While you can find casual Middle Eastern and Mediterranean-inspired café Brother Marcus all over London, from Balham to Islington, east Londoners will be happy to know there's also a Spitalfields site sitting just on the borders of the City and Shoreditch.
Replacing what was once a branch of best-of-British mini-chain Canteen, Brother Marcus Spitalfields is located on the edge of the legendary food and clothing market. It’s one of the group's largest sites and like its other locations in the capital, the Spitalfields branch is open all day, with a strong focus on brunch-style dishes.
That means you can expect to find the usual Brother Marcus mix of both delicious-sounding breakfast plates and inventive brunch fare with crowd-pleasing favourites like the Marcus Breakfast with Cumberland sausage, streaky bacon, two poached eggs, portobello mushrooms, grilled plum tomatoes and house beans on toasted sourdough, while the The Brioche is also a favourite, with lemon cardamom curd, cheesecake cream, cardamom meringues, caramelised pistachios and candied lemon peel.
Elsewhere on the menu you can enjoy all-day options in the form of small, sharing plates with vegetarian concoctions like pan-fried halloumi with prune and clementine reduction, alongside charred celeriac with turmeric, lemon and dill aioli, as well as a few grilled dishes such as pork rib-eye and roasted chicken. Plus, the kitchen team bake fresh breads throughout the day which are served with a plethora of dips, making for the ideal nibble especially in a group.
To help wash it all down, you can pick from a concise wine list that has a focus on low intervention producers, or sample a list of cocktails with a Mediterranean twist, such as the Greek Paloma with Rooster Rojo Tequila, Roots Mastiha, grapefruit liqueur, pink peppercorn syrup, pink grapefruit juice and Three Cents pink grapefruit soda.
Brother Marcus Spitalfields also benefits from a heated terrace, which is covered by a pergola to protect diners from the elements in the colder months.