Brunch at Foxcroft & Ginger, Soho, London.

When your younger sister (known as Holly to most people, known as The Shrimp to me) turns 20, what better way to celebrate than a weekend in London?

It’s safe to say that going out for brunch is one of my favourite treats, so I figured it would be the perfect Sunday morning activity having spent Saturday night as overgrown fangirls at a 5SOS concert. (It was awesome.)

With slightly croaky voices and rumbly tummies, we shimmied into super central London and made our way to Foxcroft & Ginger’s Soho branch, just up from Piccadilly Circus.

The café/restaurant/bakery had a lovely, relaxed but buzzy atmosphere and was full of young, trendy Londoners - the type I imagined would work in design agencies and cool start-ups. 

The Shrimp and I liked the feel of F&G too - all exposed brick and wooden tables, Brooklyn loft-esque, perhaps the type of place Dan Humphrey would hang out on a weekend morning. (SPOILER ALERT: He'd be in there sneakily writing all his Gossip Girl posts, wouldn't he?)

We sat ourselves down and were swiftly brought the menus and a bottle of tap-water (after my year abroad I still appreciate that  tap water is normal in the UK) served in a cute old milk bottle.

Deciding what to order was no mean feat, I can tell you that. There were lots of super tempting dishes on the menu, from potato gnocchi to eggs benedict.

You may or may not be surprised, however, to learn that I ultimately settled on pancakes. But we'll get to those.

First up, drinks.

The Shrimp and I were somewhat disappointed that there weren't any freshly-squeezed juices, smoothies or milkshakes on the menu, however I was happy to find my favourite tea - vanilla chai - on the menu. And very tasty it was too. I also liked that it was served with proper tea leaves in my own little pot.

F&G are known for their coffee, but unfortunately neither The Shrimp nor I are coffee-drinkers. After unfortunately being told the kitchen had run out of fresh mint for tea the previous day, it was hot chocolate for Holly.

The hot chocolate was good alongside food in that it wasn't overly sweet or rich, however Shrimp detected a little cinnamon undertone, and she no likey the cinnamon (I think that's totally weird but let's not get on to that.)

As well as coffee, F&G are famous for their baked goods and their signature sourdough which is used in lots of their concoctions. 

Earlier this year, they actually launched the UK's first Cruffin (that's a croissant-muffin hybrid, duhh), so we decided it would be a good idea to try one of those babies. 

There was a fabulous range of baked goods from which to choose, but we eventually settled on a chocolate custard filled Cruffin and an apple and custard muffin.

In the words of my sister, the Cruffin was amazing: crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle. Although it could potentially have had a little more chocolate custard stuffed inside.

The muffin was insanely good too - it had the most wonderful streusel topping, gorgeous fluffy texture and nice chunky pieces of fruit inside, although it took me a little while to find the custard.

Our lovely waiter then told me he thought the berry and custard muffin was in fact better than the apple one so very kindly brought us one of those to try too!

We'd barely made a start on our muffins and Cruffin before our main courses arrived! The service was really quick, which was fab.

Enter, feast:

*Insert emoji with hearts for eyes here*

Really sorry if you're drooling on your keyboard right now.

As you can see, the presentation of our dishes was wonderful, and they tasted as good as they look!

I believe this is the appropriate reaction:

I went for the pancakes with berry compote, mascarpone, bacon and maple syrup. They were absolutely divine. Fluffy pancakes, creamy mascarpone, tart berries, sweet (and generous) maple syrup and salty bacon - all the flavours and textures went together wonderfully.

The Shrimp chose the French toast with berry and plum compote, mascarpone and honeycomb. The fruits were beautifully stewed and the bread was really nice and fluffy. Shrimp, however, thought the portions were a bit too big. I, on the other hand, did not. But then again you know what I'm like. 

Needless to say we were beyond full after all that. I was quite pleased when the waiter came to clear away our plates and (minimal leftovers) and said, "Wow, you did really well." Eating is one of my best skills so it's nice to have it recognised.

We were also grateful not to be hurried out after having finished but were simply left to sit and digest (massively necessary) until we felt able to move. It took a while.

Overall it was an absolutely brilliant brunch which I loved and would definitely recommend. What's more, the prices are really quite reasonable for the location and how much food you get.

I JUST LOVE BRUNCH! Where should I go next though...?

We were guests at Foxcroft & Ginger but these opinions are 100% honest and my own. And The Shrimp's.

Foxcroft & Ginger have various branches round London, and you can find out more on their website.