Favourite authentic French restaurants 2024 | Where To Eat

64 Goodge Street

Fitzrovia, London £££

Fitzrovia is not necessarily short of smart, efficient bistros with a switched-on city ambience, but here is one that stands head and shoulders above the competition. The layout will look familiar – close-packed tables,… Read more

64 Goodge Street, Fitzrovia, London W1T 4NF

Bistro Lotte

Frome, Somerset ££

Situated at the very top of Frome's famous Catherine Street, this popular and lively bistro (with an adjoining guesthouse) is an affordable treat. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the glass-fronted, high-ceilinged former bicy… Read more

23 Catherine Street, Frome, Somerset BA11 1DB

Bistrot Vérité

Southport, Merseyside

Newly expanded into next-door premises, where a separate bar now supplements the outdoor tables, Bistrot Vérité has long been the smartest kid on the Birkdale block. Its foundation is Franco-Lancastrian bistro cookin… Read more

7 Liverpool Road, Southport, Merseyside PR8 4AR

Bouchon Bistrot

Hexham, Northumberland ££

'With French music on the playlist, Art Nouveau posters on the wall and attentive Gallic service, you could almost imagine yourself in a small French town.' Result! Even if the menu writing hovers indeterminately between French an… Read more

4-6 Gilesgate, Hexham, Northumberland NE46 3NJ

Bouchon Racine

Farringdon, London ££

Are high-profile restaurants above pubs becoming a thing in London? On the first floor of the Three Compasses pub in Farringdon, this reworking of Henry Harris’s famed (and much missed) Racine in Knightsbridge revives the ch… Read more

Three Compasses, 66 Cowcross Street, Farringdon, London EC1M 6BP

Café St Honoré

Edinburgh, Lothians £££

Edinburgh's heritage take on a Parisian brasserie

Among the network of lanes in Edinburgh's New Town, north of Princes Street, this ‘wonderful oasis of calm’ looks like a piece of heritage Parisian ‘restauration’ airlifted from Montmartre. Bentwood chairs … Read more

34 North West Thistle Street Lane, Edinburgh, Lothians EH2 1EA

Casse-Croûte

Bermondsey, London ££

Booking is absolutely essential at this tiny, stereotypical French bistro, where the floor is all black and white tiles, the gingham-clothed tables are tight-packed, and the walls sport French advertising posters. That said, every… Read more

109 Bermondsey Street, Bermondsey, London SE1 3XB

Climat

Manchester, Greater Manchester ££

The younger sibling of Covino in Chester is altogether a larger, more aspirational affair. Its greatest USP is the location. Although not the first to fly high in the sky over Manchester's city centre, it keeps the urban panorama … Read more

The younger sibling of Covino in Chester is altogether a larger, more aspirational affair. Its greatest USP is the location. Although not the first to fly high in the sky over Manchester's city centre, it keeps the urban panorama centre stage with clean, modern lines and a clever use of the rooftop space. The wrap-around interior provides every frill-free table with a pigeon’s eye view; high chairs border the long counter of the open kitchen. The connecting garden area (note the beehives) provides ample seating to satisfy the Mancunian thirst for sunshine when it appears. Climat describes itself as a 'wine-led' restaurant, a reference to their impressively stocked cellar. Burgundy leads the pack but doesn’t dominate. A Xinomavro 2018 from Macedonia had big flavours that partnered well with a robust dish of lamb leg, roasted cauliflower and kale. Unfortunately, the wine descriptions are generic; a sommelier or more informed serving staff might have helped guide the choice. The sharing-plates menu is a good spread of classic and modern, with a broadly Gallic orientation, plus retro and international references: salt fish beignets with aïoli and herb salad; prawn cocktail with avocado mousse and baby gem vol-au-vents; Tamworth pork chop with flat beans and Pommery mustard. The kitchen shows a deft hand with vegetables and salads, which are often enlivened with bitter notes – a combo of beetroot, whipped tofu, charcoal vinaigrette and mustard cress, for example, contrasted its creamy, light and earthy elements well. But there are slips, too, from an excessively oily dressing on purple sprouting broccoli to a plum tarte fine that proved unremarkable. Luckily, the quartet of well-sourced cheeses (a sheep’s milk St Helena; Roquefort-like sheep’s milk Regalis; a lactic, soft goat’s milk Elrick Log; and raw milk Baron Bigod) proved a better finale. It may be unfair to compare Climat with older sibling Covino (both are relaxed and innovative, without being gimmicky), but at inspection we found the latter offered a much more happy-making experience.

8th Floor, Blackfriars House, Manchester, Greater Manchester M3 2JA

Best Local Restaurant

Josephine

Chelsea, London ££

Claude Bosi's assured homage to classic bistro cooking

Josephine is that rare combination, a classic-looking French bistro that serves its neighbourhood well but is also worth travelling across town for. The fact that the driving force behind the operation is chef Claude Bosi makes it… Read more

315 Fulham Road, Chelsea, London SW10 9QH

L'Escargot

Soho, London £££

London's oldest French restaurant still going strong

Opened in 1927 as L’Escargot Bienvenue (complete with a snail farm in the basement), this bastion of old Soho has moved gently with the times while retaining its ageless sense of style – thanks in part to its current p… Read more

48 Greek Street, Soho, London W1D 4EF

Le Petit Citron

Hammersmith, London

Quite a caricature of a French bistro, complete with bentwood chairs, gingham tablecloths and workaday glassware, this neighbourhood favourite ensures that diners’ expectations are focused mistily across the Channel even bef… Read more

98-100 Shepherds Bush Road, Hammersmith, London W6 7PD

Best Local Restaurant

Les 2 Garçons

Crouch End, London ££

A genuine restaurant du quartier, if ever there was, this Crouch End spot is run by the titular duo of Robert Reid at the stoves and Jean-Christophe Slowik (JC, to the army of regulars) out front. If only one of them is French, he… Read more

14 Middle Lane, Crouch End, London N8 8PL

Littlefrench

Bristol ££

Populist French cooking in a good-looking brasserie

Carefully sourced, self-assured French cooking in a relaxed atmosphere is the enticing deal at Freddy Bird’s good-looking Westbury Park brasserie. The busy, welcoming dining room with its petrol-blue banquettes, marble table… Read more

2b North View, Westbury Park, Bristol BS6 7QB

Best Local Restaurant

L’Escargot Bleu

Edinburgh, Lothians £££

Upbeat French bistro celebrating Scottish produce

Frederic ('Fred') Berkmiller’s classic French bistro has spread a blanket of joy across Edinburgh since it opened in 2009. It’s fair to say that the place buzzes and the atmosphere is 'unbeatable'. And it's no wonder t… Read more

56 Broughton Street , Edinburgh, Lothians EH1 3SA

Maison François

St James's, London ££

Paris comes to St James's in the shape of this strikingly modern brasserie

Inspired by the French 'grand brasserie', and running from breakfast to dinner, Maison François is light and spacious, with an impressive double-height ceiling, an open kitchen at one end and Frank’s (a moodily l… Read more

34 Duke Street, St James's, London SW1Y 6DF

Newell

Sherborne , Dorset ££

Personally run French bistro offering outstanding value

The latest offering from Paul Merrony, who may be familiar to Guide readers from his time at the Giaconda Dining Room (RIP) in Soho, this singular enterprise operates as a French bistro with five letting rooms upstairs. With help … Read more

Greenhill, Sherborne , Dorset DT9 4EP

Otto's

Bloomsbury, London £££

Otto Tepasse is not one to hide his light under a bushel, and why would he? His Gray's Inn Road spot is justly celebrated as a redoubt of French cuisine à l'ancienne, from the black-and-white floor and mint-green … Read more

182 Gray's Inn Road, Bloomsbury, London WC1X 8EW

Best Local Restaurant

MEMBER PERK

Pompette

Oxford, Oxfordshire £££

Neighbourhood French fancy catering for north Oxford locals

Summertown locals are lucky to have family-run Pompette on their doorstep and they’re eager to applaud every aspect of this little slice of French bonhomie in the north of the city. With its walls emblazoned with artwork, a … Read more

7 South Parade, Oxford, Oxfordshire OX2 7JL

Stretford Canteen

Manchester, Greater Manchester ££

No-frills French bistro with a neighbourhood vibe

After several years as a mobile pop-up, the Stretford Canteen might not bring this hitherto neglected area the same degree of worldwide recognition as the Stretford End at Old Trafford (Manchester's United's home ground), but it i… Read more

118 Chester Road, Stretford, Manchester, Greater Manchester M32 9BH

The 10 Cases

Covent Garden, London ££

The 10 Cases is so named because owners Will Palmer and Ian Campbell buy just 10 cases of each listed wine on their 23-bin list – all offered by the glass, carafe and bottle (from around £33) – then don’t s… Read more

16 Endell Street, Covent Garden, London WC2H 9BD

Best Local Restaurant

The Folkestone Wine Company

Folkestone, Kent ££

* The restaurant will be closing for good after Sunday lunch on 18 May 2025.* Compact. Economical. Quirky. This former two-roomed tea shop may feel homely with its vintage crockery and handful of tables, but it suits the unfussy … Read more

5 Church Street, Folkestone, Kent CT20 1SE

The French House

Soho, London ££

For generations of thespians, journos and assorted bohemians, ‘The French’ has been a talisman of old Soho – a pub with its own code (no mobile phones, no music, beer in half-pint glasses). Yet this brilliant boo… Read more

49 Dean Street, Soho, London W1D 5BG

MEMBER PERK

The French Table

Surbiton, London £££

A restaurant that can tempt people out in the grim chill of February ('we have been coming here for 20 years, and it's always amazing') certainly has something going for it, and our wires are reliably abuzz with the French Table's… Read more

85 Maple Road, Surbiton, London KT6 4AW

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