London’s bistro boom

This article is part of FT Globetrotter’s guide to London

At the tail-end of 2022, chef Henry Harris was having nightmares. In the weeks leading up to the opening of Bouchon Racine, he was riddled with fear about “who was really going to want to come and eat my slightly old-school way of doing it”, he recalls. His concerns about the London bistro he was launching with restaurant director Dave Strauss were not unfounded: traditional French food was not in vogue. 

And yet Bouchon Racine — opened in Farringdon’s Three Compasses pub — was quickly lauded by critics, who admired its hearty fare and unapologetic Frenchness. To say it struck a chord would be something of an understatement. Fast forward two-and-a-half years and Francophilia has engulfed London’s dining scene. The bistro is booming. 

As the name suggests, Bouchon Racine is not styled on the Parisian bistro, but rather the Lyonnais bouchon, the bistro’s hardcore cousin. With robust dishes such as quenelles de brochet (pike dumplings in a rich crayfish sauce) and tablier de sapeur (breadcrumbed-and-fried beef tripe), the bouchon is the ultimate rebellion against the small plate and the tasting menu. 

Despite all its current acclaim, the bistro has never completely gone out of favour. Mon Plaisir in Seven Dials and Casse Croûte in Bermondsey have been around for over a decade. Les 2 Garçons opened in September 2021 in Crouch End. But more recently, there’s been an explosion of new offerings. Pourquoi? 

Comfort is key, suggests Dom Hamdy, the restaurateur behind Shoreditch’s Bistro Freddie, which opened in September 2023. “Post-Covid, people want to be nourished more than challenged,” he says. “I also think we miss our French friends and are craving the French culture that subconsciously left the UK post-Brexit.” 

Jackson Boxer, who opened Henri in collaboration with Experimental Group in Covent Garden in June, says: “In addition to the conviviality and informality of the Parisian bistro, it’s always resoundingly accessible in terms of the way it structures the menu.” This might mean offering cheaper cuts of meat, such as bavette and saucisse. 

At Josephine, a bouchon opened by Claude Bosi and his wife Lucy in Fulham in March, it means offering a menu de canut at lunchtime with two courses for £24.50 or three for £29.50, featuring proper Lyonnais workers’ grub like andouillette (tripe sausage) with sauce moutarde. “A bistro should not be funky — it should not try to reinvent the wheel,” says Bosi.

But even Papi, a highly experimental restaurant in east London where you might find chicken wings stuffed with smoked eel alongside hot and sour tomatoes on its menu, got in on the act. Every Tuesday for a month over the summer, tables were laid with red-and-white chequered tablecloths, menus featured images of Serge Gainsbourg and classic dishes such as French onion soup and beef tartare were served — with a localised twist (the latter came with Pom-Bears, which were described on the menu as pomme de l’ours). For the restaurant’s chef, Matthew Scott, a bistro-style pop-up was a no-brainer. “If the foundations are good,” he says, “you can interchange anything over the top of it and still make it sing.”

While the bistro blueprint is shaped by a formula and grounded in immensely sturdy foundations, it is pliable. Each of the restaurants in the following list features much that is personal and free-spirited, while speaking to the rich culinary traditions of France and how they’ve played out in the UK.

Bouchon Racine (Farringdon)

Upstairs, 66 Cowcross Street, London EC1M 6BP

Like its predecessor Racine, which closed in 2015, Bouchon Racine’s irresistible charm stems from a pivot towards Lyon. The chalkboard menu captures the essence of Lyonnais rusticity while also reflecting a more “bourgeois French cookery” (Henry Harris uses that specific term) — all of which is buttressed by the best produce Harris can find. 

On my first meal there, there was some gorgeous golden-skinned Basque chicken; a meltingly soft tête de veau served with sauce ravigote to cut through; and, one of the menu’s mainstays, a rabbit with an impossibly silky mustard sauce and smoked bacon. More recently, I ate the lobster Champeau (named after the late chef Yves Champeau of Le Normandie restaurant in Lancashire). It consisted of an impeccably sourced lobster, roasted with butter and olive oil just before serving to achieve a mesmerising texture — structurally intact, but as soft as butter — and then flambéed with pastis and cognac. 

There are two must-order dishes: an ingenious side of lustrous creamed spinach spiked with foie gras, and an ineffably textured crème caramel served with an Armagnac-soaked prune — a dessert that took Harris and his head chef six months to perfect. 

Aside from the food, there is something intoxicating about the ambience. The bricolage effect of the room’s parts and its coral-hued walls do make you feel soothed, but I’m talking about something else. “I am having the best time of my life,” Harris said. “I’m living in the present.” It’s infectious. Opening times: Tuesday–Saturday, noon–3pm and 5pm–10pm. Website; Directions

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Joséphine Bouchon (Chelsea)

315A Fulham Road, London SW10 9QH

Claude Bosi, a Lyon native, has created a menu embedded in his early childhood memories. He points me to the oeuf mollet en gelée, a soft-boiled egg in jelly dish that he used to eat on the streets of Lyon with his parents. 

Like a classic bouchon, vintage posters from Lyon fêtes line the walls, crispy pig skin hits the table on arrival and house wines are served in pots lyonnais — and charged according to how much you consume. The room has soft furnishings and warm lighting, and the tables are intentionally placed close together. 

The menu is deliberately simple and unfussy, with the focus on creating proper vinaigrettes and sauces, and letting produce shine. There was an uncomplicated, pure pleasure in everything I ate, from the unmissable Saint-Félicien soufflé and green frogs’ legs to start; the filet de boeuf au poivre for main; and, to finish, the rum baba, which is served tableside with the customer choosing their shade of rum.

Joséphine is the most traditionally French opening since Bouchon Racine, honouring an old-school sensibility. And Bosi’s not done yet: he’s in the process of finding a site for a bistro parisien, which will equally stick to a classical approach. Opening times: Monday–Thursday, noon–2.30pm and 6pm–9pm; Friday, noon–2.30pm and 6pm–9.30pm; Saturday, noon–3pm and 6pm–9.30pm; Sunday, noon–3pm and 6pm–9pm. Website; Directions

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64 Goodge Street (Fitzrovia)

64 Goodge Street, London W1T 4NF

“French cooking from an outsider’s perspective” is how 64 Goodge Street is described on its website. For head chef Stuart Andrew, this is further explained as “a particular kind of English romanticism about French cooking”. The aim is a reimagining of classic bistro dishes. “There’s a lightness of touch to what we do but still a depth of richness and flavour,” he told me. “I take great pleasure in looking up obscure French sauces.” 

The menu’s influences are taken from all over France, but when I ate there this summer it was more Provence than Alsace. The Dracula-repellent snail, bacon and garlic bonbon is a must, and the smoked roe tartine was utterly impeccable. The saucisse de canard with lentils and vinaigrette was about as perfectly bistro a dish as I could have imagined, and the ballotine of poussin à la basquaise was kaleidoscopically plated but still comfortingly hearty. The sides of ratatouille and pommes Anna are generous in size and flavour, and there was a playful peach Melba and a smooth fig-leaf ice cream to finish. 

“It’s not just about the food,” added Andrew. “It’s about being gregarious with the person you’re sitting next to.” Opening times: Monday–Saturday, noon–2.15pm and 6pm–10pm. Website; Directions

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Bistro Freddie (Shoreditch)

74 Luke Street, London EC2A 4PY

“It’s supposed to be slightly nostalgic and comforting, ” says Dom Hamdy of his Shoreditch space, which combines a burgundy colour scheme with handwritten menus. Immensely satisfying snacks of egg mayo and anchovy, house sausage with “BF sauce” or pig’s-head croquette can be washed down with a black velvet in a pewter goblet or a kir royale. 

Then there are the flatbreads, which are altogether more contemporary: pillowy but rustic and gently singed, served with rotating toppings. On my first visit, I had one with green garlic, snails and chicken skin; most recently, I revelled in the joy of pure Comté.

That meal continued with a St John-esque dish of crispy lamb, frisée salad and anchovy dressing. Fresh, with a restrained punch. The excellent chicken and tarragon pie is a mainstay, as is the bavette and chips, served with a shiny umber peppercorn sauce that’s deep in flavour and far less cream than is typical. 

As for the main of battered skate wing served with a chip shop-style curry sauce and a parsley and shallot salad, “we needed to find our identity,” said Hamdy. He landed on “this blend of British and French cuisine”. Monday, 6pm–11pm; Tuesday–Saturday, noon–3pm and 6pm–11pm. Website; Directions

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Camille (Borough Market)

2-3 Stoney Street, London SE1 9AA

Camille comes from the same group as cosy London restaurants Ducksoup and Little Duck The Picklery, and Emilia, a charming Italian in Ashburton, Devon. Elliot Hashtroudi was approached to be head chef on the back of a successful stint at 107 Wine Shop & Bar in Clapton (formerly P Franco). It was the perfect fit. 

Born in Dorset, Hashtroudi spent his summers visiting his aunt in France. He has vivid memories of his first cassoulet in Carcassonne: rich, buttery and layered with different pork cuts. “I was just like, ‘What is this?’” he recalled. “We don’t really have this at home. I just became obsessed with it.”

Hashtroudi’s enthusiasm makes Camille feel inherently dynamic and ambitious. His respect for French technique is combined with a commitment to seasonal British produce, meaning a menu that adapts constantly and is explicit about provenance. There’s also plenty of offal; Hashtroudi developed a passion for nose-to-tail cooking during his four years at St John. In a recent meal there, calf brains were brightened by a vinaigrette, broad beans and capers, and shrouded in fuchsia-coloured flowers. Duck hearts were served in a demi-glace sauce alongside a neatly-carved, blushing duck breast, all balanced by the pert sap of green and red gooseberries.

The standout dish was a crab toast, a masterclass in contrast — the impeccable freshness of the opalescent crabmeat was juxtaposed beautifully with the sienna-shaded depth of the bisque. To finish, the burnt milk tart can’t be missed. The pastry was meticulously crafted, and its roaring, bitter-edged caramelisation encrusted a lush, creamy interior. Opening times: Monday, 5.30pm–10pm; Tuesday–Saturday, noon–3pm and 5.30pm–10pm; Sunday, noon–3pm and 5.30pm–9pm. Website; Directions

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Henri (Covent Garden)

14–15 Henrietta Street, London WC2E 8QH

For Jackson Boxer, there are two sides to Parisian dining: the classicist, somewhat fusty Paris of Chez Georges and the boundary-pushing, inspiring Paris of Maison and Le Rigmarole. “Henri is very much in the spirit of the latter,” he says. “It is a synthesis of everything I love about Paris with the reality of who I am as a Londoner.”

Among the chef’s “witty updates on classical archetypes” are seaweed canelés, served with crème crue and trout roe; pig’s head croquettes with mustard and prune sauces, and a mindblowingly tender interior; grilled snails combined, intriguingly, with veal rice; and, for pudding, riz au lait served cold with puffed rice, poached apricots and dulce de leche.

The most classic-seeming dish on the menu is the bavette steak with cognac peppercorn sauce, but behind the sauce is veal stock, shiitake mushroom XO and fermented shrimp paste. And while a tuna dish served with melon, green tomato, dashi vinegar and green jalapeño oil challenges British preconceptions of the bistro genre, it would certainly feel at home in a Parisian restaurant promoting bistronomie. Opening times: daily, 7am– 10.30am, noon–2.30pm and 5pm–11pm. Website; Directions

Do you have a favourite bistro in London? Tell us in the comments below. And follow FT Globetrotter on Instagram at @FTGlobetrotter