The bottomless brunch field in London has been worked and reaped so extensively, one wonders if there’s any space left on the plot for a budding new upstart. In a terrain teeming with imitators, places need to differentiate themselves to stand a chance of seeing the sun. The Potting Shed seems to have taken the extended metaphor very literally, digging its roots down a floor below London’s ground level, and lining every available wall with pots, plants and whispers of fresh produce. It’s a gamble which pays off, in spades.
IDEA
A decor and menu working in synergy, promoting notions of green, health and lightness, is the schtick the Potting Shed has settled on. The vision is tunneled, but that’s the charm – from the name to the ubiquitous plant pots to the fresh, seasonal menu, everything is as immersive as covering yourself in earth and waiting to get watered. If the water was prosecco, that is.
LOCATION
The Potting Shed is nestled under (and part of) the Dorset Square Hotel, a short walk from the Baker Street tube station. Alternatively, Marylebone overground station is equally close.
ATMOSPHERE
The mood was sophisticated and gentle, though a little subdued, owing to our time of fairly late brunching. Towards the end of our meal, the place started to fill up with lunch guests and the noise rose accordingly.
Furnishings are resolutely earthy hues – browns and greens aplenty – and art takes the form of garden sculpture. Service is attentive, professional and prompt, with wait staff razor eyed for when the drinks are getting low. With complimentary fresh bread, constant topping up of glasses and a wait staff eager to please, there is a real sense of hospitality and generosity here that some other brunch places (with such emphasis on turning tables) could learn from. Brunch should be a leisurely affair, and it certainly is here.
FOOD
Brunch menus in the capital are a difficult balancing act. There is a need to stand out from the very crowded market of smashed avacado and poached eggs, but stray too far from the all-conquering formula and to put it bluntly, you’ll be empty. Brunch demands a certain comfort in the familiar – people tend to be a little jaded by Sunday morning – and to hit them with too much choice is to invite bemusement. The Potting Shed menu thoughtfully pitches itself seemingly with all this in mind.
There are perennial brunch favourites like eggs benedict and pancakes with maple syrup and bacon. Alongside these are healthier options – berries and muesli are given an equal billing to our more indulgent friends. We choose to go for a couple of green dishes – peas and burrata is seasonal and fresh, with the creaminess of the milky delight bringing a sense richness and glutton to an otherwise light plate. Avocado, cucumber and feta on toast riffs gently on the ubiquitous brunchtime staple, and succeeds in being different enough to be noticed. We follow this with a rosti, salt beef and pickles, which feels naughty next to all the grassy notes of the previous dishes (and all the better for it). The ongoing theme of the mildest deviation from breakfast staples is complete with Merguez sausage, tart and fragrant, over home-made baked beans. It’s another sound dish, and a fulfilling end to things.
DRINK
Of course, there’s enough prosecco to take a bath in, and that’s wonderful but the abstinent and well-behaved are also catered for with fresh fruit juices and good tea and coffee.
MUST TRY
We particularly enjoyed the fresh green vegetables with burrata, which seemed to encompass the philosophy of the place most fittingly – fresh, clean, seasonal flavours with just a hint of indulgence.
WHY GO
For something just a little different, in a brunch field so crowded it’s tough to know where to start, for those craving something light but fulfilling, The Potting Shed ticks all the boxes. It’s a thumbs up from us.
Address: 39 Dorset Square, Marylebone, London NW1 6QN
Website: www.firmdalehotels.com
Disclosure: IDEAL magazine dines as a guest of the restaurant.
For more bottomless brunch recipes, check out bottomlessbrunch.com/restaurants/london/ for a guide to everything from prosecco in Covent Garden to all-you-can-eat avo and Aperol in Dalston.