| Acchiardo At the bottom of Rue Droite (ie the end nearest the sea) in the old town. Lots of Nicois character and cheap. The house “vin rouge/rose” and the food are quite good. It’s recommended in lots of guide books. Zucca Magico (Magic Pumpkin) On Quai Papacino, the far side of the port. Small place with orange awning outside. Vegetarian restaurant where you have 5 courses for 25 Euros. There is no menu: you get what Marco the chef has chosen to prepare. Some wonderful dishes: Mushroom Fougasse, Polenta with Leeks, Melon with Limoncello liqeur and cumin seeds, cold minestrone soup. The asparagus cannelloni with lemon cream sauce is to die for! One course is usually pasta and you need to like cheese as he uses it a lot. Wine is also reasonable: a carafe of house wine (half litre) is 8 euros. They have an interesting petillant (slightly sparkling) Chardonnay for 19 euros a bottle. Very recommended even if, like us, you aren’t vegetarian. This is possibly our favourite! ONLY GO HERE WHEN YOU ARE HUNGRY! Lunch (April 2004) was four courses and pudding for 17 euros. I felt pretty stuffed afterwards but it was worth it! Le Lazaret At the sea end of Boulevard Stalingrad so it’s near the flat. Always packed with locals. A good place for cheap but tasty pasta and atmosphere. To get to it, go down the windy path opposite the flat and turn right on seafront. At end of seafront, road becomes B Stalingrad and Le Lazaret is on your right. Escalinada Restaurant with candlelit terrace in old town (just along from Place Garibaldi). Good for meat dishes: lovely rabbit in garlic sauce although there are fish dishes too. Wide menu, free glasss of Kir and piece of pissaladiere as appetiser. We had free glass of grappa to finish – only for the strong! House speciality is “Testicules de Mouton” but neither of us has been brave enough to try them yet! Le Table Alziari Next to Escalinada and recommended in many guide books for real Nicois cooking and good service! Advisable to book! Friends who stayed at the flat, ate here every night! Cours Salaya Has lots of restaurants and bags of atmosphere for outside dining. For good fish and oysters we like “Pecherie Saleya”. Most places have good tourist menus at reasonable prices but watch the wine prices! For instance in July 2005, at the place next door to Pecherie Salaya I had oysters then monkfish in a wonderful cream and peppercorn sauce and chocolate mousse for 17.5 euros but beware - the house wine was 21 euros a bottle! Taverne Alsacienne A favourite for the winter months. From Place Garibaldi: if you walk under the Modern Art Museum arch and keep going straight ahead, you will reach Rue de L’Hotel des Postes. Turn left and on your left hand side you will come to Taverne Alsacienne. Excellent value lunches! It’s usually packed with locals having their two – hour lunch breaks. If you choose the charcuterie starter, you get a huge selection from which you can eat as much as you like with cornichons (pickled gherkins) and crusty bread – mains are good too. In this area are lots of small restaurants off the tourist track offering amazing three course lunches or plat de jour for very reasonable prices. Recommended for genuine Nicois atmosphere and hardly any tourists! La Reserve This is wonderful for lunch in summer. There’s a set menu of three courses and a quarter litre of wine for 17.5 euros. The first course is buffet style – eat as much as you like then set main course and about 5 choices for dessert. Food is good and you can sit inside or out, perched over the sea – spectacular views of the sun dancing on the waves! The road to the flat is on the right, just behind the trees opposite the restaurant so very handy. Casa Mia A new find! My housekeeper Thelma introduced me to this one in October 2005. It’s tucked behind St Reparata’s Cathedral in Old Nice (4 Rue du Pontin) or walk up from Palais de Justice along Rue du Marche and it’s on the left hand side of the third street on the right. Open everyday except Wednesdays. I had “melt in the mouth” linguine with capers, leeks and parma ham followed by poached pears with a very rich chocolate sauce. House wine was good too. Rene Socca While in Nice you must try Socca , a giant savoury pancake made with chickpea flour which looks nothing special but actually tastes delicious (2 euros/portion). Our favourite place is shown below: Rene Socca in Rue Miralheti in the old town – a not-to-be-missed experience! It’s always busy. You queue for your eats then sit at one of the long benches and order your drinks. We think Socca goes best with a glass of the local vin rose (2.20 euros/glass). I took this photo there during the carnival in February, when the waiters dress up (he doesn’t always look like this!). Jouni This is supposed to be really good (we haven’t tried it yet). It’s expensive but is handy for the flat. If you go down to Intermarche supermarket, you will see “Charley’s Bar” diagonally opposite at the corner of Rue Lascaris. Jouni’s is on the left hand side of Rue Lascaris at number 10. Le Chantecler This world famous restaurant is in the Negresco hotel. The menu is displayed outside and this is the place to come if you want to celebrate something special. Haven’t been yet but still hoping! Lunch is around £30-40 per person and dinner around £60-90. Haven’t been yet but still hoping! Also in the Negresco is La Rotonde which is run by the same chef as Le Chantecler but is a cheaper brasserie alternative open 7am till 11.30pm. see menus with prices for both on www.hotel-negresco-nice.com ( also click on video for wonderful tour of the hotel). Café de Turin This place is a Nicois legend situated in Place Garibaldi. Has the freshest seafood but don’t expect friendly chat from the waiters – they’re too busy! Even if you don’t want to eat, a walk through the tables outside is recommended. Oursin ( sea urchin) is a speciality or try the “plat de fruit de mer” – every conceivable type of seafood arranged on ice on a huge metal platter. |
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| This list of restaurants and photographs were kindly emailed to me and I have reproduced the information here with permission. I second the choices - we have eaten very well at the ones we have tried and the rest are all on my to-do list. These recommendations accompany and complement a gorgeous apartment (with pool) in the Port area and this list is given to rentees to help them find some good local places to eat. I am sure you will find it helpful. Please note that the text and photographs are property and copyright of E Jones |
| apartment by the Port This lovely 1-bedroomed apartment, with pool, sleeping up to 4 people, is available to rent and would be ideal for a family. It is close to all the recommended restaurants listed below. |
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| Restaurant recommendations near the Port |