The best restaurants serving French food in St Albans East of England

Just had a lovely business lunch at Cote St Albans. The restaurant has had a complete make over and reminds me of a typical French brasserie which is very welcome. We were served by a very professional, friendly and knowledgeable waiter called Nikhil. They were offering a good weekday offer on steaks, if you ordered two steaks you received a complimentary bottle of house wine! We ordered the cote de bœuf for two which was cooked medium rare to perfection, was full of flavour and very tender, it came with two sides of your choice and truffled Hollandaise, we upgraded our wine and had a very pleasant bottle of Merlot from the Languedoc region and they discounted the house wine from the bill total. The only very small complaint was that we had two bloody Mary’s, while they were very tasty unfortunately they did not have any Worcestershire sauce which was disappointing, however the manageress dealt with the matter brilliantly, not only did she take the cocktails off the bill but she also sent an email to head office asking if they could supply Worcestershire sauce to the branch. I seriously was not expecting her to do that and it was a very pleasant surprise. We will definitely be returning and I can only highly recommend the restaurant!

Such a disappointment. I ordered an afternoon tea as it was our wedding anniversary. When I paid for it over the phone I told the lady that thus was the case. When we came, no one mentioned it - just a shame. We were put in their empty restaurant - were not offered a different location, despite the crappy view of the car park. The restaurant Manager was polite enough but we felt, as no one else was there that they were embarrassed to come over. The sandwiches were nice although one was a bit dry. The scones felt like they had been warmed in an air fryer but were still quite fresh. The cakes were appalling- all seemed long-life and the red velvet was inedible. When we left we were not asked how it had been. I emailed a complaint when I got home. Got a holding response on the Monday morning then on Wednesday afternoon got an email from their Operations Manager that not only was not addressed to me by name but did not cover any of the issues I raised. His whole response was that we should have raised the issues when the Restaurant Manager asked us how it was. Other than him offering to top up our teapots we had no conversations with him so not sure what he was talking about. Such a real shame - this was meant to be a treat and turned into a bit of a disaster. I really hope that they learn to treat their paying customers better for the future

Fantastic from start to find, the chef/owner does everything from take your order to wash the dishes. Food is fresh and delightful, a must visit.

Fantastic eaterie. Very warm, friendly service. Very knowledgeable about Gluten intolerance and lactose intolerance/vegan options. That made choosing the food and what to drink so much easier. Thoroughly recommend for something a touch different.