Proud Mary’s, Shepherd’s Bush

I love taking leisure breakfasts on the weekends. While there are sooo many brunch spots all across London on my forever-expanding list, I must say I generally feel quite lazy during weekend mornings to get out of my neighbourhood. Especially when I really want to beat the crowds, I ought to be quite early – but aren’t weekends supposed to be all relaxing?! In terms of neighbourhood spots, both The Allis and The Corner House made it to my list of regular neighbourhood spots. But in an attempt to discover more places, I decided to check out Proud Mary’s, a brunch spot roughly a 5-minute walk away from my flat.

Judging from its description, Proud Mary’s should be an easy win. It is an Aussie-style brunch spot and also pride themselves in serving quality coffee. I went around 10-ish on a Sunday morning and the place was buzzing. All the tables were filled and I was lucky to have a table right after the previous customers left.

Interior-wise, the place has a very laid back atmosphere with a subtle touch of rustic charm. It’s really got this nice neighbourhood coffee shop vibe where locals mingle.

Flat White

Let’s start with the good stuff, i.e. the coffee.

First and foremost, it’s always lovely to find a pretty latte art on your cup of coffee. The coffee itself was nice and strong. It was generally smooth to taste, with a subtle bitter touch. All in all, as I said, good stuff.

Eggs Florentine

Whilst the coffee was a ‘yes’, unfortunately, I can only say the Eggs Florentine were rather disappointing.

I was rather taken aback seeing a plateful of raw spinach. Later I found out you’d have to tell the waiter if you’d prefer having the spinach wilted. I don’t know about you but I felt that was rather unusual in my opinion.

My issue with this is why isn’t the option of raw/cooked being mentioned anywhere on the menu or by staff when ordering. Given the norm is to have cooked spinach, as a customer, I can appreciate if serving raw is the restaurant’s intended style but the staff at least should be able to disclose the options.

So I didn’t already have the most appealing start. Then as I took my first bite, a wave of dread rushed in me. All I could taste was a very heavy and overly rich hollandaise sauce. Instead of a velvety texture that’s supposed to compliment the dish, it just tasted like a thick slab of sauce that I wanted to get rid of. There is a really sharp vinegar taste as well which was overpowering instead of adding an acidic tang.

On a positive note though, the poached eggs were perfectly made. It’s always a delight to see the yolk gushing out upon slicing. In addition, I also thought it’s kind of cool to use bagels instead of the traditional English muffins.

In summary…

…would I return to Proud Mary’s as a regular brunch spot? Whilst the coffee was good, the Eggs Florentine kind of ruined it for me. Nonetheless, the pastries on display did look pretty decent. So I might stick with a simple takeaway coffee/breakfast if I were to revisit again rather than a sit-down brunch.

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Tel: 020 8834 4884
Instagram: @proudmaryslondon

Nearest station: Shepherds Bush Market