The best French restaurants to try in London

Perhaps it’s a shared love of pastry that brings the UK so close to its neighbour; or maybe it's just a love of good food, good wine and a fine old time. From faithful French restaurants, to great Gallic tributes, here are the best places to eat French food in London.

Chez Bruce is a neighbourhood classic, located in what used to be Marco Pierre White’s famed Harveys in Wandsworth (what those walls have seen!). By their own admission, the Chez Bruce team is not interested in “gadgets and tricks in the kitchen” conceding that their food might be viewed as “slightly old fashioned” by some, but it’s a winning formula, and they’ve been rewarded with a loyal following who return time and time again to feast on Anjou pigeon and chateaubriand.

Long-time UK-based French chef Claude Bosi made a welcome return to London’s fine dining scene when he took over the restaurant at the stunning Michelin House, the tyremaker’s former UK HQ in Chelsea, following his closure of Hibiscus. Fittingly, Bosi was quick to regain the two Michelin stars he held at Hibiscus, for dishes such as turbot à la Grenobloise and kid goat pithivier.

The UK outpost of French chef Grégory Marchand’s mini restaurant empire is a buzzy delight in Central London. Bringing a taste of Paris’ Rue du Nil – where he has a restaurant, a wine bar and shop, and a more casual offering – to the UK capital, it’s a modern French brasserie where the best British ingredients like Cornish turbot and Welsh lamb are brought to life with assured French technique in the most up to date way.

Carrying on the name of legendary late French chef Joël Robuchon in style, Le Comptoir Robuchon is a French restaurant and deli in the heart of Mayfair in Central London. Worth a visit for the peerless mashed potato alone, Le Comptoir mixes classic and contemporary in a thrilling way, showing that Mayfair luxury can have a strong grounding in superb products, cooked with real skill rather than the showy but often baseless cuisine of some of the neighbourhood’s more high-profile restaurants.

Looking for the best French brasserie in London? Maison Francois would be in with a shout. If it’s pâté and tartare de boeuf you’re after then this is the place for you. Those in the know will tell you that some of the best dishes are to be found in its wine bar, Frank’s, where the food offering is more ‘picky bits’ which may not have a direct translation in French, but includes bar snacks, charcuterie, seafood and cheeses. They even do an oyster happy hour (happy for us, not the oysters).

After over 30 years at the top of the gastronomic scene in London, most of those with at least one Michelin star, is it fair to call Pied à Terre an institution? We think so, and pleasingly, it’s a restaurant that hasn’t slipped into any sort of heritage offer, with executive chef Asimakis Chaniotis keeping things contemporary, adding Greek touches to classic French cuisine. It also offers some of the best vegan tasting menus in London.

One of the best French bistros in London, Pique-Nique is tucked away in a repurposed park kiosk off Bermondsey Street, just a short walk from both Borough and Maltby Street markets, should you be on a foodie pilgrimage. Once you find this all-day restaurant from the team behind the much-loved Casse-Croûte nearby, expect lashings of pâté en croute and rotisserie chicken and of course, mountains of frites. It’s worth getting there early too for an ever-satisfying jambon beurre baguette for breakfast.

Upstairs at notorious Soho pub The French House, Neil Borthwick is doing some wonderful things in a kitchen once home to Fergus and Margot Henderson pre-St. John. Fluffy beignets are a thing of beauty, while zingy salads cut through the punchy saucing, and meat and fish is cooked to perfection. Upstairs in the cosy dining room away from the din of the street and the always busy public bar below, you feel like you’ve stumbled on a secret and it’s all the better for it.