We just had the best meal since coming to France at Le Jardin d'Amalula (The Garden of Amalula)…read more When we asked the owner what Amalula means, she said it is a contraction of the first names of her daughters: Amandine, Lucile, and Laurine. Laurine is the chef. The outside of the restaurant is inconspicuous; in fact, we walked right past it. But you walk down a corridor, through a small courtyard, and then into the small restaurant. But it's the garden out back that is beautiful. That's where we sat. My wife had Le Provençale, a tartine (toast) with bush cheese, red fruits jam, dried figs, dried tomatoes, and parma ham (like prosciutto). Delicious! I chose the plat du jour based on the owner's recommendation. Not sure what it's called but it was a tartine with tuna tartare & passion fruit, chutney with mango, pineapple, & red pepper, slices of avocado, and orange zest with pink berries. I don't know how they do it. Amazing flavor combinations. Glad we found this place with plenty of time to go back another time or two. Highly recommend!

Great place for English only tourists. The service is fantastic. We were able to communicate…read morewithout difficulty in English. They had a menu translated in english as well to remove any question on what you are ordering. We sat outside and on the Terrance and really enjoyed both. The food was delicious and beautifully presented.

Isn't it a requirement to have crepes while in France?? This creperie not only has crepes, but…read moresalads, sandwiches, and burgers as well. Oh, and they have good coffee too! They are located right on the main drag in Old Town Istres about two blocks up from the tourism office. Their crepes are filling and mine came with a side salad for just under 9 euro. I definitely recommend stopping by this restaurant for a crepe and a coffee.

A very special meal…read more This tiny little gem, owned and operated by a lovely couple (she cooks the appetizers and desserts, he does the entrees) is as good as provencal cooking gets. It's just a few tables and the menu changes daily - you do have a few choices per course. I have eaten around the world and this is by far one of the most special meals I've ever had. Simple, home provencal cooking, reasonable prices (under 20 Euro per entree), effortless charm..... This is why french cooking is renowned. Tonight we had: Tomato salad with pesto // fresh salad with jambon, melon, mozzarella etc. Grilled swordfish with a fresh tomato/basil/garlic dressing (ratatouille, grilled courgette and mushrooms, rice on the side) // tagliatelle with white truffles apricot tart // goat cheese Every single bite was cooked perfectly, creative and yet simple, perfection on a plate. The wine was fantastic and atmosphere of course was exquisite. I cannot possible recommend this restaurant more highly. It is in no way a "tourist trap", quite the opposite - it is french country cooking at its best. A don't miss meal for sure. Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lovely little place, off the beaten path and more than worth the wander down rocky tiny streets to…read morefind. Lovely food and lovely owners. Do take the time to find it...

From the owner: Une restauration rapide basée sur des produits frais provenant principalement des producteurs…read morelocaux. Tout est fait maison : salades, dessert, plats du jour....

Do not come here!! Unbelievably rude, hostile and agressive. I don't often write negative reviews,…read morebut this cafe owner chased me down the street yelling when I took a photo of the front of the place! Our family sat down, ordered espressos and a sandwich for our son. There were two other people in an otherwise completely empty place. The waitress says "one sandwich for four people? No!" And when we politely tried to explain it was just for our son who was starving she went to get someone, the owner I suppose. He came back and was for some inexplicable reason furious at us and yelled "this is a restaurant! You EAT here! If you want a coffee go to a bar!" And proceeded to kick us out. I am well aware of how French people find American tourists annoying so believe me we try to be as polite and aware as possible. I can understand if the culture is more strict about only sitting down in a restaurant if you are ordering food. But regardless, rudeness, aggressive, hateful attitudes don't work in any culture. He could have politely said the same thing and we would likely have apologized and thanked them and left. Instead, he followed us out the door, and when I took a photo of the place he started yelling sarcastically and aggressively "take a picture of me! You have to EAT at a restaurant!" I can't imagine how anyone in the service industry could survive like this - and maybe they shouldn't.

We ate here because of the lavender tour. The price is good for the area. You can ask for a set…read morelunch for 15.50.

La Bastide de Pierres is part of the Arielles hotel and is just a short walk on the main street to…read morethe restaurant. The menu is typical with pizza, pasta, and some additional courses such as sea bass and veal. The sea bass was lovely. Note the antipasti courses are quite small so order a few. The broccoli had maybe 5-6 little broccoli pieces.

LBdP is a cute little Italian restaurant across the street from my staying…read more This family owned restaurant uses the freshest produce and ingredients daily. Nothing beats a home made meal away from home just like my mama made it. Bravo with a big thumbs up for LBdP!!

From the owner: A composer vous-même Le midi : Choisissez parmi plus de 20 ingrédients frais pour composer vos…read moresalades, sandwichs et/ou boissons. Le soir : tapas espagnoles et du monde accompagnées de cocktails de jus de fruits frais avec ou sans alcool, sangria maison ou vin.

Le personnel, les assiettes et l'ambiance étaient de première classe. Les parasols et l'ombre de…read morel'église Sainte-Anne créent une atmosphère agréable et fraîche.

Great food, flavors, wonderful choices, a lot of salads and even vegetarian choices! (not that…read moreoften in France!) Very good deserts too!

9/10/15: We were very grateful to find a good restaurant this deep into the country. And perfect…read morefor accompanying your trek through France's lesser traveled roads, you dine in an outdoor patio right next to the main attraction--the river. Very picturesque! This restaurant's somewhat different in that you eat in the patio, but the kitchen is actually the ice cream shop across the street--weird right? So, the servers actually have to run back and forth, up and down the stairs, across the street, to place and get your orders. If I remember correctly most people in this beautiful little town in the countryside did not speak English, but somehow we were able to communicate enough to order. The food itself was alright, but nothing particularly special. The service was also pretty bad as I recall, and it was extremely hard to hail anyone. They did have one single waiter that did speak a little English though, so we were grateful for that. So, the food... 1. Salade Nicoise 9,90 EUR: So, we had yet to try the famous salad from its home country so this was our chance! This version seemed to fit the wikipedia definition of nicoise having the essentials of olives, boiled eggs, and plenty of fresh vegetables like green beans and such. They used anchovies which are usually found in fancier American versions, but I thought the traditional plate should have tuna? Anyway, that's fine cause I'd prefer anchovies over plain-'ol tuna, having far more flavor. Everything was pretty fresh. Good salad, and glad we tried it here in France. 7/10. 2. Magret de Canard 12,90 EUR: A little bit of a let-down. This is basically a duck steak with skin, sliced into 3 thick pieces. Unfortunately it was a bit overcooked and the skin wasn't properly crisped. Came with French fries, but they're pretty plain. Also comes with some salad. 5/10. Yeah, the food was basic. And yes, I even said their service sucked. But... I think this might be the best restaurant within 50mi, quite possibly. And it really was a very pretty place to eat. So, since I did enjoy my time here despite its shortcomings, I think I can give it a 4/5. #french #france

Unfortunately food is really not fresh. Pizza is soggy amd loads of cheese and waffles are frozen…read moreand absolutely not fresh. Service is good though! Maybe croque is best choice. The view is nice as well.