About Provender Cafe Bistro
Out in the wilds of Wanstead, there lies a little corner of the Cote d’Azur, a department of the Dordogne, and if you whisper it quietly, a petit part of Paris. Provender Cafe Bistro on the High Street is a brasserie of some renown, and has been letting them eat steak for a good few years, backing it up with the traditional frites. Their menu encompasses the best that French cuisine has to offer, with little sap to English tastes: the cheese, wine, meats and pretty much everything else are from l’Hexagone. OK, so they do do fish and chips, or, as they call it, poisson a l’Anglaise.
Opening Hours
- Monday 12:00 - 22:00
- Tuesday 12:00 - 22:00
- Wednesday 12:00 - 22:00
- Thursday 12:00 - 22:00
- Friday 12:00 - 23:00
- Saturday 09:30 - 23:00
- Sunday 09:30 - 21:00
Further Information
The relationship between England and France has been, at best, complicated. They invade us and build us a culture, we laugh at their waiters. We burn Joan of Arc, they provide half the Arsenal team. It’s tit for tat. One place trying to revive the entente cordiale in London is Provender Cafe Bistro on the High Street in Wanstead, where the menu is packed with French classics that even the most hardened rosbif can enjoy, from steak frites to chevre chaud.
Provender Cafe Bistro provides a fully French dining experience to the public of East London, so when you get down to Wanstead High Street, don’t delay in ordering. Aperitifs – washed down with lashings of pastis where possible – include a real garlic bread, fresh baked to order, so grab one between your group to be getting on with. For starters, escargots are an option, but we might plump for the charcuterie selection, which is imported directly from France. Mains are extensive, but the steak tartare is always a fleshy favourite. In fact, the biggest question facing you at Provender Cafe Bistro is where to sit – no Parisian layered tables here – so take away the discussion by booking in advance! Bon Appetit!
175 Reviews
Amazing food and service. I had The Croque Monsieur and they were able to make it gluten Free for me plus the staff were helpful with accommodating my baby's pram.
Buzzing atmosphere on a Monday lunchtime. Great service and divine food. Our group dines here regularly as nowhere else matches up to the Provender's excellent standard!
Fantastic Food, Fantastic Service and great ambience... The Manager/Owner and his staff make you feel just as important as the local French Patrions in France. Thank God for a restaurant with a difference... Love it.. Aussieray
Really excellent meal - shared starter outstanding and fillet steak perhaps the best I have ever had in a restaurant. Double chocolate dessert a wicked treat!
Visited Provender with a friend for the first time for dinner on 5th January, recommended to me by friends of mine. We were not disappointed! The service was pleasant and efficient and the food excellent. We enjoyed the 'fixed price' menu where there was a good choice and thoroughly enjoyed all three courses. We were surprised as to how full the restaurant quickly became, for a Thursday evening, and it is essential to book a table. I shall definitely return!
On arriving, we found our reservation via the website had not come through to the restaurant. However they found us a table and we had a most enjoyable evening. During our meal, the manager came to say our booking had just arrived! The staff were attentive and polite. The food was delicious although the tarte tatin was a very generous portion and too much after 2 previous courses. We would definitely return for a most enjoyable French experience.
A now well-established restaurant in Wanstead which has maintained very high standards over the years.Good service and some truly excellent dishes. Prix Fixe menu very good value, wines well priced and altogether a great place to eat. The only suggestion I would make is that, if like, me you eat there quite a lot, some 'specials' or new items for the menu would be good. I have eaten my way through most of it!
My most recent visit was with my wife and a friend at Friday lunchtime. The restaurant was largely full, but the service was as excellent as ever: no irritating waits but no pressure. The food and wine at Provender are always excellent. I chose goat's cheese, moules frites and trifle and I would happily recommend all of them. Overall, a very satisfying experience as usual. We shall be back (yet again!)
Very nice French restaurant. Lots of staff and very good service. Prices were fairly reasonable. We visited on Saturday night and I would say that the majority of the clients were regulars. Good menu. The food was well cooked and we'll presented. We ordered from the a la carte menu but when we visit again we will try the prix fixé menu. Would recommend making reservations before visiting.
A truly superb dining experience, with exquisitely balanced flavours attractively served by most courteous people. With an excellent range of menu choice, it was easy to select the perfect dishes to suit each of us - of course, we each envied the other's choices, but then there is always next time (and there will be). Many thanks to all the team at Provender for a wonderful evening.
Great food at reasonable prices. Very French. However, it was not made clear to me that one item I ordered was not on the prix fixe menu, from which I was choosing, resulting in a surprising bill. The patron was not very keen to apologise but finally did. A better way would have been to apologise and offer a reduction in the bill, thus guaranteeing a return. I liked the food and I will return but with reservations.
We love Provender. The garlic bread is always excellent, saturated with delicious herby butter. We had a very cheap but delicious bottle of white wine and one of us had the very good value prix fixed menu, one a la carte. The creme caramel stood out for me. My husband's fish of the day, trout, was also excellent. We will definitely be back soon.
Our first visit but it won't be the last. It was a birthday treat so we splashed out but it was still good value. Lovely food, attentive but friendly service. Good acoustics -which is something rare now- so we didn't have to shout at each other! The fixed price menu looks like exceptionally good value with a good choice of food.
We always enjoy Provender whether for brunch or dinner. Lovely food, wine and service. Probably the best place to dine in Wanstead. (Only annoying part of leaving this review is that Quandoo doesn't accept fewer than 25 words. Ridiculous. Almost couldn't be bothered and this will be the last time I review anything with Quandoo again 😖)
We visited the restaurant on a very busy Saturday evening.That being said we had excellent attentive service. There was a very good varied menu and the food was perfectly cooked.The wine list was extensive and the 2 wines we had were of a high quality. Atmosphere was excellent although seating a trifle cramped and the decor somewhat unimaginative. Overall an excellent dining experience at a very reasonable price.
Welcomed warmly and at request seating re- arranged without question. The food was beautifully presented and quite delicious - from the seafood starter to the main where my steak was perfectly cooked, to the trifle, which was absolutely divine. Service was attentive, the waiting staff seemed pleased and proud to present the food to us. Always happy to go back to Provender.
We booked for valentines day and the experience was lovely. My only gripes were that they only had a rather expensive set menu which wasn't mentioned on the website when I booked and they brought the amuse bouche to the table even before my partner arrived meaning it was cold for her. Apart from that the dinner, setting and service was lovely.
Excellent as always. Great food with good service. Didn't feel rushed at all. New Menu since thehe last time we went but still some of my favourites and some new ones as well. The choice of coffee or tea with a selection of mini desserts is now my favourite. Menu
How good is this place? So good that you have to reserve a table on a Monday evening! So good too that even my partner, who is not a foodie (for him food is fuel), noticed how good the food is. Go, go, go! (But leave me a table.)
An authentic French restaurant with excellent food and wine and friendly service. The set lunch menu offers a small but adequate range of fairly simple dishes which provide a delicious meal just right for the middle of the day. Watch out for the celeriac remoulade, which often comes as part of one of the starters and is delicious.