Breakfast restaurants in Asia
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A
Moonrakers
Like it or not, you’ll likely end up here at some stage; it’s the sort of place that magnetises travellers. Probably because it’s a three-storey resto-bar complex that dominates the backpacker-ghetto streetscape. Food is OK, ambience is better and beer is enjoyable from the top-floor verandah.
reviewed
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B
Stuff Makers
Hotel Kamal’s rooftop terrace, complete with fairy lights, has an excellent view of the Taj from some tables, and of a tree from others. The menu has the usual unimaginative mix of Indian, Western and Chinese dishes.
reviewed
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C
Olive Beach
This spot duplicates the groovy Mediterranean style and deliciously authentic food of its Delhi and Mumbai (Bombay) sisters. Book ahead for the great Sunday brunch with free-flowing booze.
reviewed
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Restoran Sek Yow Fook
There's a little of everything at this hodge-podge Chinese place but it's all surprisingly good. English cooked breakfasts are available from 08:00 or there's a little congee (rice porridge) stall for those wanting to start the day local style. For lunch dive into the excellent Chinese buffet, but don't arrive past around 14:30 when the dregs have been sitting out sans refrigeration for hours.
For kids (or fussy grown-ups) there's an 'Elvis Presley' peanut-butter-and-banana sandwich on offer. A bar in the back serves beer.
reviewed
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D
Grandma Nitti's
A mainstay of Taipei's Western community, Nitti's serves comfort food such as waffles, burgers, Philly-cheese steaks, Mexican dishes and family-size pastas. Breakfast is served until dinner time. There's a comfy street-side terrace and the windowed space upstairs is a great place to mull over newspapers. There's a long bookcase on the first floor with an excellent selection of second-hand books for sale, and the restaurant's owner is a mainstay in Taiwan's animal-protection community.
reviewed
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E
California
One of Ulaanbaatar's most popular restaurants, this place has an array of eclectic menu items, including a Thai steak salad with Caesar dressing, authentic chicken tacos and shorlog (shish kebab with cream sauce). All of these are recommended. There is a huge variety of food to choose from and the portions are generous and heavy on the calories (this place is a real diet killer). It's also one of the few places in town that is open for breakfast.
reviewed
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Meiyou Café
With one of the longest lineages in Yángshuò - which says something at the very least - the Meiyou concocts Western traveller fare and a smattering of Chinese dishes, plus a range of coffees (Blue Mountain coffee, Kaihua etc) and not bad breakfasts. The sign outside saying 'Meiyou Pay FEC' ('No FEC') puts its history in context - FEC (Foreign Exchange Certificates) became extinct in the mid-1990s.
reviewed
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F
Coffee House
The eclectic menu, excellent service and European-style atmosphere make this one of the more attractive restaurants in the city. As the name indicates, there is a nice selection of coffees imported from Indonesia, Africa and Latin America. Breakfast includes omelettes and pastries while afternoon appetisers might see you sampling the hummus or tabuleh. This place is very popular with Ashgabat's expats.
reviewed
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G
Low Yong Mow
Famous Malaysia-wide for its large and delectably well-stuffed pao (steamed pork buns), this place is Chinatown’s biggest breakfast treat. With high ceilings, plenty of fans running and a view of Masjid Kampung Kling, the atmosphere oozes all the charms of Chinatown. Take your pick from the endless variety of dumplings, sticky rice dishes and mysterious treats that are wheeled to your table.
reviewed
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H
Yonghe Congee King
One of our favourite postdrinking-binge breakfast joints, Yonghe Congee King is clean, well lit (but not too bright) and serves perfect post and prehangover foods such as home-made dòujiāng (soymilk), luóbuógāo (turnip cake) and qīngzhoù. If this doesn't settle your stomach, consider laying off the Taiwan beer and Whisbih for a while.
reviewed
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I
Herb Garden
This small and friendly place, run by a Thai-English couple, is one of those rare places where the Western food and Thai food is equally good. Thai dishes like néua deh dio (beef salad with sesame seeds and basil) are delicious. For something very English, choose the bangers and mash (with proper pork sausages) and the treacle tart. Breakfast is good here too.
reviewed
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MC Blues
Whether it's an early-morning big breakfast or an evening dose of music and chinwagging, this remains one of Yángshuò's most popular. The MC Blues Breakfast is a serious mouthful: two fried eggs, two slices of toast, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, chips, coffee and juice. The long and lengthy cocktail list runs to grasshopper; nights draw garrulous crowds.
reviewed
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J
Bocadillos
Amongst the little local-style cafés around the budget guesthouses is this gem of a place serving some of the best Western breakfasts and snacks in Penang. It's a Mediterranean menu with pizzas, burgers and fresh-baked pita sandwiches stuffed with creative salads. Enjoy a fresh fruit juice and homemade baked goods while gazing across the beach out to sea.
reviewed
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K
Cafe 129
Five sisters and their mother operate this neat little eatery that's known city-wide for its satisfying omelettes, pancakes and fresh fruit juices. They get it right, too. Naturally, the place attracts a lot of foreigners hankering for something other than pho in the early hours, but local students often claim several tables as well.
reviewed
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L
New Lighthouse Restaurant
The New Lighthouse is the sort of open-air seafood place autorickshaw drivers recommend because they assume this is what Port Blair tourists are looking for. Unfortunately, it’s breezy and open air because it’s kind of falling apart, but hey, if you want fresh, whole grilled fish, lobster or crab, they got you covered here.
reviewed
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M
Indian Coffee House
Not as salubrious as the New Market branch, but nonetheless a top spot for a breakfast of filter coffee and scrambled eggs. The usual South Indian favourites – dosa, idli and vada (doughnut-shaped deep-fried lentil savoury) – are all here too, as are the waiters with the white fan-tailed hats.
reviewed
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Yúnnán Café and Bar
Run by a friendly couple, this not too big, not too small space is a great place to wind things down at night or start things up in the morning. The Western and Chinese stick-to-your ribs breakfasts are terrific. The Tibetan breakfasts will have you set for the long bus rides to Kūnmíng and beyond.
reviewed
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Xanadu Restaurant
Another garden setting with a sandy floor, Xanadu is for the early riser - enjoy a breakfast fry-up or muesli from under the shade of coconut and banana palms. In the evening, over a cold beer and some crunchy pappadam, you can choose between prawns or fish curry or try one of numerous continental dishes.
reviewed
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Green Lotus Café
Its walls covered with the drunken scrawls of travellers, early morning hangovers get soothed back to normality by soft jazz music. For specialist tastes there's a very brief Israeli menu, otherwise it's standard breakfast fare with freshly squeezed orange juice and local specialities such as beer fish.
reviewed
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N
Banana Restaurant
Underneath a shady thatched roof, this entrepreneurial little restaurant captivates the falang market with Western breakfasts (even cornflakes) plus a long menu of fried chicken, pork and vegetarian dishes (spicy and mild), plus curries, Thai dishes and salads. It’s cheap and tasty food.
reviewed
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O
Rodeo Pub
Blathering, homesick expats, and tourists who wish they’d never left, drown their sorrows at this wannabe European bar where graffiti’s scrawled across the walls and bacon butties, pints of larger and cocktails with sexy names prop up the clientele. It’s perfect, if you’d rather be in Benidorm.
reviewed
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P
Morning Glory Café
This smart and cosy café dishes up some of the tastiest breakfasts in town: smoked ham omelettes, fresh muesli, rice soup, and fabulous coffee. For lunch tuck into esto chicken pasta or a fragrant Thai curry. Comfy chairs sit on the pavement and jazz bubbles in the background.
reviewed
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Q
Vieng Phone Restaurant
This cavernous indoor restaurant could do with a splash of sunshine on the menu, but it’s a decent spot to fill up on pad thai, fried rice, láap and roasts (including fish). Western breakfasts cater to those who aren’t up for hot noodles first thing in the am.
reviewed
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R
Cafe 1511
Next to the Baba-Nonya Heritage Museum is this high-ceilinged Peranakan cafe, with original tiles along the wall, lovely carved screens, a mishmash of decorative objects from Southeast Asia and a Nonya menu. At the time of research this place was also planning a guesthouse.
reviewed
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S
Phousi Cafe & Gallery
In a leafy bamboo courtyard, this quiet café serves set Western breakfasts, salads, sandwiches and a host of quasi-Lao and Thai stir-fries. It’s deliberately tranquil with bubbling water features, stylish timber slab tables, and local art on the walls.
reviewed
