Brunch in Clapham

The best brunch in Clapham is at Minnow on the Pavement, and on a weekday you can have it from eight. Clapham does brunch the way it does everything: early and quiet if you want it, loud and long if you do not. The Pavement in the Old Town is the centre of it all, with the Common across the road for the walk afterwards. Here is where we go, with the hour to aim for.

Minnow, 21 The Pavement

Minnow is the one we keep coming back to. Brunch runs from 8am to 3pm on weekdays and from 9am to 4pm at weekends, which means a lie-in still gets you a table. It is a neighbourhood room with a terrace onto the Pavement, so sit outside when the sun is out. If brunch turns into lunch, there is a midweek set menu at £25 for two courses, and happy hour starts at 3pm with house wine at £6. Book at the weekend.

No 32 The Old Town, 32 The Pavement

No 32 opens at 9am every day and the brunch list covers the favourites: smashed avo, shakshuka and a dirty breakfast bagel. At the weekend it turns into the Old Town's bottomless brunch, a 90-minute session from 11am on Saturdays and Sundays. Book it, ask for the roof terrace, and plan nothing for the afternoon.

Megan's Old Town, 55-57 The Pavement

A few doors down, Megan's runs an all-day menu, so brunch at two is no problem. Order the eggs Benedict or a grain bowl. It is the easy pick for a group with mixed appetites, because there is mezze and slow-cooked lamb for whoever has skipped straight to lunch.

Brickwood Clapham, opposite Clapham Common tube

The Brickwood chain started here, in a two-floor cafe across the road from the station with a yard out the back. Time Out's tip is the burrito or a grilled sourdough toastie, and The Butcher is their take on a full English. Good coffee, a rough-and-ready room and no fuss. Come before ten at the weekend or expect to wait.

The Windmill, Clapham Common South Side

For the earliest start, The Windmill serves breakfast from 7am on weekdays and 8am at weekends, until 11am. It sits on the Common, so this is the one for after a run or before a long walk. On a warm morning take your plate outside and watch the dog walkers go by.

Pear Tree Cafe, by the bandstand

The cafe in the middle of the Common, on Windmill Drive right beside the bandstand. The Pear Tree team took over the old cafe here after starting out in Battersea Park, and there are plenty of tables outside. It is the brunch for when you would rather be in the park than on a street. Bring the dog, bring the paper, stay a while.

Nue Ground, 30-32 Abbeville Road

Abbeville Road's brunch cafe, with plenty of plant-based dishes on a seasonal menu and a studio upstairs, so you will be sharing the room with people fresh from a class. It is the calmer choice, and a good walk from the south side of the Common.

For late risers: Venn Street and Nelsons Row

If brunch for you starts at noon, walk round the corner. On Venn Street, Berberè runs a Monday and Tuesday lunch deal of a pizza and a drink for £12, which is the cheapest good lunch near the tube. Off the High Street, the cafe at Crispin in Studio Voltaire on Nelsons Row runs from 11am to 6pm, Wednesday to Sunday, with no booking needed. Get a coffee and something from the counter, then take a look round the gallery.

Over towards the Junction

• The Plough, St John's Hill. An American-leaning brunch: maple bacon crumpets and chicken and waffles. Order both and share.
• Old Bank, Northcote Road. Open all day, with outdoor tables, so it works as a late brunch that turns into a seafood lunch. The pan-fried octopus is the order.
• Hannah, 281 Lavender Hill. Brunch, lunch and dinner, with self-serve beer and wine taps for when brunch becomes drinks. It opens at 8am on weekdays.

When to go

Saturday and Sunday between half ten and one is peak time everywhere on the Pavement. Book Minnow, No 32 and Megan's if you are more than two, or come before ten and walk in. Weekdays are easy, and Minnow's 8am start is the best-kept secret in SW4 for a working breakfast. Afterwards, cross the road: the Common is right there.