At The Table Café—a breakfast and lunch spot in Southwark beloved by locals and office workers—hugs are exchanged over huge stacks of toasted bagels with cascading waterfalls of baked beans. Business meetings are all but abandoned as a pancake tower with apricot compote hits the table and demands your undivided attention. It’s a busy, happy place with a menu divided into ‘the benedicts’, waffles and pancakes, fry-ups, and burgers.

Whatever the reason for celebrating, breakfast at Fallow fits the bill. The St James’s postcode, marble tables, and wedding-worthy flower and lighting arrangement are all giveaways that this is somewhere for a very fancy breakfast. Juicy sausage patties are sandwiched between Fallow-branded buttery croissant pucks, and a black pudding benedict soaks into a honey waffle ready for dunking in rich mushroom ketchup. The prices are steep but for a celebration and some photos, it’s a good shout.

Though Juliet's is a must-visit destination for brunch, the Tooting cafe is open from 9am daily for delicious breakfasts to jazz up dreary weeks. There’s a confident, creative panache to everything this cafe makes. Their benedict comes with smoked eel or rainbow trout and it’s smothered in deeply flavoured espresso hollandaise; their bread end waffles are paired with bitter almond ice cream or kalamansi lime curd; and their Montréal-style everything bagels are made in-house.

Getting a counter seat at Koya, a Japanese udon bar with an open kitchen, is a foolproof start to the day. The Soho spot serves breakfast every day, which is just as well because after that inhaling the first bowl, you’ll want it with alarming regularity. The English breakfast udon bowl—a combination of crispy bacon, mushrooms, gooey egg, broth, and noodles—is a must-order.

Hash E8 in Dalston is an excuse-me-sorry-just-squeezing-by kind of place serving US-inspired breakfast food. There are cosy seats that put you elbow deep in someone else's plate, but that just invites conversation, even if it is to apologise for kicking over someone’s Cézanne tote bag. True to its American-inspired theme, there’s a steady flow of filter coffee and classics like french toast and pancakes, as well as a hearty chorizo and sweet potato hash.

This small Lebanese bakery, slap bang in the middle of Fulham Road, makes excellent pastries. Put your daily croissant order to one side and survey the counter full of freshly baked fatayer (a bready pastry with anything from minced meat to a tangy sumac-heavy spinach filling). If you’re after a more substantial start to the day, manakish, a soft dough topped with cheese or za'atar, is the way to go.

Although Norman’s is only open from Wednesday to Sunday, the trendy Tufnell Park caff is a favourite for a young crowd in need of aesthetically pleasing plates of bacon, bubble and squeak, beans, and whatever else you stomach is grumbling for. The vibe is slices of white bread and squeezes of ketchup in the most stylised but reasonably priced way. The breakfast sets are reliably delicious, though a chip butty can go a long way too. That said, it might also see you stagger back to your duvet.

A churchyard isn’t a conventional breakfast spot, but Bad Manners isn’t a conventional place. The Mexican kiosk, round the back of St John at Hackney church, slings excellent breakfast burritos—tortilla-swaddled scrambled eggs, sausage, hash brown, American cheese, and salsa roja—plus hearty egg, bacon, and hash brown tacos. One thing to note about the simple seating setup is that it’s alfresco and open to the elements. But they’re breakfast dishes we’d brave outdoor seating for even in winter.

The Stoke Newington cafe is best-known for its weekend brunch that has N16 locals lining up outside like it’s a YMC sample sale. But the equally lovely weekday breakfast served from 8am until midday is a much less busy affair. Like the brunch plates, breakfast at Esters is equal parts comforting as it is creative. Bodega-style breakfast sandwiches (if said bodega stocked Perelló olives and biodynamic wines) with egg, honey mustard mayo, cheddar, and wild garlic are the perfect example.

In an area filled with excellent breakfast options, this North African cafe on Balham high street is one that will have you googling house prices in SW12. A cosy little spot that’s often packed on the weekend, this is the place to come for an excellent halal full English. Just about everything on the menu that includes their roasted seasoned potatoes is a winner. If you’re torn between the buttermilk pancakes or another hot chocolate with marshmallows, get both.