Flesh and buns

Now before you start thinking I’m an alcoholic… I had been hearing about Flesh and Buns since forever and really wanted to try out their unlimited food/bottomless brunch.  All that hype needed to be put to the test and I have a new found love for these things. Who better to drag along than my mama?

Two weekend brunch menus are offered at £39 or £46pp. Flesh and buns are all about sharing, from the food to the tables. This definitely isn’t the place for a romantic date. It’s loud, buzzy, funky and underground. Also, you better arrive absolutely starving! I had barely eaten breakfast and came with a fully prepared belly.


Upon arrival you can choose between a Bellini or a Bloody Mary. My mom and I had one each I definitely preferred the Bellini.

Being the indecisive person that I am, I looked at the menu and said: can we have one of each small dish on the menu please! I could see the look on the lady’s face who was serving us. We may look small but don’t worry… we can eat.

There is really something for everyone on the menu, from healthy to pure greasy deliciousness. I really liked the raw fish dishes – the sushi and sashimi with spicy lemon dressing were spot on. The California roll was one of the best I’ve tried. The ceviche was fresh but was lacking in flavour. Ceviche to me is meant to be a flavour bomb but I could only taste lime in this one.

Feasty time

For the more heavy small dishes we had the fried squid, Korean Wings and Chicken Yakitori skewers. Those Korean wings were beautiful, they were drenched in such delicious sweet/spicy sauce. These have to be tried. The squid with Japanese pepper and lime were light and crispy, but my mom and I both agreed that they were slightly over-salted.

By this time I was thinking Oh my god, we’re not even half way through but we were determined to prove the waitress wrong. So we greeted the flesh and buns with a big smile. Both the pork and lamb were cooked very nicely and the buns were so soft. Each main comes with lettuce, cucumber, sauce and pickle so you can create your own filling. Again, we both agreed here that the sauces for the dishes were too salty.

And yes, we did still have space (and I use the word lightly) for desserts. Given the slight let down on some of the dishes being too salty, we were pleased to find that the desserts were delicious. We had caramel filled donuts and black sesame creme brule. I had never tried this sort of creme brule before but it was very interesting and definitely tasty.

As for the service, it could have been better but it wasn’t awful. I got an unenthusiastic vibe from both the waitress and the receptionist. It seemed slightly messy, to the point we felt like the brunch could have be suited as an upscale buffet just as well. For £43 per head I wouldn’t say this is one of the best brunches I’ve had but it definitely wasn’t the worst either.

Also… not that you would bring your child to a boozy brunch, but if you did, you may want to keep them away from the toilets.

Yup.. those are the toilets ;)

Flesh & Buns
41 Earlham Street
London
WC2H 9LX
020 7632 9500