Buzzfeed recently posted an article on ’26 utterly delicious brunch places in London’ and the beast was appalled to find she has only been to 13 out of the 26. Eager to not miss out, I headed to Mr. Buckley’s on Hackney Road to cross off 14 on the list, one past the halfway mark, which is slightly more acceptable.

An understated, cool and casual space, Mr. Buckley’s is split over 2 levels and offers simplified surroundings: wood tables, benches, brick walls and sparse decorations. The atmosphere of the restaurant is casual yet the frenzied and haggard looking staff make it appear as if the restaurant is still in its opening week despite having opened in Hackney last year.

All day brunch is certainly a bonus and an amazing list of Sunday roast options (with insanely generous portion sizes for the UK) don’t make the choice easy.

The highlight was my main dish, a potato and courgette rosti served with poached eggs, avocado and bacon. Gorgeously ripe avocado drizzled lightly with olive oil, huge rashers of thick crispy bacon, and perfectly cooked eggs. And with a side dish of chips lightly covered in truffle oil, brunch perfection. What hungover person (or non-hungover person for that matter) doesn’t love chips.

Mr. Buckley’s also serves up starters called ‘Jars,’ which as you may have guessed it, all come in jars. Shock and awe. Somehow serving food in jars just makes it seem so much trendier. Spice roasted peanuts, macadamias & almonds with vanilla salt, truffled chestnut mushroom pate and potted pig & apple jam are a few of the jars on offer. The butterbean hummus with aubergine caponata was alright but the hummus appeared to be served with capers and roasted red peppers whilst the aubergine was nowhere to be seen. This did not impact the taste of the hummus but still puzzling the kitchen took it upon themselves to replace a key ingredient without informing us.

Mr. Buckley’s also cheerfully supports day drinking with a wide range of cocktails including bacon infused bourbon and of course, a selection of homemade juices for those too hungover to bear round 2. The coffee is phenomenal, like liquid licorice and reminded me of the likes of Nude espresso, an artisan coffee shop located in Soho Square and on Brick Lane. For only £2.20 a latte (which is quite good considering Nude charges £2.50 and pretentious chains like Starbucks charge £2.25), it’s tempting to keep on ordering them.

All in all this is pretty much the perfect place for brunch – serves all day, takes reservations, plenty of food options and won’t break the bank. Definitely check out this gem. And  if you’re more of a night owl than a lazy day bruncher, Mr. Buckley’s is open till 2am on Friday and Saturday nights serving up cocktails!

Restaurant Info

Mr. Buckley’s

277 Hackney Rd, London E2 8NA

Tel: 020 3664 0033

Website: http://www.mrbuckleys.com/