TL;DR: Rumours scored a 4/5. My pancakes were lovely, my plate was photogenic and my belly was content – I’ll be returning! Price range (for brunch): £20 – £25 pp.
Tucked away on Heddon Street, a stone’s throw away from Hamley’s and in the heart of Mayfair, is Rumours.
This gorgeous restaurant opened its doors early last year and you can enjoy breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner here. And if you’re not in the mood to eat? Well, there’s shisha in the terrace of course (cigars are available too).
Last week, I decided to visit Rumours for brunch with a friend. I live and work local to Oxford Circus so I’m always nearby and as someone who has exhausted pretty much all of the local restaurants, it was rather refreshing to hear about this new spot. And when I heard that the place screamed ‘INSTAGRAM ME’, well…it was music to my ears.
Embossed with it’s very own flower wall at the entrance (don’t you just love how every London restaurant/shisha lounge you walk into these days has its own flower wall – it’s like they know I’m on the way for my pictures aha), Rumours, from the outside, looks positively…pink.
Inside, I was met with a warm smile from the waiting staff and pretty pink interiors. The décor is stylish and definitely unique. I was seated around a faux marble table, with pink and green seats (although booths are available too) and noted that the restaurant had a very cozy feel to it.
Taking a look at the brunch menu, I realised that the options were very healthy, with options including granola and acai bowls. And to drink there was a range of healthy smoothies, juices and non-alcoholic cocktails, including three CBD cocktails.
I opted for the homemade pancakes with blueberries and clotted cream, while my friend went with the scrambled egg bagel with avocado and smoked salmon. To drink, I went with a ‘No-jito’, made up of strawberries, blueberries and mint and my friend picked ‘Passionate Buzz’, one of their CBD cocktails.
In all honesty, my drink kind of tasted like water that was very, very mildly flavoured aha, so that was slightly disappointing and for future reference I don’t think I’ll be picking that again. My pancakes on the other hand were fluffy and lovely. The clotted cream complimented them well. You may notice in the image above that the pancakes look kind of small and that’s certainly a downside; the portions were definitely rather sparing.
Before heading out, we went downstairs to the ladies’. With its flamingo wallpaper and peach themed bathroom, Rumours is infamous for its instagrammable ladies’ room. One of the walls just outside the ladies’ is covered in feathers and there’s a cute pink couch presenting you with the perfect photo opportunity – Instagram-loving millennials eat your heart out!
I would probably give Rumours a 5/5 if I was judging the restaurant purely on décor, however given the fact that my pancakes were a small size and that my drink was bland, on the whole Rumours scored a 4/5. I was most impressed with the attention to detail in the interior design and the general cozy vibe .
Rumour has it that this is one healthy, stylish and very instagrammable eatery that I most definitely will be sure to visit again.
Frankly Fahmida 