I love living in London because it is such a cosmopolitan city. You never really feel like the foreigner. I have been meaning to put this article together for quite a while but I wanted to make sure I wasn’t forgetting anything. Here it is the top destinations for French foodies in Ealing, West London (W5 and W13). If you feel like I forgot something please do not hesitate to leave a message. I think you will appreciate it whether you are French in Ealing and you miss some little French food products or if you just like French food.

First things first, the baguette…. When you are in France, unless you are in a very remote area (and even then) it will take you less than 5 minutes to reach your closest bakery. Why? Because you need fresh bread every day! What a question, really J The bagette is a core element to French people diet. So much so that even French economists always look at the baguette price first when measuring inflation – I love it J

If you are in Ealing and you are on the lookout for a French baguette, I cannot recommend highly enough Tetote’s bagette but beware you often need to book it in advance because they sell really quickly, so call them before to avoid disappointment. I love the fact that you find your baguette in a Japanese bakery, this is so London-like, a giant melting pot. You will want to check out their other products too everything is delicious there.

Papillon is really nice little café on Northfields avenue with a wonderfully welcoming staff. It is a great place to go with or without the children. You can enjoy there a variety of things but they really know how to make their sauces so you will love their Croque-Madame and Croque-Monsieur with béchamel or even their Eggs Royale with hollandaise sauce.

Top destinations for French foodies in Ealing, West London (title)

We love our cheese, don’t we… Well in this Cheddar Deli they do to. Whether it is the owners or the shop assistants everybody is passionate about cheese. They have a beautiful section of French cheese (the British, Italian… ones are as delicious to be fair), some of my favourite being Comté and Raclette. They also offer wine pairing… if you have never enjoyed wine and cheese I would make sure to try port with cheese for a start actually, this Portuguese wine is perfect for wine cheese pairing initiation.

You don’t find beautiful French patisserie everywhere in London so it is really nice to see this Japanese Café offering some. What I love as well there is that you can find classic French patisserie as well as French patisserie with a Japanese twist such as a hint of wasabi here and there. I haven’t tried this one but from their website their quintessentially French patisserie piece would be their Mont Blanc “A whole candied chestnut enrobed in a light whipped cream and decorated with a rich, full flavoured marron cream sits atop an almond frangipane tart. Our marron cream is made from the tastiest Aubenas chestnuts in France.”

Mont Blanc - Wa Cafe

Photo Credit Wa Cafe

 

You can enjoy there a little glass of Kir Royale (here blanc de blancs brut with cassis cream) or a delicious Alsacian beer and go for a bistro classic such as moules frites (mussels cooked with white wine, garlic, shallots, parsley and fresh cream, served with French fries). You can bring the children there but you will like it for a quiet date night :-)

If you go opposite the counter in this crêperie, you will find a nice little selection of French grocery products which are harder to find in the UK such as Petits Beurres, BNs, Princes…

  • M&S Ealing Broadway (W5) for your French special treats

Next to the escalator, M&S as an area dedicated to foreign products: best of France, Italy, Spain, Greece…  You can find there plenty of little French treats such as mustard with cognac, salted caramel sauce, calissons…

I have added this patisserie following your comments on Facebook, yes there is another place every French foodies should know in Ealing and I only had a cafe once there! I need to go back! Apparently they even offer traditional bûche de noël (yule log) and galette des rois…. yum!

I have started putting together a Pinterest board of French things in London if you want to check it out too… Et voilà :-)

Follow Croque-Maman’s board France in London on Pinterest.

 

PS: Please note that I did not receive any kind of incentive to write this post.