French Living in Nottingham

the very best French bistro in nottingham

Thank you for a lovely lunch and looking after the needs of our family (from 2 to 63 years of age) :)

A regular lunch menu - seasonal plat de jour - typically French dishes - Nottingham is lucky to have this independent gem in the city centre - highly recommended

A very authentic French restaurant. The service is excellent and the meals are fantastic. It’s Nottingham’s French culinary secret!

We just love everything about this place and it is our ‘go to’ place when in the City…….fabulous!

10/10 as always, lovely ambience and friendly welcome. Service excellent, very knowledgeable about the menu. Fabulous food. We’ve been for lunch and dinner many times and we keep coming back as it’s just so good! Tartiflette was superb 🥰

Food was excellent as usual, service was first class and ambience wonderful

We enjoyed the early evening menu - always great value. It's a genuine French eating and drinking experience in the heart of Nottingham. We've eaten there often since the restaurant opened and we're always happy to return.

Wonderful fresh authentic home cooked food.

We are both French and love good French cooking. French Living is our absolute favorite. It's always a great experience, with perfectly cooked starters, mains and desserts and really good French wines. A little corner of France right in the heart of Nottingham!

Magnificent food, especially the mussels starter. Took great care that I could access the table in my wheelchair. Lovely experience

Very tasty French cuisine in a bistro atmosphere.

Fabulous - just like being in the Loire valley but with friendliness from the owners. Experienced French chef. Lamb Cutlets gorgeous as always, and a great pear and Gorgonzola salad to start.

Lots of choice on the menu du jour and I chose chicken in a tarragon sauce while my partner chose the steak. Meal took a while to arrive but you'd expect that of a freshly cooked meal and it was delicious. Then I cut into a thicker part of the chicken breast and it was raw! Told a member of staff and she took it away along with the steak to keep warm. The same chicken was returned cooked this time. Not a great experience.

My granddaughter and I had lunch today - as always the food was delicious, the service impeccable and the atmosphere delightful.

Enjoyed a lovely meal here on Saturday Night. Delicious food, excellent wine and very good service.

Excellent value lunch . Great food and service

Reserved after reading reviews on trip advisor. Small place, no set menu, you have to read whats written on black board, limited menu. Bread served with no olive oil or balsamic vinegar. Did not ask how the meat should be cooked, choice was so limited, my wife had to eat somewhere else after the dinner. For £100, hardly any decent food + wine. Bit disappointed.

Reserved after reading reviews on trip advisor. Small place, no set menu, you have to read whats written on black board, limited menu. Bread served with no olive oil or balsamic vinegar. Did not ask how the meat should be cooked, choice was so limited, my wife had to eat somewhere else after the dinner. But disappointed.

Excellent value fixed price lunch menu. Classic French cuisine.

Excellent food in a lovely casual setting. House wine was super too. I’m a slow eater so I would prefer a warm plate to keep my meal hot longer but this is a minor point.

Another lovely pre-theatre dinner. Friendly staff, calm ambiance and feel of a small French restaurant. Starters of goats cheese tart and chefs pork terrine were tasty as were the onglet steak and chicken cordon bleu with pomme frit. Helped down with a glass of house white wine. A great start to our evening.

Excellent food in an authentic setting. Good service and an ideal place for a pre theatre meal.

Another brilliant night at French Living, great atmosphere, the team are friendly and helped make it a great night and as usual,.the food was exceptional. Can't wait to come back.

Dined herewith friends before attending the theatre . The food was tasty and well cooked and, at £30 for three courses, was very good value. The red wine sauce with the steak and fries was delicious. The staff were friendly and efficient.

Gorgeous food, environment and service as usual. Always a pleasure.

It's an exceptional place and a credit to the whole team. Keep it up!

Love this restaurant, food was delicious and staff so friendly and fun, as ever.

Great independent restaurant, lovely staff and very knowledgeable about the dishes they serve , lovely food. Very authentic .

We had a lovely quiet lunch service and food perfect.

Always superb and authentic thank you!

Venison was superb, staff were very friendly and engaging but it took over an hour for us to be served our first course which felt a bit too long.

Lovely food. Great service. Nice to find a typically French restaurant in the middle of Nottingham. We will return.

Fantastic French food. Great place x

A little piece of France in Nottingham 🇨🇵 The welcome, the service, the decorations, the music (and above all) the dishes are excellent! Keep it on guys!

A big thank you to the FL team for a great lunch today, consistently good food with a good varying daily menu and a wider selection available via the seasonal menu

A genuinely French restaurant. our meal was excellent as always.

Eating at French Living has always been a very enjoyable experience for me, whether with a small or larger group. There is no other place like it in Nottingham. It offers a very good choice of dishes and wines, the food looks like and tastes like authentic French food. Staff are very friendly and eager to please and advise......Some very happy to speak in French! The atmosphere is relaxed, with music (mostly French) playing in the background at just the right level, which doesn't stop you having a conversation. Thoroughly recommend it as a special treat!

We ate the couscous themed three course meal, so we did not have dishes from the normal a la carte menu. It was exquisite! One item I can recommend for dessert lovers is the sorbet. This was a very creamy and sweet dish. I am accustomed to much sharper versions. I will be awaiting news of the next themed evening with much interest!

Love this little place! Took my partner here for her birthday meal and they were very attentive, the restaurant looks like you're in France, and the food was great. I put a birthday request for my girlfriend on the booking details and they surprised us both. Definitely going again!

I am still not sure if I like couscous .... if I did, I am sure I would give it five stars!!! French Living is really an exceptional place to eat

We've been several times after a friend recommended French Living It's a lovely place and always worth booking a table.

Very enjoyable evening - as always.

Excellent food, highly recommend Can’t wait to come back again

Lovely place to eat and drink. Food always delicious and particularly love the variety of vegetables accompaniments.

A surprising quaint French restaurant tucked away near the city center. The blackboard boasts a wonderful array of interesting foods. The escargots were delicious and piping hot. For mains, I had the haddock cooked two ways with squid ink and tiny relishes sprinkled about the dish. My dining companion had the monkfish with scallops. The food was fresh and zesty. I liked the little touches of French living throughout the restaurant including an address in French, colorful striped table cloths and interesting wicket basket lamps. It gave the place a certain joie de vivre which I appreciated. I finished dinner with the magnificent crème brûlée. What a lovely restaurant.

After many months visiting Nottingham and its many restaurants, I came across French Living and it is now my go-to place. The ambience, the food, the father and son staff, just everything was more than I could have expected. I started with a pastis of course and a carafe of their wonderful house rose, followed by steak frites and a marvellous crème brule of course. An expresso and a couple of Calvados to finish (the second glass on the house, courtesy of le patron) and in between courses, some casual conversation. I eat upstairs in the bar area as that felt very intimate, there's dividing wall between the bar and the main dining room, so solo eaters like me don't feel so conspicuous and also a larger dining area in the basement which looks really nice. Overall, a wonderful dining experience that I would recommend to anyone. If you want genuine French food and ambience, avoid the chain 'French' bistros and come here for the real thing.

We have been enjoying the wonderful French bistro French Living for many years. As confirmed francophiles, we love the authentic experience and focus on eating well in a pleasant atmosphere. Heartily recommended whether it be for a special occasion or a relaxed midweek lunch

4 of us came for lunch and all had 3 courses including both menu's. We were all impressed with every course and would happily return. Including the service and atmosphere a fabulous place to dine in Nottingham for a French dining experience .

My wife uses French Living on a regular basis for a good number of years and highly recommends it.

First time visit very impressed menu very well explained will definitely be back value for money

Excellent food and service as always!

Absolutely fab as always. Excellent wine choice and always feels excellent value. So friendly .

Beautiful quirky little place. The seating is lovely and staff are very friendly and very helpful and have a good sense of humour too. The food was delicious, a great varied choice to pick from on the menu. 10/10, thank you!

The perfect place to celebrate a graduation. The 2 course meal was excellent value and the tastiest meal we’ve enjoyed in Nottingham. It was a lovely atmosphere too - could have stayed there the whole afternoon.

As always, French Living serves delicious, authentic and reasonably-priced French food. One of my favourite restaurants.

Have been to French Living twice in a week after a long time since COVID. really loved this very French restaurant. lovely food, service is indeed very good. highly recommend.

Cute little place Well cooked food. Portions aren't big, but depends on your appetite, worth a visit. Good for a pre-theatre dinner You are looking at around £50 for 2 main courses and 2 drinks.

The food and the presentation are fabulous! I ordered the lamb chops, which looked and tasted excellent! I also loved the Crème Brûlée. Service was also good. Two things we didn't like so much: Although we had booked well in advance, we were seated at a window table right behind the entrance, with a step right next to our small table. So it felt a bit "squeezed". That table might be suitable for a single dinner, but too tight for two. Secondly, the absence of a paper menu. Reading the menu board on the wall turned out to be a bit of a challenge. As shortly after we had arrived, the guests at the table next to us (located between us and the wall with the menu board) turned up. So they actually had to get up from their chairs to read the board on the wall, in order not to twist their necks, but in the process then blocked our view of the board... We felt that was not ideal, as browsing the menu should be a relaxing affair. And this wasn't. Neither for them nor for us.

The food and the presentation are fabulous! I ordered the lamb chops, which looked and tasted excellent! I also loved the Crème Brûlée. Service was also good. Two things we didn't like so much: Although we had booked well in advance, we were seated at a window table right behind the entrance, with a step right next to our small table. So it felt a bit "squeezed". That table might be suitable for a single dinner, but too tight for two. Secondly, the absence of a paper menu. Reading the menu board on the wall turned out to be a bit of a challenge. As shortly after we had arrived, the guests at the table next to us (located between us and the wall with the menu board) turned up. So they actually had to get up from their chairs to read the board on the wall, in order not to twist their necks, but in the process then blocked our view of the board... We felt that was not ideal, as browsing the menu should be a relaxing affair. And this wasn't. Neither for them nor for us.

Excellent lunch menu and chicken liver starter,excellent.

Never had a poor meal and I have been many times over many years. Always good.

I had the Venison, probably the best Venison dish I have ever had.

Fab. Great experience. I’m coeliac do need to eat gluten free. Nothing too much trouble. I had the cheese and some g/f biscuits would have been nice. Other than that thoroughly recommend

Very good food, friendly attitude, and patient staff. Have a very good lunch time with friends. The steak is very delicious even though it just cost £18

Lovely to be back! My guest was very impressed and we were both delighted that all aspects continue to please.

Excellent food in this quintessentially French restaurant. Good service and atmosphere.

A gem of a place! Had some excellent food and the house wine is amazing.. dreamy creme brulée!

Always a great meal, excellent wines and friendly helpful staff!

The food is unbelievably good. Must go more! Perfectly french. The saltfish and goats cheese starters were divine. We had the pork with dauphinoise potatoes and ratatouille. Totally recommend these.

A wonderful authentic little piece of France. Great friendly service, not at all rushed. The quality and taste of the food is superb. A real treat. This is a place where you can be confident to order the house wine and not compromise on quality. The cider was also good. Only slight negative, I don’t find the seating too comfortable but I appreciate the chairs suit the style of the venue. We will be back.

Lovely balanced plates of food. Friendly service. True french style.

When I first arrived my friends were already seated with drinks. I sat down and although the owner was sat behind the bar I wasn’t asked if I would like a drink so in the end I asked for one. I asked for a glass of dry white, preferably a Chardonnay to which he replied ‘our Chardonnay is stronger than most, it comes from the mountain, I don’t think you’ll like it, would you like the house wine!’ We were seated by the wedged open door and it was a cold evening so I asked if we could sit round the corner as we were cold. ‘Why don’t you close the door’ he said then got up to close it. I said I felt I couldn’t just get up and close it that would be rude. We asked for butter to go with the lovely but dry bread and were brought the smallest piece you’ve ever seen between four of us! The meal was truly average but nobody asked us if everything was ok and nobody asked us if we would like more drinks and when I asked for the salt he said of course but all the food is seasoned you know. The dessert was lovely and the female waitress was also lovely but he even had a dig at her as she was asking us if we knew what a Tuile was and as he was walking past he said to her ‘of course they know what it is’. We all felt that we were most unwelcome and not valued as customers and I know this review will be dismissed as unreasonable by the proprietors wife because I looked over the reviews and not once does she apologise or any wrong. I won’t be returning, not necessarily because of the food but because of the socially inept person that did little to make us feel welcome.

Shame no table menus to browse sitting down, they are on boards now. My terrine was dry. It tasted like a thin slice of cold stuffing. My steak should have been rare and was well done. It was probably someone elses. The chips were very dark brown and over cooked. Not up to usual standard.

Excellent, as always. Full menu of great food, high end house wine, friendly and efficient service. Can't fault the place, can't wait to get back.

Great pre-theatre lunch. 2 course was delicious and the manager and team are great

Great venue for a birthday celebration. Food, service and ambiance excellent. Thoroughly enjoyed the occasion

Another wonderful meal with great service. Our go to place. Xx

We ate off the pre-theatre menu. A good selection at reasonable prices. The wine list has plenty to choose from, particularly from the French regions. For example, a Carignan from Corbieres at just over £30 accompanied our steak and Toulouse Sausage mains admirably! The service is friendly and informal.

Pre-theatre dinner with family. Choosing a dish for each course was a challenge with such a great menu, it’s not over complicated and I think its simplicity is what makes it so good. Other tables were asking us what our dishes were as they all looked great and the flavours were too.

Fantastic food and atmosphere. Highly recommend!

We had a lovely pre-theatre lunch, proper French food that is delicious. House wine very nice. I felt like I was in France, especially as many French speakers were eating in there too. I had the buckwheat galette with ratatouille- it was lovely and perfectly flavoured. Service was friendly and nice and relaxed. Will definitely be back! The pear tart was amazing!

Once again the food and service were excellent. Nottingham is lucky to have you.

Exactly what a French restaurant should be

Wow, I got have to say the food was fantastic, as you can see the presentation very delicate. The staff are very friendly, know their wines too. So if you are in town go and see for yourself. Pricing good even the bill came in the book in my picture thanks French Living a truly delicious meal we shall be back M&J

Lovely restaurant. We’ve eaten here quite a few times and always enjoyed it.

Excellent as usual. Good food, nice ambience - great place to meet up with an old friend.

A welcome return to Nottinghams very own little piece of France. Food was as brilliant as I remembered, the atmosphere relaxed, the wine excellent if a little different to what I usually go for. Service was unhurried but excellent, if you want the meal to be the reason your out for the evening I cannot recommend this place highly enough.

If you ever went to Petit Paris before it closed, this place is similar although sadly not as good. Service was a bit lackluster, food was all right but a bit basic especially for the price

Love it here, quiet, friendly without being intrusive and wonderful food.

My wife had the merguez salad and omelette, and later that evening suffered sickness & diarrhoea.

We dined at French Living to celebrate my Husband's birthday. A thoroughly enjoyable experience with the most delicious food. Halibut, Lamb and Venison were chosen for our main courses and I had the most flavoursome Tarte Provencal to start with. Thank you, French Living for a fabulous evening. Jane

Excellent lunch and service. Introduced two of our grandchildren to french cooking

It was like walking into a restaurant in France, warm ambience, excellent welcome.Superb food served very quickly. We will go again.

This is a wonderful restaurant with excellent food and service. Highly recommend a visit if you're in Nottingham.

Very French. A bit shabby chic. Lovely food and good service. Will return.

Authentic French food, great atmosphere, an absolute gem.

Early supper with a friend so had the pre theatre menu. My fish dish was delicious, especially the vegetables. I would love to know how to make cabbage so tasty. It wasn’t busy and it was a little cold but the food and service ore than compensated.

Ordered a cheese omelette, rather tasty if you ask me… 😛💪 Refreshing meal.

Three of us had a very enjoyable lunch at FL this week. 2 starters (pate) and 3 mains (steak and frites) plus 2 bottles of house red and a bottle of tap water. Everything, the food, the wine, the service, was excellent. Well done to all at FL.