Brunch on Saturday: BabaBoom review and sage brown butter pancakes recipe

This week we visit one of south London’s hottest brunch areas and try adding sage to our pancakes with the help of Mimi Thorisson

Brunching out...

Battersea is fast making a name for itself as an area with some of the best brunch spots in London.

And one restaurant that’s a key player in this is BabaBoom.

While you might not immediately think of kebabs for brunch, BabaBoom has turned what we think of as a greasy 3am snack back into a traditional Middle Eastern main course.

It’s popular too – on weekend mornings, BabaBoom is busy and buzzing, full of trendy, young people who want a relaxed vibe for their brunch.

Inventive twists make BabaBoom fun and that little bit different. The gigantic mimosa (£12), for example, comes deconstructed: you’re served a small carafe of prosecco, orange juice in a champagne flute and then it’s up to you to decide how strong you want your beverage to be.

Alongside a mimosa, my friend and I kicked things off with the hummus (£4.75), which is served with flatbread and crudités. It was, without a doubt, some of the best hummus I have ever eaten – incredibly smooth and flavoursome. With the warm, soft flatbread it was the perfect way to whet our appetites.

The main menu isn’t extensive, but deciding what to have still wasn’t easy. I eventually settled on the veggie kebab (£9.20): grilled mastelo cheese, za’atar tomato, chermoula aubergine, two fried eggs and avocado tahini on a flatbread.

The grown-up crunchie: a velvety chocolate and cardamom bowl topped with homemade honeycomb and a dollop of tangy yoghurt

With so many different components – the flavoursome tahini, the halloumi-esque grilled cheese, the thick slices of aubergine, perfect fried eggs – it was exciting and delicious.

The portion was also pretty sizeable, so come hungry if you too are in the mood for a three course brunch.

As tempted as I was by the kebabs topped with Nutella and banana, by this point I’d had an awful lot of flatbread so decided to share the grown-up crunchie (£5) for pudding with my dining partner. A velvety chocolate and cardamom bowl topped with homemade honeycomb and a dollop of tangy yoghurt offsetting the sweetness of the chocolate, it was rich, indulgent and delicious.

It all made sense when I learned the head chef used to work for Gu puddings.

Kebabs for brunch? I’m a convert.

Bababoom, 30 Battersea Rise, London SW11 1EE; bababoom.london; 07809 903181

Brunching in...

Butternut pancakes with sage brown butter

We don’t grow our own yet, but in autumn we tend to build up a small collection of pumpkins and squash in various shapes and sizes. We decorate our tables with them, and for a few weeks it seems we are drowning in pumpkins. Then, as the season progresses, we start cutting them up one by one; many end up in soups, while others get roasted as a side dish. The really lucky ones end up in delicious little creations like these pancakes, which are so simple to make, yet feel quite decadent and grown up when drenched in sage and butter sauce. The words “light” and “rich” seem contradictory, but they are the ones I would pick to describe these pancakes.

200g butternut squash purée (see note)
1 large egg
80ml crème fraîche
30g freshly grated parmesan cheese (optional)
180g plain (all-purpose) flour
1tsp baking powder
Fine sea salt
80g unsalted butter, plus more for the pan
A small bunch of fresh sage leaves

Note: to make the purée, peel, seed and cube about half a medium butternut squash, then roast it in a preheated 180C oven until very tender, about 20 minutes. Purée using a potato ricer or food processor, or mash by hand.

In a bowl, mix the butternut purée, egg and crème fraîche. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the parmesan (if using), flour, baking powder and a pinch of salt, until you get a smooth batter.

Lightly butter a large cast-iron frying pan (skillet) or sauté pan and set over a medium heat. Using about half the batter, drop 4 or 5 pancakes into the pan. Let them cook until the bubbles on the surface start to pop and the undersides are golden brown, about 1 minute, then turn them over. Cook just to set the other side, about 1 minute. Repeat with the remaining batter.

In a small saucepan, heat the 80g butter over a medium heat. Add a pinch of salt and the sage leaves and cook until the butter turns golden brown and the sage leaves are crisp, a few minutes.

Serve the pancakes with a drizzle of the browned butter and sage leaves on top.

‘French Country Cooking’ by Mimi Thorisson (Hardie Grant, £25). Photography by Oddur Thorisson