We accidentally stumbled upon this restaurant thinking it was a different restaurant we had…read moreoriginally wanted to try. Luckily it turned out to be the best choice! From the looks of the restaurant, it has a down-home, country feel. I guess I was anticipating the food to be average. I was completely blown away with the quality and creativity of each item on the menu! I had ordered the veggie slaw as an appetizer, the pork shoulder as my main entree, and the roasted white eggplant for dessert. Everything was phenomenal! We had stayed in France for about two weeks and this restaurant was one of my absolute favorites, even including the fine dining restaurants we had eaten at. The wait staff is extremely friendly, knowledgable and helpful. He was very attentive and went above and beyond to make sure our meal was enjoyable. The entire experience was quite lovely. I highly recommend eating here!

We were told this was an innovative chef. They were not kidding. A cold carrot soup with just the…read moreright amount of ginger topped with thyme ice cream. What?? Beautiful little restaurant. A gorgeous pork shoulder was cooked perfectly. Presentation was everything. One of our favorite dining experiences in France.

I cannot speak highly enough of L'Essentiel, from their food, to their service, to the beautiful…read moredecor and table settings. Service is welcoming and accommodating for my poor attempt at culinary French terms. The Chef even came out to answer questions at three occasions. First up, a trio of amuse bouches called land and sea. I don't typically like foie gras but this was incredible. I would actually order this again if ever back in Avignon. The Parmesan biscuit was technically amazing, with such subtle flavor, crispy on the outside, and soft, light and creamy inside. The mushroom "egg roll" was crispy, flaky with great umami. The Jerusalem artichoke risotto was my absolute favorite; I'll likely dream of this dish and try to replicate the recipe. It's unlike anything I've had before, so creative, unique and insanely delicious. The artichokes were cooked perfectly , tender but still firm. The risotto was actually a thick, creamy foam, packed with bold creamy flavor and truffles on top. The sea bream was glistening with the crispiest skin, along with carrots and a silky champagne sauce. The veal was so tender with the most delightful sweet onion tart. The tart was surprisingly good with the best onions I've ever had. Kudos to the chef for shopping the market everyday for the freshest and highest quality products! The scallops were sliced beautifully and were balanced so well with the acidity of raspberries and pomegranates. We started out with the strongest amuse bouches, and Chef didn't disappoint from there, maintaining and exceeding our palette's expectations. Chef Mohamad deserves a Michelin rank!!

I went here eight years ago and it was really good. Wait staff were attentive, the food was good,…read morethe restaurant had great ambiance. Went back today and there must have been a change in owner and direction. The food was mediocre, there were only two wait staff for the entire restaurant and they could not keep up. The place was not full and they were turning people away which was good because they couldn't handle the volume as it was. We ordered the wine pairing, the wine server never brought our last wine, the other server apologized and brought us a liquor that was quite sad. Unfortunate because they still have a beautiful courtyard.

I have a foodie bucket list, and on that list was eating bouillabaisse is Marseille. I can now mark…read morethat off my list after the wonderful experience of eating it at Abaco. My daughter and I were on a Mediterranean cruise and the thing we were most looking forward to was the stop in Marseille. We were up and ready early so we caught a taxi at the dock and rode into the main port. I had previously researched all the places to get bouillabaisse and kept coming back to Abaco as the desired destination. Abaco isn't in the main tourist area, it is more a neighborhood hang out spot, so we had a bit of walking in the city. We arrived at Abaco at 11:15 am. We knew it didn't open until 12 so we were prepared to settle down and wait. Shortly after we arrived, I saw a head poke up in the window and the door to the restaurant opened with the cutest owner, Ms. Jeannine, inviting us in. Walking into Abaco is like walking into your grandmother's house. And this grandmother wants everyone fed. Ms Jeannine didn't speak English and we didn't speak French. Her son spoke enough English that I was able to tell him I would like bouillabaisse and my daughter wanted salmon. I had no idea what salmon dish I ordered for her, but I knew she would like that. The salmon dish was house smoked salmon that looked amazing. It was a large plate so she was barely able to make a dent. My bouillabaisse was wonderful as well. The son explained how to eat and I nodded when he asked if I understood. I guess I was doing it wrong because Ms Jeannine came over and explained it to me speaking french and indicating with her hands. For anyone who stops by in the future, you are supposed to take a crostini and top it with a bit of the incredible aioli they serve on the side. You then drop it into the main bowl of soup. Then take some soup from the small bowls and pour it in top and then eat. It is a really wonderful soup. For desert we shared the chocolate mousse which was amazing. She served it with fresh cream. We were on a cruise and one of my favorite things to eat when I cruise are bagels and lox. Since my daughter had half her meal left, i asked to pack it up so I could eat it for a snack later. Alas, when we returned to the ship we were told we couldn't take carry out meals on the ship. In my state of panic of breaking a rule, I threw it away without even getting a bite. I will now live the remainder of my days upset that I didn't even get to try the salmon. One additional thing I noted is that when we were finishing up, a sole diner wearing a cruise card walked in to eat the bouillabaisse. I think this is the place that the foodies who do their research come to try real bouillabaisse.

The bouillabaisse is well done. The best one I have had in my life. Wonderful service, simple and…read morefriendly locals . Highly recommend this restaurant, it deserves all the praise for the efforts they make.

Everything food service and atmosphere was a 10. Luca took Such fabulous care of us he was beyond…read moreamazing really made the evening an the food was the best most memorable meal in France

My wife, daughter, some friends and I ate lunch here in early October 2023 and just loved…read moreeverything about it! The food and service are amazing, the ambience is beautiful and the host, Joseph, is very warm and welcoming. The fresh, handmade truffle raviolis in their sauce (it's not tomato sauce!) are incredibly delicious. From top to bottom, from beginning to end, we had a delightful experience. We liked it so much, we went back a few days later and took a different group of friends there. They loved it just as much!

First time in Marseille, I chose this restaurant based on Yelp reviews. This restaurant prides…read moreitself on high-quality, fine French dining. Starting from a tiny teaser, followed by a small appetizer, the main dish is well proportioned. We really enjoyed the quality and novel combinations of tastes. Service is on the slow side -- it took about 2 hours for our dinner but there are really great views of the port and coastline to enjoy. The staff are really helpful; my wife had sprained her ankle earlier in the morning and our waiter gave us a sealed bag of ice! Definitely recommend!

Wow!! The view is incredible! The food is incredible! Everything about this establishment is…read moretop shelf. Went here with friends and business colleagues while In Marseille. Everyone raved how great everything was.

Nice, comfortable and friendly resturant across from the bay. Great food and even better people…read morewatching location. Be warned, servings are large and you can't eat it all even though its super fresh and delicious. Menu is in French but they have a English version if requested. Same goes with our server Michael who gave us five star ++ service. We spent 2.5 hours hear enjoying our food a and excellent French wine! Clean and comfortable and five star service!

If you are an English speaker- I would honestly recommend AVOIDING this restaurant!…read more Kind of shocked at how I was treated. I was planning on dropping $200+ on dinner and wine. It is not a sidewalk cafe... The manager is a walking and honestly outdated steroetype of the arrogant rude French waiter... He rolled his eyes at me and sighed with dramatic body language when I asked for the wine list. It was sitting on the table and I had not seen it. I softly laughed embarrased & said Merci. He Made a rude comment and twirled to walk away when I was attempting to ask a question. I asked someone else for assistance and they were quite nice... however, he was my waiter. One of the women came over to put something down and spoke the fastest French that I have heard... I started to ask her to slow down that I didn't speak much French when she placed the plate - almost threw it in front of me... swirled around and went to the service station... grabbed bread- came back over and slammed it down- still holding onto it in front of me... and barked "Pain!" Still looking directly at me... she said, "bread in French is Pain!" Her body language was angry and aggressive! The manager clearly perpetuated the culture in the restaurant and although I am a native English speaker, I speak AND understand quite a bit of French... definitely enough to know that the manager was mocking an English speaker on the phone as well regarding their attempt to communicate. They were not busy at all. It was early- they were standing around. They could have taken the time to allow me the time and space to order. I felt so incredibly uncomfortable. Other things happened. I really just wanted to leave. The manager was loud and made a scene... involving other people. It was incredibly unprofessional. Not world class or classy at all. They made me pay almost $30 for wine and water that I did not drink. Tacky! This is a touristy area. I have spent the last 6 weeks traveling around France & this was a first! It doesn't matter if the food is good if the atmosphere is toxic. I chatted with my hotel that recommended them... They acknowledged that it wasn't a first... but, the food is good. No thank you. I love France. Not this restaurant. All unnecessary.

Le lieu de restauration est magnifique, sur une falaise basse au bord de l'eau de la Rade…read mored'Endoume. Et le chef se concentre ici, dans chaque plat, sur la mer. Et les modes de préparation des poissons et crustacés : grillés, vapeur, frits, séchés, marinés, crus... et bien d'autres. La compétence technique requise doit être considérable, mais elle n'est pas visible depuis la salle à manger principale. Il n'y a pas de cuisine ouverte, mais il y a une fenêtre de 10 m où tous les chefs qui travaillent dans leurs toques sont visibles de l'extérieur du bâtiment. Les assiettes étaient excellentes, mais j'ai été submergé par le nombre de goûts en compétition pour mon attention. Comme dans le délicieux " Sea Garden ", présentation de coquillages. Bien sûr, "trop de saveur" n'est pas un mauvais résultat. Je vais certainement devoir revenir. / The dining location is stunning, on a low cliff at the water's edge of the Rade d'Endoume. And the chef's focus here, in every course, is the sea. And the methods of preparing fish and shellfish: broiled, steamed, fried, dried, marinated, raw... along with many others. The required technical skill must be considerable, but it is not visible from the main dining area. There is no open kitchen, but there is a 10m window where all the working chefs in their toques are visible from the outside of the building. The plates were excellent, but I did become overwhelmed by the number of tastes competing for my attention. Such as in the delicious, "Sea Garden," presentation of shellfish. Of course, "too much flavor" is a not bad outcome. I'll definitely have to return. 2023 05 13. M3.

After looking into Gérald Passedat (admittedly after watching Anthony Bourdain's trip to…read moreMarseille), I was really excited to dine at his restaurant La Petit Nice. Now having dined there, I can say that I appreciated the experience, but ultimately felt like it did not necessarily fit my tastes or quite meet my expectations. It must be stated up front, that the ambiance of La Petit Nice, was one of the best that I have experienced. The view of Marseille's coast from within the contemporary dining room, that has been designed to maximize this asset, was a magnificent backdrop to our sunset dinner. After my wife and I were greeted and seated at our table, a waitress wheeled over a dinner cart to our table to offer us any digestifs and/or water, which was a nice touch. A waiter then came to our table to provide us with the menu, which was confusing at first, because I had reserved a particular set menu when originally booking. He explained that we could change our set menu to a different one, which I appreciated from one standpoint since my original booking wasn't my first choice, but I feel like this confusion should have been avoided. We ended up choosing the Passedat Menu, as we were told this was the best way to experience the best dishes from Chef Passedat. The menu is listed at 250€ without wine and 395€ with wine pairing. To summarize the various dishes, some of them (Foretaste, Lucie Passedat Sea Bass, and My Sea Garden) were very good. Other dishes (Southern Fishes in Caravan, Relief of Sea Bream, Sea Anemone) had flavors that were too overpowering and unbalanced. For example, the soups that accompanied and were incorporated into the dishes were meant to taste like the sea and were very briny, but almost to the point of being inedible. The Sea Anemone, which was heavily hyped, was also very salty and was a struggle to finish. Also, on a more personal note, there were spices used throughout the dishes like anise, which my wife and I are not the biggest fans of, in quantities that made them less suited to our tastes. The service at times was very good, but it also stumbled in a couple of areas. The length of time between dishes seemed to be much too long, which caused our dinner to end after almost four hours. The explanations of dishes and wine seemed to be too rushed and curt, and in one case, non-existent. Case in point, I asked the sommelier to give me some information on the digestif that I ordered, but after struggling to explain it to me, said that I should "just try it." I'm sure the language barrier contributed to this situation, but I'm confused as to why he didn't just ask one of the other waiters to assist. In summary, the experience did not reach the high expectations that I had imposed on Le Petit Nice. While I can appreciate the execution of both the restaurant's ambiance and exquisite dishes, the flavor profiles and service missteps left me with the knowledge that, ultimately, Le Petit Nice is not a restaurant for me.

Before I review, I just have to say...I am stunned that this establishment is not on Yelp yet! This…read moreplace is phenomenal! Reine Sammut knows exactly how to feed (and love) her patrons and I cannot recommend her restaurant more highly. If ever in the Luberon region, please make a visit to this 'contemporary'-Provencal-garden gem. As you can tell already, my review is less for the room (which was simple, cozy and down-to-earth) and more for the extraordinary experience we had on their dining terrace. To give a bit of background, my husband and I were on the road for a couple weeks in Provence already and while everywhere we dined was delicious, I regretfully must admit that all our 3 hour long fine dining meals did begin to blend into each other...it was until our meal at Auberge la Feniere that something stood out again and both the experience and food were distinct. We both did the summer discovery tasting menu and this is exactly what we had: -Foie gras citron cream mousse-foam -Tomato tartar of the garden, bacon "bellota bellota" like a pan con tomato -Bush ravioli, coco cream sparkling and pistou -Sea Bass steam with coriander, tagliatelles of courgettes violin and stuffed flowers (or) -Roasted young pigeon, with garlic confit, crusty giblets and fried girolle mushrooms -Selection of fresh and mature cheeses from Mr Rostand -White peach syrup, honey tile and verbena ice-cream Everything was incredible but our absolute favorite dish of the entire meal and 3 week trip was the tomato tartar appetizer with bellota ham in a crisp shell. I would go back JUST for that, and I'm pretty sure we will go back! Anyway, it was well worth the money (85 euro pp for the discovery menu) and time to enjoy such a gourmet meal here and to truly have something to celebrate about.

It's hard to beat the value for this restaurant. 57 euros for a delicious 3 course menu with great…read morequality ingredients and a lot of creativity. The setting is great if you sit outside and the service is impeccable. They will accommodate a gluten restriction if you have one. If you're in the area and want a fine dining experience with great value this is it.

Much better than expected. The Moules frites were fresh and delightful, as well as the barbecue…read moremix. Excellent alternative to pricier restaurants around with friendly and fast service. Give a try to the cafe gourmet, very nice and reasonable.

On an honest scale, the food was a 4. But adding in value for money, it jumps to a 5. I had a…read morefantastic entrecote au poivre. The poivre sauce was different than any I had previously tried. Not quite the famously amazing green sauce from Le Relaise de Venice, but different from the typical black pepper variety you usually get. This was clearly a mix of black and green pepper corns. First taste had a hint of juniper and was almost off putting as i tasted a bit soapy. But it tasted great on the steak. By the end of the meal, I was pouring the sauce over bread to eat more of it!!! The only downside was that the fries are not the thin french fries one expect with steak frites. My wife had the mushroom farfalle. Some restaurants will through in a lot of fresh mushrooms, but no mushroom water as it makes it very brown and very dirty looking. But, then it lacks flavor. L'Egoiste clearly used plenty of water from re-hydrating dried mushrooms, and the hearty mushroom flavour had soaked deep into the noodles. It was a very low key, very in expensive, and very delicious. Great for backpackers all the way to couples on a fine dining vacation who just need a break from the fancy food and want something simply tasty.