London’s Most Authentic Cockney English Breakfast At E. Pellicci | Legendary Eats

Tucked away on the busy Benla Green Road in East London, what may seem like just a neighborhood cafe is actually a piece of London history. This third-generation cafe drones in locals with a fascinating mix of character, home-cooked food, and timeless charm. It's really special to us, this place. It's not just our place of work. It's like our second home as well. This is Ippellici, and it's been serving London's most iconic This is like the soul of East London right here. This is everything that makes East London great. It is distilled in this place. It's magic. Ippellici has stood in the same spot since 1900, keeping the same vibrant atmosphere, art-deco wood panels, and iconic yellow vitrolite shopfront it's had since the beginning. But the location is not the only thing that has stayed the same. The Ippellici family has passed down the shop over generations. Today, Neville runs a cafe with his sister, Anna, their cousin, Tony, and their mama, Maria, who's been taking care of the kitchen since 1961. So, how long have you been here in this kitchen working for? What ingredients would you put in your full English? Yeah, OK, let's see. OK. There's so much on this plate. I really don't even know where to start. All the food is, like, piping hot. Just the right amount of spice in there. It's really well-cooked. This fried bread is so good. And the black pudding as well. This is amazing. You can really taste that this is homemade. And this whole place, I mean, all the clients are friends. They speak to each other. Everybody's sitting next to people that they don't know. It's about 12.30, so it's way past lunchtime. And there's so many people that are still ordering English breakfast. This dish is so popular. People are, like, literally just coming for it at any time of the day, really. It's so filling. It's so filling, and the variety. And the way it's presented in there with the black pudding, separated by hash browns, very stylish. But Ippellici is much more than just the best breakfast spot in London. With the unlikely blend of English and Italian savoir-faire, Mamma Maria cooks up earthy dishes like cannelloni, bread pudding, and lasagna, while Neve and Anna chat with their customers, turning the dining room into an extended family reunion. I've been coming here with my mum since I was six. It's a long time. I'm 31 now. It's like coming from your home to your home for dinner. It's lovely. Homemade food. Why would you not want that? My friends say that I should be paid for advertisement, cos just about everyone I meet, I'm like, you have to come to Pellicci's. Like, if you're in London, you have to come to Pellicci's. Just the best food, best people. It's like dinner and theatre all in one. So Neve and Anna are hilarious and know absolutely everybody. And if they don't know you, then they'll get to know you. And they have this insane ability to remember everyone's face, what they do. Not only locals, but also some A-list celebrities have made Ippellici their home away from home. The Kray Twins, London's most notorious gangsters in the 50s, lived in the area and made the cafe their go-to breakfast spot. They used to have bacon, egg and tomatoes every day. That was their breakfast with some bread and butter. They would come every morning. When they finished in their nightclub, they'd come straight here at 6 o'clock in the morning. And you didn't have phones or that then, so if anyone wanted to meet them, they'd come and meet. So they'd bring some pretty, lots of different people in. But they was always in here. My dad always said they were very nice and polite. We never had no trouble with them. And is it true that you keep a celebrity book as well? Yeah, I do. Do you want to see it? Shall I go and get it for you? OK, I'll go and get it for you. Hang on one second. That's big. Yes, that's what my wife said to me the first nightclub. I'm only joking, Claudia. So my cousin Tony actually started this club, Salvadori. So we started getting little autographs years ago when we'd get a few celebrities in. And then we decided to start taking pictures. We keep a little camera behind the thing. Colin Farrell. And Paloma Faye. And you've got David Schwimmer popped in one day. Idris is a local boy. He pops in sometimes. Ronan Keating. Clive Owen. Richard Madden. Little Georgia here. She just comes in when she's not at university. We get to meet Georgia. That's my favourite thing. You get to meet and talk to all different people. So do you know all your clients by name? Not all of them, because we get loads of tourists. But if they come in a few times, start coming in regular. Yeah, we do know a lot of them. Like Johnny, you've got Duncan there. You've got little Georgia there. Do you think the area is changing a little bit? And you're like one of the last actual landmarks. Yeah, we are really. Because all the time this place is closing. And a lot of it are chains opening up. It's getting a few branded. It's getting independent little shops. Which is always nice to see little independent places opening. But it is changed so much. But it's changed for the better. I hope it doesn't go too hipster. Because you want to keep a bit of soul. Like the real soul of the East End. Because the East Enders are what make the area. It's little places like that that make it so unique, the East End. It started off. My grandparents. So my grandmother was born in Christchurch. In 1880. Two Italian immigrants. My great grandparents. When she was 20, she married my granddad in 1900. And they come to work in the cafe. But the guy that owned it, they took it over. So it's been in our family since about 1901. But we say 1900. Level it off. All the lovely woodwork interior. My nonna put in in 1946. A little Italian man. He lived around the corner. He had a studio there. He done it all for us. I don't remember not coming here to be honest. My dad brought me here the first time. And it's nice to see somewhere that doesn't change. Everywhere around here has changed so much. Over the last 25 years. This is the same as. It's been for 100 years. When you say good things. I will hit you with good things.