DIRTY BONES, KENSINGTON

When an invite reads "Dirty Brunch - hangovers welcome" and is for the day after one of my pop ups, I don't have to think twice about accepting. So a couple of Sundays ago I headed into Kensington for a refuelling session courtesy of Dirty Bones and their new brunch menu. I arrived a bit late (midday on a Sunday post pop up was always going to be tricky) to be greeted with a table full of Bloody Mary ingredients and a very friendly barman who was about to show us how to make our own. This was a good start. I loved the use of pickle juice and hot sauce in the Dirty Mary, though have to say I was not sold on the crushed up sour cream pringles stuck to the rim of the glass. Unconvinced I wiped these off so I could enjoy my drink. Apparently I was missing out, but each to their own....

Seated with some lovely bloggers, food started to arrive at the table. All the food we tried is from the regular brunch menu, and if you go to the Carnaby St branch, you can add bottomless prosecco for only £15!

We tucked in to two types of oozing toasties - the slow n low, which was a triple stack of beef rib, charred gherkin, mustard, taleggio and cheddar on sourdough, and the green cheese toastie, made from sourdough, avocado, taleggio and cheddar. Basically, give me melted cheese and green things in the form of avocado and/or pickles and I'm a happy lady, so I enjoyed both of these.

Next out were more lunchy brunch items. The benedict burger - a 6oz aged steak burger with treacle bacon, poached egg and hollandaise. The burger was perfectly pink, though I'm not an "egg in a burger" fan so ate around the poached egg. My favourite dish of the day though was the chicken and waffles - super juicy chicken in a delicious crunchy coating which I dunked in their special hot sauce - utter heaven.

And chips dunked in hot sauce too....

Puddings were also served, but we all know how I feel about those. I filled all the pudding space with crispy fried hot sauce dunked chicken so had no interest in the sweet stuff, but if that's more your thing then you can get sweet milk panna cotta with frosties, banana toblerone-tella waffles and/or coffee gelato with fresh doughnuts.

The brunch menu is available at both Dirty Bones restaurants - Kensington and Carnaby Street on Saturdays and Sundays, and is the perfect place to drown your hangover. Order the chicken and a Bloody Mary, or bottomless coffee for £2.50, and you'll feel right as rain in no time at all.