Mid-January sure is a fitting time to perk up your morning with porridge, the thick, creamy non-gloopy kind. And London serves it with far more than a squeeze of maple syrup, elevating the humble oat bowl to a 2024-level meal.
These recipes introduce ingredients such as carob coconut yoghurt, almond crumble and shredded carrot, more often than not inspired by classic wintertime puds. So whether via cardamom spiced crumble that comforts, oat cream that stands in for cream cheese icing, or stewed fruits that sweeten and swirl, these top London cafes should help change any preconceived assumptions about porridge.
The porridge bowls to try in 2024.
Sunday
Slow-cooked fine oat porridge with mixed berry compote, hazelnut granola, toasted banana chips and caramelised apple spread.
169 Hemingford Rd, London N1 1DA
Mae + Harvey
Porridge with stewed apples and a poppyseed almond crumble.
414 Roman Rd, Bow, London E3 5LU
Half Cup
Chocolate chia porridge, cranberry and orange compote, cardamom-spiced crumble, drizzled in apple caramel sauce.
22-23 Bartholomew Cl, Barbican, London EC1A 7BB or 100-102 Judd St, London WC1H 9NT
The Farmer’s Mistress
Spiced carrot cake porridge with oat cream, golden raisins, toasted almonds and burnt maple.
300 Battersea Park Rd, London SW11 3BU
Common Ground
Sweet maple porridge with hibiscus-spiced pear, warm berry compote, earl grey currants, toasted pumpkin seeds and orange zest.
49 Stroud Green Rd, Finsbury Park, London N4 3EF
Nue Ground
Three-grain porridge with carob coconut yoghurt, vanilla poached pear compote, fresh apple and house hazelnut butter.
32 Abbeville Rd, London SW4 9NG
Salt the Radish
Maple oat milk porridge with cherry and orange compote, cocoa nibs, fresh blueberries and a sesame almond brittle.
45 Blackstock Rd, Finsbury Park, London N4 2JF
Burnt
Kent pear porridge with a cinnamon almond crumble and freeze dried raspberries.
163 Askew Rd, London W12 9AU
