Roast sits overlooking London’s Borough Market. It’s no wonder then that this restaurant often has long lines. When I met up with Gerrod and Kristy for brunch, their suggestion for booking ahead was a good one, proving it wasn’t too hard to plan ahead via TopTable.
You get to Roast’s entrance via a circular staircase where a hostess greets you at the small reception, taking coats, bags and anything else you may care to leave them. On our visit, two people staffed reception and when we arrived seemed quite disorganised and everything excessively chaotic. Things didn’t seem to be much different when we left, with the chaos amplified by more people waiting in line.
From reception, you walk past the flames from the kitchen, into the main dining area, an airy room brightly lit by floor to ceiling windows and skylight panels. We were lucky to dine with blue skies and bright sun shining down, though I’m sure that even in a typical British, overcast sky, the dining room would still look spectacular.
Their breakfast menu looks simple, with pretty much all of the items you’d expect of a great British breakfast, even complete with kippers. I decided to go for the eggs benedict, one of my favourite dishes though too much effort for me to think about making it home for a normal occasion. Gerrod ordered one of the three egg omelette while Kristy ordered the tattie (potato) scone, accompanied by bacon, mushrooms and a single egg. I have to agree with Gerrod’s comments that they really should serve it with some sides like toast or something else (though you can at additional cost).
I have to give full thumbs up for the table service during our visit. The waiters took our orders promptly, and the food arrived shortly after. After our meal, we sat around chatting for some time and despite the ever growing queue at the entrance, I never felt pressured by staff to leave.
Name: Roast
Found at: The Floral Hall, Stoney Street, London SE1 1TL
Contactable on: 020 7940 1300 or http://www.roast-restaurant.com
TheKua.com Rating: 8 out of 10