4 /5 Hisham Alharbi: Stopped by BITE for breakfast and, shockingly, wasn’t disappointed — which already puts it ahead of most London brunch spots. I ordered the Royal Benedict and an Americano, and at about £18 total, it almost felt like I’d gotten away with something. In this city, that’s basically free.
The Benedict arrived looking like it had actually been prepared by someone who likes food — perfectly poached eggs, hollandaise that didn’t resemble lemon-tinted wallpaper paste, and toast that hadn’t been cremated. The Americano was strong enough to remind me I’m alive, so full marks there.
The owners — a husband-and-wife team who’ve travelled from Istanbul to Dubai before bravely settling in London — are genuinely lovely, which is frankly confusing because I’m accustomed to being ignored until I wave frantically at a server. Not the case here. Here, people smile. On purpose.
The café is cosy, charming, and dangerously close to being the kind of place where people pretend to work on laptops while actually eavesdropping on conversations.
A firm four stars — not five, obviously, because then they’d have nothing left to strive for, and I wouldn’t want to deprive them of character-building opportunity.
Would happily return for another bout of unexpectedly good eggs.
