Food

Bellanger Brasserie Weekend Brunch Review

A new stylish café and brasserie from Corbin and King, the dynamic duo behind The Wolseley, The Delaunay, Brasserie Zedel, Fischer’s and The Colony, ‘Bellanger’ is inspired by the original Alsatian brasseries of Paris. Named in connection with classic cars (The Wolseley site was originally built as the showroom of the Wolseley Car Company) Bellanger is a salute to the Société des Automobiles Bellanger Frères, a French car manufacturer.

Located on Islington Green, close to the Almeida Theatre, Bellanger is Islington’s version of the Wolseley and casually attracts famous faces living in the area and beyond. I hear Fran Cutler is a regular and we spotted a few actors there. Its abundance of booths encourages group dining amongst families and friends and it is pleasantly child and dog friendly. We like that. The atmosphere is lively and full of buzz, typical of a Parisian brasserie we thought. The interior hollers laid-back glamour and its polished dark wood paneling gets the nod. Dark wood is the best.

We ordered Bloody Marys to kick off our brunch and I opted for the ‘Bellanger hamburger with gruyere d’alpagev’. I mean brunch is like lunch so…My guest chose the ‘Smoked salmon and scrambled eggs’ – the safe bet kick-start to the weekend. Next time we’ll be choosing the pancakes and waffles no doubt, as they smelt divine. The Bloody Marys were fantastic and we could taste the freshness from the Turner and Hardy tomato juice, fresh from the tomatoes on the Isle of Wight. You can create your own DIY Bloody Mary at Bellanger and learn how to infuse them with all your favourite spices but we left it to the professionals and chose the Alsacienne Bloody Mary. If you like rich cusine from the Alsace region in Eastern France this is your place. You never know you might bump into Benicio del Toro!

Bellanger’s brunch is served every Saturday and Sunday and Bank Holidays until late in the afternoon.

Reservations are not required; just drop in.

Website: www.bellanger.co.uk

Twitter: twitter.com/Bellanger_N1

Instagram: instagram.com/bellanger_n1/

Facebook: facebook.com/BellangerN1/

Written by Julia Nelson