The Best Restaurants in Wandsworth

A pub in another life, L’Affaire is now a bustling British-French brasserie, although it hasn’t lost those links to its pervious incarnation – you can enjoy a pint of freshly brewed Bohemia lager in their spacious garden. It’s far from pub grub though with the likes of cheese soufflé, snails in garlic and chilli butter, and Barbary duck breast with dauphinoise potatoes and French beans on the food menu.

Chit Chaat Chai started life as a street food stall, fitting really considering Indian roadside snacks like bhel puri and pani puri, before turning into a permanent restaurant close to Wandsworth Town station. The bright and vibrant interiors are matched by the flavourful food offering, which has expanded to include kati rolls, lamb railway curry and chicken biryani alongside tandoor breads and their range of chaats. Wash it all down with a lassi or Indian-inspired cocktail.

The Michelin-starred Chez Bruce is an old-school restaurant and proud of it. That means simple décor and white tablecloths in the dining room, a lack of gadgetry in the kitchen and timeless French food, like steak tartare with bone marrow crostini, Anjou pigeon with roast foie gras, pickled cherries and endive, and hot chocolate pudding with praline parfait on the menu. And like any respectable French restaurant, they take both their cheese board and wine list very seriously too.

Housed in a former greenhouse (and nicely referenced by the wood panelling and green banquette seating) Bellevue serves up authentic, seasonal French fare. More classical dishes like crab and celeriac millefeuille, magret de canard and tarte tartin make up the bulk of the concise menu, although there are a few modern touches here and there, such as poached monkfish and razor clams coming with potato risotto and green curry. Bellevue also boasts a great French wine list and there’s a few French ciders thrown in there too.

As well as their restaurants in Chelsea and Fulham, Brinkley’s also have an establishment right on the edge of Wandsworth Common. Brinkley’s Kitchen is very spacious, with an open kitchen, smart dining area and outdoor terrace. They’ve covered all bases with their eclectic menu, which features everything from yellowtail sashimi to king prawn linguine to Moroccan spiced chicken. All the wine comes from their Chelsea shop, so not only is there great variety amongst the bottles, they come in at decent prices too.

The Good Earth may have a handful of other restaurants and takeaways dotted around London but thanks to quality dishes, it definitely beats your average chain experience. They have a fairly large menu, although not the pages and pages you can often find in Chinese restaurants. That means crowd-pleasers like aromatic duck, char sui pork, beef with black beans and Singapore noodles are present but they also offer the likes of Hunan chilli lamb, scallops with cracked rice relish and clay pot dishes that are cooked tableside.