All hail the egg! The most innovative eggs in London — and how to make some of them at home this Easter

Eggs, eggs, eggs. Soft boiled with toast ‘soldiers’, scrambled, fried or poached. Breakfast owes them everything. Their versatility makes them one of the most beloved ingredients of a British pantry. From pickled, to devilled and truffled, to mercilessly deep fried until golden and delicious, there’s always a new way to eat an egg.

Selflessly, this Easter, I eschewed my usual devouring of one million chocolate iterations and instead pushed my stomach to the limit to bring you the ultimate guide to London’s most innovative eggs. Let’s get cracking.

What? Devilled eggs

Where? Rita’s, Soho

Devilled eggs, the sexiest sounding and most 1970s looking eggs of all, are done to perfection at Rita’s. Founded in 2012, the independent restaurant is led by head chef and owner Gabriel Pryce and beverage director Missy Flynn. ‘We use toban-djan in our devilled eggs,’ says Gabriel, and the Chinese fermented chili bean paste certainly makes them stand out from the crowd.

They are so popular that some customers flock to Rita’s especially for one. ‘One woman has been eating them since 2014,’ Gabriel told The Observer last year, which makes sense, because they are by far the best devilled eggs I have ever had the pleasure of hungrily gulping down. Slightly spicy and indulgently creamy, this is a new twist on a classic egg recipe that comes with a welcome tang, and is well worth a trip into Soho.

Or, try your hand at whipping them up at home…

Ingredients

• 10 medium eggs
• 1.5 heaped tablespoons of toban-djan
• 1 heaped tablespoon of mayonnaise
• 1 bunch of chives finely chopped
• 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
• Sesame oil

Method

• Boil the eggs for 14 minutes then chill in ice water
• Peel the eggs and carefully cut them in half with a thin bladed knife
• Gently remove the firm yolks and add them to a blender with the mayonnaise and toban-djan. Keep the whites on a tray in the fridge
• Blend the yolk mix until smooth and silky and transfer to a piping bag (or use a spoon to gently fill them in if you don’t have one)
• Fill each egg white with the yolk mix and top each one with a sprinkle of chives, sesame seeds and a splash of sesame oil

What? Lobster omelette

Where? The Goring, Victoria

The hotel HRH The Princess of Wales spent the night in before her wedding is undoubtedly fit for royalty. As is their signature dish, the best-selling lobster omelette. Rich and indulgent, the budget meal beloved by Gwen from Gavin & Stacey reaches new heights of luxury in this dish from the hotel’s Michelin-starred restaurant. Sadly, executive chef Graham Squire is not an egg man. ‘Couldn’t think of anything worse,’ he tells me. ‘The smell of a boiled egg really upsets me. We make huge amounts of egg truffle mayonnaise mix for sandwiches and that mix itself, I will not taste it. I just cannot stand eggs.’

Fortunately, Graham is a consummate professional and kindly offers to show me how to make their lobster omelette anyway. They use Clarence Court eggs (the Financial Times of the egg world; well regarded for their quality, tinged a different colour from the rest and ‘quite pricey’ to quote Graham). Typically they sell about 24 a day which, I can confirm, is because they are utterly delicious.

Ingredients

• 150g butter
• 150g flour
• 180g egg yolk
• 450g lobster stock stock (buy or make your own)
• 15g Dijon mustard
• 90g grated parmesan
• 300g milk
• 750g double cream
• 18g Malden salt
• A tablespoon of white wine shallots (prep beforehand)
• A splash of lobster oil (alternatively use rape seed oil)
• 240g fresh cooked lobster meat
• 12 eggs
• Salt
• Pepper
• A sprinkling of dill

Method

• Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and salt, and mix on the heat. After a while, a smooth paste should form and come away from the sides of the pan
• Add in the lobster stock, milk and half of the cream, Continue to cook out as for béchamel sauce, stirring continuously, over a low heat for around 5 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and add the egg yolk, mustard and parmesan. Mix until smooth, then allow to cool. Whip the other half of the cream and fold into the cooler sauce (do not over work)
• Preheat your oven to 220°C, leaving the door open
• Using three eggs per omelette, lightly beat in a bowl, seasoning with salt and pepper. Add a small amount of white wine shallots and a splash of lobster oil. Slowly cook in a non-stick pan, folding constantly until an omelette begins to form, but is still runny on top. Gently place the omelette onto a small ovenproof dish, runny side up. Continue four times for individual omelettes
• Place 60g of lobster meat on top of each of the omelette, add a generous spoonful of the thermidor on top of that and spread across
• Place the omelette in the oven and grill for about 5 minutes, leaving the grill door open until golden brown.
• Serve immediately, garnished with a piece of lobster and some dill

What? Egg hopper

Where? Hoppers, Soho

Nowhere is eating an egg more fun than at Hoppers. With four London outposts, this Sri Lankan and South Indian restaurant is led by its co-founder Karan Gokani and is much loved for its namesake dish — particularly its egg hopper. Traditionally a breakfast dish, it is somewhere between a poppadom and a savoury pancake. Making a hopper requires years of practice and specialised kitchen equipment. ‘There's a real art to it. We've got a couple of guys in the team that are specialists,’ says Karan. Best eaten with a curry and Pol Sambol, a Sri Lankan coconut relish.

What? Scotch egg

Where? Claridge’s Bakery, Mayfair

The heartiest dish on my egg list, the Scotch egg at Claridge’s Bakery is second to none. ‘The shape and using a great quality egg — and patience,’ are the keys to success, Gary Cutcliffe from the bakery tells me. Sophia Lambo, another baker, can make up to 80 of these at Claridge’s every day. Nutmeg, she tells me, is crucial to getting the flavour just right, as are Japanese breadcrumbs for the eggs’ crunchy coating. Claridge’s uses Cacklebean eggs, laid by Arlington white chickens, for their Scotch eggs. ‘They’re a stunning egg and the yolk is so, so vibrantly orange,’ Gary gushes. At the bakery they use a deep fat fryer but a good alternative at home would be shallow frying in a bit of oil before finishing it off in the air fryer or the oven, he says.

Ingredients

• 500g good quality sausage meat
• 3g fresh sage, finely chopped
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 6g fine sea salt
• 50g shallots, finely chopped
• 3g fresh thyme, picked leaves and finely chopped
• Pinch nutmeg, finely grated
• Pinch ground white pepper
• 100g plain white flour
• 8 eggs (5 whole and three beaten separately)
• 150g Japanese panko breadcrumbs

Method

• Heat a small saucepan on medium/low heat with olive oil. Add in the shallots and start to cook with no colour, stirring continuously for about 5 minutes. Add in the remaining ingredients and cook for a further minute before removing from the heat. You will need to chill this mixture in a bowl in the fridge before adding in the sausage meat. It is important the mixture and sausage meat are cold before mixing these together. Once fully combined, leave in the bowl in the fridge until needed
• When boiling the eggs use 5 Cacklebean eggs, stored at room temperature. Bring a pan of water to a rolling boil before gently adding in the eggs, trying to avoid any cracks. Cook the eggs for 7 minutes, then remove and submerge into a bowl of ice water to chill. Once cold, carefully peel the eggs leaving them whole without breaking into the white part of the egg
• Take the cold sausage mix and divide equally into 5 balls. Take one ball into your hand and evenly flatten across your palm. Add one egg to the centre of your palm and wrap the mixture around the egg. Finish by gently shaping the sausage meat around the egg into an even ‘egg’ shape before putting onto a plate. Continue to wrap the 4 remaining eggs and add to the plate
• Then pané the Scotch egg. Place the flour, three eggs beaten and panko breadcrumbs into separate bowls. Working one at a time, coat the sausage meat eggs in the flour, then add this into the beaten egg and finally coat the egg with the breadcrumbs, taking care to drip the excess beaten egg before adding to the breadcrumbs. You will now need to add the Scotch egg back into the beaten egg for a second coating before rolling through the breadcrumbs for a final time to create an even coating
• Repeat this stage for the remaining Scotch eggs.
• Using either a deep fat fryer or pan of oil on top of the stove, heat the oil to 160°C. Gently add in the eggs and set a timer for 10 minutes before removing them onto a piece of kitchen roll. If you have a temperature probe, this can be inserted into the meat casing and should read a minimum of 70°C. Allow the Scotch eggs to rest until cool
• These can be enjoyed warm or can be chilled in the fridge and enjoyed cold the following day

What? Pickled egg

Where? Whole Beast, Brixton

Not for the faint hearted when it comes to egg eating, Whole Beast’s pickled egg packs a punch and takes a good amount of time to make. Partners Sam and Alicja Bryant describe their Brixton restaurant as a ‘nose-to-tail, live fire concept’. Their pickled egg is a staple of the menu, and one of the only vegetarian items on it to boot. ‘The idea came from the pub The Southampton Arms in Hampstead Heath,’ Sam says. ‘There was a jar of pickled eggs behind the bar. A few of us were in there and we said: “Shall we just get one as, like, a rogue choice?”.’ They were surprised by the many accompaniments that came with it and immediately sold on the idea. ‘We put it on our menu as a bit of a laugh as we thought no one would order it, but we sell so many,’ Sam says. They sell about 30 on a Saturday night.

What? Truffled eggs

Where? The Devonshire, Soho

The Devonshire is known for its Guinness, and the crowd of gilet-clad finance bros that frequent its smoking area. But I think it should really be known for its truffled eggs. Only available on their private dining menu, co-founder and chef Ashley Palmer-Watts says carrying this out at home can be done with a poached or fried egg, ‘which I think would be equally as delicious as our way’. If there are any spare eggs after a service the chefs are very keen to scarf one down, I am told. After ‘scarfing’ one down myself I can confirm that I would high-vault any amount of Guinness-drinking finance bros at the restaurants threshold and gatecrash even the most exclusive private dining party to scarf down another myself. Eggs at their most beautiful.

What? Egg mayonnaise

Where? Bistro Freddie, Shoreditch

Bistro Freddie’s head chef Alex Henderson does an egg mayonnaise like no other. ‘I’ve eaten way too many during my time here,’ she laughs. They probably sell about 20 servings a day. ‘We use a really good quality egg: free range, lovely yellow yolk. We season it with salt and a little bit of pepper,’ she says, revealing her top tips for a quality egg mayonnaise. They also top with whole anchovies, perfect for any seafood fan — a high-quality take on a classic egg recipe, and probably the simplest to make at home from my egg-cellent list.

Ingredients

• As many eggs as you like
• High quality anchovies
• 1 egg yolk
• 25g Dijon mustard
• 17g malt vinegar
• Some ice
• 270ml sunflower oil
• 5g salt
• A small amount of pepper

Method

• In a Thermomix blend together the yolk, Dijon, malt vinegar, ice and egg salt. Slowly trickle in the sunflower oil until a thick emulsified mayo forms
• Boil the eggs in boiling water for 6.5 minutes. Cut the egg in half, season with black pepper and Maldon salt
• Assemble the dish by putting a small spoon of mayonnaise on the bottom of the plate for the egg to sit on. Add a generous spoon of mayo on top of each egg followed by a good quality anchovy