If you’re looking for a family friendly Sunday brunch in London with something a little different for kids, the Moomin Sunday Brunch at OXBO Bankside could be one to add to your list.
Located at OXBO Bankside in Southwark, the themed Sunday brunch combines unlimited starters and desserts with freshly prepared brunch dishes and a traditional Sunday roast. There is also a special Moomin inspired element running throughout the menu, making it particularly appealing for families visiting with children.
We recently visited the Moomin Sunday Brunch at OXBO Bankside, so here’s everything you need to know about the menu, prices, what’s included for children and what we thought of the experience.
Where is the Moomin Sunday Brunch?
The Moomin Sunday Brunch takes place at OXBO Bankside.
Address: OXBO Bankside, 2 to 8 Great Suffolk Street, London, SE1 0UG
The restaurant is in Bankside, making it a handy option to combine with a family day out in central London.
How Much is the Moomin Sunday Brunch?
There are two main adult brunch options:
Bottomless Brunch: £62 per person
This includes bottomless starters, bottomless desserts, one brunch item from the open kitchen, a choice of roast main course and bottomless bubbles or still wine.
Brunch: £42 per person
This includes bottomless starters, bottomless desserts, one brunch item from the open kitchen and a choice of roast main course.
How Much is the Moomin Brunch for Children?
The kids’ brunch pricing makes this particularly interesting for families.
Children aged up to 2 years old can eat FREE from the buffet and live kitchen when dining with a paying adult.
Children aged 3 to 8 years pay £25. This includes bottomless starters, bottomless desserts, a main course and one soft drink.
One child can eat free for every paying adult when they are aged 2 or under.
What’s Included in the Moomin Sunday Brunch?
The brunch is a mixture of buffet style dishes and food ordered from the kitchen.
Guests can help themselves to unlimited starters from the Chef’s Traders Table before choosing a freshly prepared dish from the open kitchen.
Open kitchen choices include:
- Eggs Benedict with poached eggs, Hollandaise sauce, ham and an English muffin
- Eggs Royale with poached eggs, Hollandaise sauce, smoked salmon and an English muffin
- Eggs Florentine with poached eggs, Hollandaise sauce, spinach and an English muffin
Sunday Roast Main Courses
Each brunch also includes one main course, with choices including:
- Roast sirloin of beef with roast potatoes, red wine jus and Yorkshire pudding
- Roast chicken breast with roast potatoes, red wine jus and Yorkshire pudding
- Pan fried gnocchi with runner beans, yellow courgette, basil and rocket pesto and grated Parmesan
There are also vegetable sides including tender stem broccoli, crushed root vegetables and lemon, thyme and honey glazed carrots.
Moomin Pancakes and Desserts
Of course, it wouldn’t be a Moomin themed brunch without a few themed treats.
Moominmamma’s pancakes are available with either banana and caramel compote or forest berry jam with whipped cream or maple syrup.
The bottomless dessert selection includes treats such as Moomin’s orange marmalade cakes, banana blondies with brown butter frosting and fresh raspberry tarts.
Chef’s Corner
There is also a Chef’s Corner featuring additional dishes created by the restaurant’s kitchen team. During our visit, dishes listed included Isle of Wight tomato salad, tofu with cucumber and mango, grilled squid and watermelon salad, lavender and blueberry slice and lemon posset.
The menu also features a Green Zone, which uses ingredients and off cuts that may otherwise go to waste. Dishes included shredded beef with Japanese aubergines, bacon, mushroom and onion tarts, rose harissa and red pepper tartlets and selected desserts.
Drinks
For adults choosing the £62 Bottomless Brunch, bottomless bubbles or still wine are included.
Other drinks can be purchased separately, including beer, cider, wine, sparkling wine, soft drinks, juices and hot drinks.
Our Honest Review of the Moomin Sunday Brunch at OXBO Bankside
Moomin Theming and Kids’ Area
As you enter the restaurant, there is a cute little Moomin themed kids’ area with small tables and chairs, books, toys and activities for children. The walls are decorated with Moomin characters and artwork, so it’s a nice little space for kids to enjoy before or during brunch.
When it came to the Moomin theming throughout the actual brunch, I did expect a little more. There were Moomin flags and edible Moomin stickers used to decorate some of the food, but I was expecting more of the dishes themselves to be Moomin themed or shaped.
I was particularly expecting the pancakes to be Moomin shaped, although I can imagine getting that shape right repeatedly in a busy restaurant might be quite difficult! A few more creative Moomin touches across the food would have made the experience feel that little bit more special.
The Food
The food itself was good and there was plenty to choose from. One thing worth mentioning for anyone with allergies is that there were quite a lot of nuts around the buffet. Everything was clearly labelled, which was reassuring, but with a buffet you obviously still need to be mindful of the possibility of cross contamination.
The brunch is also held in a really nice setting. OXBO Bankside has a relaxed but stylish feel, so although the Moomin element makes it family friendly, it still feels like somewhere adults can enjoy a proper Sunday brunch too.
One little Moomin touch we did love was the Moomin biscuits. We’ve actually picked these up both times we’ve visited Finland and they are seriously delicious, so it was nice to see something familiar from our trips included here too.
The Main Course
For our mains, we both chose the roast chicken breast, which came with roast potatoes, red wine jus and Yorkshire pudding. The chicken was really nice and the portion size was good, especially considering how much other food you can enjoy throughout the brunch.
How Much Did We Pay?
The adult brunch was £42. The menu states that the Kids’ Brunch costs £25 for children aged 3 to 8, while children aged 2 and under can eat free from the buffet and live kitchen with a paying adult.
My daughter is 10, so technically she falls outside the advertised Kids’ Brunch age range. However, a member of staff came over to ask her age and, after I confirmed she was 10, we were still charged £25 for the Kids’ Brunch.
Our food came to £67, with an £8.38 service charge added, bringing our final bill to £75.38.
For the amount of food we had, I thought this was really reasonable. I do think something simple like an orange juice could have been included in the price, but water was absolutely fine for us.
If you’re visiting with a child over the age of 8, I would recommend checking the price with OXBO Bankside when booking, as our experience suggests they may allow older children to have the Kids’ Brunch, but this isn’t what is stated on the menu.
Moomin Meet and Greet
One of the biggest Moomin themed parts of the experience is the character meet and greet.
Moomin makes scheduled appearances throughout Sunday brunch, giving children the chance to meet the character and take photos. During our visit, appearances were scheduled every hour for approximately 20 minutes, so you have several opportunities throughout your brunch rather than having to worry about being there at one particular time.
This was definitely a nice addition to the experience and helps make the brunch feel more special for Moomin fans.
Our Final Thoughts on the Moomin Sunday Brunch at OXBO Bankside
Overall, we enjoyed our Moomin Sunday Brunch at OXBO Bankside. The food was good, there was plenty of it and the restaurant itself is a really nice setting for a relaxed Sunday brunch in London.
For me, the main thing that could make the experience even better would be more Moomin theming throughout the food. With it being advertised as a Moomin brunch, I was expecting a few more Moomin shaped or themed dishes rather than mainly flags and edible decorations. That said, the kids’ area, Moomin biscuits and character meet and greet all add to the experience.
I thought we got a good amount of food for our money, particularly with the unlimited starters and desserts alongside the brunch dish and roast. If you have a Moomin fan in the family or you’re looking for a different family friendly Sunday brunch in London, it’s definitely one to consider.
The Moomin Sunday Brunch at OXBO Bankside is available every Sunday until October, so there’s still time to experience it before it finishes.
