SW3
Casse-Croûte
Think “French restaurant in London”, and this Bermondsey bistro is probably what pops into your head. With its chequerboard floor, red gingham tablecloths and blackboard menu (entirely en français, naturellement) of terrines, rillettes and millefeuilles, Casse-Croûte isn’t reinventing the wheel – but it is serving it up with considerable panache, and a side of very fairly priced French wines. An unbeatable proposition for a candlelit dinner à deux.
SE1
Frenchie
The blackboard outside Frenchie advertising little boxes of warm bacon scones to take away sets the tone for your meal here: relaxed yet undeniably special. Greg Marchand’s playful, elegant cooking has turned Paris’s Rue de Nil into one of its most foodie-friendly streets (he has a restaurant, a café, a wine bar and a wine shop there), and his Covent Garden spot has been one of the best French restaurants in London since it opened. Dishes change regularly, but the menu might include saddle of lamb with artichokes à la Barigoule, green olives and salted lemons, and a twist on banoffee pie with caramelised pecans.
WC2E
Bouchon Racine
Getting a table here remains an extreme sport, but if you do somehow manage to bag one, your efforts will be spectacularly rewarded. Although the setting is quite different (Farringdon versus Knightsbridge), Bouchon Racine feels like a spiritual continuation on the part of chef-owner Henry Harris, whose original Racine was one of London’s most beloved French restaurants before it closed in 2015. The lengthy blackboard menu reads like poetry: jambon noir de Bigorre; fromage de tête; scallop Provençal… The rabbit that was such a hit at the original Racine is present and correct, as is the saffron mousse with mussels. Finish your meal with a petit pot au chocolat, or, if you can bear to share, a meringue Montmorency for two with crème anglaise and cherry syrup.
EC1M
Pique-Nique
Standing next to the tennis courts in Bermondsey’s Tanner Street Park, Pique-Nique looks a bit like a cricket pavilion with some outdoor seating – but the timbers framing it are more Normandy than Norfolk, and the menu inside is gloriously Gallic. Sharing is the game here: Chateaubriand and dauphinoise potatoes, lamb shoulder with confit lemon, veal T-bone and a burnished poulet de Bresse with fries, salad and herb jus are all priced for two or three to tuck into, while on the sweet side of things there’s a tarte tatin and a seasonal millefeuille made for multiple spoons.