City, French Restaurant Guide

A “perfect City lunch-spot”, handily located just a short cheque-bounce away from the Bank of England, with “plenty of space between tables” and “a cracking wine list”. A French menu is “well executed and served” to a very “consistent standard”. For the cellar bistro, see Don Bistro & Bar.

“On a warm summer’s day, the roof garden is a secluded and delightful place to escape the pressure of the Square Mile”, say fans of D&D London’s long-established, 7th-floor perch, just a stone’s throw from Bank. Squarely aimed at a “very City clientele”, it’s a “swanky expense-accounter venue, whose starched napery will not disappoint your visiting client from NYC”; and where a meal can be started with preprandial drinks on the terrace. Fans feel it offers “high quality, well-prepared” French cuisine – the more downbeat version is that it’s “pricey for what it provides”: either way, you get “a great view!”

“Bish, bash, bosh… great steak!” – “amazing result!”. “You know what you’re going to get”, and “what you’re given is very good” at this Gallic steakhouse chain which “does what it says on the tin” – a “no-decision” menu of steak-frites, served with the chain’s trademark ‘secret sauce’, plus seconds if you’re still hungry (followed by a variety of puddings). “They’re busy, so be prepared to queue, and to vacate your table as soon as you’ve finished.”

Three years and £25m later, Leonid Shutov’s City sibling to Soho fave-rave, Bob Bob Ricard, finally burst forth onto the London restaurant scene just as our survey was closing in June 2019. Occupying the third floor of the City’s ‘Cheesegrater’ (aka the Leadenhall Building), it looks a little like a Sci-Fi re-imagining of the decadent Soho original, complete with booths, and new-look ‘Presser pour Champagne’ buttons. Early feedback (too thin for a full rating) is ecstatic in terms of its potential for business entertaining – bolstered by a comprehensive wine list (with options up to £10k), and Eric Chavot’s luxury-brasserie menu – but that fit-out’s not going to pay for itself, and the bill is confirmation of the fact.

The little sibling of Smithfield stalwart Club Gascon, next door, relaunches under a new name. Formerly Cellar Gascon, the restaurant won praise among our reporters for its “stand-out regional French wines” and elegant (slightly “tired”?) style last year. One or two reporters feel that “some dishes don’t quite hit the mark”, but it’s overall still well rated.