We wanted somewhere we could chat but also somewhere with an upbeat vibe to bolster our excitement at this mini reunion.
I discovered that Rakes Café Bar was launching Brunch Paradiso, a Saturday afternoon “bottomless” brunch experience aimed at transporting customers to the hedonistic summer decks of Ibiza, which sounded ideal.
Rakes Café sits within the 5 star Andaz London hotel near Liverpool Station and next to Shoreditch.
The hotel was originally built as the Great Eastern Hotel in 1884 but from 1247 to 1676, the site was occupied by the Priory of St Mary of Bethlehem, which became England’s first hospital for the mentally ill, the Bethlehem Royal Hospital, known as ‘Bedlam’ which we, both Catholic-educated together, also felt was apt.
A DJ hits the decks during Brunch Paradiso in Rake’s Café and Bar (Image: Nathalie Raffray)
Over the course of 90 minutes we enjoyed free-flowing drinks, flavoursome meals, all with a soundtrack of disco, house, and Balearic beats from a DJ.
Not far from us a group was celebrating a birthday, which added to the party atmosphere.
There are two menus to choose from. There is the Bottomless Cocktail Menu, which includes a choice of three cocktails, a main course and dessert, but we settled on the Bottomless Prosecco Menu, which had fizz on tap and food.
We did, however, choose to start with a cheeky aperatif off the cocktail menu. My friend went for Tommy’s spicy margarita, which she said looked quite plain but tastes really nice, and I tried the pear and white tea fizz, which tasted dangerously fresh.
Menu highlights included Rake’s hangover burger or Rake’s spicy mushroom benedict or a shakshuka, mixed with peppers, tomato, feta and poached egg on sourdough.
My companion went for the vegan smashed avocado on sourdough, which she demolished in what felt like seconds.
I ordered London’s dirty waffle, which came with lettuce, tomato, veggie sausage, shallots, cheese, avocado, a fried egg and chipotle mayonnaise.
There was a lovely warm heat that ran through it, which kept the dish tasty. This is critical as most people know you can’t talk and eat at the same time – it’s not a good look.
For dessert I picked the burnt pistachio rose basque cheesecake, which was thick and creamy.
The top of the chocolate passion fruit delice tasted of marzipan with a sweet mousse beneath it.
I heartily recommend this for friends or groups. The one hitch is that 90 minutes is simply too short when you’re having fun!
Packages start at £45 per person.
