Leatherhead, French Restaurant Guide

There’s no doubting the “fantastic location” of this link in Raymond Blanc’s Heartwood Inns collection – a nook and cranny-filled boozer on pretty Downside Common with a heated outdoor tent and beer garden for added measure. Its victuals aren’t fancy but are “generally good” by common consensus, and continue to be of note for their moderate price tags (especially now they’ve relaunched their bargainous seasonal set menus).

With its array of “silky-smooth croquetas” and other tapas favourites, backed up by “a great choice of sherries”, this popular gastropub-with-rooms in the Surrey ’burbs from Spanish maestro José Pizarro is “one of the best places to eat for miles around” – and, as you’d expect of this much-fêted ambassador of all things Iberian, “makes a decent stab at a Hispanic vibe”.

2022 Review: ‘A taste of rural France on the Fulham Road’ is the promise at this ‘gourmet traiteur’ in Chelsea: an early 2020 newcomer where dishes (to go or for delivery within 4 miles) are designed for reheating at home and prepared by Chris Hill, who most recently worked as a senior sous chef at The Ritz. It’s owned by Dimitri and Mira Plaquet, of a high-quality Belgian food group called La Villa Lorraine. They must be doing something right, as in mid 2021 they launched a second store in Wimbledon.

This “lovely little restaurant” of 10 years’ standing in St Margaret’s is all that a neighbourhood spot should be – “just wish it was more local!” – offering high-class French cooking from former Pierre Koffmann sous chef Gianluca di Monaco. Star of the show is the “superb chateaubriand, air-dried on the premises, that just melts in the mouth”. Note: very busy when there’s a big game at nearby Twickenham.

This “long-established Brittany-French restaurant” is “much loved in Richmond for its good food – galettes, seafood and the rest”, “amazing value” and “decent (if sometimes hectic) service”. Its sale two years ago by founder Lindsay Wotton, who ran it for 35 years, has not dented its appeal.

2022 Review: The French cuisine may not be cutting-edge, but it is both consistent and highly accomplished at this ten-year-old restaurant with rooms in north Surrey. Chef owners Laurent Pacaud and Martin Bradley ran the business as a catering company for ten years before that.

A “family favourite” that “brings back memories of small French restaurants” – this “reliable” Battersea brasserie has outposts in Putney, Wandsworth Common, South Ken, the City and most recently Clerkenwell, where it opened inside Marrable’s Hotel in late 2024. Harsher reports say they can be a little “underwhelming”, though – one reporter complaining that the “cute dining room was let down by mixed quality of the food and somewhat lax Gallic service (in a bad way)”.

“Very popular” for its “beautifully presented French bistro food”, this “lovely small restaurant” near Kew station and Gardens is “well priced”, and gains much of its charm and ambience from the retro-Gallic styling of its interior: red-and-white gingham tablecloths, 1950s-vintage posters.

A “family favourite” that “brings back memories of small French restaurants” – this “reliable” Battersea brasserie has outposts in Putney, Wandsworth Common, South Ken, the City and most recently Clerkenwell, where it opened inside Marrable’s Hotel in late 2024. Harsher reports say they can be a little “underwhelming”, though – one reporter complaining that the “cute dining room was let down by mixed quality of the food and somewhat lax Gallic service (in a bad way)”.

As “a handy choice near the National Theatre”, the SE1 branch of this celeb-branded chain is both “well-situated” and “always dependable pre-show” according to a good number of reports. It and its stablemates are often praised for their “consistent” standard of “classic brasserie options” (in particular “steaks are really good”). But their overall ratings support those who “feel a bit like you’re on a conveyor belt” and it is safe to say that the group “lacks the ambition that the brand had in its early days”, when M Blanc himself founded it as ‘Le Petit Blanc’ in 1996.

“You can imagine you are in France with the walls of French posters and overall design” at Donna Thompson-Smith’s “authentically Gallic” destination, which has been a welcome feature of distant Acton Green for over twenty years now (est. 2004). It has a good number of big fans who say it’s “more than a bistro, with seriously good classical French cooking making it worth the detour”. One or two regulars, though, say it shouldn’t be over-egged (“it’s local to us and good on all levels, but others in town do the same thing better. We’ve been about ten times: but if it sharpened up, we’d go all the time”). Top Menu Tips – “we always have the soufflé for starters as it is magical”.

A “local treasure” on Battersea Bridge Road for more than 12 years: chef-patron Franck Raymond “successfully delivers French food and ambience”, showcasing the cuisine of his native Evian on the shores of Lake Geneva in a suitably rustic dining room. The restaurant is named after his grand-mère. Top Menu Tips – “very nice Lobster bisque and perfectly cooked Rack of lamb”.

2022 Review: ‘A taste of rural France on the Fulham Road’ is the promise at this ‘gourmet traiteur’ in Chelsea: an early 2020 newcomer where dishes (to go or for delivery within 4 miles) are designed for reheating at home and prepared by Chris Hill, who most recently worked as a senior sous chef at The Ritz. It’s owned by Dimitri and Mira Plaquet, of a high-quality Belgian food group called La Villa Lorraine. They must be doing something right, as in mid 2021 they launched a second store in Wimbledon.

In Old Church Street, Chelsea, the first pub from the Gladwin brothers opened in mid 2024 – the latest addition to their ‘Local & Wild’ stable of restaurants supplied by the family farm in West Sussex (which includes Rabbit just up the King’s Road). The grand late-Victorian tavern on a corner site was lavishly renovated as recently as 2021, when it was known as ‘The Chelsea Pig’.

“A decent attempt to reproduce Provençal cooking in Shepherd’s Bush”: Lawrence & Emily Hartley’s “nice local bistro” north of Brook Green – “a successor to a spot that was Café Rouge for many years” (and briefly Mustard, RIP) – provides “French classics” with “friendly service”. Critics feel that at times, “the food, though fairly authentic, can be just a bit underwhelming”; but the majority see “much to recommend the place” and feel it’s a “welcome venture” in this underserved neck of the woods. Top Tip – “good set menu”.

“A neighbourhood gem” in a converted Victorian laundry beside Brixton Market – this all-day operation majors in Antipodean-style breakfast and brunch (courtesy of Sydney-born chef Sami Harvey) followed by a more European bistro menu in the evening. “The friendly staff are always happy to recommend a good-value bottle of wine” – and it may well come from Down Under: owner Melanie Brown also founded the New Zealand and Australian Cellars. There’s a large terrace at the front which is “especially lovely when the temperature is warmer and Brixton street theatre is the free show”.

“Reliable, comforting French fare” and a predominantly Gallic wine list keep well-heeled locals comfortably fed and watered at this “candle-lit and romantic” wine bar and restaurant on the border between Earls Court and Kensington.

“People who don’t rate this restaurant are crazy”, according to boosters of the Chelsea HQ of the world’s most famous chef – including American YouTuber ‘UA’ who – as reported in the Daily Mail – flew in from the US just for a meal here at Christmas 2024 and pronounced it ‘absolutely worthy’ of its global renown. Gordon’s disciples extol head chef Kim Ratcharoen’s “extraordinary” modern European cuisine, plus the “lovely” setting of this fairly compact (45 covers) dining room at a picturesque SW3 address, all with a “great team looking after you”. You can eat from an à la carte menu for £180 per head, or the ‘Menu Prestige’ at £210 per person, or you can book The ‘Inspiration Table’ experience for £300 per person. But there’s a problem: over half of diners in our annual poll disagree with UA, nominating the venue as either their “most disappointing” or – more commonly – “most overpriced” meal of the year, slamming “stupid prices”, and a final bill that’s “an embarrassment”. Other long-term bugbears are “OTT service (at times you are surrounded by waiters”); and the “stilted” atmosphere of the room. There’s also the perennial question of whether the “nice” cooking truly deserves its renown? The overall verdict – “Three Michelin stars… really?…”. (“This was nice but ordinary. I wanted my mind to be blown away by food that costs this much. My mind wasn’t blown away. Disappointing”… “The food was very good, but not as innovative as some other top-end UK eateries. The bill was stratospheric and did nothing to improve my opinion of an over-busy, over-priced, over-rated place. Sorry Gordon.”… “It shows the obvious corruption within the Michelin guide that he keeps getting three stars for a style of cuisine that seems barely changed in 25 years”.)

2023 Review: This “lovely local friendly coffee shop” with a French accent and pastries is a spin-off from Eric and Sarah Guignard’s French Table next door, and does a particularly good Gallic take on the English afternoon tea.