Best Local Restaurants 2024: French food still fabulous
Published 05 August 2024

'Well done, Bavette, for getting me outside the M25,' a reader cheers. Quite a way outside too, but the journey to Leeds was evidently worth it to dine at Sandy Jarvis and Clément Cousin's convivial neighbourhood bistro in the northerly suburb of Horsforth. Shelves of books on deep green walls create a smart domestic ambience, and the food does the rest.

It's a Franco-Yorkshire alliance in every sense (M Cousin hails from Anjou on the Loire), and the menu reflects that collaborative spirit. Start with pork and prune pâté en croûte with the house mustard for an inimitably Gallic appetiser experience. Starters might embrace light crab tartelette with fennel, pea shoots and saffron aïoli, before the speciality bavette makes an appearance, tricked out with French beans and frites – the kind of sturdy main course that won't let you down. A more domestic route might yield plaice with potted shrimps, rainbow chard and Jersey Royals.

Italian Candonga could well be a strawberry variety you haven't tried, appearing here in season on Basque cheesecake with yoghurt sorbet; otherwise, the dessert list is pure bistro French – perhaps St Emilion au chocolat or raspberry frangipane with matching sorbet. Wines delve into some of the less heavily trodden byways of France for Jurançon Sec, Gaillac and the Cousin family's own Anjou Cabernet Franc and Grolleau Gris.

‘The equivalent of being wrapped in a big hug,’ writes an ardent fan, adding that 'we always walk in feeling happy, and come out feeling even happier!’ This warm-hearted spot has been flying the flag for ‘delicious feel-good’ bistro food since Dan Fancett opened the place in 2021, and it scores in departments: the menu is stuffed with extremely well-balanced and superbly executed dishes, while the superb front of house team exude good cheer and do a consistently great job.

A set menu is tweaked daily and served in its simplest form at lunch (two choices per course), with a few more options for dinner. It fits the bistro vibe, though the repertoire strays deliciously beyond predictability – from a bowl of local asparagus soup with smoked chalk stream trout to hand-rolled cavatelli with Parmesan emulsion, spring vegetables and basil pistou. In the evening, the kitchen ups its ambition a notch or two, so you might find ceviche of sea bream with chilli and blood orange followed by calf’s liver with pancetta or a thoroughly Gallic combo of French guinea fowl breast with young leeks, white asparagus (French, of course) and a morel/vin jaune sauce. Finish perhaps with dark chocolate and hazelnut tart with pistachio ice cream – we’re in bistro territory, remember – or a sublime panna cotta with ginger and rhubarb.

Restaurant manager Theo Armyras is an engaging enthusiast of all things drinkable and will steer you towards such delicious offerings as a Spanish rosado from Rioja’s family-owned Bodegas Perica (at £11.50 a glass). Selections by the 500ml carafe keep proceedings true to bistro-dom, although there's always plenty to explore – from minerally Chablis Premier Cru, Thomas Labille ‘Montmains’ 2020 to big hitters from Bordeaux and the Rhône Valley.

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 easy to see why news of its repute has spread far and wide – the dining room is regularly packed to capacity, humming with noise and activity.

The menu is classic French through and through, with a focus on bistro classics and regional Lyonnaise specialities from Bosi’s home town. Though the food stays in familiar territory rather than going adventuring, everything is produced with great assurance – as one might expect, given Bosi's elevated reputation. Indeed, one sign of a good kitchen is what it can do with humble ingredients. Consider, for example, the soupe à l’oignon, widely copied although we’ve yet to eat one that comes even close to this version.

Many staples are here (terrine, filet de boeuf au poivre, lapin à la moutarde, gratin dauphinois) – dishes that people really enjoy eating. And judging by the elegant simplicity of leeks vinaigrette, or skate wing in a brown butter and caper sauce, or even a light, puffy vol-au-vent filled with chicken and morel sauce, there are never too many tastes on the plate, either. Like the cheeseboard, desserts are resolutely Gallic – think oeuf à la neige, prâline rose, and tarte au citron meringue. The good value of the daily plat du jour and the short-choice set menu offered at lunch and dinner add to Josephine's allure.

With Lucy Bosi overseeing front of house alongside general manager Will Smith (the ex-Arbutus/Wild Honey frontman lured back from Scotland), it's clear that all aspects of running a restaurant – buying ingredients, cooking, ambience – have been brought together without fuss or ostentation. House wines are available bouchon-style (you only pay for what you have drunk), and the full list is an oenophile's tour of the Rhône Valley.

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 is at least bubbling over with enough unabashed Gallic bonhomie for two. Battleship-grey panelling, undressed tables and a trio of blackboards busily covered in numerous chalk-scribbled specials form a backdrop to Reid's assured bourgeois cooking.

You might easily guess what's on the menu, sight unseen (soupe à l'oignon gratinée, garlic-buttered escargots, Bayonne ham with celeriac rémoulade for starters), although you might not anticipate the panache with which the dishes are realised – or the uncommon quality of the raw materials. Moving on, mains might bring entrecôte or ribeye steaks with béarnaise sauce and piles of frites or smoked haddock in mustard sauce topped with a poached egg.

The non-meat alternative of, say, artichokes with ratatouille and chickpeas in cumin-scented roast tomato sauce shows more consideration for veggies than you might find in many a traditional French bistro. Finish with rum baba and apricot compôte or tarte fine aux pommes. A French wine list covers all bases, with glasses from £7.95, plus still or sparkling Kir to start.

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 that fans are quickly seduced by the unmistakable Gallic vibe: 'You could easily be sat in a wee French restaurant in Paris,' noted one reporter who felt fully transported to another world.

The conviviality extends to the assured combination of French cooking with Scottish raw materials, including hand-dived Orkney scallops and venison as well as home-grown vegetables and herbs from Berkmiller’s four-acre plot at Monkton Gardens. The menu itself is built around established standards, which brings people back because they know the quality won’t waver from one visit to the next. 'I had the côte de boeuf again – one of my favourite dishes anywhere. Beautifully served medium-rare with dauphinoise, salad, roasted onion, garlic and peppercorn sauce.' Fish soup with rouille, steak tartare, escargots in garlic butter and beef bourguignon are all present and correct, too.

For dessert there could be a not-to-be-missed crème brûlée as well as griottines in kirsch and îles flottantes. Expect ‘great service from knowledgeable staff', a wine bar in the basement for post-prandial relaxation, and a thoroughly commendable list of French wines with an excellent choice by the glass.

'It’s like being in France, only in Norwich,’ notes one reader; another says that ‘it feels more like dining in a friend’s home than a city-centre restaurant’. Either way, there’s a huge amount of love for this tiny bistro in the Norwich Lanes. Frenchman Thomas Aubrit and his wife Gemma have been welcoming diners through the doors of L’Hexagone since 2020. 

He cooks the food he remembers eating as a child with heartfelt honesty, while she runs the place with instinctive charm – and with a small supporting cast, they prove the old trope that the best things often come in the smallest packages. So tuck yourself into a downstairs seat in the intimate, dark-painted space or head upstairs where there’s more room but you miss out on Lanes people-watching. This is a place aimed squarely at feeding (very loyal) customers. 

The menu is short, and lunch could be as simple and pocket-friendly as a generous croque monsieur or a bowl of soupe à l’oignon. Alternatively, linger over a more substantial meal – perhaps salade lyonnaise or a tartine of butternut squash and Roquefort, followed by a bavette steak or casseroled chicken leg with tarragon sauce, mushrooms and frites. Gloriously simple stuff, indeed. Come evening, the repertoire might stretch a little to include, say, herby, garlicky prawn skewers or fillet of sea bream with roasted potatoes ‘grenailles’ and classic beurre blanc. 

The crème brûlée has its very own fan club ('the best this side of the Channel’) – no surprise, given the snap of the caramelised topping and the velvetiness of the set cream, but also check out the vanilla panna cotta with its beautifully sharp, fruity purée. The all-French wine list is as compact and well-priced as the menu, and each bottle has a 'unique personal reference’ – there are even some vintages produced in the owner‘s hometown.

The arrival of Ophelia was sufficient to promote an outbreak of rejoicing throughout South Gosforth, which was overdue a restaurant of this calibre. It's a classy neighbourhood bistro, with framed posters on aubergine walls, smart linened tables and a row of bentwood chairs at the bar counter setting the tone. Personable staff who care about what they are doing help matters no end, as do the swinging cocktails that are now a de rigueur element of a night out. 'Steak frites' evenings are what we righteously expect of a bistro, no matter how 'moderne', and visitors can rest assured that the premium beef will be properly poivred up. Elsewhere, there could be a distinctly courageous serving of red prawns and raspberries with fermented red pepper juice to start, or good old chicken liver parfait, ahead of halibut with Shetland mussels and parsley mash or veal rump with Jersey Royals and a sauce of Fourme d'Ambert. Light, aromatic desserts are what nearly everybody wants in summer: look no further than fennel and honey panna cotta with strawberries in vin jaune vinegar. Unless, of course, you're in the mood for chocolate cake with whipped cream. Sunday roasts are an invaluable local amenity, while the extensive, French-forward wine list soon hits the heights – although by-the-glass selections are very good too.

On a side street close to Warwick Avenue tube, this delightfully eccentric bistro ‘thrives off its community spirit’ and has all the trappings of a quirky dining room belonging to a rich, dotty aunt who has travelled the world. Inside, it's a mishmash of closely packed wooden tables and chairs (some covered in gingham tablecloths), antique lampshades, eye-catching floral patterned wallpaper, shelves of wine and a service bar decked out like a country-house kitchen. The place oozes natural charm and attentive staff will greet you like a long-lost friend, even if it’s your first visit.

The resolutely French menu is executed with obvious care and skill, ‘bringing comfort and authenticity to every bite’. Baked Camembert, moules marinière and oysters mignonette figure among the openers, along with a signature tarte tatin of Roscoff onions with blue cheese and mascarpone cream. Main courses also whisk you off to France with the likes of confit duck and sauce bordelaise or fillet of trout with a pipérade of spring vegetables and mint pistou. Also look for Aubrey Allen's 'butcher's 'cut of the week' served with a special sauce. Even the skin-on fries (crisp, hot and salty, with mayo for dipping) are spot-on. 

Portions are generous, but do save room for one of their eye-catching desserts – perhaps lemon tart topped with a wave of blowtorched meringue or unctuous chocolate mousse studded with shiny caramelised hazelnuts and surrounded by a verdant pool of pistachio crème anglaise. They take their wine seriously here, with vintage Burgundies and Bordeaux at not-too-silly prices, plus Coravin selections and monthly in-house tastings. There's plenty of choice below £50 too, which helps to make Paulette a nigh-on perfect neighbourhood gem.

A little slice of French bonhomie in north Oxford, Pompette is not only a godsend for Summertown locals, but also draws in diners who are prepared to undertake a long trip to sample its wares. With its walls emblazoned with artwork, a gorgeous summertime terrace and professional but personable staff, no wonder it is reckoned to be ‘a real gem’. And that’s before we get to the food. Chef/co-owner Pascal Wiedemann spent 14 years shaking the pans in big-name London kitchens (from Racine and Terroirs to Six Portland Road), before bringing his vision of bourgeois French cuisine to the city of dreaming spires. 

His menu is entrenched in the classics (with the odd European detour) and everything is crafted with ‘care, passion and precision’. Lyonnaise ‘cervelle de canut’ cheese dip, soupe de poissons, chalk stream trout with horseradish beurre blanc and onglet steaks share the billing with houmous, sumac and flatbread, cavatelli with datterini tomatoes and pecorino or charred cauliflower with pops of pomegranate and pistachio. French farmhouse cheeses, île flottante, Basque cheesecake and canelés de Bordeaux with salted rum caramel (Friday and Saturday nights only) round off a simple but satisfying offer. 

Alternatively, drop by for authentic French saucisse frites on Tuesday, poulet frites on Wednesday or steak frites on Thursday night, if you prefer; they even do a proper petit-déjeuner from 10am as well as a regular apero hour (5-6pm, Tue-Sat). Pompette is the charming French word for tipsy, so we do need to mention the libations: Ricard, Lillet Blanc, Picon Bière and Normandy cider all get a look-in alongside a list of patriotically French wines – including a big selection from Alsace (the owner’s homeland).