Review: Ask for Janice

One of my favourite brunches to date and London’s best crumpets.

Where to find them:

50-52 Long Ln, London EC1A 9EJ

Barbican station is closest (3 minute walk)

What they’re about:

Ask for Janice have positioned themselves as a “laid-back bar and restaurant with an emphasis on local, fresh produce, foraged greens and cocktails, craft beers, unfiltered wine and perfect serve gin”. Their breakfasts are splattered all across Instagram and I’m sure you’ve double tapped their feed multiple times. The setting is clean and simple, a perfect workspace or meeting spot for the cool kids in London and city workers alike.

What to order:

Crumpets – their speciality
Buttermilk pancakes with blueberries
Eggy bread with baby leeks and bacon
Asparagus on toast with chopped eggs, crispy bacon and hollandaise

Full menu here

The Verdict:

This is now one of my favourite brunches in London and I will definitely be recommending it far and wide. Although this was an invite, the portions are a fair size and reasonably priced (we could not finish all four). The breakfast/brunch menu is absolutely up my street and will offer options for everyone I am sure of it. Nothing is compromised in taste and every bite we took was followed with an “oh my god, that’s so good” a “why is this so nice?” or a “I’m so full but I’m going to keep going because this is really nice”. The eggy bread was perfect and with the bacon gave it a salty but really delicious combination of tastes and textures. The pancakes were thick and I haven’t had pancakes like this since I was in Amsterdam last year served with yoghurt, they are refreshing and not too stodgy which is hard to come by. We tried a new dish the Asparagus on sourdough and this is a great twist to a brunch classic, I was so full before I tackled it but I would definitely recommend for a dish that’s like the usual Benedict with a twist. The star of the show is of course the crumpets, whatever you do, you MUST have one. I can’t explain why they are so nice but they are and you would be silly not to try them because they’re famous here.

Visually everything was very well presented so perfect for those instagram shots to bring all the likes to the yard. One dish each and crumpets is probably enough unless you’re super hungry but prewiring, the pancakes are HUGE.

Brunch in photos: