London's best French restaurants: From Alain Ducasse to Brasserie Zédel

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Ailis Brennan20 February 2020

As much as we bicker about food and all sorts – they call us “le rosbif”, we liken them to admittedly quite tasty amphibians – we’re not sure where the London restaurant scene would be without the French.

As well as transforming the world of cookery, the French are arguably responsible for the restaurant itself. Even in that invention our two capital cities are intertwined – the first proper luxury restaurant is thought to have been La Grande Taverne de Londres (or London) in Paris. More than 200 years later, and we’re still both learning from them, enticing their top chefs and craving their food.

Eating like the French means many things to many diners, but London has it all – Michelin-starred fine dining, hearty brasserie favourites, old school classical cooking and wine, wine and more wine.

We’ve listed our top French-inspired restaurants in the city, covering all tastes. From caviar-covered steak tartare to sausage-stuffed cassoulet, here’s where to say bon appétit in the capital.

Michelin-starred

Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester

Pierre Monetta

Not only is Alain Ducasse a respected name on London’s French dining scene, but he is arguably the most revered chef in the world. Ducasse currently holds 20 Michelin stars across his 33 restaurants, located over three continents. A busy man, but his three-starred restaurant at the Dorchester still bears all the hallmarks of Ducasse’s obsessive attention to detail. While traditional French vigour is robustly demonstrated in dishes like confit duck foie gras with salsify and quince, Ducasse’s delicate touch gets a showcase in the Jardin menu, a meat-free tasting selection featuring plates such as red beetroot crapaudine with immortelle flower, sorrel and sheep’s curd.

53 Park Lane, W1K 1QA, alainducasse-dorchester.com

Hélène Darroze at the Connaught

Justin De Souza

A superb advert for Ducasse’s legacy – and much more – is the work of his former student Hélène Darroze, who presides over this two Michelin-starred restaurant at the Connaught in Mayfair. Darroze’s restaurant, recently invigorated with a decor and menu makeover, combines astounding refinement with an outward respect for the provenance of ingredients – providers even occasionally get top billing by name on the menu (Phil Trebilcock of Newquay, we’re looking at you). Expect flavour combinations to shake up your senses: foie gras is served with numbing sancho pepper and sake, while sweetbreads come with a spiced vadouvan emulsion.

Carlos Place, W1K 2AL, the-connaught.co.uk

Claude Bosi at Bibendum

First things first, few restaurant settings are as impressive as Michelin House. The stunning, pre-Art Deco building in Fulham is the former home of the tyre company itself, still presided over by mascot Bibendum, whose likeness decorates the impressive stain glass windows. At the table, Claude Bosi ensures that things get no less breathtaking. A supple dish of Brittany rabbit is served with langoustines and French tarragon, while Anjou pigeon is cooked in a celery salt crust. The duck – a French prerequisite – takes the form of a jelly, which is topped with precise pieces of smoked sturgeon and Daurenki caviar.

Michelin House, SW3 6RD, bibendum.co.uk

La Dame de Pic

As gastronomic dynasties go, they don’t get much more remarkable than the Pics. Anne-Sophie Pic took over her father’s three Michelin-starred restaurant after his sudden death, having had no prior cooking experience. She now boasts a multi-starred empire across Europe, with two of them held by her London restaurant. Classic French cooking techniques here embrace global flavours and produce, with dishes including Kagoshima wagyu beef with cedrat and absinthe pepper, as well as Pic’s Berlingots – a pasta shape designed by Pic to resemble a traditional French hard candy.

Four Seasons Hotel, 10 Trinity Square, EC3N 4AJ, ladamedepiclondon.co.uk

Le Gavroche

In food, the words “classic” and “French” go together like petit pois in a pod – and not far behind them is the word “Roux”. The family are the UK’s premiere doyens of French cuisine – alongside three-starred The Waterside Inn, brothers Michel and Albert Roux opened Le Gavroche, which became the first restaurant in the country to earn three stars. Today it has two, and is under the watch of Michel Roux Jr. Don’t expect the decor to have changed much since the elder Rouxs’ days – this is a firmly vintage affair, but reassuring in its enduring capabilities. Soufflé Suissesse and a crystal clear duck consommé are among the anticipated players, while more contemporary inflections of spice can also be found about the menu.

43 Upper Brook Street, W1K 7QR, le-gavroche.co.uk

The Greenhouse

It’s not a household name, nor does it have one attached to it, but The Greenhouse is one of London’s best-loved fine dining spots for those in the know. The Mayfair dining room is a favourite among chefs, revered for the precision of its execution. American Alex Dillings is the man currently at the helm, producing modern takes on time-honoured French arrangements in a fashion that has retained the restaurant’s two stars. “Bouillabaisse”, for example, is a delicate rendition of the traditional Provençal stew, featuring Dover Sole wrapped in a thin sheet of red prawns with jus, saffron aioli and potato tuiles.

27A Hay's Mews, W1J 5NY, greenhouserestaurant.co.uk

Chez Bruce

Heading out to Wandsworth is more than worth it if Chez Bruce is the destination. On the menu, there are homages to both the great dishes and proponents of French cuisine: Barbary duck breast is served with orange purée, but modernised and balanced with spiced duck pastilla, charred broccoli and foie gras, while a nose-to-tail main is termed “stuffed pig’s trotter Pierre Koffmann”. Be sure to leave room for Chez Bruce’s pride and joy: the varieties on its prized cheese board are curated daily, supplied by top London cheesemongers and easily number in the double figures.

2 Bellevue Road, SW17 7EG, chezbruce.co.uk

The Ritz

The Ritz is as much a European establishment as it is a British one – Parisian flare is, after all, in its DNA. In the kitchen, dinner is under the indefatigable control of revered executive chef John Williams – a South Shields-born lad with a penchant for Escoffier. As such, British produce is of great pertinence, but translated through the language of French classical cooking. A ballotine of duck liver is made with damson and pistachio, while beef tartare is flavoured with wood sorrell and parsley. If you’re looking for entertainment to rival the ballroom dancing that waltzes around the dining room weekly, order crêpes Suzette or apple tarte bourdaloue from the flaming “Arts de la Table” menu.

150 Piccadilly, W1J 9BR, theritzlondon.com

Club Gascon

dover sole and crab with citrus
Daniel Hambury

Consistency has been the key at Club Gascon. One of London’s longest standing starlets, the Clerkenwell restaurant has held its Michelin accolade since 2002, and has been under the direction of chef Pascal Aussignac since he opened the restaurant more than 20 years ago. Aussignac, however, is still inventing. A Dorset snail croquette is served with bone marrow and verdant spirulina, alongside a sea urchin and chestnut “cappuccino” with crosnes, a type of Chinese artichoke.

57 West Smithfield, EC1A 9DS, clubgascon.com

Pétrus

Intricate dishes include this saddle of rabbit "belle epoque"

Pétrus path has had quite a few twists and turns over the years, climaxing in a rather public spat between its owner Gordon Ramsay and former head chef Marcus Wareing. Things have all calmed down now however, and Pétrus is focused on serving British ingredients with French inflections: look out for the likes of Devonshire duck served with fennel and bitter orange, as well as a prune soufflé with Armagnac ice cream. Wine, as you can probably guess, is pretty important here too: the restaurant was the first to serve Château Pétrus by the glass, and hundreds of bottles of it are displayed along one of the restaurant’s walls.

1 Kinnerton Street, SW1X 8EA, gordonramsayrestaurants.com

Galvin La Chapelle

If it’s all the drama of a film noir you’re looking for, Galvin La Chapelle’s stunning setting will leave you feeling all femme fatale. Residing inside a former Spitalfields church, the one-starred restaurant is a breathtaking spot, with brothers Jeff and Chris Galvin the British Francophile chefs behind the food. Classic French dishes include a pressed terrine of Bresse chicken and ham hock with burnt apple puree and pickled carrots, and Scottish beef sirloin and rib served with pommes Anna, chanterelles and confit shallot. More worldly turns are marked by the likes of sea bream ceviche with Yorkshire rhubarb, smoked almond and Filipino calamansi lime.

35 Spital Square, E1 6DY, galvinrestaurants.com

La Trompette

Head west to Chiswick and you’ll find chef Rob Weston in the kitchen at Michelin-starred La Trompette. A former aide to Phil Howard at The Square, Weston now rules the roost at this elegant neighbourhood dining room. On his menu, French sensibilities get Italian bedfellows: a warm Cevenne onion tart made with aged Comte and pickled walnut sits alongside scorched mackerel and Cornish razor clams with fregola and bottarga. Dessert, however, is a very French affair, as a hazelnut financier is served with roasted pear and mille feuille is flavoured with rhubarb and vanilla.

3-7 Devonshire Road, W4 2EU, latrompette.co.uk

Pied à Terre

Another veteran of the Michelin roster, Fitzrovia’s Pied à Terre has had that starry glint in its eye for more than 25 years. It has a history, however, of working its magic with young chefs: its kitchen saw Tom Aikens become the youngest head chef ever to earn two stars, while the current incumbent, Asimakis Chaniotis, is the youngest chef in London to currently hold one. These days, Chaniotis’s Greek heritage is hinted at in the menu, but the crux is still French: smoked quail is served with celeriac, truffle, Piedmont hazelnuts and confit egg yolk, and foie gras comes with a Tete de Moine cheese croissant.

34 Charlotte Street, W1T 2NH, pied-a-terre.co.uk

Old School

Otto’s

Otto Tepasse knows a thing or two about ducks. The eccentric restaurateur is London’s foremost – and possibly only – proponent of a 19th century French culinary tradition, that is both luxurious and ever-so-slightly grisly. Pressed duck involves placing the roasted bird – pink breasts removed for slicing but otherwise whole – inside an antique duck press, and crushing it until all the juices run out. The liquor is used for the sauce, while the whole bird is served over three courses. It’s wonderfully mad, suitably theatrical and irresistibly delicious.

182 Grays Inn Road, WC1X 8EW, ottos-restaurant.com

L’Escargot

Faded aristocratic feel: the front dining room at l'Escargot

While Soho’s restaurant bounty continues to welcome more esteemed members, L’Escargot not only endures, but delights. The Greek Street dining room has welcomed the district’s revellers and revolutionaries for almost 100 years, feeding them classical French food from a menu that knows its onions. Amid the ornate, time-warp rooms of its Georgian townhouse home, French onion soup, lobster bisque, boeuf bourguignon, confit duck with Savoy cabbage and Alsace bacon are among the atmospheric favourites, but don’t forget its namesake – the restaurant was the first in the country to serve snails and it’s still serving the delicacies flambéed with Ricard to this day.

48 Greek Street, W1D 4EF, lescargot.co.uk

Brasserie-style

Frenchie

Fun fact: Frenchie is so named after the nickname Gregory Marchand was given by Jamie Oliver when he headed up the kitchen at Fifteen.With his first solo London restaurant, Marchand made the brasserie cool again. Frenchie is not the cavernous, wood-panelled bolthole of Parisian nostalgia – Frenchie is the new Paris, light and bright, with an invigoratingly contemporary menu. Snack on pig’s head croquettes with gribiche sauce, before moving onto a signature dish of cured egg yolk and black winter truffle. International influences trickle in with the most delicate of touches, as a Mont Blanc dessert is flavoured with yuzu and pasta gets an ample showcase.

16 Henrietta Street, WC2E 8QH, frenchiecoventgarden.com

Le Comptoir ​​Robuchon

When L’atelier de Robuchon closed after legendary chef Joel Robuchon passed away in 2018, it looked as though London might have seen the last of the most decorated chef in Michelin history. Joy of joys, then, that Le Comptoir Robuchon arrived to secure his mighty legacy in the capital – even more pleasing is just how good it is. The mythically creamy pommes puree are in fine form, while lamb chops are ludicrously succulent and served with aubergine and comte. Be prepared to pay for this level of quality though: the lamb dish alone, without a potato in sight, costs £39.

6 Clarges Street, W1J 8AE, robuchonlondon.co.uk

Brasserie Zedel

Celebrating: Zedel is offering free lunch on Sunday January 8

On first encountering Zedel, you’d be forgiven for thinking you’d nodded off. Underneath the garish mess of Piccadilly Circus, this sprawling brass-gilded oasis opens up quite magically, concealed at street level by what initially looks like a Cafe Rouge. Brasserie Zedel is undeniably one of London’s most fun restaurants, a marble-clad arcadia with the genuinely hoodwinking air of a particularly good bit of Paris. The food isn’t much to shout about, but it is pretty cheap – steak hache with peppercorn sauce and fries costs just £9.95 and only a handful of dishes push the £20 mark – but there are few finer places to lose a few hours with friends over Burgundy and beef bourguignon.

20 Sherwood Street, W1F 7ED, brasseriezedel.com

Bar Boulud

If Paris is the spiritual home of the brasserie, New York is the holiday home you’re seriously considering spending six months of the year living at. Daniel Boulud’s career has seen him straddle both, as a Rhône-born chef and restaurateur who has enjoyed unprecedented success in the Big Apple with his “yankee”-friendly French fare. Bar Boulud is his London outpost, where high-end comfort food is perfect fodder for Knightsbridge. Cassoulet comes packed with Toulouse sausage and duck confit, while lighter bites include moules a la creme and croque monsieur. Too French? You can get a burger too, even a "Yankee" one.

66 Knightsbridge, SW1X 7LA, barboulud.com

Bob Bob Cité

Bob Bob Cité says it is “a brasserie for the 21st century”, but the City restaurant is much more exciting than that. The decor at Leonid Shutov’s £25 million follow-up to Bob Bob Ricard has more than a touch of the Blade Runners about it, except with more shiny stuff. On the plate (next to your personal “Press for Champagne” button, in case you’re too dazzled to locate it) is food more French in steer than Ricard’s Russian tendencies, resulting in garlic-entrenched escargots en persillade topped with potato foam and a particularly glorious steak tartare imperial topped with a soft quail’s egg, tapioca crackling and a healthy dollop of caviar.

122 Leadenhall Street, EC3V 4AB, bobbobcite.com

Blanchette

Blanchette: The original restaurant in Soho

There are few greater pleasures in life than cheese, but Blanchette might just have topped it. This small Soho bolthole heads to France’s farmhouses for part of its interior inspiration, with bare brick walls, just-distressed-enough furniture and candles warming the pleasantly higgledy-piggledy dining room. There you’ll find moules marinières, charcuterie aplenty, peppered beef onglet with braised endive and brandy sauce, as well as a devastatingly alluring selection of cheese and honey pairings. Dunk comte in chestnut honey, and Tomme de corse in an acacia variety for maximum pleasure.

9 D'Arblay Street, W1F 8DR, blanchettesoho.co.uk

Soutine

Soutine is a younger sibling spot to Brasserie Zedel, but things are a little more grown-up here. A stone’s throw from Lord’s cricket ground (don’t try it, you were never a bowler), this corner rendezvous is gleefully precise in its beautiful Parisian decor, inspired by St John’s Wood’s habit of adopting artists from the French capital. The all-day menu boasts simple pleasures in abundance, including silky wild mushrooms on thick clouds of toasted brioche, along with a devastatingly crispy veal escalope considerably larger than your head. The hard and fast selection of classic cocktails – things don’t get much longer than a French martini – is a dangerous joy.

60 St John's Wood High Street, NW8 7SH, soutine.co.uk

Wine-focused

Cabotte

Matt Writtle

If you’ve got this far down a list of French restaurants, you probably agree with us that wine is important. City spot Cabotte is another such believer, founded by a duo of master sommeliers in Xavier Rousset and Gearoid Devaney. Burgundy is the speciality here, making up around 650 wines out of Cabotte’s mind-boggling 1000-bottle cellar. As a wine bar, you can pop in to sample them alone, but you can also settle down to enjoy them alongside the likes of a pan-fried duck liver salad with grilled sourdough, shallot confit and radicchio, or a hearty portion of venison loin with caramelised pear and juniper sauce.

48 Gresham Street, EC2V 7AY, cabotte.co.uk

Les 110 de Taillevent

Offering more than a dozen wines by the glass is a substantial operation in a restaurant – but Marylebone restaurant Les 110 de Taillevent thinks a little bigger. This French spot offers a staggering 110 wines by the glass to its diners, allowing them to try an extended list of varieties alongside fare inspired by its two Michelin-starred counterpart in Paris. Each dish on the food menu has been paired with four potential wines, served in measures as small as 70ml to encourage diners to try as many glasses as their sensibilities allow.

16 Cavendish Square, W1G 9DD, les-110-taillevent-london.com

Terroirs

Terroirs is, first and foremost, a wine bar, but its daily changing menu of French-Italian small plates and a couple of main dishes makes it an alluring spot to snack until hometime. Keep to the charcuterie board for pork terrine with pistachio or duck rillette, or dive into raw beef slices with gherkin ketchup and black garlic, a snail-topped crumpet with garlic and fennel or a full-blown tartiflette. When it comes to the wine, it’s all about location, location, location – wines are picked that most faithfully conjure the terroirs from which they have originated.

5 William IV Street, WC2N 4DN, terroirswinebar.com

London's best wine bars

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