Nous aimons The French Café! Balham just got its own little corner of Paris right on the Ritherdon Road. Marked by a striped awning, patio area and glass frontage The French Café fills one with a sense of calm before you even step through the door. Inside the very Parisian décor is given a wry British twist; tiled walls announcing ‘tea, breakfast, lunch, dinner, coffee’ sit well alongside old French advertising posters and specials scribbled in neat cursive on blackboards. Likewise, whilst during the day The French Café’s lively bustle centres around simple breakfasts – the full English for one – and lunches – traditional steak frites, when evening comes the chicer side takes over as the Totterdown crowd take their seats for the more sophisticated but nonetheless traditional French offerings of boeuf bourguignon and cromesquis of salmon and coquilles St Jacques.