milk

on a little (massive) trip (trek) to balham at a godearthly hour on saturday morning, m1lk was ourbrunchlocation of choice. we were not the only ones with the bright idea, and the queue snaked outside the brightly lit interior into the chilly outside. with all its tiny dogs, flower stalls, giggling toddlers, and pretty people, balham was in a fine mood that morning and we were about to be too.

having eventually been seated, we grabbed our menus and stuck in. today was a day for pancakes, poached eggs and crushed avocado. it was also a day for not having any cash and needing to leg it over to the cash point around the corner because m1lk doesn’t take cards, although considering what we were about to order, i shouldn’t complain about a little extra exercise.

jumping off our high chairs and over to the neon signed bar, we ordered ourbrunchfeast, being carefully observed by jesus and his 3 wise men (12 dead butterflies)! flat white’s were a given and never a pair to turn down a milk bottle, we had to order a smoothie too because obviously things taste far better in novelty glassware...

the eggs benedict arrived in a more deconstructed form than expected, still tasty, but since when is the piping hot hollandaise sauce not slathered over the top to keep the eggs warm?! observing fellow diners, it appeared that our order might have been somewhat lost in translation!

the buckwheat pancake arrived with poached pear, clotted cream and crumbled rich tea biscuit, smothered in maple syrup. yes, this was definitely the more indulgent option but hey, i made it south of the river and was in need of a reward.

never one to miss the decorative intricacies, of course i noticed the suspended pram! m1lk is a very popularbrunchchoice and the queue was still going strong when we left. laid back and oozing with friendliness, even the most hung-over diner will be cheered up by the playful charm of this neighbourhood spot. just make sure you're clear about your order!

i've heard a lot about m1lk recently - great reviews and massive queues.brunchin balham with amy allen seemed too good an opportunity not to see if we could squeeze in and get a table for 2, and luck being on our side we got to sit straight down!

i ordered the cornbread with honey, some kind of australian chai drink and a smoothie. the smoothie was fantastic, huge, and felt so healthy i could've cried. the cornbread, while tasty and surprisingly good value, was average and i couldn't help but wonder what all the fuss was about. however amy's glowing review of her food is clearly why this place is so popular, as i've never seen a girl so happy with eggs in a frying pan. 

worth checking out but not if you're gonna be queueing for half an hour, and definitely get a smoothie.

at the end of balham’s bustling hildreth street is milk. chances are you’ve heard of it: it’s serving the kind ofbrunchperfectly catered to the hip young professionals and insta-conscious yummy mummies that frequent the area. you know the deal, in-house baked bread, locally sourced produce and free-range eggs. i’m not hating – this place is legit, and the food actually tastes as good as it looks.

on a lazy english holiday there is nothing better then to hang out with family and friends over a brunch. we heard a lot about place called "m1lk". puzzled why their logo reads "m1lk " and his would one pronounce it 😵😵😵 built the suspense in us to try it.
it's just a minutes walk away from behlam tube station.

ambience4/5:it's a small place inside with really long queues outside. they have some sitting outside too.
it's a very cosy and a very buzzy place. a neon pink "m1lk" sign hangs on the white brick wall behind a counter adorned with some amazing mouth watering cakes. framed butterflies, old photos, floor to ceiling windows and an open kitchen all add to the warm english vibes this place gives.

food4.5/5: food is delicious, filling and worth waiting for in long queue.
beverages
coffee and macchiato were perfect 😍. blueberry, banana and apple smoothie was served in a glass bottle and delicious. the hot chocolate was dark, rich, mind blowing and out of the world.

food - egg benedict with bacon was to die for probably the best in london!! poached egg with salmon
crumpets, honey, goat curd and lavender were all awesome. the food was present very stylishly and tasted great ❤.

service4/5: only queuing up the line is a problem but once you are in, then the atmosphere, food, open kitchen all get on to you!!!
staff is very friendly and service is excellent.

if you are bored of your standard breakfast slop this is the place for you. it's easy to see why the weekendbrunchcrowds flock to milk😊😊😊.

awesome and very popular cafe. lovely modern, airy and pleasant whitewash interior. despite being very busy we were seated promptly and not rushed at all during the entirety. the menu is on point, with just enough options to satisfy everyone without being overwhelming. we had the corn fritters which were delicious but could've happily enjoyed anything else on thebrunchmenu! will definitely return.

a great conversation was sparked on twitter last week when i prompted friends and followers for aussiebrunchplaces that are off the radar (or mine at least) after the success of daisy green in marble arch (review here). one that people seemed to be really fighting for was somewhere called milk in balham. i’d never been to balham – i didn’t even know where it was or what line i would need to take. catching up with mattthelist recently – he backed up the place and said that it was down in our neck of the woods (souf london). so this weekend i made the trek.

perhaps the best eggs benedict or rather eggs betty as milk have opted to call it on the menu i've had in london. i'd tried to go forbrunchone saturday at milk but alas the queue snaking down the street was a little too long for my rumbling stomach.

as luck would have it my friend and i were looking for a breakfast spot near home and it seems a thursday morning is prime time to grab a table at milk.

starting the day with a flat white for me and an earl grey tea for my pal we eagerly awaited out eggs betty mine with dry cured bacon and his with smoked salmon, draped in a butter hollandaise with perfectly poached eggs, it's easy to see why the weekendbrunchcrowds flock to milk. i'll definitely be back, though probably again on a weekday!

went on a wednesday forbrunchand the food was delicious. very special version of muffins with eggs, bacon and sausage. however the place was very busy so service was really slow. waited quite a long time for our food, and when it arrived we had to wait a while for cutlery while our food got cold. the waiting staff looked really stressed and i felt really bad for them because they were clearly under staffed. despite this the food was brilliant!

posted on march 14, 2015 by a spoonful of sugar i love brunch. there really is nothing better at the weekend than hanging out with your friends over good food and a few bloody mary’s/proseccos.  my weekend brunches are probably my favourite meals of the week and i love looking for new places to go. recently, i was rather surprised when my friend cassie , who rarely travels south of the river, suggested we have brunch at m1lk in balham.  she had recently met a chef called dan ingram who worked there and had heard great things about it. i used to live in balham in what seems like another lifetime ago. back then there were no delis, there was no waitrose, there was nowhere nice to hang out except one little cafe but because it was the only place worth going at the weekends it was understandably impossible to get a table there. it’s a very different story now. i arrived at m1lk, which is at the end of hildreth street market, just a minute’s walk from balham tube station, at 10.30am on a very cold morning, and met cassie who was already standing in the queue holding a hot cup of coffee. obviously, as is the case with everywhere i seem to want to eat in, you can’t book. its a small place inside and they had put some seating outside but there was no way i was sitting in the freezing cold whilst eating my breakfast. so we queued until a table became available inside, catching up on the gossip whilst hopping from foot to foot, trying to stay warm. as soon as we were ushered inside, i got really excited. its very cosy and very buzzy. a neon pink ‘m1lk’ sign hangs on the white-washed, semi-stripped brick wall behind a counter adorned with incredible looking cakes and the odd doll’s head. framed butterflies, old photos, floor to ceiling windows, mis-matched furniture and crockery, an open kitchen in the corner…i loved it instantly. we sat down, ordered coffee and tea and were handed our menus. i wanted to eat everything. we kept seeing food coming out of the kitchen and being p

as soon as my food arrived i knew, there and then, that this is the place i'll be frequenting for my saturdaybrunchfix. small in size, big in reputation and it most certainly lives up to it.

with the service being super fast, my poached eggs on sourdough bread did not disappoint, with a side order of smashed avo that was so fresh it instantly perks you up.

ideal for a hangoverbrunchto chat with your friends about the happenings of the evening before, this place really is on point. also if your in need of a thirst quench get one of the pint smoothies, fresh and zingy (if that's a word?) you'll definitely be thanking me later. cannot fault this place at all.

to drink, a flat white for coffee lovers alike with pretty latte artwork. for non coffee lovers, smoothies (in milk bottles) and proper tea is avilable ( with cute milk bottle). simple salads andbrunchare also available, potentially a next time... the sign of the establishment has.not been changed but this does not matter and adds to the laidback charm of the cafe.

what: cafe

where: balham

value: £5pp

food review: to drink, a flat white for coffee lovers alike with pretty latte artwork. for non coffee lovers, smoothies (in milk bottles) and proper tea is avilable ( with cute milk bottle). simple salads andbrunchare also available, potentially a next time.

settings review: located down balham high street with not many foodie places nearby. the sign of the establishment has.not been changed but this does not matter and adds to the laidback charm of the cafe. with random butterflies above the counter and an open kitchen, milks interior has a friendly, come on in interior.

positives: great coffee, friendly staff

negatives: small, more cake choices

3 word review: idyllic little cafe

i’ve heard all about thebrunchservice at m1lk - i’ve heard about the great coffee, quirky twists on classic dishes, and the legendary line that spills down the street. this all made me very curious and so on a lazy london sunday, a certain someone and i made the short trip to balham to quell my curiosity. from that excursion i can only confirm that the ridiculously long line spiralling down hildreth street is not stuff of legend, it most definitely exists and is fairly slow moving. so as people who don’t share the english’s love of queuing, we decided to give it a miss and i was still left wondering. that is until earlier this week when i had the good fortune to meet a friend for lunch, in balham, on a weekday- what are the odds?! as soon as you walk in you’re hit by the undeniably hipster decor, but also the size, no wonder the lines are out the door because this place is cosy! despite it being a miserably cold day, m1lk still had a steady flow of customers and we were lucky to nab a little table when we did. while the menu is pretty short, we did engage in a lot of umming and ahhing as a lot of it appealed but in the end we went for a hot chocolate and ‘sweet maria’, and a ‘lois’ smoothie and ‘young betty’. first up, the drinks were excellent- my hot chocolate was actually dark and rich, unlike so many pitifully milky ones i’ve had in london, and i was emphatically informed that the lois smoothie of blueberry, banana, and apple was amazing. we were however, less emphatically impressed by the food. the ‘sweet maria’, sweetcorn fritters, haloumi, avocado, kasundi and lime, was probably a little heavy handed on the kasundi. that tangy, tomato-based relish covered everything, and those poor limp little fritters had no chance, soon disintegrating into a bit of a battery mush. thank goodness they had the good sense to provide a generous dollop of smashed avo and that wedge of lime to cut through the rich oiliness. the ‘young betty’, poached eggs and drycured bacon on

the bestbrunchin southwest london. period.

if you want a real local place where people queue up(sometimes) for a taste of delicious smooth coffee and and the best eggs in balham, this is it!
like lard and blood pudding? you need to head elsewhere as m1lk serves up a bit of a twist on the traditional brekky. baked kurdish eggs, served with crispy spinach or chorizo are just some of the delights, and the owner is a super friendly and makes everyone feel special.

the cafe itself is on a pointed corner surrounded by windows so is really light and airy (invaded by pigeon the time i was there last), and it’s small in there so don’t be surprised if there’s a bit of a wait. service is quick though so you can be in and out in 15 mins if needed!

the best thing on the menu? if you ask me there’s still no better breakfast than the big hearty stack of corn fritters, served with halloumi and ‘smashed avo’. wash it down with a pint of fresh smoothie (served in a milk bottle) and a fresh flat white, and you’ve got yourself the right fuel to party your saturday away!

back home in nz,brunchwas my favourite meal - for those who don't know, that's the meal between breakfast and lunch and usually had in lieu of one or both. there was nothing more satisfying than a sunday spent laying in, getting up at 10 then making my way to a food joint to consume a hearty meal guilt free because it counted as 2.

on arriving in the uk however, i was saddened to discover that this trend had not yet developed on these shores. places did breakfast and lunch but no one really offered that 'brunch' menu. what is a 'brunch' menu? this i find difficult to explain but once you see it, you just know. they are dishes which are more substantial than breakfast, but not as substantial as lunch. wow i am useless. told you, difficult.

anyway thankfully over the past couple of years, the culture is changing as the london food scene continues to develop and for many (like me),brunchis now a religious thing and when asked for some of my favourite places, it's hard not to mention m1lk in balham, one of the first truebrunchplaces i knew in this city.

m1lk takes the quintessentials ofbrunchand nail them in delivering a menu that is as delicious as it is creative with dishes such such sweetcorn fritters with halloumi, goats cheese and honeycomb in sourdough and the unmissable baked eggs. couple this with a perfect brew of coffee and you will quickly understand why the place is constantly busy.

the place is rather small though so to avoid disappointment, go early - they do open at 8 after all. enjoy!

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