St James's, French Restaurant Guide

“Busy and full of energy” – this “joyful” and highly successful, high-ceilinged room in St James’s stylishly introduces some refined chic into central London with its white leather seating, elegant lighting and subtle earthy tones. In particular, it is a big hit with business-types: “clients love it” even if it can become “loud (that is what comes of being a hedge fund and art world favourite!)”. But even fans – who see it as “several cuts above a typical Parisian brasserie with exceptionally good, traditional food” – admit “there is a price for delight”; while to less charitable reporters it’s merely “pleased with itself” and “astoundingly average given the inflated prices”.

2022 Review: Below Maison François (see also), this amiable, new, no-bookings wine bar in St James’s mixes a nowadays-proven formula of unconventional wines with hearty Gallic small plates: charcuterie, pâté and so forth. Handy to know about in a pricey area.

“Wow!” – “a hidden gem” in St James’s, next door to venerable wine merchant Berry Bros (on the former site of Boulestin and L’Oranger) – a “great, genuine French restaurant” serving “proper French food, beautifully prepared and presented”. Founder Richard Weiss, who ran Brasserie St Jacques just up the road, is a sommelier so there’s a “good wine list, very well priced for the area”. Top Tips – “it’s worth coming just for the steak tartare and crepes suzettes, prepared in front of you on the trolley”.

“Terrific Japanese and Asian-influenced food” (pan-Asian crudo, sushi, sashimi and primarily seafood-based luxury bites) “in a French restaurant, and with French desserts” inspires high ratings for Gallic star-chef, Cyril Lignac’s Mayfair outpost, whose Parisian-style elegance also helps make it “a great place to spend time in too”. After four years in London, he’s not yet as famous as in France, but in May 2025, Le Figaro voted his Saint Germain original (on which the London branch is modelled) as one of ‘Les restaurants les plus (délicieusement) snobs de Paris’, with ‘Bar des Près’ being ‘Le plus Mondialisé’ (or ‘the most globalised’).

This “cosy French place” in Soho serves “very tasty food” and “well-priced wine” – “small plates deliver the best meal, including excellent charcuterie”. Founded by brothers Maxime, Malik and Yannis, who named it after their mother, it can get very lively indeed with “groups of excited twenty-somethings”.

2022 Review: Following closure of L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon and the death of the man himself, this Picadilly café is now one of two London ventures opened in late 2019 by the group he founded. It’s all very chic and continental, but you don’t come here for culinary adventure – but to buy or snack on everyday staples (lots of tempting patisserie and viennoiserie, lasagna, club sandwich, Caesar salad…).

“Chef Anthony Demettre will often come out and have a chat” if you dine regularly at this “good stand-by in the heart of the West End”, where “beautifully presented dishes with hints of France are served by smiling waiting staff” in a stylish and “well-spaced” chamber convenient for Trafalgar Square and Theatreland. Long-term fans remember the two smaller, more personal incarnations of his Wild Honey project (“I was concerned its spirit would have been lost in the move to a Sofitel. I need not have worried: Anthony Demetre was very much at the stoves and it was clear his enthusiasm for French regional cooking was still reflected in a range of memorable dishes of some skill, using top ingredients: no corporate corner-cutting here!”). Top Tips – “a new, more informal bistro sits alongside the main restaurant and offers a similar authentic menu for a more modest outlay”; “great-value lunch menu”.

“Unbeatable value for money and wow factor” underpins the titanic popularity of this “superb” and “bustling”, “Beaux-Arts dining room”: a “unique” setting that’s all-the-more remarkable for being in a gigantic basement less than 100 metres from Piccadilly Circus. “It feels just like a proper Parisian-style venue and the menu is exactly as you would expect of such a place”: a huge assortment of “brasserie-stye French staples” that are incredibly “reasonably priced” for the heart of the West End (although careful selection is advised: “results do have their ups and downs, so stick to the cheaper dishes”). Service is occasionally “grumpy” but is mostly “excellent even when busy” (and “the expected disaster of losing Corbin & King from the management has not materialised”). Top Tip – “stick to the ‘Formule’, enjoy the view of the great room and you’ll never have a bad time”.

2023 Review: With a menu inspired by the French Riviera, this spacious outfit in Golden Square “quickly became a firm favourite for business lunches”, despite the unfortunate timing of its launch in late 2019. Parisian patron Guillaume Depoix’s vision of the ‘perfect Soho brasserie’, it delivers “delicious French food done simply and well”, with a “great clubby feeling, especially when the DJ is there at weekends”.

“Luxurious decor, booths and the infamous ‘Press for Champagne’ button by the table, make it all feel quite Russian oligarchy” at Leonid Shutov’s “fun”, “blingy and gimmicky” Soho diner, which feels a bit like a stage set for ‘The Orient Express’. It also has a less commented-on sibling in the City’s ‘Cheesegrater’ building, decked out in a similar but more glossy style, which puts a Bladerunner-esque spin on the theme suited to its skyscraper setting. Both offer privacy and a supremely cosetting setting and are often tipped for special dates or less-formal business entertaining. “The menu likewise has oligarch vibes, with the likes of caviar, vodka shots, oysters and truffles, but this is alongside a great mix of comfort food like pie, chicken Kyiv, and mac ’n’ cheese”. On balance, the food is judged “well-executed” but even so fans can still feel that “some items are highly priced for what they are”. Top Menu Tips – “the real reason to go is the beef Wellington… utterly delicious, cooked perfectly and a generous portion”. Also “fine wine mark-ups are capped at £75” – so if you push the boat out enough it can be a relative bargain!

“Kudos to the chef” – Seamus Sam, who arrived in mid 2024 and is maintaining the culinary renown of this funky 12-seater in the cellar of Layo & Zoë Pasking’s period pub on the fringe of Chinatown, where he delivers a five-course menu for £135 per person. By all accounts it’s “just a wonderful experience” with “extremely interesting cooking” and “some intriguing wine pairings”, all delivered by “excellent staff”. “Not one for claustrophobics” perhaps, but most reporters find its style “lovely and intimate”.

“Spectacular food, spectacular service, spectacular theatre… amazing!” – This glittering and gilded chamber occupies the top floor of one of Mayfair’s most impressive mansions and is a fairytale location and showcase for the cuisine of star French über-chef Pierre Gagnaire. One or two reporters do dismiss it for its “silly prices” and “the number of Instagrammers taking pictures of themselves”. On balance, though, it stacks up better than many competing London outposts of Gallic star chefs dutifully blessed by the French tyre men: “the various small plates provide never-experienced-before combinations” for some diners, and all acknowledge the “stunning” nature of the “beautiful” and “romantic” interior (and that’s just the Swarovski-clad toilets…)

If Willy Wonka was a restaurateur, he might open this perennial fashionista favourite in a huge Mayfair Palazzo, with its shimmering walls and artworks by Yinka Shonibare adorning the walls (not to mention the egg-shaped WCs). Actually, it’s the work of Parisian dining impresario, Mourad Mazouz, and has been a talking point of the London restaurant-scene since it first opened in 2003. For the uninitiated, maybe dip your toe in the water with afternoon tea, with its “delicious finger foods, sprightly service and no rush to move you on”. That it’s “very expensive” is part of its DNA however, and those visiting for its dinner menu of wacky European dishes are fairly likely to find it “poor” and/or “overpriced”.

Jason Atherton’s small Mayfair venue does still have a fan base, who promote its “great atmosphere” and some “fantastic” posh bistro food; and it remains a central London link to his original ‘Social’ empire (Pollen Street Social, RIP, used to be opposite). The view gained currency this year, though, that while it’s “not a bad small restaurant, it’s nothing outstanding” these days – perhaps inevitably now that his prime focus has shifted to newer London projects including Sael and Row on 5.

“Showing what can be done with plant-based ingredients. Bravo!” – Alexis Gauthier gave up meat personally in 2016 and professionally in 2021 at this “intimate” townhouse in Soho – a destination renowned before he took it over in 2010 (from Richard Corrigan when it traded as The Lindsay House) for its air of quirky romance, from the moment when you knock at the door for entry (“I love the many different rooms to eat in”). The French cuisine here remains, in essence, “fairly traditional”, but nowadays has “a superb meat-free ethos” resulting in “some of the most complicated and sophisticated vegetarian food around”. At least, that’s the majority view, although even a number of fans do “miss some of the old dishes from previous, pre-vegan visits” (and ratings, here, have somewhat trended down in recent years).

“Hidden away in a basement at the side of Leicester Square”, “a marvellous little subterranean wine bar with a decent selection of mid-range wines that are not too overpriced for central London”. A “wide-ranging” food menu (including the famous ham-and-cheese pie that has been on the menu since 1971, of which about 1,000,000 portions have been sold) makes it a “great pitstop in tourist central – happily off the radar for most of them”. “You can’t drink in this place without feeling part of the iconic venue’s history”: its “tried and tested reputation” was established by founder Don Hewitson and is maintained by his successor Will Clayton.

“Sublime food, plus all the special touches that make it so special: the incredible olive oil, bread, tomatoes…” – sunny Mediterranean vibes and the finest sun-soaked ingredients to match inspire enduring adulation for this glamorous taste of the Côte d’Azur in Mayfair. When it opened in 2007, it was originally called ‘La Petite Maison’ for the Nice restaurant that inspired it; nowadays it also has a summer pop-up on Mykonos, with openings for late 2025–2027 planned in Kuwait, Marbella and the Maldives. So long as you like hanging with the boujee crowd, “it’s hard to beat… other than on price!” (Salad Nicoise, £29.50; Marinated Lamb Cutlets [portions aren’t super-generous] £49). Top Menu Tip – a house speciality is Whole Roast Black Leg Chicken (at £150).

“A buzzing French-style brasserie with excellent service and attractive atmosphere” that helps “lift the spirits” if you are counting the pennies – “where else in central London can you get three courses of decent grub for £20-odd?”. “Splendid for pre-theatre”, this Soho fixture offers an “unusually wide choice” on its set menus, “while the dishes are well executed and flavoursome”. Top Tip – “eating à la carte may be a mistake. True to its name, the fixed price menu is probably a better option”.