Bad Egg, London: the best £30 brunch in town

There’s a whole lot of heat going on at this Chicago-inspired diner near Barbican. Its £30 Saturday and Sunday brunch kicks off with a Bloody Mary spiced with gochujang - and if anything can wake up jaded tatsebuds it’s this Korean red pepper paste .

Forget gentler breakfast staples like smoked salmon bagels or eggs benedict - Bad Egg packs a full-on flavour punch. Sticky Korean fried rib tips are hot with ginger and more gochujang; tacos are filled with scrambled eggs, chipotle, salsa and guacamole, and beans on toast is ramped up with pulled pork and kimchi.

The must-order dish? Fries with ndjua fondue – made with raclette and red leicester it has a deliciously gooey texture reminiscent of cinema-style chip and dips but a hundred times better. Chilaquiles are hard to go past, too: fried corn tacos with salsa, goats’s curd, chilies and a fried egg. Finish with deepfried chicken with caramelised banana – served with maple syrup on buttered brioche it act as a pudding of sorts.

You’re encouraged to choose three plates each, share with your friends, and to order as many bloody marys, mimosas or prosecco as you like within your two–hour sitting.

Perch on on bar stools in the window or relax into comfy diner-style red booths. Music is loud and customers and staff alike show off tats with pride. Leave granny and kids at home – this is two hours you’ll want to yourself.

Meet the chef Neil Rankin (executive chef at Bad Egg)

In my fridge there’s always sriracha, mayo, eggs, leftover curry and avocados.

My favourite 15-minute supper is sriracha baked eggs:

Fry some onions and garlic, add some passata and a good squirt of sriracha. Add any leftover cooked meat or fish then add three eggs to the pan. Cook on the hob till the whites start to cook then oven cook at 180 roughly 10 mins until the eggs are cooked. Serve with crusty bread to dip.

A fellow chef I admire is Simon Rogan because not only is he a great chef he understands the need to surround himself with the best people possible rather than trying to play the hero card.

My most-used cook book is Jerusalem by Ottolenghi because it has easy going yet beautiful recipes which inspire me not to eat like a pig.

I love eating out at The Drapers Arms because it has the best and most generous landlord I’ve ever met and I’m usually surrounded by friends when I go.

A place I love that not many people know about is Vijaya Krishna in Tooting. Its fast becoming the best curry in London, the paratha and chicken 65 are near perfect and the service is way better that the usual Tooting curry house.

If you gave me a tenner I‘d spend it on a tacos from Breddos Tacos .

I know I shouldn’t admit it but my guilty pleasure is Zinger Tower Burgers

Never trust a chef who... makes cross hatches on a steak.

Twitter @frontlinechef