Bloomsbury, French Restaurant Guide

The “superb neighbourhood café we’d all love to have around the corner” – this upgraded greasy spoon “in a dead area of Bloomsbury” provides “particularly tasty, modern French fare” realised with a “delicious and light” touch by co-founder Anna Tobias, former head chef at Rochelle Canteen.

2021 Review: “Images redolent of ‘Le Gai Paris’ (the naked bottoms went perfectly with my slow roasted pork belly!)” grace the muralled walls of this “friendly and efficient” Gallic corner bistro, near the British Museum: “a reliable and enjoyable choice”, serving affordable classic French dishes.

2021 Review: “Like an everyday restaurant in a minor French town”, this “very busy” Bloomsbury bar/bistro is a “noisy but great fun” neighbourhood amenity: “some dishes are more successful than others” but most are délicieux.

“Hidden in a quiet street in Fitzrovia”, Mathieu Germond “continues to oversee a brilliant operation”, on the site that was once Dabbous, RIP. An “imaginative French-orientated menu” is well-realised (“but not exceptional or pointlessly innovative”) and service is “truly exemplary”. “But the real bonus is the interesting wine list expertly put together and presented by Mathieu himself”, who is “not only completely charming but also hugely knowledgeable” and “it always includes something new and unusual to try”.

“Exceptional food and an approach that’s attentive and friendly but never overbearing or distant” wins nothing but high praise for Jun Tanaka’s “consistently excellent and very enjoyable” HQ, on Fitzrovia’s restaurant row. “It was closed from summer last year until mid March 2023 owing to a fire – post re-opening, the cuisine is of just the same standard as before”.

“The charming warren of rooms helps make for a happy experience” at this “nostalgic”, and “immensely charming” Gallic super-bistro, near Covent Garden, which opened just after WWII and which has rambled over the years into neighbouring buildings. “For many decades the menu has hardly changed and continues to reflect Parisian bistros with confit de canard, steak grillé and a fine chariot de fromages... warming in winter and equally welcoming the rest of the year”. New owners, Fabio Lauro and Family took over in 2022 from Alain Lhermitte (who owned it since 1972) “leaving some people worried this place has gone off”. But “the food was not what it was” before Alain retired, and ratings improved here somewhat this year – hopefully the start of a positive new chapter for this old veteran.

This Gallic treasure (est. 1927, but ultimately dating back to 1896) is London’s oldest French restaurant and – complete with its snail carpet – remains a Soho landmark. Its standards under owner Brian Clivaz have held up well over the years, and its ratings continued to be solid in this slightly turbulent year (which saw the establishment close from February to May 2023 to allow for a financial restructuring). The fairly classic menu is appealing and mixes affordable entry-level dishes (croque monsieur at £12) with more luxurious options (such as baked lobster with garlic butter, or fillet of beef ‘Rossini’, both at £54). Top Tip – superb-value prix fixe at lunch and early evening: two courses £19, three courses £24.

The team behind highly regarded central London trio Portland, Clipstone and the Quality Chop House is to open what promises to be a smart French bistro in Fitzrovia, in August 2023. Chef Stuart Andrews’s knowledge of Gallic cuisine stems from his 18 months working in Paris, and he aims to offer ‘French cooking from an outsider’s perspective’.

A back-to-basics offshoot of Tom Seller’s celebrated Restaurant Story, this new Covent Garden venue opened in April 2023, inspired by his love of Parisian brasseries. Dine on rotisserie chicken (the big deal here) or other brasserie fare including large cuts of meat from the grill to share. Most of the ground floor is counter seating, with more conventional tables in the cellar. It’s an atmospheric winner on most accounts, and – when it came to the food – The Standard’s Jimi Famurewa awarded it full marks, applauding “a careful Jenga tower of elements” that transforms “a deceptively basic concept” into “stylish, subtly affecting excellence”. Not all our early reporters are quite as wowed though – it can also seem “perfectly good if expensive; and unclear what the Michelin background really adds to this type of cooking”.