bread = Australie! et c’était bien un de mes choix préféré au brunch avec mes amis en compagnie d’un iced latte: D
Donc voila, un point ‘dommage’… mais qui est vite remplacé par un sourire car je vois qu’ils ont des lamingtons!!! :o LE cake australien, génoise nature/​vanille roulé dans du chocolat fondu suivit par de la noix de coco rappé! très simple, mais un délice! :D je n’ai pas pu résister et j’ai donc commandé ça avec mon soy mocha :) mais une fois l’assiette devant mon nez, le lamington n’était pas de couleur foncé sous la noix de coco, mais plutôt rose-​rouge… :/​‘euhm… aren’t lamingtons usually made with chocolate and not strawberry jam???’ je demande au serveur. Il me répond qu’il né sait pas du tout, mais que si ce n’est pas ce que je voulais, il peut le reprendre sans problème comme je n’y avait pas encore touché et m’offre même 2 cookies à la place ‘on the house’. Je m’excuse bien et remballe de lamington à la fraise, j’avais vraiment envie d’un vrai lamington comme dans mes souvenirs vous comprenez :) et je le remercie bien pour les cookies, mais dis que ce n’est vraiment pas nécessaire, mais il insiste, donc je les prends quand même et ils étaient bons :)
Donc voila, pas de banana bread et des lamingtons pas comme il faut, mais un chouette endroit avec un staff super gentil aux petits soins et tous les plats qui sont passé devant mon nez avaient l’air très bon. Plus la possibilité d’avoir ses boissons au lait de soya pour les intolérants aux lactose. Très bien moi je dis, j’y retournerai avec plaisir! :)

On paper, this place would be my go-​to. The menu is that perfect combination of cozy comforting simple and healthy and to top it all off the prices are quite nice… afternoon tea is £9.95, and a brunch dish is between £8 and £10. The space is super cute too, lots of wooden tables with all sorts of tidy bundles of cookies, shelves groaning with homemade jams/​preserves, burlap sacks and tin tea kettles. It’s definitely a nice place to sit and hang out as its open continuously from breakfast through dinner so you can relax and take advantage of the space.
But when it comes to food execution I just haven’t been blown away, its hit or miss… The scones were solid. Nice and golden, slightly misshapen in an enticing way, not too dry, served warm with thick slightly sweet clotted cream and nice chunky strawberry jam. A lemon tart oozed with deliciously tart curd and a bruleed marshmallow on top. But a strawberry tart was oddly heavy with cream just a bit too dense, the slice of chocolate cake was dry and crumbly, and a fruit/​nut/​seed bar was cloyingly sweet and sticky for the purportedly healthier one of the bunch. Tea sandwiches were slightly bland with the cream cheese and cheese overpowering the rest of the filling.
Unsure of where to rest my judgment, and enticed by food on the breakfast menu, we returned for brunch. It’s great, again, in theory. Hearty breakfast served on nice thick cut brown bread (or white or gluten free if you prefer) with fresh poached eggs. There were just a few odd decisions made as to garnish that made me wonder a bit. Why was there thai sweet plum sauce drizzled on my plate along with basil, guacamole, and hummus? I understand its vegetarian but it seemed a bit schizophrenic…
As its a chain I think the intention is all there and execution may just be hard to pin down… I haven’t given up yet! but will definitely be back, just with tempered expectations.

Have been here a few times and have always enjoyed the décor and also the food. It seems to be pretty good value for diner, less so for brunch. I had the vegetarian breakfast whcih was quite nice, and although I wasn’t left hungry I wouldn’t say I was full either. Always pretty busy so most folk must be satisfied.

I have been to Bills about 4 times now, but last Sunday was the best, as it was farther’s day and we had reserved a table by the retracting windows. The staff here are so so helpful, the quality of coffee is very high but the food is simply fantastic.
If ever your in the area and want to go somewhere a little different than a pret or somewhere that puts the clients first with a bit of style Bills is the place to go.

Came here with a girl friend of mine I was traveling with on our last night in London. We were heading back to our hotel from a long day out, and Bill’s was open late — a rare thing in this neighborhood when it comes to decent food at the beginning of the week (a Monday).
The décor is cute, and Bill’s is quite the local establishment, I believe it’ a chain of local restaurants — they have their own food they sell, and gift items, too.
We had a decent table, and the atmosphere is nice. We shared a delicious bottle of Pinot Noir and a rather forgettable chips and salsa starter. We both had steak — mine came with fries and my friends came with *really* delicious potatoes. The steaks were rather tasty and went well with the wine. For dessert, we had an Eton Mess — a delicious mix of strawberries, cream and meringue. It was delicious. We also ordered a fairy cake to see what it was, and it was so sad and lame (it was a cupcake) that one of the managers politely removed it from the bill and took it away, even declaring it was his least favorite dessert.
Our waiter was okay — but seemed rather distracted. We had better service from the two managers (?) who were there — they were cute, friendly, and really into making sure everyone was happy in the restaurant.
I’d give it a go here for breakfast sometime. Overall, I enjoyed my visit to Bill’s — and plus 1 for being open late!

Good brunch, though, like at their sister restaurant in Soho, it came luke warm rather than hot and the portions were smallish for the price. Friendly staff and a homely décor mean we will be back, but it still has to prove it is good value for money to make us regulars.

Well, first off I had no idea there were multiple locations of Bill’s in London. I had a review for the Soho location. Today I realized there was a location closer to where I live.
I ordered basically the same thing because I woke up this Sunday and was craving a large English breakfast. So I got the Bill’s breakfast, this time with bubble and squeak, and being from Canada I had no idea what to expect of that! Basically what I would call a fried potato patty with spices and bits of veggie inside, quite good!
I am a little disappointed by the inconsistency with the other Bill’s location that I had tried out last week. The bacon here is basically the complete opposite, not floppy, thick, and juicy as I had experienced last week; but crusty, crisp, dry. More like I’m used to at home actually, by that I mean typical breakfast chains in North America tend to serve lifeless crunchy strips of meat and call it bacon. Some people like this style but I prefer thicker bacon that isn’t cooked so long. By the looks of it they may just have a different type of bacon altogether here and so it just might tend to cook this way?
The sausages were still so good though! Eggs cooked perfectly. Mushrooms a little overdone.
Otherwise still good but Soho location was much much better!
I should also make note of the service. Everyone working here was great, as hipster as ever and although it was a full house I got a table in no more than 5 minutes.

‘Meh’ about sums it up. Bill’s scores high on atmosphere but low on the food front.
The portions are pretty small and about £3 too expensive.
I’ve been here twice and left disappointed both times. Today I ordered the Lamb Hot Pot which contained about 3 pieces of very fatty lamb and was topped with some limp potato slices that could have done with a bit more time in the oven.
My friend ordered a nice sounding tomato tart, which was basically a square of puff pastry with tomatoes and salad on top. Sounds good, but the pastry was burnt, which is never a good thing. Unless you’re into burned pastry, in which case this might be the place for you!
The staff are very friendly and helpful and they did take the burned tart off the bill, but the service was quite slow.

I may not be exactly a fan of the place but three stars is too little for this place I believe…
I live in the area and first of all I liked the fact that a new, cosy place has opened and what I really liked from the minute I walked in is the atmosphere. The décor is not for all tastes but to me it was relaxed, warm and friendly, as was its service.
The food menu is not very exciting and I can’t really comment on the Fish Finger Sandwich that I had because it was ‘good’ but not amazing (but then again how amazing can a fish finger sandwich be.).
The coffee though was very nice! What I would suggest is go for a nice coffee & dessert with your laptops! That is what I did and there are not many other places in the area that I know you can do that. It has free wireless, it is fairly quiet and has nice cosy sofas at the back. And by the way, I had finished my tea for about 20minutes and no one came by to ask me if I ‘needed’ anything else which they do in many places repeatedly making you feel uncomfortable, like you ‘have’ to get something else if you want to stay for more after having finished your first order.

Highly anticipating the possibility of there finally being a good new brunch/​coffee spot in Angel, I eagerly sought out breakfast at Bill’s this morning on its inaugural day.
A Brighton friend had raved about Bill’s which has become quite the famed institution down there, plus I have been to the Covent Garden branch before just for coffee and aperitifs, being impressed with their pink lemonade amoretto sour at a bargain £4, it promised to be the sort of place which might provide a decent breakfast/​brunch.
Starting with the coffee, well it wasn’t very strong. The ordering of a flat white resulted in something more like a latte– way too milky but I could detect that the beans actually tasted nice underneath the lactose overload so perhaps next time I’ll just order a double macchiato.
Having already spied the menu online, there wasn’t anything particularly inventive past porridge, eggs benedict, french toast and bacon sandwiches etc, but that’s acceptable generally people want those things for breakfast. I went with the eggs florentine, which I was a bit dubious of when it arrived, as it looked like someone had just defrosted a lump of frozen spinach onto pre-​cut white sandwich bread… eek.
But you’ll be pleased to know even though presentation can count up to a third for your enjoyment of a meal, it tasted a lot better that it looked, and I very much appreciated the pumpkin seed garnish on the hollandaise sauce– a subtle crunch within the usual sloppy texture of poached eggs, soggy spinach and buttery topping.
To be critical I felt like the ‘intentionally weathered’ interior looked like it was about to host a barn-​dance fête (coloured rafia and tissue paper hanging everywhere). Maybe that’s just for the opening, or the theme of the ‘hamper-​contents’ grocery which is also in store. Maybe I am mistaken but I felt like the one in Covent Garden didn’t appear quite so contrived.
In any case, the staff were all very nice and friendly. But Bill’s at the moment for me is really not quite a cut above the average.

I’m not a massive fan of Bill’s. I’ve been to both Brighton and Covent Garden venues and never been blown away by their food, it’s nice enough but I never understood how it got so many rave reviews.
I suppose in its original incarnation as a farm produce shop that started serving food it would be pretty special but these days Bill’s has moved into proper grown up chain territory and must be judged as such.
I feel the prices are steep for what you’re getting, most lunch items are around a tenner. I’d only gone in to check it out and wanted a sandwich, there was a fish finger one on the menu (for £8!!!) so I opted for that. It was nice enough but the Breakfast Club does a better one.
As in their other stores they have a grocery section and provide you with a tick box shopping list when you sit so you can have them get everything ready for you by the time you leave. Yeah, I didn’t tick anything.
Finally, I love love love chips but I don’t love theirs. They are too light, if that makes sense, as if they are full of air. Hmmm, this doesn’t make sense does it? And stop.