Italian Breakfast London — La Colazione on Whitcomb Street
The Italian breakfast London has been missing. Fresh bomboloni made every morning, specialty coffee, a cosy café with a bar and tables — two minutes from Trafalgar Square.
Order NowGet a quote
The authentic Italian breakfast London — la colazione — at Bombolone on Whitcomb Street. Fresh bomboloni made every morning, specialty coffee, a cosy café — two minutes from Trafalgar Square. Sit at a table, stand at the bar, or take it with you. The Italian breakfast tradition, right here in Central London.
Best Italian breakfast in London
Sonia and Paweł have travelled through Italy many times. And every time, what stays with Sonia isn’t the dinner, isn’t the wine — it’s the morning. A cappuccino at the bar. Something sweet and light. The warmth of an Italian summer morning before the day gets going. Quick, happy, effortless.
That feeling has a name. La colazione all’italiana. And it’s what she wanted to bring to Whitcomb Street.
Not a restaurant. Not a buffet. A small, cosy Italian café with a bakery on site — where the bomboloni are made before sunrise, the coffee is specialty grade, and the morning feels the way it should. The Italian breakfast London has been missing, two minutes from Trafalgar Square.
What Italian breakfast actually is
Ask most people what Italian breakfast looks like and they’ll imagine something it isn’t. A full spread. Something cooked. Something heavy.
The reality is the opposite — and that’s the point.
Italian breakfast is simple, sweet and quick — built around a warm drink and a pastry, and designed for a busy morning. Italians don’t sit down to eggs and bacon. They walk into the bar, order a cappuccino and a filled brioche, eat standing up in five minutes, and get on with their day. Not because they’re in a rush — because that’s exactly the right amount of breakfast. Light enough to feel good. Good enough to feel like a moment.
The rules are few but firm. Cappuccino is a morning drink — ordered before 11am, never after a meal, because Italians believe milk interferes with digestion later in the day. The pastry is always sweet. And the whole thing is over in the time it takes most places to bring you a menu.
In northern Italy the morning pastry is called brioche — filled with crema pasticcera, jam, pistachio or chocolate. Soft, light, nothing like the stiff supermarket croissant London has been settling for. That’s the bombolone. That’s what’s on the counter at Whitcomb Street from 9am.
The London problem
Here’s the honest truth about Italian breakfast in London: it’s nearly impossible to find the real thing in Central London.
What you usually get is one of three things. The hotel buffet — a reheated pastry, a machine coffee, a room full of tourists eating things they wouldn’t choose if they had options. The chain coffee shop — technically a cappuccino, technically a pastry, but nothing that feels like anything. Or nothing at all — because by the time you’ve found somewhere worth going, the gallery has opened and the morning is gone.
London has brilliant food. But the quick, fresh, Italian breakfast — a proper bombolone made that morning, a specialty coffee pulled correctly, a warm counter to stand at — that’s been almost impossible to find in Central London. Until Whitcomb Street.
How we do it — the italian breakfast London has been waiting for
On Whitcomb Street there are two ways to have your Italian breakfast London morning, and both of them are right.
Stand at the bar. The way Italians do it. Walk in, order a cappuccino and a Dolce Cheesecake bombolone, eat at the counter while Whitcomb Street wakes up outside. Five minutes. Then the National Gallery, then the day. Quick, intentional, exactly as it should be. That’s la colazione all’italiana — the authentic Italian breakfast tradition in Central London, two minutes from Trafalgar Square.
Find a table. Because sometimes the morning deserves more than five minutes. Our little cosy café has tables — sit down, take your time, order a Vanillissimo and a cappuccino, watch the street through the window. The Italian bakery on site means everything on the counter was made here, this morning. The smell of fresh bomboloni. A proper Italian breakfast café experience in London, unhurried.
Either way, everything is made from scratch before London wakes up. Every bombolone is fresh or it doesn’t exist. The dough is proved until it reaches the right texture — soft, light, balanced. Italian brioche-style, filled by hand, ready from 9am.
Specialty coffee
from £2.80
Moresso specialty coffee — 100% Arabica beans from Brazil, Nicaragua and Ethiopia, graded 80+. Cappuccino, espresso, macchiato and more. In Italy, cappuccino is ordered before 11am. We open at 9am. The timing, as always, works out.
Some of our menu items contain allergens.
All food is prepared in a kitchen that handles gluten, nuts, dairy, eggs, and other allergens.
Two minutes from Trafalgar Square — if you have two minutes for breakfast, we have you covered
Here is something the Italians understood long ago: a good breakfast doesn’t need to take long. It needs to be good.
If you have two minutes — walk in, order, grab a box. Bombolone and a cappuccino in a takeaway cup. That IS the Italian way. Quick, intentional, done. Two minutes from Trafalgar Square, and you are fed, caffeinated and on your way before the tourist crowds have arrived.
If you have more — sit down. Find a table in our little cosy café. Let the morning happen at its own pace. The Italian café breakfast London visitors keep coming back to, in a space that feels like it belongs somewhere warmer than WC2.
Either way — the authentic Italian breakfast London has been looking for is on Whitcomb Street, from 9am, from £4.90.
Subscribe to the newsletter
#1
Bakery in London
On Tripadvisor – Here’s What People Say
Every review below is from a real customer. No incentivised reviews. No paid placements. Just people who walked in off Whitcomb Street and wanted to tell someone about it.
La dolce vita, in every bite
Where to find us
We are on the same street as the National Gallery's Sainsbury Wing entrance. Not near it — on it.
Address
21 Whitcomb St.
London WC2H 7HA
- 2 minutes walk from Trafalgar Square
- 3 minutes from the National Gallery
- 6 minutes from Covent Garden
- 4 minutes from Leicester Square
- 8 minutes from Piccadilly Circus
- 6 minutes walk from Charing Cross
Opening Hours
Mon – Fri:
9AM – 6PM
Sat:
10AM – 8PM
Sun:
10AM – 6PM
Italian breakfast London — frequently asked questions
What is Italian breakfast?
Italian breakfast — la colazione — is a cappuccino and a sweet filled pastry, eaten quickly at the bar before the day begins. Simple, light and always sweet. No eggs, no bacon — those belong at lunch. In northern Italy the pastry is called brioche, filled with cream, jam or pistachio. In London, on Whitcomb Street, it’s a fresh bombolone made that morning. From £4.90 and £3.50.
Where can I find an authentic Italian breakfast in London?
Bombolone on Whitcomb Street — two minutes from Trafalgar Square, same street as the National Gallery. A cosy Italian café and bakery with tables and a bar, open from 9am. Fresh bomboloni from £4.90, Moresso coffee from £2.80. The authentic Italian breakfast London has been looking for, in Central London.
What do Italians eat for breakfast?
Something light and sweet — a filled pastry and a cappuccino, eaten standing at the bar in five minutes. No heavy food, no cooked breakfast. The Italian breakfast tradition is built around simplicity: a quick pastry, a proper coffee, then the day begins. At Bombolone on Whitcomb Street, that means a fresh bombolone and a Moresso specialty cappuccino. From £4.90.
Is there a frappuccino near Trafalgar Square?
No — and there’s a reason for that. Italians believe milk-based drinks are harder to digest later in the day, so cappuccino is strictly a morning drink, ordered before 11am. After that it’s espresso. At Bombolone we open at 9am — which gives you two full hours of legitimate cappuccino time before the Italian rules kick in.
What is la colazione?
La colazione is the Italian word for breakfast — and it describes both the meal and the ritual. A cappuccino or espresso, a sweet pastry or brioche, five minutes at the bar, and then the day. It’s the lightest meal in Italy, designed to give you energy without slowing you down. On Whitcomb Street, la colazione happens from 9am — two minutes from Trafalgar Square, in a cosy Italian café with a bakery on site.
Is Italian breakfast healthy?
By most measures, yes — and certainly healthier than a full English. The portions are small, the pastry is light, and there’s nothing heavy or fried. Italian brioche-style dough, proved until it reaches the right texture — soft, light, balanced. A cappuccino with quality Arabica beans. Quick, good, and nothing that slows you down before a morning at the National Gallery.
Where can I find Italian breakfast near Trafalgar Square?
At Bombolone, 21 Whitcomb Street — two minutes from Trafalgar Square, on the same street as the National Gallery’s entrance. Open from 9am. Italian breakfast bomboloni from £4.90, Moresso coffee from £3.50. Stand at the bar the Italian way, or take a table and stay a while. The Italian breakfast café London needed, right here in Central London.
Where can I find Italian breakfast near the National Gallery?
Bombolone is on Whitcomb Street — the same street as the National Gallery’s Sainsbury Wing entrance. Open at 9am, one hour before the gallery opens at 10am. Fresh bomboloni from £4.90, Moresso coffee from £2.80. The Italian breakfast near the National Gallery London — sit down, stand at the bar, or grab and go before the gallery opens.
What is the Italian breakfast tradition?
The Italian breakfast tradition — la colazione all’italiana — has been the same for generations. A bar, a cappuccino, a sweet pastry, five minutes, and the day begins. It’s built around quality over quantity, ritual over routine, and the belief that a good morning doesn’t need to be a long one. Bombolone brings that tradition to Whitcomb Street in Central London, with fresh bomboloni made on site every morning and Moresso coffee from £2.80.
Is there a quick Italian breakfast near Trafalgar Square?
Yes — and it’s the most Italian thing about Bombolone. Walk in, order a cappuccino and a bombolone at the bar, eat in five minutes, and go. Two minutes from Trafalgar Square. That’s the authentic Italian breakfast London has been looking for — quick, light, and genuinely good. From £4.90 and £3.50. Walk-ins always welcome, no booking required.
Why don't Italians eat eggs for breakfast?
Eggs and cooked breakfast belong at lunch or dinner in Italy — breakfast is a sweet, light affair by design. The idea is to give yourself a quick burst of energy without weighing yourself down. A cappuccino and a filled brioche or bombolone does exactly that. It’s one of the things Sonia fell in love with on her travels through Italy — the way a morning can be happy, light and genuinely delicious without being a whole event.
What time does Bombolone open?
Find our current opening hours at bombolone.co.uk — 21 Whitcomb Street, London WC2H 7HA, two minutes from Trafalgar Square, same street as the National Gallery, four minutes from Leicester Square, eight minutes from Piccadilly Circus.
The Italian breakfast London has been missing
A cappuccino. A warm bombolone. A seat by the window or a spot at the bar. The smell of something made that morning.
That’s the Italian breakfast London has been missing. Not a hotel buffet, not a chain pastry, not something that arrived frozen and got reheated before you woke up. Something made here, on Whitcomb Street, at the Italian café and bakery two minutes from Trafalgar Square.
Sonia found that feeling in Italy and brought it back. It’s here from 9am — the authentic Italian breakfast London, in a little cosy café that opens before the National Gallery does.
Stand at the bar if you have five minutes. Find a table if you have more. Either way the morning starts here.
See all our doughnuts in London
Or read about the Italian breakfast doughnuts