Bandol in Kensington and Chelsea

Great food and service. Shame it’s closing down 🙁

We booked a table for the evening of the 27th of September 24 and the restaurant was buzzing with patrons. Starters comprised of Octopus carpaccio punctuated by a zingy kumquat dressing. Mains was duck breast with honey and lavender. My willingness to try some new flavours paid off, as the floral notes were gentle. My dessert was a milk fondant and fig. It was during the course of the meal that the serving staff said it was the last ever service of Bandol, and that it was closing down that evening. We would like to wish the staff at Bandol, the very best with their future endeavours. Thank you for doing their last service with panache. Wishing you au revoir with notes of lavender.

September 2024 review: Locate it just a Stone throw through away from Chelsea And Westminster Hospital, this French restaurant has outdoor seating as well as a bar area as your first entered followed by a very plush dining area with a tree in the middle of it. The foie grae as a starter is very good, it was in the form of a terrine with fruits and therefore not too heavy with some toasted brioche triangles. The crab linguine mains was a small dish but thankfully so as the foie grae was heavy and filling . It was well balanced with no fishiness to it. The Cocktail was a house special but unfortunately too sweet. Service was good and attentive. May 2024 review: Beautiful outdoor seating with white table cloths as well as lovely interior, bar and high copper tables at the entrance followed but dining area of square tables on the right and circular bottom style tables on the left with a private dining area at the start of the left. A skyline with a tree in the middle of the room with large copper lights above the tables Foie gras was good. Wasn’t what I was expecting. It looked more like a terrine with pieces of fruit in it served with some greens and sliced peach and two brioche triangles.Not the best foie I’ve had but I would say it’s closer towards the top end of the scale. The red wine by the glass, Château Chereau was good but I think overpriced for the £13 per glass. Service is very good, especially with keen and the manager.

Locate it just a stone throw away from Chelsea And Westminster Hospital, this French restaurant has outdoor seating as well as a bar area as your first entered followed by a very plush dining area with a tree in the middle of it. The foie grae as a starter which is very good it was for a grow in the form of a terrine with fruits and therefore not too heavy with some toasted brioche triangles. With the crab linguine was a small dish but thankfully so as the foie grae was quite filling. Again it tasted very good. The cocktail was new and not on the menu online but was way too sweet and unbalanced! Service was good and attentive.

Lovely little place which has The Fork summer deal on so we also got 50% off food. Everything was yummy and service was closely. Not very busy. We had burrata, tartare, and lamb 3 ways.

A little bit disappointed with the luck of the vegetarians option on the menu. Both veggies constrain asparagus. Great service, delish wine.

Great French cuisine. Nice location and interior. Great wines to match the dishes. Service could have been better.

If I could give the service 10 stars, I would. Our dinner was absolutely fantastic. Great little neighborhood place with a fresh, sophisticated menu.

Great service and atmosphere! 🌟

I was pleasantly surprised by Bandol, being from around the south of France myself I could taste these flavors in the dishes! I will definitely come back!

Came here for a 3-course wedding lunch. High quality ingredients thoughtfully put together and cooked to perfection. The French fries are especially good. Nothing too fancy or pompous - just good simple cooking plus nice wine to enjoy. Somewhere you’d look forward to returning to with friends and family.

We had a lovely meal here on Saturday night to celebrate a birthday. The foid was fabulous. We all had burratina to start which was a lovely light dish. We had duck breast,halibut and sea bass for our mains which were perfectly cooked. Sides of haricot vert,mash and creamed spinach were also lovely. For desserts we had milk pudding with figs ,tarte tatin and chocolate cake which all went down a treat. The wine list is varied with prices to suit all pockets. We had a couple of bottles of a nice white at a reasonable price. Service was excellent without being intrusive.

Great French food with good service and nice decor. A hidden gem to which we will definitely return. Prices are inline with London prices and it is fully deserving of its Michelin star

I went for a lunch party for 30 and couldn’t fault anything. The service was perfect; efficient and unobtrusive, the decor is stylish and the food was wonderful from the fabulous canapés through to the wonderful chocolate cake with raspberries. Highly recommended.

Good French food, calm relaxing atmosphere. Very nice overall

Food was cold and average, fish wasn’t fresh. Good service.

We went to lunch on our wedding anniversary.Food and atmosphere were wonderful, and service was exceptionally good. Defenetly would recommend this fantastic restaurant .

Great food had an amazing time but tables too close together and having a table next to the cutlery station doesn't make for a good atmosphere

The food was incredible, as was the vibe of the dining room. Unfortunately, the service leaves much to be desired. Thankfully, the food made up for the service!

This restaurant is one of the finest in West London. Everything about it is fantastic. They serve some of the best cocktails I’ve come across and the food is amazing. Highly commended

All the main dishes ordered are great, starters and desserts are less so so average 4 for food. Service there is super nice though. Worth re-visiting for simple meal.

This is a hidden gem of a restaurant in the west of Chelsea. The foie gras starter was amazing and the main of a crab pasta dish was the best I have had for a long time. Not expensive either for the Chelsea location. Will definitely be making another visit.

Let's start at A : A* for an excellent value, moerish bottle of Alvarinho. B for butter - easily enough in the ink risotto to slide a whole generation into oblivion. C for the unpleasant Crusts of the seafood fritto, not even at the pub. D for a Halibut as Dry and seared as a Symi hillside. E for Effective service that keeps it all together.

Booked via offer on thefork. Food is well made overall. Foie gras terrine, crab linguine and duck breast were the highlights of the meal. Bouillabaisse was slightly disappointing compared to the other dishes. It was a very good deal with thefork offer. It'll be on the expensive side without offer.

Food was ok, Service was really bad, not hospitable at all. Bottles of water were super dirty in addition to the bad experience 20% gratuity was automatically included. I really don’t know how they got a Michelin start back in 2018/2019. Are they even legit? I wouldn’t recommend this place if you are traveling to London.

Food was not on par with what was expected. The liver starter was prepared with little seasoning, the steak requested medium rare, came medium well. The seafood mains were underwhelming and starchy. Espresso was served room temperature and dessert was very basic. We had a 50% off from Fork, else it would be a 1* given the price. Very disappointing performance from the kitchen.

Our children gifted us this experience and wow wow. I had the Sea Bass ceviche, portion size was generous and flavours exploded into my memory something I’ll never forget. Main was fillet steak on a bed of spinach with a green peppercorn sauce. There was a dark purple almost black root vegetable that despite asking the you waiter I’m none the wiser on and beautifully baked sliced potato square. Again the portion size was ample and probably didn’t need the fries and steamed broccoli. However the Tarragon Crème Brûlée was a flavour combination that was to die for. There’s a great selection of wines that are reasonably priced. Congrats guys on a extraordinary meal.

Too bad the premises seems almost empty, but great food and wine.

Had a phenomenal dining experience here and would heavily recommend it to anyone looking for a good place to eat in West London!

Beautiful restaurant with amazing food and wines! Highly recommended ❤️

I have been going to Bandol since last summer, and it just gets better and better every time. The moment you walk through the door, you experience the warmest welcoming from Paul and the lovely bar staff, who show so much care and love towards their customers. The cocktails are some of the best I have ever tried, and the food is delicious. I went there for dinner with my two girlfriends yesterday, and we were once again just so well looked after by Paul from the moment we walked in. I highly recommend the steak tartare and risotto starter, followed by fillet steak and Confit Duck. I keep recommending Bandol to all my friends, but I just cannot recommend it enough! You need to try to find out how amazing it really is :) We are looking forward to our next visit!

I went there to celebrate my birthday and my high expectations about Bandol were satisfied. We had a great experience at this restaurant and in my honest opinion this is a hidden culinary gem. The atmosphere is very shic, the quality of food is excellent, all dishes are very delicious, the service is brilliant and for anyone who love French classic cuisine, cooked into high standard this is the place to visit. I have recommended Bandol to all of my friends and for this weekend I already made another booking for this brilliant restaurant. Thank you!

I highly recommend this place for who wants to feel like a star😉the food amazing, the staff very friendly and the interior design it makes you feeling great..

Great intimate restaurant off an unassuming street. The ambiance is chic and warm, with lovely interior design. All the food we had was amazing. I personally had the gnocchi to start, which was perfectly creamily but not overwhelming. For the main I had the fillet steak, which was cooked perfectly to my order (medium-rare). The staff were very friendly and kind throughout. The pricing was also on point. Highly recommend!!

Great French food - recommend the bouillabaisse in particular

We had dinner in this restaurant, I had high expectations, Michelin but without stars, now I understand why. The food is not at all 9 points as the reviews say, but simply sufficient. Risotto with calamari were overcooked, they were not al dente. Young boy waiter. very polite but with little experience, he handed us appetizer plates, dirty with fingerprints, without forgetting the dining room manager, not very present and attentive to his work, as a manager should do, he greeted us at the entrance and then disappeared. The only positive thing is that the place is elegant and far from the common noise of crowded places. We received a 50% discount thanks to the Fork booking, because otherwise the high prices would not be adequate for the service they offer.

Very satisfied, thank you very much, have a nice day 👍👋

First time in this restaurant i absolutely loved it! The atmosphere was very welcoming and me and my friend were looked after really well. The service was excellent, the food delicious ! Definitely will come back again :) Well done to the Manager and staff!

It was our second experience in Bandol without realizing it :) Even though the service is a little slow, the flavors are worth trying. Although it was a little cold when we first went, the environment warmed up later.

Slightly overrated. in a prime chelsea location but the food was nothing special, the table was sticky, the air smelled of a pub and service was akin to a fast food drive through. not worth £70pp.

Found this on 'net on list of French restaurants. But didn't think the selection of dishes reflected this. Portions were really small and price was really high! Exorbitant bill was probably only evidence of it being a real French restaurant. Tinny decor and unremarkable service didn't help either!

It’s a hidden gem 💎 this restaurant Had an excellent lunch

We had a wonderful evening at Bandol! The food was incredible and exceeded all expectations. One of the best tartares we have ever had! Another unexpected highlight was the beetroot salad - try it or you will regret it! The service was lovely and warm, knowledgeable and attentive. We highly recommend Bandol for an exceptional dining experience and will definitely be back!

Amazing delicious food. The place is classy and great for all occasions. The waiter Aziret was top service and made sure we enjoyed the evening. Highly recommended !

Come tutti i ristoranti di Londra anche qui sono in grado di rovinare tranquillamente un semplice pollo o filetto con le loro salse e salsine. La chevice...non commestibile

We loved our lunch at Bandol. The service was excellent and the food was absolutely delicious. We went for my mother’s 82nd birthday lunch and couldn’t fault a thing. Highly recommend it - especially for outstanding French cuisine. Thank you!

Really great menu, something for everyone but with imagination. The cocktails were also really delicious too and a good wine menu. We went as a large group on a Wednesday and the restaurant was pretty much empty, so I would say that if it hadn't been such a large group the restaurant could perhaps have been lacking in atmosphere. All in all a great evening out would definitely recommend!

As you walk in Bandol, you encounter the lovely voices of Aznavour and Edith Piaf! A trip to the South of France right in Chelsea. Food is truly fresh and delicious! The right portions, a balanced and seasonal menu and wonderful Bandol red wine. Always great for group Christmas gatherings or a romantic dinner a deux. Highly recommended!

Service was great with good recommendations, friendly and welcoming stuff, great wine on the glass. Highly recommend this place.

A pleasant surprise. Delicious food and the right attitude. Far better than any restaurant on the Cote d'Azur..

We had an incredible dinner at this restsurant. Delicious food, good service, nice atmosphere.

Very good service. The music and atmosphere is amazing. Recommend black ink risotto.

This was the best meal I had in London. The staff were warm and welcoming. They offered great recommendations and had wonderful wine by the glass options. Highly encourage everyone to try it out.

My wife and I went for the anniversary dinner on Saturday night, besides very friendly management of the restaurant, food was very good, nice atmosphere and good interior design.

Amazing food and great service.

WOW! delicious food!! really good wine - brilliant Maitre D!! Will be back xx

Absolutely tremendous! Food was some of the best we have had in long while, and generous portions while never being anything but elegant, subtle and sophisticated. The whole experience was fabulous. Can't recommend it enough. Contemporary french cuisine at it's best, and good value.

Very very large mark up on wines. Most restaurants in Hollwood Rd were fairly empty the day we went so they appear to have just jacked up the prices. Nothing special. N

Excellent food and service although a little pricey for a local restaurant.

Lovely Valentine’s date at this great restaurant. OMG food is absolutely delicious. Great atmosphere and very nice decoration inside. Staff are very welcoming and super friendly. HIGHLYYYY recommended 😊

The brunch food was beautiful (I had the avocado tartine), but our waitress was not great. She took coffee orders and then waited at least 20 minutes before delivering them and would not serve bottomless due to us being 8 people in spite of the policy of 6 max for bottomless not being advertised. We left dissatisfied.

Great food, good service recommended

Disappointing. Have been to abandon several times in the past but something has changed and it’s not fir the good. Atmosphere was more casual and down-market. Food was okay but my Octopus starter tasted like it was old and had been reheated. Most noticeable decline was in the service. Servers seemed to spend more time talking amongst themselves at the bar than looking after customers. I spent the entire meal with an empty wine glass looking for my waiter so I could ask for a drink..

Great experience, food and service was excellent, recommend the squid ink risotto, staff were also great 👍

Excellent fish and good atmosphere!

Great restaurant for a Sunday brunch! Lovely interior and good service and loved the bottomless French rose wine! Would recommend!

Wonderful restaurant with stylish decor. Fantastic food and drinks with delightful staff. Highly recommend it for an intimate dinner or a fun night out.

Hot damn! Delicious! Negronis, the scallops, the sauce, the pasta. This place does it right.

Bandol was so good we went twice, and the second time we brought friends. It’s located on a quiet block about a 10 minute walk from both the Earl’s Court and West Brompton tube station. There are 5-6 other restaurants and bars in the block and they all look pretty good. Over the course of two nights, we had the beetroot salad, foie gras terrine, bouillabaisse, duck breast, scallops and the black ink risotto. Service was excellent - helpful and friendly but not intrusive. Sit outside if it’s a nice evening. I highly recommend this restaurant.

Lovely restaurant in a beautiful neighborhood. Not super French (the waiters weren't French and the menu I suppose was French, but didn't seem truly authentic). We sat next to a very large crowd which was a bit unpleasant, and the place was quite empty, but we went on a Sunday evening. The wine list was nice, and there were beautiful decorations inside the restaurant. Nice, romantic spot.

Nice decoration and atmosphere, pretty casual for friends to hang out here. The appetizers are really amazing. I would say the fish dish is the highlight if this restaurant. However, the mains take so long to come out and they are not as good as the appetizers. Personally the overall food is 8/10 comparing to a decent price that I get. Even though the service is slightly slow, the waiters are very friendly.

Best place to have dinner, friendly helpful waiters especially Linda .sure will come back soon.

We had a lovely lunch last Saturday at Bandol. The foie gras starter and scallop mains were the stand out! We enjoyed the weather and the lovely outside seating area. Service was great, just a little slow with drinks but that certainly didn't spoil the occasion. Will definitely be back!

A great restaurant! Lovely food and atmosphere. Exquisite dishes beautifully plated served with very good service.

Perfection! Genuinely faultless - food, service, wine. A proper old-school French spot with subtle modern twists, a needle in the haystack!

Fabulous place, food, service, just excellent. ♥️☀️✅🌞

My partner Emily & I had dinner here last night and it was an overall exceptional experience. The staff were extremely knowledgeable and helpfully opinionated about the food (a balance of fresh and classic takes on Provençal French fare) and wine (small but curated list of wines by the glass - I didn’t look at bottles), and our orders were all fantastic. They balanced well attentiveness with respect for our privacy and went above and beyond typical service to the point of being genuinely hospitable and friendly. I only didn’t stay for a(nother) digestif and dessert because I was already full and because we stayed through last call. I wish I lived in London so I could be friends with this team!

We had a small wedding reception here for my daughters wedding and it was really superb. The food was absolutely top quality and the staff were very attentive and accomodating. It was a sunny day so it was lovely to have tables both inside and out on the street. Highly recommended.

Outstanding French restaurant. Fantastic service. Very friendly staff. Great cocktail & wine list. Phenomenal cuisine. Beautiful decor. A great location in Chelsea on the buzzing Hollywood Road. A foodies heaven.

Amazing service, very fresh and fantastic food, lovely cocktails. Great for outdoor dining in the Summer. Everything is very very good.

Delicious food - the grilled octopus entree is the best I've ever tasted. Good, professional, and welcoming service. They serve Gin Mare g&t's so that's a plus. A good find.

Bandol, the sister of Margaux (also excellent) is located behind the Fulham Road in the buzzing Hollywood Road. This French bistro is fabulous. The decor is stunning. The management and staff are very friendly and give a 5* service. The cocktail and wine list is fantastic, the cocktails are specifically good! The cuisine is often the charts and definitely lives up to its great reputation. The Bouillabaisse is a must! It's absolutely awesome. 100% recommended. A foodies paradise!

Excellent food and even better service! We were looked after the whole night by Emily, would definitely go again!

Really pretty restaurant and perfect for a date. The staff are friendly and efficient. Good negroni. Didn’t try any wines but the list was extensive and appeared well priced. The food was really tasty but It did not taste like it made to order. It seems to all be cooked earlier that day and heated up, which is expected for dauphinois and confit duck but not fillet steak…

We had a great dinner. Beautiful food, lovely staff. Definitely recommend

Great food, ambience and service. Well worth a visit.

Food was excellent and the staff friendly and attentive. Wouldn't hesitate to return if I was in the area. Competitively priced for West London.

Excellent. Really couldn't fault a thing. Food was lovely, service was great and the ambience fantastic.

La comida increíble. Uno d los mejores sitios q he comido. Cantidad y mucha calidad. El servicio de cinco estrellas. Un sitio para volver seguro.

We visited Bandol Saturday evening, the restaurant was full and I understand why. The food was amazing and the service superb. The staff is a great asset to the place, special thanks to the waitress and the manager who looked after us, both ladies were very friendly, attentive and professional. Thank you for a great evening.

My first visit to Bandol. The bouillabaisse is the best I ever tried. Service so attentive even though the restaurant was full. I never write reviews but this place really deserve it, we will be back.

We went here with high expectations and everything started well. We ordered drinks and our starers and mains. The starters came in good time and was good food, nicely presented. However, we then sat for over an hour waiting for our mains and it did not arrive. Worse, there was no explanation. We had to ask in the end - in fact we asked three times and were not given any indication of when the food would arrive. We were eventually told there were issues in the kitchen. The staff were polite but unable to help us. We eventually paid for the drinks, the starters being given as complimentary, and we left. We wondered why the restaurant was so empty with few diners on a match day lunchtime but, perhaps this is why. It's a shame as it's got a nice ambience and the starter was good. We were encouraged to return and we would be 'looked after' but no firm promise of discount etc was offered. With so many good restaurants in Hollywood Road it would be difficult for me to say I would return any time soon. What a pity.

Un resto très « à la française » ne serait ce que pr leurs plats peu français 😂. Sinon, le menu est original, parfaitement composé de plats tels que risotto noir ou steak tartar. L’ambiance sombre fait de ce petit resto un coin élégant où pouvoir déguster de bons vins (Chianti à ne pas manquer) et une nourriture excellente. Le personnel est très aimable et patient.

Delicious food but Thursday lunchtime was unsurprisingly very quiet so don't go at that time if you want a buzzy atmosphere!

Veey nice place and delicious food :)

Very good to impress your girlfriend but a bit expensive

Appalling service. My booking was cancelled by the restaurant 2h before we were meant to arrive. My card was charged £50 for cancellation that I didnt make, and I’ve called the restaurant 4 times now to get my refund and it still hasnt happened. Never going here

We were served my Mya who was consistent in verifying that we were comfortable and pleased with our dinner. My partner and I had some sharing plates for starters… our favorites were the ceviche, yellow fin tuna and salmon, beef tartare. I ordered the rack of lamb as my main but there was no lamb. One of the staff recommended beef which was not on the menu however turned out to be a good substitute. We had no drinks apart from water. After going to sister restaurant Margaux two days prior, we have to say we prefer this one.

Would have given a 2 star if the food weren't worth 4/5 star. The service was awkward - floor staff weren't well trained and capacity distribution was illogical. One staff was wearing his cologne so pungent that it affected the dining experience. Food was top quality however, so kudos to the kitchen crew. But again, not sure whether there was a miscommunication between the kitchen and the floor staff or something else, the food took very long to be served and when we got our food, it tastes like it has been sitting under the heat lamp for ages and missed the juiciest moment to enjoy the food.

The worst experience ever.... My partner and I wanted to try out a new restaurant in our neighbourhood so we decided to go to Bandol after seeing good reviews about the food. The photos of the place looked incredible so we said 'why not..' We arrived and our table wasn't ready so the wait started with 10 minutes at the entrance and supposedly the waitress was dressing our table. We got put in the corner by the fire exit, the table was not dressed, there was nothing. It took them 20 minutes after we asked for them to bring us a menu, the manager explicitly said to us that it was weird we managed to get a booking because they were understaffed and that basically we shouldn't have been able to book ( not my problem and not a thing to say to customer). We ordered, food arrived a while after, still no cutlery, my plate arrived 10 minutes before my partner's...food was delicious ans that's the only thing positive I am going to say. we again waited 20 minutes for someone to take away our plates after asking a waiter walking by if we could get the bill, no one asked how the food was we really felt treated like garbage. We then left the restaurant, they were supposedly rammed with work but as we walked out the management staff was 'chatting' with customers, no one said goodbye, nothing! I realised the next day that they had signalled on open table that we had not attend the booking so we avoid putting a bad review! Well I am glad I can, and can assure we will never go back to that place nor talk good about it! Food was really good but the service was so so poor and can literally ruin a whole experience! Thank god it wasn't an anniversary or birthday! I do not recommend that place at all!