Clerkenwell, French Restaurant Guide

2021 Review: This “excellent local” bistro in Primrose Hill – “there should be one on every high street” – has a “good buzz” and does “a nice line in deconstructed versions of French classics”. The original La Petite Ferme near Exmouth Market is a “lovely little” venue “offering brilliant value”.

“Very decent” French-influenced food helps elevate this fine old Clerkenwell pub restaurant into being a “good all-rounder”, as does its attractive, glazed dining area. That said, it doesn’t attract the attention it did a few years ago when Henry Harris was at the stoves.

2021 Review: Promising initial feedback on this tiny, wine, cheese, charcuterie and tapas yearling in Clerkenwell, whose backers include wine buyer Anthonin Charlier (formerly at Cellar and Club Gascon). French and Spanish flavours are to the fore – “a really happy discovery: both food and wine are great, but the service makes the place”.

“For extravagant excellence”, look no further than this “quirky”, “proper old-school French” establishment near Gray’s Inn, where “splendidly off-the-wall” patron, Otto Tepasse, “is at times both chef, sommelier and confidant”. “Old-fashioned silver service, rich dishes (including the signature ‘canard à la presse’), a wine cellar that seems to have no limits, and waiters who prep the sauces in front of you” all make for “great theatre and superb food. It’s slightly bonkers, but brilliant. Maybe wear elasticated trousers!” Top Menu Tip – “the scallops sealed in their shells, with the obligatory caviar, with puff pastry is a dish of the year”.

“You actually feel as though you might be in a brasserie in France” at this City-fringe “favourite”, tucked away in an atmospheric former warehouse, near Smithfield Market (and long predating the trendification of the area). “A great staple for both business and pleasure”, it “has a lovely atmosphere with a real, vibrant buzz which should surely impress” either a client or date. The “pleasing”, solid Gallic fare offers “decent value”, but “it is the overall experience that makes it stand out”.

2022 Review: “The duck burger is sublime and the triple-cooked duck-fat chips are moreish” at this offshoot of nearby Club Gascon, which offers a more informal venue for simpler but similar cuisine from SW France. We’ve rated it on the basis of its consistent pre-pandemic performance, as it remains closed as of September 2021 while the team waits for folks to return to their offices around Smithfield.

This “impressive French-inspired bistro” is cutely tucked away in a historic yard on the fringe of the City, and thrives on its “simple typically Gallic cooking with good ingredients”, its high-quality wine list, and its “attentive and friendly service”. “It’s not quite what it was” when the adjoining buildings held a posher sister restaurant, but “a reliable mainstay that’s still well worth a visit”, and which is still a go-to business entertaining venue. Top Tip – large and very attractive terrace for the summer months; and “the set menu isn’t bad value either”.

2022 Review: On the fringe of the City, this large tavern is part of the well-known eateries grouped around Bleeding Heart Yard, all under common ownership. A “decent-all-round and handy standby”, it was in particular “a perfect place to meet people for the elusive business meetings that could take place between lockdowns”. Reported by Google as ‘Temporarily closed’ in October 2021, we have rated it on the basis that – as the Square Mile picks up – its return is likely.

Yuma Hashmi’s latest venture is a seventies-styled wine bar (complete with a peacock rattan chair, famous from 1974’s X-rated film Emmanuelle) directly opposite Tehran-Berlin (fka The Drunken Butler), his Persian restaurant in Clerkenwell. The wine list is modern, with natural and biodynamic options, and is backed up by French and Iranian snacks and small plates.

A “fabulous successor to the legendary Racine” (which closed in Knightsbridge in 2015) and “an amazing, blazing return to the stove for Henry Harris” – this “very lively room, up steep stairs” above Farringdon’s Three Compasses pub is the opening of the year and, despite all the hype, it doesn’t disappoint. “There’s lots of passion and skill that goes into this quintessential cooking” – “French classics (basics even) taken to another level”. Service, overseen by co-founder Dave Strauss, is “pitch perfect”: “charming and from people who clearly love what they do”. “One leaves uplifted and feeling that all is well with the world… that is, in the unlikely event that you can get a table!”. Top Menu Tip – “a spot-on and delicious tête de veau sauce ravigote”.