The Piano Works is one of London’s best live music venues, and in February of this year they decided to get stuck into the city’s unstoppable bottomless brunch trend. Offering both standard and something a little bit different dishes, I trotted towards Farringdon to experience it, and all its boozy glory.
The Venue and Atmosphere
Located in the beating heart of Farringdon, The Piano Works is housed in a listed Victorian basement and it opens for brunch between 12pm and 4pm every weekend. Downstairs gives off your typical underground bar vibe with charcoal black painted walls and dim lighting, but it’s the elevated stage that’s anything but typical - the venue’s pianist and live band play on it all day long.
This non-stop music venue takes requests written on napkins from the crowd too, so no two nights here will ever be the same. Take my tip and go for the brunch sittings at 12pm, you’ll be treated to a live pianist set before the house band take over at 1pm. Belting out everything from Benny and the Jets to I Would Walk 500 Miles, it didn’t take long for me to get some prosecco courage and request Westlife's World of Our Own (at the peril of my company). Unfortunately, it didn’t make the cut, but regardless of not being able to sing along to one of my childhood favourites half cut at 1pm on a Saturday, the requests flying from each table got the glamorous crowd (and me) up and dancing before the two hour brunch slot ended.
Illuminated by purple hues, the stage is the beating heart of The Piano Works.
The Brunch
Not skimpy when it comes to options, there are 10 different dishes to choose from if you’re dining from The Piano Works brunch menu. Although the cajun back bacon wrap and the bombay omelette (that comes serves with a mini naan) were the more outlandish and daring options, my company and I swerved for the safer route and ordered the eggs florentine £8.50 and eggs royal £12.
The eggs florentine was every bit as delicious as it looked. On top of two buttery English muffins were two poached Burford brown eggs, tender spinach and a whole heap of hollandaise sauce. Although I took my time working through my two muffins, the dish didn’t go stone cold straight away, and the golden yolk pooled onto my plate with one subtle cut of a knife. Instead of spinach, the eggs royal came neatly stacked with salmon that was wonderfully fresh, and not too overpowering. Keen to fill my plate with some meaty extras, I ordered a sausage £1.50 and a portion of bacon £1.50. The sausage was seasoned and juicy and the bacon came out thickly cut and salty.
Doused in creamy hollandaise sauce, ordering the eggs florentine is a no-brainer.
Now onto the bottomless part. For £15 extra you can thunder through two hours of free-flowing prosecco. Being well versed with London’s brunches, trust me when I say you’ll struggle to find a better deal. If fizz ain’t your thing, bloody marys are also included in the bottomless brunch, setting you back a mere £20. But if you’re a real fan of this tomato based cocktail, you can splurge on a £120 DIY bloody mary box that contains one bottle of Absolut pepper, unlimited tomato juice, condiments and pickled selection including olives, pickled onions and gherkins.
The Piano Works is a place where the flute is always half full, never half empty.
Summary
In the (unsung) words of Westlife, The Piano Works' brunch turned out to be ‘all the things I’ve been looking for’. They hit it out of the park with their classic brunch dishes, the booze was never ending and the singers were impeccably talented. So, my advice to you? Get your goddamn priorities in order, pick a weekend, and hit this Farringdon hot spot with your crew as soon as.
