Best Contemporary French Restaurants in Victoria

Had an excellent afternoon for my friend’s birthday!! We were made very welcome and the service was perfect !! Had a great time - the food was fabulous! The restaurant has a great atmosphere too - very relaxed! Thank you 🙏🏻

While the food, particularly the caramelized onion tart and the crème brûlée, was outstanding, it was the service that really bumps the Palm Court up to 5+ stars. Both our waitress and the waiter who followed her, whose names we unfortunately did not get, were wonderful. We were there to celebrate my wife’s birthday and had notified the restaurant when I made the reservation. They greeted her like family, with a warm birthday wish and a surprise birthday desert (the crème brûlée) that was accompanied by a card signed by the entire staff! Little gestures like that sometimes make all the difference, and that certainly did. Even without that, the food was outstanding, but the service was spectacular.

Another excellent lunch at Cornus. I was tempted by the excellent value set lunch menu at £55 for 3 courses but succumbed to the full 7 course tasting menu at £165, which included of course the usual selection of canapés, delicious sourdough bread and focaccia, and petit fours. Top quality ingredients, highly skilled cooking and beautiful presentation. Highlights included red mullet with a salsa verde; cod with girolles, squid and crispy potatoes; roast pigeon with a chestnut purée. Service was excellent throughout from the whole team, with particular thanks to the incomparable sommelier Melania and joint owner David. The wine list is extensive and keenly priced by London standards but BYO is extremely popular and with corkage at lunch of £20 an absolute bargain. The total bill for this solo diner was £235, including a glass of champagne, corkage and service charge. I think that is tremendous value for money. Overall at least 17/20 and one of the best restaurants in London for classic cooking with lots of technique and top quality ingredients. The only problem is that now I’m torn between long-established sister restaurant Medlar and newcomer Cornus for a neighbourhood lunch. Ah well, life is tough.

We loved our afternoon tea! We’re both a little fussy and the staff always cater for our needs (swapping sandwiches to ones we prefer with no issues). The new layout is lovely, my only concern is the tables are not as spacious as they were previously and the gap between tables isn’t too big, it would be nice to have a little more room as previously (before renovations) I believe the table size and space around was one of the best things about the gallery. We will always re visit though as it is still such a good experience.

Great experience taking my work team for dinner. Food was amazing, service was great. Everyone raved about the food they ordered, great location in the heart of Covent Garden. Will definitely book again.