The premiere venue for brunch in London has to be The Wolseley, even if you may only be able to afford it once in your life. Let me point out from the outset that prices are on the high side but the pay-off is impeccable service, delicious food and a glamorous setting. The main room is normally booked in weeks in advance so you’re well advised that if you have a specific time you have set you heart on dining at then make sure to book it in as soon as you can. However, if you’re willing to chance it like we were, The Wolseley does have a policy of ensuring that some tables are available on a first-come first-served basis.

So, I haven’t seen Rita in a few months now due to various things happening in both our lives so I was pleased that we could meet up for brunch – one of my favourite meals of the day, along with, as I’ve said before, breakfast, lunch and dinner. Ahem.

We decided to chance getting a table in The Wolseley at about 10.30 this morning and it seemed Lady Luck was on our side and we pretty much walked in and were seated straight away. It was amazingly busy so we were surprised to be doing so. Admittedly it wasn’t in the main room but we were having brunch at The Wolseley all the same so no complaints from me. (I’m unsure if the policy of having some tables available on a first-come first serve basis includes tables in the main room.)

The interior is gorgeous and sumptuous and with the gold leaf, high ceilings, black lacquer, marble and chandeliers was a pleasant environment indeed to be having a catch up. Once seated service was immediate with menus presented to us and, shortly after this, a waitress to take our drinks orders. I noticed that throughout the service was efficient without being intrusive. In fact, after we finished our meals, we sat at the table for over an hour and were not bothered at all by staff either to ask if we wanted further drinks or even to move us on. Bearing in mind that there were always a bunch of people standing at the door waiting to be seated and that we out-sat about three other couples this concession was surprising but very welcome as we had a lot to catch up on. Service was very responsive as well because as soon as I turned around to request the bill a waitress was with us immediately. Impeccable, and classy, service.

For brunch neither of us could go past the Eggs Benedict which is a kind of signature dish at The Wolseley. Kind of on the expensive side at £13.50 for the “large” serving (that is, two Eggs Benedict) but extremely delicious and a pleasant surprise. (I’ve never tried Eggs Benedict before so was quite pleased to be trying it out The Wolseley.)

The Wolseley is just something so London that I’m glad that I’ve finally been able to tick it off my to-do list. The only minor disappointment was not being able to take photos. I’m sure I could have tried to take a sneaky couple but wasn’t in the mood to be shouted out by staff! I did, however, manage to take this pretty rubbish photo using my phone camera of my meal without being caught.