Shoreditch, French Restaurant Guide

In May 2022 (too late for any survey feedback), this Shoreditch design hotel reopened its ground-floor bar/restaurant (fka The Albion Café) as an all-day brasserie. The 100-seat space, whose original hard-edged design was overseen by the late Sir Terence Conran, has been modified and somewhat cosied up (no longer with its own street entrance). Chef Robin Freeman also looks after the hotel’s glam-looking refurbished rooftop bar and restaurant, while what was once Tatra in the basement is nowadays an event space. The rooftop looks set to become the place to be here.

“One of the most pretty and impressive dining rooms in London” – an “amazing and beautifully lit” space often mistaken for a church, but in fact originally a late-Victorian girls’ school – helps underpin the appeal of the Galvin Brothers’ long-established destination, near Spitalfields Market. Although its ratings have come under pressure since Covid struck due to some uneven reports, this remains an “all-round treat”, much nominated for both important business and romantic occasions thanks to its “well-spaced” interior; service that is “spot-on”; and “fantastic French cuisine”, with numerous diners voting for it in our poll as their top gastronomic experience of the year.

This “very reliable and enjoyable old-style bistrot” in Spitalfields is from “the same team as La Chapelle” (the Galvin brothers’ deluxe flagship next door). Fans say that “means the food is top-notch for a bar” with a “well-prepared set menu that’s great value”, but ratings are capped by a minority of critics who feel it has “lost its magic since the revamp”. Top Tip – “worth visiting for the Pilsner alone” – fresh unpasteurised Urquell delivered weekly and stored in copper tanks above the bar.