The Church Key Bistro-Pub... Again

Sunday Brunch! Back in London for a quiet weekend between the chaos, we headed to our favourite restaurant in the city. I know I have shared about The Church Key before, but honestly it is amazing, you need to go now. Every Sunday is a fabulous list of options accompanied by a basket of tasty pastries. We have never had the same thing twice, and never been disappointed. Today brought with it some serious choices. I settled on the Blanquette of Salmon, always a sucker for salmon at breakfast with poached eggs. Everything about it was delicious, but that béarnaise sauce was incredible. I would buy it by the jar if that were an option. My brunch niche is clearly in the rich and creamy area of any menu. I made so many mistakes trying to eat this whole thing that has left me full for the entire day, but it was so, so good!

Blanquette of Salmon - toasted olive oil brioche and Italian style sliced salmon ceviche of brandy, lime, mustard and dill.  Surrounded with white wine veloute, fennel & black olive soffrito, poached eggs and béarnaise sauce

Scott went for the BBQ'd Pork Buns, and was also in heaven. The bun was soft and moist, while the pork belly just melted in your mouth. The miso squash puree was the real surprise for us here. It was so nutty and rich, an interesting combination that I would love to try again. At this point we were both in awe at how lovely the eggs were. Mine were poached, his was soft boiled, and both were perfect.

BBQ'd Pork Buns - traditional steamed Mantou Bun with soft boiled egg, pickled mushrooms, miso squash puree and Wuxi barbecue sauce.

Finally, the pastry basket! What an exciting time to be alive. Some of the favourites were back. Scott describes the Coco-Nutty Bar as legendary, and his all-time favourite. I love the jalapeno cheddar cornbread and the sticky cinnamon roll is so sweet and satisfying. This basket is clearly the reason I have been full all day. The pumpkin muesli wasn't sweet or spiced enough for me, but followed by the completely decadent chocolate bouchon it was forgotten. We are excited every time about what a great idea having the pastry basket at the start of the meal is, and we spend the whole time raving and savouring each bite.

Pastry basket - Blueberry muffin, Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread, Poppy Seed Lemon Loaf, Butter Croissant, Sticky Cinnamon Roll, Muesli Pumpkin Loaf, , Chocolate Bouchon, Coco-Nutty Bar, & Maple Pecan Financier

Likes: Service is great, presentation is fabulous, and the food was always impressive
Dislikes: The butter croissant was a little under baked this time around
Food: 4.5/5
Service: 5/5
Would I go again?: I will resist going next Sunday, but the one after that? No guarantees! Okay maybe we will take a few weeks off...Go here!

The Church Key Bistro-Pub

Yesterday for brunch we could not resist heading to our favourite spot in London. Maybe I've said that before? Well, Church Key is our favourite brunch restaurant. With weddings coming up and lots of travel plans, it made sense to stay in and save money... then we read the menu for this week. Every week, Church Key offers up usually about 5 different and often very unique brunch items. We have probably been about ten times and never ordered the same thing, yet been super satisfied every time. The $4 mimosas are a brunch staple. This week was really hard to decide what to get, but I went with the Pad Thai Pancake. This was an amazing meal, just look at all that pork belly! The tamarind gravy was so rich and delicious, I could not get enough. The prawns reminded me more of lobster than shrimp, they were so buttery and meaty. Every single bite was an explosion of flavour, so clearly I finished the plate and left feeling extremely full.

Pad Thai Pancake - Rice noodle rosti stuffed with shredded carrot, cabbage, beansprouts and pork belly, topped with fried prawns, green onion, crushed peanuts, fried egg & tamarind gravy

Scott was very torn between the Octopus Pepperoni Cheese Pizza and the Venison Mortadella, ultimately being unable to resist the Venison. The meat itself actually tasted like an elevated mortadella (one of the best deli meats, in my esteemed opinion as a former Deli Expert). The pistachios had us guessing to remember what these little green things were in the meat, but ultimately flavour gave them away. The foie gras was rich and delicious, but how could it not be? Scott was raving about the blackberry gastrique with the pancakes, only offering up one bite. The mushrooms were the surprise. I am not sure what they were roasted in, but they were so meaty tasting that it was hard to believe it was just mushrooms. This was our first exposure to purslane, and it wasn't a great one. It is a sour weed that didn't make its way into our hearts, being the only thing left on the plate when all was finished.

Venison Mortadella - Italian venison sausage with Sicilian pistachios and foie gras served on sweet corn pancakes with roasted wild oyster mushrooms, wild purslane, and blackberry gastrique

One of the things we look forward to at Church Key is the pastry basket at the start of the meal. Each Sunday morning, the Chef bakes off a collection of pastries that are almost always creative and impressive. When we came for our first brunch here, we were in the middle of binge watching The Great British Bake Off (if you haven't gotten into it, now is the time - the 7th season has just started!). What this really meant was I came into the pastries with a heightened appreciation for lamination of dough layers in a croissant. I was so impressed! So many defined layers, so rich and buttery. This basket, while very different in composition, still gives me to opportunity to pretend I know what I am talking about when it comes to pastries. They have really figured out croissants here, There have been several different flavours, and this cheese one was perfection. The cheese was salty and delicious, present in every bite. While served with butter, none of the pastries needed it since they were each perfectly seasoned. The Chocolate Bouchon was so rich and full of chocolate that a little bite is all we needed. The Lemon Loaf is one we have had and loved before - so much lemon flavour with sugar crystals on top. We saved it for last since we knew it would be delicious. Scott really liked the Coco-Nutty Bar, while I preferred the Maple Pecan Financier.

Pastry basket - Butter Cheese Croissant, Raspberry Olive Oil Muffin, Maple Pecan Financier, Coco-Nutty Bar, Chocolate Bouchon, Lemon Loaf, & Date Square

Service is always great, with two servers that seem to be the ones holding it down each visit. The owner is always present and visible, either behind the bar, serving tables or helping to clear plates. With brunch set as $25 per person, and ever-changing menu items, we have to restrain ourselves from going every week. Brunch is only served from 11-2:30 on Sundays, and you are competing with the church crowds, so reservations are definitely recommended.

Likes: The creativity and attention to detail
Dislikes: ... I got nothing
Food: 5/5
Service: 5/5
Would I go again?: Definitely, honestly at the next chance I get. I love looking at the brunch menu on Saturday and getting excited for Sunday morning. I love taking people here to try out what is on offer.