Breakfast is a decadent affair at these international venues
Wake up and smell the coffee, among many other delicacies, at these dining options.
From crab crepes at Le Royal Monceau Raffles in Paris to yuzu pancakes at Aman in Kyoto, breakfast experiences are ramping up at the world’s leading luxury hotels. Forget what you might have heard: the first meal of the day is still simmering away. Ahead, Travel + Luxury writers share the unique and memorable dining experiences worth travelling for.
Bento box banquet at The Living Pavilion
The morning meal at this 26-room hideaway is a seasonal affair of myriad guises. In a concept the chefs call “gifts of the land”, the food reflects the month-by-month availability from neighbourhood producers, supplemented by greens, chestnuts and herbs from the hotel estate. But the setting in which breakfast (and other meals) can be taken is just as versatile. Aman Kyoto’s cube-like Living Pavilion, fire-warmed in winter, offers deep views of gardens fringed with high forests via its window walls or an expansive wooden deck. The succession of dainty dishes on the Japanese-style menu feels like a banquet, served in a bento box divided into little compartments, with an optional freshly frothed cup of matcha as an almost ceremonial finale. But western dishes are in abundance, too, featuring free-range ingredients from local suppliers, yuzu-drizzled pancakes, house-made bread and pastries, and omelettes rolled with vegetables and a fine layering of miso paste. It’s a feast to see you through to afternoon tea – cue parfaits, scones, mochi and jewel-like cupcakes.
Susan Kurosawa
Swedish pancakes at Sears Fine Food
It’s morning in San Francisco but sadly the classic go-to place for breakfast, a downtown diner immortalised by Norman Rockwell in illustrations for The Saturday Evening Post, is thin on the ground these days. But a showcase example survives on Powell St off Union Square, within earshot of clanging cable cars, doing as brisk a business as when it opened in 1938. Sit at the counter or a table and order the house specialty of 18 Swedish pancakes (Americans like large serves) with warm maple syrup and fresh whipped butter. Sides of bacon, sausages and lingonberries (like cranberries) can be added. The recipe by repute dates back to the original proprietors Hilbur and Ben Sears, the latter a retired circus clown. Fresh brewed coffee (bottomless cups) is the go, more to American taste. The walls are decorated with photos and tributes from past clients, including the Clintons and George Burns. Oh for the days when customers waited in two pink Cadillacs parked outside with heaters up and radios on.
Graham Erbacher
Decadent scrambled eggs at Badrutt’s Palace
Le Restaurant, the main dining venue in this chic Swiss ski resort’s landmark hotel, has an impressive 15 Gault Millau points, and some of those have to be down to the near-faultless breakfast served on white tablecloths under crystal chandeliers and overlooking the sparkling St Moritzersee. Scrambled eggs, however, are misnamed; they should be labelled egg-flavoured butter, such is the glorious richness. A European focus on charcuterie at breakfast is also to the fore; especially tempting is chewy dark red bresaola. Bakery treats present a dilemma: an apricot torte or a plump wholemeal croissant? Naturally, it must be both. The hotel posts its dress code for breakfast here as “elegant”, although it’s not enforced. However, on winter mornings when the repast is enjoyed to the accompaniment of a harpist, dressing up in such a place seems a worthy thing to do.
Jeremy Bourke
Tonic boosters at Como Shambhala Estate
When unwinding amid nature at its most magical, holistic wellness becomes the ultimate luxury, and that includes breakfast. Nourishment is both spiritual and physical at this enclave in hilly Payangan, north of Ubud in Bali, where rice paddies, river and jungle meet, and resident yogis and Ayurvedic doctors elevate meditative tranquillity from tropical holiday to soulful experience. Breakfast is served at Kudus House, an ornately carved Javanese pavilion, and there are sufficient raw, unrefined dishes to overwrite the blueprint for a healthy start to the day. Coconut is the star, whipped into tahini and dolloped on gluten-free French toast; in cultured yoghurt on spiced buckwheat pancakes; fleshy in porridge; even creamed in keto coffee. Here, “doing shots” is medicinal, and tonic boosters with nutritional powerhouses such as turmeric and pennywort are all the morning kickstart anyone could need.
Cleo Glyde
Royal brunch at Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris
Designer Philippe Starck was given free rein to create the interiors of Le Royal Monceau Raffles Paris during its two-year restoration; within days of its 2010 reopening it was the talk of the French capital. He successfully recaptured the feel of the late 1920s, the original hotel’s heyday as a gathering place for the intellectually adventurous. Coco Chanel swished through; Ernest Hemingway was in residence. And who knows which luminaries arrived to browse the petit-déjeuner spread in La Cuisine. This bright restaurant, lined with curtained nooks, serves an almost unimaginable morning spread of pastries and viennoiseries by award-winning patissier Quentin Lechat, little glass jars of yoghurts in flavours that surpass expectation, acai bowls, cheese and charcuterie, Lebanese mezze, lime blossom and lemon verbena teas … On and on it goes and so do guests, returning to top up their plates. La Cuisine also offers a Royal Brunch on Sundays (bonjour, crabmeat crepes and Lechat’s lemon sorbet with honey and candied citrus fruits) and seating spills into a pretty courtyard in warm weather.leroyalmonceau.com
Susan Kurosawa
Maple butter crepes at Fairmont Le Chateau Montebello
I had avoided the dish marked Maple Butter Crepes until my last morning at this historic hotel on the banks of the Ottawa River 130km west of Montreal. Crepes in a sea of sauce didn’t immediately appeal but how wrong I was. They’re rich and unctuous but not at all cloying and still one of my most memorable breakfast tastes. They are served in Aux Chantignoles restaurant, a soaring baronial-style dining hall within this unique wooden-log hotel, although the best seats are on the veranda or terrace looking over the river. And while the expected buffet offerings are all top-notch, also wonderful are a la carte items such as breakfast poutines, the hotel’s take on that unique Canadian combination of poached egg, baked beans, cheese curds and hollandaise. The sun-dried tomato omelette with roasted potatoes and local goat’s cheese is another triumph.
Jeremy Bourke
Chicken in mole negro at Almu
In a rustic, open-air restaurant set within an endemic plant nursery in the desert town of San Martín Tilcajete, 45 minutes from Oaxaca City, an army of sturdy women prepare morning spreads based on what’s fresh from local farms. Amid copal trees and potted succulents, perk up with café de olla (spiced, sweetened coffee), before tucking into traditional Oaxacan dishes such as chicken in mole negro, a rich sauce of chocolate and dried chilli, or higaditos, a hearty serve of scrambled eggs, broth, meat and liver. Watch as the cooks press tortillas, grind cacao and froth jugs of hot atole by hand. Masa cakes toast up on the clay griddle, soups and moles simmer over a wood-fire as cazuelas of cheese-topped stew bubble and brown at the hearth. Ranchera music is accompanied by a kitchen cacophony of chopping, mixing, pounding, clattering and sizzling, along with the sound of diners enthusiastically scraping their plates.
Cindy Fan
Traditional Japanese breakfast at Tsutaya Tokinoyado Kazari
On my first evening at this 20-room, traditional rural ryokan in the long shadow of Mt Kiso Ontake, around 20km from Kiso-Fukushima in Nagano prefecture, I mention to my Japanese travelling companion that I’ll just have something light for breakfast next day. “I’m so full from everything we’ve been eating,” I say. He promises to let the chefs know. Perhaps something gets lost in translation. At least 20 dishes (per person) are laid out for us next morning as the sun glints from wide windows. There are delicate soups, pickles, salads, handmade soba noodles, dashi-rolled omelettes, lake-caught mountain trout, rice, fresh corn grown in the ryokan’s organic garden, and meadow-picked blueberry jam for spreading on a soft croissant. What to do? Tuck in, naturally.
Alex Carlton
Scandinavian smorgasbord at Haymarket by Scandic
There’s something wonderfully satisfying about a simple Scandinavian breakfast spread of neatly displayed platters of thinly sliced charcuterie, crunchy toasted muesli, bowls of boiled eggs and fruit. I don’t want longwinded menus or fuss; just coffee and fresh food to set me up for a morning of wandering. Haymarket by Scandic, on the main square in Stockholm’s Norrmalm neighbourhood, provides a pleasing art deco setting and its Paul’s restaurant, where the smorgasbord is served, is all marble countertops, rose gold fittings and curved banquettes. It’s named for Paul U. Bergstrom, owner of the building’s former incarnation, PUB department store, opened in 1916. Pre-Hollywood, Greta Garbo was once an employee, selling hats to fellow Swedes and the hotel’s lunch and dinner café is named after her. I’ll dine there later but right now I need to return to the barista to order another robust coffee. Conjuring the spirit of the actress, I wear a determined look. For until I finish my second morning brew, I want to be alone.
Andrea Black
Vitamin-packed shots at Kamalaya Koh Samui
Halos aren’t on the breakfast menu at this wellness retreat but it feels like I’m wearing one. A detox diet combining principles of Western medicine with ancient healing traditions of China and India has been recommended on my arrival at Kamalaya in Koh Samui, Thailand. Accordingly, I’m downing vitamin-packed shots of turmeric, pandan and kale in the resort’s open-air dining pavilion, which looks out over the ocean. The buffet is a rainbow of goodness, with bowls of raw vegetables, fresh juices and gluten-free breads that are delicious with a dairy-free nut butter. Clear labelling means diners can pick and choose from the likes of anti-inflammatory veggies, congee, mung bean pancakes, ratatouille soup and soaked oats. And it’s not just my gut undergoing a detox; a sign on every table advises guests to give their mind a rest from the relentless assault of mobile technology. It feels strange at first to sit on my own without the social crutch of a smartphone but gradually I adjust. There’s peace to be found in that view, the tinkling of the resort waterfall and the chirping of birds. And the detox diet is a revelation; I am never hungry, though I do allow myself one concession – a morning latte.
Penny Hunter