Review: Weekend family breakfast near the ducks at Inn the Park in St James’s Park

‘Look! It’s a princess castle!’

Baby Girl was sitting on a sofa at restaurant Inn the Park in St James’s Park last weekend, and she looked straight at what she deemed to be a princess castle. I’m not surprised she thought she could see one though, as her view included several London landmarks.

We had been invited to try the new breakfast menu at Inn the Park, and although I’d been there several times before, we hadn’t been as a family yet and I hadn’t really realised it was a hot breakfast spot. It was pouring down with rain when we arrived, so I expected a restaurant like Inn the Park which is impossible to access without making a short walk through St James’s Park, to be quiet. It was, however, still busy at 10 in the morning, and we even ran into friends with a one-year-old who turned out to be regulars at the restaurant.

Inn the Park, which offers diner-style seating in the restaurant section and a more casual cafe section, is ideal at this time of the year, as St James’s Park must be one of the prettiest and most colourful parks in the city and the restaurant offers unprecedented views with floor-to-ceiling windows, as well as al fresco dining on the terrace. The park location and mix of tourists and locals means it reminds me a bit of The Boathouse in Central Park, and I love that the style and atmosphere of Inn the Park is less formal than what I remember it to be years back.

Our friends also pointed out that the coffees are particularly good at Inn the Park, and Baby Girl seemed to enjoy her granola with berries and we were both pleased with our breakfast favourites of avocado on toast for me and full English for Daddy T. With the ducks practically on the doorstep and 8am opening even on weekends, a breakfast here makes for a pretty good start to the day for families with young children, so I could see us returning for a weekend breakfast several times throughout the summer months.

We found Pay and Display parking on Carlton House Terrace, which is a short walk away, but the other option when arriving by car is to walk a bit further and park closer to St James’s Park tube station.

Tags: Breakfast, Coffee, Inn The Park, Kids-friendly restaurants, London, Pram-friendly restaurants, St James's Park