St John's Wood, French Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: “Like going on a 1970s cruise without leaving the shore” – this “crazy-but-fun throwback” at the foot of a Regent’s Park apartment-block is certainly “one of a kind”, and always “leaves you smiling”. “Faultless and charming” staff of decades’ standing bantering with silver-haired regulars of a not-dissimilar vintage create an atmosphere that’s “half restaurant – half theatre”: “there are always generations of families celebrating a birthday” and “the hubbub can be deafening, with cakes arriving at regular intervals”. The “absurdly retro menu” (crudités, melba toast, steak Diane…) is seemingly unchanged from when the place opened, and delivers “overwhelming helpings of well-cooked classic dishes, washed down with very sensibly priced wine”. “The renowned dessert waiter with his trolley is still there, but of late, no longer always does the same performance at the end of the meal, whereby he tells you what you want without you asking, and says ‘mama saved the last piece for you!’”

2021 Review: “A romantic hideaway obscured, by climbing plants, from passers-by” – Catherine Parisot’s St John’s Wood institution has just celebrated its 40th anniversary, serving “classic French cuisine” that is “unchanged in years”. “It is old-fashioned but never boring, conventional but not too formal, simple but not too basic, traditional but still progressive”. To the relief of her many fans, Madame C is targeting her half-century here: “she is always there to come and talk to you, the waiters are very friendly and they want you to have a good time”.