Last Updated on April 7, 2024
A touch of NYC in the heart of KHS!
A retro neon sign tells you you’ve arrived, otherwise, it would be easy to walk past the narrow doorway to Dirty Bones’ Kensington High Street. Take the steep staircase down to this basement restaurant and you could be miles away from the frenetic shopping taking place on the streets above.
Dirty Bones has recently launched a Bottomless Brunch with cocktails menu and it’s a fun way to start your weekend. For a good value £22.00 per person, you can enjoy one and a half hours of unlimited cocktails from the Brunch menu (normally priced at around £9.00 per glass) while tucking into NYC-inspired comfort food.
You can mix and match your cocktails, or stick with your favourite. The Dirty Mary is a refreshing mix of vodka tomato, lemon and pickle juices, hot sauce, signature spices served with a quirky sour cream and onion pringle rim. The Hip Monkey combines white rum, martini rosso, fresh lime, bitters with grapefruit soda to provide an interesting take on your morning fruit juice. The most popular choice appears to be the Lexy, a strong take on a Bucks Fizz with vodka being teamed with amaretto, strawberry, lemon and prosecco.
When choosing food, don’t bother looking for the lighter option – here we are talking serious indulgence. Whether you’re contemplating Caramelised Banana Waffles (caramelised banana, Toblerone chocolate sauce, blueberry jam, salted peanut butter gelato and crushed nuts on a freshly baked waffle) or Avocado Crumpet (avocado and garlic guacamole, poached eggs, hollandaise and siracha hot sauce on two toasted crumpets) – brunch here does not follow a Californian diet (unless your version includes tacos). You could easily spend an hour and a half, simply choosing what to eat given that all the dishes have that wonderful American knack of combining sweet and savoury. Having sought advice from our friendly waitress, we opted for Brunch Chicken & Waffles with a side of Roasted Chilli-Mint Squash and a more traditional Salmon Crumpet.
The Chicken and waffle came with fried eggs and maple syrup which contrasted with and were complemented by the sweet roasted squash and tangy crème fraiche mix of pomegranate mollasses, mint, red chilli and roasted almonds (which I’ll be making at home!). The serving of delicate flavoured beetroot-cured salmon lox was generous and sat on a crumpet base with poached eggs and a hollandaise sauce, a very regal take on Eggs Royale.
Anyone who has visited New York and managed to find one of the old-style breakfast cafes will enjoy the atmosphere here. The décor has a nod to European art-cafes, but the clever use of tiling evokes the back streets of Manhattan. Background music of laid-back hip-hop, funk and soul creates a sense of timelessness and the brunch crowd of young women catching up, couples chatting and families celebrating a birthday were all chilling nicely on the Saturday morning I joined in. If you can’t make brunch enjoy the cocktails or your favourite tipple whilst listening to the resident DJ on Friday and Saturday or a live band on Thursdays. This is a venue to drop in on any day of the week.
Dirty Bones
20 Kensington Church St,
Kensington,
London W8 4EP
Available on Saturday and Sunday unlimited brunch cocktails are offered per party for up to 1.5 hours. The whole table must go bottomless to qualify and each guest must purchase a main course. The last bottomless seating is at 1530.
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