Chinatown, French Restaurant Guide

“A really special experience for serious foodies” – Layo & Zoë Paskin’s (also of Barbary and Palomar fame) intimate 12-seater is part of a period Chinatown pub, where they have created different venues on each level. Here in the former beer cellar, “the only option is the kitchen counter, so you are right in on the action” and the creation of “superbly executed cuisine” from a small team, which is now headed by Seamus Sam, former head chef at Tom Aiken’s Muse, whose August 2024 arrival post-dated our diners’ poll. Feedback volume and ratings have slipped marginally since Luke Selby left for Le Manoir at the end of 2022. The most critical report? “A perfectly competent meal, served in an appropriately reverential atmosphere, albeit a cramped and uncomfortable setting (but then places of worship often are) by suitably devout believers and not cheap”. But perhaps there will now be an uptick under the new chef? Top Tip – a variety of drink pairings range from ‘Firm Favourites’ to ‘No & Low’ (a mixture of alcohol-free and low ABV wines).

“A wonderful old-school oasis below the hell that is Leicester Square” – this “fabulous throwback to a proper wine bar” is “remarkably unchanged” since Don Hewitson opened it in 1971 (and his successor Will Clayton sticks to the winning formula). “The famous ham-and-cheese pie is well worth its million-odd portions! and is the perfect accompaniment to a great wine list”.

“If all vegan restaurants were this good, I’d never eat meat” – Since Alexis Gauthier went fully meat-free in 2021, his “lovely old Soho townhouse” has put “a vegan twist on French classics, served with charm and style”. It was an incredibly brave move for a conventional venue whose renown was built on classic Gallic cuisine: a beautiful and romantic old Georgian building on many levels, where you have to knock on the door to gain access. The result is an “exceptional foodie experience, with incredible flavours”. Where there are complaints from diners, they often relate to the use of flesh or cheese substitutes (“Gauthier, you really don’t need to make vegan food look like meat”). But for most diners, “the acid test of a vegan restaurant is whether the food is good enough to stop you thinking about veganism. And Gauthier wins this easily!” with “food of the highest quality, unusual at times and innovative, and never failing to impress”. Service here is particularly strong too: “helpful and thoughtful, never pushy”. Its ratings are still not quite back to the pre-2021 pinnacles here since he broke with meat and the audience is perhaps not quite as large as it was. Overall, though, it seems to be a decision that’s working out increasingly well.

This “fun” brasserie in Soho with an “old- style ambience” and a “good variety of French and less French food” is “brilliant value” for the West End – “and the quality is fine”. “The staff make a real effort to please”, and it really comes into its own with its set-price lunch and early evening meals (available before 4pm and 6.30pm respectively; at other times it’s à la carte).

“If you’re looking for glamour on a budget this is your place!”. “A truly stunning fin-de-siècle style French brasserie, of a type which probably doesn’t exist in Paris anymore!” – this “superb Beaux-Arts dining room” inhabits a dazzling Grade I listed basement just seconds from Piccadilly Circus, and although it looks like it’s been around forever, actually only opened in 2015. One of London’s Top-20 destinations in our annual diners’ poll, it inspires a broad spectrum of opinions, but the overall conclusion is that it is “still firing (mostly) on all cylinders” and “more or less the same as before Jeremy King lost the boardroom battle to run it”. In particular, it has a “terrific ambience” (regularly zhooshed up with live music) and “despite changes in management, it still offers outstanding value for such a prime location” (“Wonderful prices. How do they do it?”). True, as ever there are sceptics who feel it “cynically churns out substandard dishes flung from a kitchen conveyor belt”. But, surely that’s true in Paris too! Of course, catering on this scale means the vast, “something-for-everyone” menu of Gallic brasserie fare feels a bit “formulaic”. Yet, “stick to the simpler dishes (the more expensive ones are more hit-and-miss) and the food is good”, especially at “prices which won’t frighten your father-in-law!”. And the service – if not quite as sharp as when Jeremy bestrode the floor – is really pretty decent. “Get there early to treat yourself to a cocktail in the Bar Americain next door before your table is ready”. Top Menu Tips – “Still the best Andouillette in town”; “the Carrottes Rappés is delicious as is the bread and butter to go with it and the Steak Haché with delicious peppercorn sauce and skinny chips is just heaven”; “one of the only places in the West End with a good Île Flottante”.

2023 Review: Rihanna celebrated her birthday in February 2022 at this lavish Creole haunt next to The Ivy, in Covent Garden, where the former site of L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon nowadays combines a restaurant (ground floor), bar (first floor) and roof garden. Whether the tastes of New Orleans are faithfully replicated is a matter of some dispute – there is the odd take-down of “overpriced and under-seasoned dross”, but most reports actually say its gumbo, Louisiana crab cakes and other eclectic dishes are “very good”.

“A Soho favourite for decades” – this Gallic landmark (est. 1927 but ultimately dating back to 1896 and London’s oldest French restaurant) is “a real treat” and the epitome of a classic Theatreland haunt. (It’s named for the snail farm that once inhabited its cellar!). In living memory, it has had quite fancy culinary associations. Nowadays, though – while the kitchen is still accomplished – this “sophisticated” dining room presents modern French cuisine that’s less ambitious than a few years ago, all in an “un-rushed” fashion that’s well-suited to a “romantic” meal. Top Tip – “a great pre-theatre supper”… “we were completely wowed by the service and ambience; the food was standard – paté followed by a steak frites – but the service was at the level of a top-flight restaurant… a great experience that much exceeded expectations”.

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”.

“The go-to place to celebrate a special anniversary” – this “enchanting” Covent Garden haunt is “magical for a special occasion or simply a treat”; and is yet again voted Londoner’s No. 1 choice for a hot date in our annual diners’ poll. If possible, try to book a table in the “beautiful flower-filled conservatory”, where there’s an opening ceiling in summer and a log-fire in winter: “upstairs, the cosy and intimate dining rooms have a whiff of that atmosphere (e.g. similar white flowers across the ceiling) but are perhaps for more mature relationships!”. While not its USP, its French cuisine is by no means incidental – “beautifully presented and bursting with flavour”; but it is upstaged by the wine list, which is “a rival to ‘War and Peace’ in length”. Service that’s “extremely helpful and very welcoming” caps off an impressive all-round performance. Top Tip – “the weekday set lunch is astonishingly good value for such cooking, particularly as it also offers a small carafe of well chosen wine for a pretty modest supplement”.

Fabio Lauro and his family – the new owners since 2022 – still have work to do in reinjecting life into this “very French” and “old-fashioned bistro”, near Covent Garden, which started small after WWII and has grown into various neighbouring buildings over many years. Fans still applaud its “Gallic bistro staples served in a cosy romantic space” and claim it has “perked up on the last couple of visits” (having been in decline up to the prior owner’s retirement). But while reports of “disappointing” or “less-than-mediocre” meals are in a minority, they remain too commonplace and its ratings in our annual diners’ poll remain well off their past best – “such a pity, the place still has potential”.

For a quick ‘hit’ of Parisian chic in St James’s, this “comfortable” and “nicely buzzing” brasserie – with its white leather seating and artfully muted design – is just the job. Its “reliably delivered, French bistro-style dishes” are particularly recommended for an “excellent if pricey light lunch”; and especially liked for a business meal (“it’s bustling, but the reasonably spaced tables and corner tables allow for an uninterrupted discussion; service is always professional and a solid wine list is managed by the knowledgeable team”). On the downside, it can also seem like a place for those who “like burning money”. Top Tips – “I love every time of day at Maison François, but especially breakfast!”; “the dessert trolley is out of this world!” with “the various drawers revealing pastries of top quality”. And “Frank’s Bar downstairs is louche and great fun too”.

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.

“Stunning food in the most unusual and exotic environment” has won renown for this “gorgeous” shimmering chamber on the top floor of the well-known Mayfair palazzo, which is much more lighthearted in style than most temples of gastronomy, yet has won the highest culinary accolades (not least three Michelin stars) for its creators: Parisian restaurateur Mourad Mazouz in collaboration with celebrated chef Pierre Gagnaire. Day-to-day, the head chef is Daniel Stucki, who presents “a variety of textures and flavours and unexpected combinations” in the “imaginative menus”, and results are “exceptional” (“we ate here four times over the year; each meal was superlative and a fun experience”). Not everyone has always thought the place lives up to its stellar reputation however, and doubts were again in evidence this year with a significant number of reporters registering very disappointing meals.

“Whimsical” decor – including artworks from Yinka Shonibare on the walls and famous egg-shaped WC cubicles – creates the “quirky and distinctive ambience” of this fashionista favourite, which enjoys a spectacular location inside a Grade II-listed Palladian mansion in Mayfair. Despite the odd highpoint in reports though, the relatively straightforward cooking “doesn’t live up to the hype” or “justify the prices” (in contrast to its genuinely good sibling upstairs in the ‘Lecture Room & Library’, see also).

“Convenient, if unexciting, medium-priced brasserie two minutes from the Royal Opera House” that’s worth knowing about in the touristy ‘minefield’ it inhabits. The Gallic staples are “fairly priced” (“in particular, the set menus are good value”) and “service is acceptable for such a busy, central establishment”. Top Tip – “great pre-theatre”.

This “very trad’ French” operation in St James’s – on the former site of Boulestin and L’Oranger – is led by sommelier Richard Weiss and features a superior (if perhaps rather “safe”) “bistro-style menu”. “Equally good for business and social gatherings”, it’s “particularly pleasant when the courtyard is open”.

“Superb!” Saint Germain comes to Mayfair at TV-chef Cyril Lignac’s luxurious three-year-old, which – like his original Parisian venture – offers “the fusion of Japanese food with French expertise”. In practice that means a selection of raw seafood; sushi and sashimi; salads; and Asian-inflected seafood mains, with the odd tidbit for meat-eaters such as Wagyu sando; all followed by French desserts. It took brickbats last year for seeming “fancy” and “flash”, but this year inspired little but praise for “top-quality dishes”. And “it’s great fun to watch the guys behind the bar” all adding to the “excellent dining experience”.

2021 Review: “Images redolent of ‘Le Gai Paris’ (the naked bottoms went perfectly with my slow roasted pork belly!)” grace the muralled walls of this “friendly and efficient” Gallic corner bistro, near the British Museum: “a reliable and enjoyable choice”, serving affordable classic French dishes.