Review: Brunch at Elan Cafe | LONDON

After hearing about how “instagrammable” Elan Cafe is, with its floral pink wall, marble tables, pink chairs and gold details, I was dying to go and see for myself.

I visited on a wet and rainy day back in May with my mum for brunch and the first challenge is that you can’t book. This was no issue for us on a weekday but I’ve heard stories of people queuing outside to wait for a table on the weekend. There are two Elan Cafes – we visited the recently opened cafe on Old Brompton Road, round the corner from the V&A and the original cafe is on Park Lane, both in the heart of West London.

We arrived with high expectations as its a favourite with bloggers and it’s hailed as

“The most instagrammable cafe in London”

High praise indeed! There was already a lovely buzz in the cafe when we arrived and lots of people having morning coffee, breakfast or catching up with friends. At the front of the cafe, the patisserie with a huge selection of cakes and pastries is right in front of the window with a large flower heart which welcomes you as you enter.

The menu is extensive with lots of choice ranging from smoothies, milkshakes and coffee to a menu dedicated to cakes.There really is something for everyone here – healthy options include the Acai breakfast bowl or the Courgette and Halloumi Fries but theres also the very extensive cake menu for those with more of a sweet tooth. The cakes all look so so beautiful but disappointedly, they’re all left uncovered at the front of the cafe which is a bit of a turn off.

First up, we ordered coffee and orange juice while we had a look at the menu to get us going and at £4.80 for a latte, I thought this was expensive even for London! A glass of freshly squeezed orange juice cost £5.50 which again seems pretty steep.

We couldn’t decide what to get so we ended up ordering Avocado on toast with feta cheese (£9.90) which is my go to for brunch and after a lot of deliberation over the cake menu, we chose a triple chocolate mousse (£4.50). We shared both of them. I’ve eaten quite a lot of avocado in different brunch places across London and I have to say it was 10/10 for presentation. It looked simply stunning on the plate and I loved the addition of pomegranate seeds which gave pops of sweetness throughout the dish. The chocolate mousse was delicious and you could taste all of the flavours of each layer of chocolate.

The tables are quite crammed in together so it certainly felt like quite an intimate experience with the close tables next to us although I’m told that the Brompton Road cafe is larger and more spacious that the Park Lane cafe. I imagine it must become quite difficult to get “the shot” on a busy and bustling weekend.

I did have a quick wander through the cafe, and spotted quite a few people snapping away at their food or the quotes on the floor and walls. The selling point of the cafe is clearly the flower-themed décor and colourful patisserie, it’s very romantic and girly, not dissimilar to the likes of Peggy Porschen, which is also super popular with bloggers.