Milk, Balham, London: brunch review
We review the recently extended and refurbished Milk in Balham, South London, for a great eggs menu, the best vegetarian brunch dish around, and an innovation on the drinks menu.
In a nutshell
The newly refurbished café Milk (formerly M1lk) has extended to twice the size and continues to serve fantastic quality egg dishes, pancakes, muffins and coffee for South London’s trendy crowd.
Menu must-orders
The extensive menu includes indulgent egg dishes (such as baked eggs two ways with butternut squash, feta and crispy sage), housemade crumpets with hay-smoked goats curd, Wandsworth honey and wild rosemary, and sweet buckwheat pancakes with smoked apricot, elderflower syrup, burnt apricot marshmallow and macadamia nuts.
For something veggie, go for the ‘Sweet Maria’; sweetcorn fritters with grilled halloumi, fresh avocado and kasundi tomato sauce, lifted with lime and a generous garnish of fragrant coriander. Meat eaters can add bacon if they like.
Don't miss the side order of hash browns, a pile of three fresh and crisp potato cakes showered with finely grated, slightly melting Lincolnshire poacher cheese.
Horchata is a great addition to the drinks menu. This is a popular teatime drink in Valencia and South America made with almond or rice milk. Don’t hang about ordering as once they’ve run out, that’s it – Milk uses rice and another batch takes 40 hours to make. The coffee is also excellent, made with beans from cool Berlin coffee roaster, The Barn.
What we’re going back for
The Convict muffin. Necks crane with serious food envy every time a hipster waiter slides past with this indulgent dish – English muffin topped with drycure bacon, M. Moens & Sons sausage, burford brown egg, poacher hash and hangover sauce. Sprinkled with a generous mound of that snowy grated cheese, this is enough to cure any fuzzy head.
What's the room like?
Light, airy and cool. The white-painted brick is left exposed where duo Julian Porter and Lauren Johns have knocked through to the shop next door, and there are French windows with light wooden frames to open onto the pavement in warmer weather. Grab the table at the end where the windows meet for a view of a bustly weekend morning in Balham, while inside you can see the cool-as-cucumber chefs work away to keep up with the demand.
Need to know
Head down at least half an hour before you want to eat as there are no bookings and there is always a large queue - but it's worth the wait.
Milk.london 18-20 Bedford Hill, London, SW12 9RG
Written by Alex Crossley, September 2015
Other London brunches you may also like...
Pachamama, Marylebone
Bourne & Hollingsworth Buildings
Comments, questions and tips
By entering your details, you are agreeing to our terms and conditions and privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.
