Restaurants in Monaco/Nice/St. Tropez/Provence

[JudyB]

Thanks for the info folks. We'll definitely have a look at this restaurant.

The only problem that we had last year was in deciding which of the many interesting places to eat since there are so many to choose from!

[Busboy]

If you get up Gigondas way, I strongly recommend Les Florets (the link is mostly about the hotel, but has contact numbers) just outside of the village proper.

Perhaps the most delightful meal I've ever eaten. Should be even better if there's no heat wave this year.

[cigalechanta]

Busboy, we were there several tyears ago. One of the nicest terraces also.

[Duncan]

It is called 'le Jardin de Quai' and the phone number is 04.90.20.14.98

It is open for lunch and dinner (closed Tuesday & Wednesday). Lunch is 25 euros, dinner 35. In an otherwise gastronomic wasteland of a town, it is a great spot. Food is fresh and changes daily, service is friendly and good, the garden setting is pretty but relaxed. People drive from quite a distance to eat here, based on the chef's reputation.

Would like to hear others' experiences...

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Judy and I found the restaurant (its opposite the station), but disappointingly it doesn't seem to have any kind of menu on display outside (at least none we could find). We like to have some idea of the style of food a restaurant serves and with so many other great restaurants to choose from in the area we didn't make the effort to book and return later.

Maybe next time.

[cigalechanta]

Duncan, I have eaten twice at the jarden, the menu changes and I think I had stuffed squash flowers the last time(a favorite dish of mine)

[John Talbott]

For those wishing a book specifically focused on restaurants in Provence/Cote d'Azur, the new Guide Gantie is just out, ed. Michel Laffon, 22 E but the interesting news is that this year there is a web-version that's every bit as informative, if not more so, than that of the viaMichelin site.

[TarteTatin]

We're looking to base ourselves in a waterfront town with good food in close by villages...

Have booked a flight- the middle of January.

(yes, we always go when it's really cold and lots of places are closed. Unfortunately, it's the easiest time for us to get away)

Suggestions on where to base? I've read this whole thread, and lots of places sound like they are pretty and have good food. Food, of course, is the basis of our trips...

We don't want to venture up to Provence, have been there a few times, but not to the south-east coast.

We're open to anywhere between Marseille and Italy. Or, even an island??

[John Whiting]

...there is a web-version ...

For me, it draws a blank. Is this it?

In the Nice list, I was happy to see my old favorite Acchiardo at the top (for alphabetical reasons).

Edited May 28, 2007 by John Whiting (log)

[patrick]

For those wishing a book specifically focused on restaurants in Provence/Cote d'Azur, the new Guide Gantie is just out, ed. Michel Laffon, 22 E but the interesting news is that this year there is a web-version that's every bit as informative, if not more so, than that of the viaMichelin site.

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I have always found the Guide Gantie to be very informative and on the money.

Have any egullet members eaten at La Chevre d'or yet this season. I believe i am correct in saying that it is in the espoir category as a rising 3 star restaurant now. We are honeymooning there next month and are interested to hear any current recommendations.

Linked to this, has anyone dined at Le Mas Provencal in Eze Village recently. Is it worth a trip?

[patrick]

Just returned from honeymoon which included a stay at La Chevre d'Or in Eze Village. I have listed our menu below out of interest, but in no way would i recommend the restaurant to anybody. To sum up, the service was pretentious in the extreme, unfriendly, uninformative and plain rude at times. The food was over complicated, overly sweet in every course and showed no respect to the quality of the raw ingredients. The fact that the restaurant is tipped for the 3rd star beggars belief. The experience was not a patch on previous visits. The cost of the meal represented no value whatsoever and i believe they are living on past reputation.

Amuse

Gambas with crunchy provencal vegetables and basil

The gambas still had a large amount of tract present. The vegetables were overcooked and the bouillon bland and uninspiring.

Terrine of Foie Gras with chutney of strawberry and rhubarb, marmalade of wild strawberries and rhubarb, lolly pops of wild strawberries and foam of balsamic vinegar.

The foie may have been superb, but it was impossible to tell due to the sweetness of the garnish. The quality of the berries had been lost also because of excess sugar and balsamic. The marmalade and chutney were too similar to warrant their presence on the plate.

Shellfish and Crustaceans in a broth flavoured with almond, green butter and lemon fettucini.

This was served in a bowl of about 20cm in diameter. The entire bowl was covered in almond flavoured foam which stood about 10cm high. I have never seen anything so bizarre. The almond also tasted very artificial. The shellfish and crustaceans varied from ok (langoustine) to inedible and tough (clams, razors). The green butter sauce was very salty and the lemon fettucini overcooked.

Milk-fed veal fillet larded with lemon balm and liquorice; ravioli of wild mushrooms; veal juice flavoured with liquorice; veal sweetbread; jelly of liquorice and confit onions.

The ravioli of mushrooms was great. The rest a mish mash of bland, uninteresting components consisting of overcooked veal with no hint of liquorice or lemon balm, sticky and sweet juice, cubes of bland jelly and an overcooked, soggy sweetbread.

The whole presntation was served on 4 plates which did nothing to heighten the eating experience.

Cheese

The cheeses themselves were great, including Chaource, Tomme de Savoie, P.P. l'eveque and some local crottin. The service was awful with no explanations offered.

Red and black fruits

Iced ball of meringue with wild strawberries flavoured with lemon

Blackberries with lemon yogurt sorbet

Raspberry sorbet flavoured with popping lemon sugar

The ball of meringue was a feat of culinary wizardry. The was served on the main dessert plate. Around this, several other plates of the blackberries, sorbet, lolly pops, tuiles and strawberries were presented. The iced ball of meringue was sufficient enough for a dessert with the rest of the dessert seeming to have no real connection.

This may sound harsh, but having eating in 3 star restaurants in England and Spain either side of the Chevre d'Or, i cannot possibly see how it merits the 3rd star.

In contrast and on a positive note, we went to the African Queen in Beaulieu-sur-mer the night after, and as always, the service was friendly, the food good and it represented mush better value for money. The African Queen also still has the great ambiance.

[Jean Blanchard]

Of the six restaurants listed for Arles in the Guide Gantie, has anyone eaten at any of them? We will be visiting Arles one day for our trip to Provence and would like a place for lunch that is not too, for lack of a better word, "fussy."

[Tarek]

Of the six restaurants listed for Arles in the Guide Gantie, has anyone eaten at any of them?  We will be visiting Arles one day for our trip to Provence and would like a place for lunch that is not too, for lack of a better word, "fussy."

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I would strongly suggest Rabanel's atelier, single menu of small plates.

Lunch is twelve plates, and twenty for dinner and they will pair it with wine if you wish

Nothing short of phenomenal

Tarek

[tjdnewyork]

I'm wondering if anyone can suggest some good value French and/or Italian restaurants that would be quick taxi rides from Monaco or perhaps in Monaco itself. I found one rec for La Saliere in an earlier post, which sounds good, but most of the other posts on Monaco focus, of course, on the fancy places there. I read a NY Times article which seemed to have some good suggestions--can anyone confirm these are worth visiting?

Here's the ones Mark Bittman suggested in the article:

Calypso, 2 Quai Amiral Courbet, Villefranche-sur-Mer; 93-01-96-73 ; 40 euros.

Bistrot Loumiri, Avenue du Jardin Exotique, Eze; 93-41-16-42; the prix fixe menus are 16 and 24 euros.

Carnival, 29, quai de Monléon, Menton; 93-35-99-95; 25 euros.

Le Picadilly, 16, avenue François de Monléon, Roquebrune; 93-35-87-16; the daily prix fixe menu is 18.50 euros, with a quarter-liter of wine.

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Corinna Dunne]

Does anyone have any recommendations for St Tropez in March (specifically there, and not somewhere within driving distance)? Mid-priced restaurants are of most interest. All responses appreciated