The Albion makes me incredibly happy because the employees are lovely and really value happy customers. As such, they quite generously allow substitutions and customizations. If you don’t like an ingredient on one of their dishes, just ask to swap it out for something else. Or if you’ve come for brunch, but prefer something from their breakfast menu, they will happily oblige. Even more, if something went wrong with your order, they will immediately find a way to make it better.
The first time I went, I was lucky enough to meet Tosin, who is the super friendly manager. He took care of us very well and has ever since then. By now, we’ve tried several things from the menu, but specifics include:
Super green frittata – I always ask for egg white only and they are the only place to use 6 full egg whites. Most places don’t actually increase the number of eggs when you ask for egg white only, which means that you get a much smaller meal than the normal size. This is obviously not fun. Here, they make sure you have a good portion. I believe if you do whole eggs, they may use 4. It’s stuffed with spinach and kale and spiced well (including with paprika, which is not common and adds a nice touch). With six egg whites, kale, and spinach, it really couldn’t be healthier and is one of the heartiest egg dishes you’ll eat.
Beans on toast – this is such a British classic, but they serve theirs with homemade beans, which means it tastes much better and is less sugary/salty than the Heinz beans on toast you’ll get elsewhere. Your choice of bread (sourdough, white, wheat).
Buck rarebit – rarebit is another British classic, but buck rarebit is not as common and is obviously a new fashion trend. Buck means there’s a poached egg on top of the rarebit. Poached eggs have taken over breakfast and brunch menus for nearly a decade now and it’s really about time to move away from that. But much to my dismay, they don’t seem to be going anywhere. Rarebit is essentially a fancy grilled cheese sandwich found throughout the UK, but originating from Wales. It’s basically a cheese sauce on top of toast. A variety of cheeses are generally melted and always mixed with beer (commonly Guinness), Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and spices. Every place makes it differently, but the concept is the same. We didn’t want the poached egg on top and they happily substituted avocado instead (a healthy amount of it, too, mind you). Again, your choice of bread (sourdough, white, wheat).
There are 4 Albion locations, but I love the Clerkenwell one. It’s a large open space, very light and airy. The service is fantastic and it’s really a perfect place for a weekend brunch. They offer a variety of other classic brunch dishes and British dishes. The Clerkenwell location also has a “counter” where they have 8 fresh salads and a variety of pastries that you can choose to order dine-in.
