Waltham Abbey, French Restaurant Guide

This “local French venue in Wanstead” has been a reliable bastion of classic Gallic bistro cooking for 14 years. Its founder, veteran restaurateur Max Renzland, stepped down during the pandemic, since when the odd regular complains that the “the menu has been dumbed down”, but its food ratings remain generally sound.

“Locals and visitors” beat a path to this “lovely pub with top-notch food” from chef James Rix and his wife Bianca, who have transformed it into an “Interesting and exceptionally busy venue” over the past 20 years. Top Menu Tip – “dessert on a whole different level: Paris Brest, choux pastry, praline cream, hot chocolate sauce & toasted nuts of exceptional taste and quality”.

“Lovely food, lovely atmosphere and discreet staff” are the attractions at this “local” bistro, a Crouch End fixture for more than 20 years. “Love it! The rooms are like a maze”, with white tablecloths adding a touch of style.

East Finchley is “so lucky to have this hidden high-street gem” – one of north London’s more popular and “welcoming” local restaurants “serving delicious, well cooked food” from a resolutely French menu. Top Tip – “the three-course set lunch is a wonderful bargain”.

2022 Review: Born of necessity but now here to stay – this pandemic pop-up from the team behind Leroy turned permanent in June 2021. Within Bow Wharf’s East London Liquor Co – and with a large outside terrace – it aims to bring some easy going Provençal good times to E3, in the form of rotisserie chicken and other ‘comforting’ dishes, plus gluggable wines.

This “beautifully designed wine drinkers’ hangout” (both a restaurant and a wine store) in a pair of Haggerston railway arches has “a cellar full of real rarities, super-knowledgeable and hospitable owner and staff. It’s the creation of a Franco-Australian duo, founder Jonathan Alphandery and ex-P Franco chef Seb Myers, and its stimulating menu is made with the wine in mind”: “dishes presenting elegant and fresh modern twists on French and Nordic cookery”. Club members get priority booking and can store their wine in the cellars, but members of the public can eat in the restaurant and one or two enjoyed their “meal of the year” here.

2024 Review: 800+ wines by the bottle and a selection of 75 craft beers are the USP of this intriguing Tufnell Park showcase for regional French drinks and produce. The menu changes every six weeks with a different region moving into focus – it’s short and in a supporting role to all the delicious grog, but good value.

This “friendly French bistro on Islington’s busiest street has all the predictable Gallic offerings – onion soup, escargots, crepes – and a decent wine list”. It inspires few criticisms and is “pleasant enough” to be a useful address “well-placed for the Almeida theatre”.

“I simply don’t grasp how they keep their prices so low!” – this “insanely cheap bistro” has provided “decent” Gallic fare in a prime Islington location opposite the Almeida Theatre for 40 years. It hardly matters that the cooking is “pretty run-of-the-mill”, “but you can’t argue with the highly quaffable French plonk, amiable staff, and dishes that are very pleasant”.

This “well-established and reliable French bistro” with a “faux-rural dining room” in Islington is “good value, friendly and welcoming”, while the “simple and traditional cooking packs plenty of flavour in quite generous servings”. Top Tip – “go for the set lunch” (three courses for under £20).

“I used to be a regular, now I’m so sad”. The June 2023 reformatting of this “very handsome-looking” Wolseley Group outpost on Islington Green (which had closed in 2019 and then reopened in 2020 after failing to sell the site) is not going well. It’s a large site, evoking a fin-de-siecle Parisian haunt with a “newish design that’s pleasant enough” and a fairly traditional, French brasserie-style menu. For too many, though, “since reopening after a further refresh results are dire”. One reporter neatly summarises the mood: “This is written with huge sadness, as it was my favourite place for nearly any occasion in the Corbin & King days. Now it feels like a Café Rouge, with a cynical and over-priced menu and average service (I really feel for the staff, a lot of whom were there in the good old days). What a waste, and what a loss for Upper Street: it was such a godsend to have a grown-up restaurant in the area when it first opened, and then reopened”.

2023 Review: In May 2022 (too late for any survey feedback), this Shoreditch design hotel reopened its ground-floor bar/restaurant (fka The Albion Café) as an all-day brasserie. The 100-seat space, whose original hard-edged design was overseen by the late Sir Terence Conran, has been modified and somewhat cosied up (no longer with its own street entrance). Chef Robin Freeman also looks after the hotel’s glam-looking refurbished rooftop bar and restaurant, while what was once Tatra in the basement is nowadays an event space. The rooftop looks set to become the place to be here.