Chez Gerard

the best steak-frites this side of Paris" ??? Probably Nine restaurants around London, mostly in and around the City though also including Victoria, Dover Street and an atrium above the Plaza in Covent Garden. There are also 'branches' at Gatwick and Heathrow Airports, and another lone branch in Cambridge. These café-bars and restaurants are French. Not French-ish or frenchified, but actually French. Tables are draped with white linen, napkins are linen and large and there is a battery of cutlery and glassware. Waiters (generally with authentic accents) are suitably attired, but thankfully generally seem to have left their (allegedly) snooty ...

While looking for somewhere to eat one Tuesday night in London, we came across a lovely French restaurant in the Southbank area. Chez Gerard is very stylishly designed around 1930’s Paris, it has a trendy and almost formal feel to it – even the staff are dressed up in very old fashioned uniforms. As we arrived, we were quickly seated at a cosy table for two and given menus to look at. As Chez Gerard is renowned for ‘The Best Steak Frites This Side of Paris’, our minds were kinda made up before we even opened the menu. Steak Frites is basically a well cooked steak with a pile of crispy chips – and it was divine. Imagine a thick rump steak; cooked ...