after hearing so much about the fish market at marseille's old port, i was expecting something far…read moremore grandiose, along the lines of tokyo's tsukiji, perhaps. but when i scanned the quai des belges from my hotel balcony at around 7:30 this morning (the market opens at 8), i came to the conclusion that the fish market must be closed because i saw no signs of life there. lo, individual fishmongers gradually appeared and set up shop from 8 onwards, and by 9 or so there were a good dozen or so of them offering up some very fresh (some still alive and flopping around) denizens of the mediterannean sea. a tv crew filming something about a grisly old timer hawking mollusks added to the atmosphere, and i couldn't help but think that if i actually lived in marseille, this would be where i came to get my fresh fish. still, i couldn't help but get the impression that the heyday of this well-known fish market had long since passed.

From the owner: La plaine fraîcheur c'est des fruits et légumes frais toute l'année issus de productions locales.read more

From the owner: Marché alimentaire Du lundi au samedi de 8h à 13h.read more

The fish sellers here offer better prices than at the Old Port, and the open-air convivial ambiance…read moreappeals to those of us who try to avoid supermarkets whenever possible. Fresh fish, vegetables, and other products like Marseille's famous olive oil soaps are regularly for sale. Check it out for yourself.

I wanted to like this place, I really did. Unfortunately we were left with a disappointing end to…read moreour stay in Marseille. I understand good food takes time, and it looks like the establishment is run by a one man old chef which is why our hopes were high and we were happy to wait 45 minutes to one hour for our food after ordering. But in the end, we waited a long time for mediocre and bad food. The food presentation was nice but the end result was disappointing. My girlfriend ordered a daily special half chicken. The sauce was good and the side salad was delicious but the chicken was way overcooked and arrived to our table when it was cool. I couldn't even bring myself to finish her chicken breast piece - it was so tough and dry. I ordered a beef meatball and ravioli dish that came in a nice clay pot. The beef meatball was incredibly bland and flavorless. I could only taste the tomato sauce. The ravioli was the same. I had to add a lot of salt to even get the dish even reasonably good. At the end of the night we were also trying to get the servers attention to pay the check. We were finally given the bill and attempted to pay via card with two attempts to flag down the waitress after. I even made eye contact with and she acknowledged my need but she ended up waiting on two other tables and then running into the kitchen after with some finished plates. I understand when places are understaffed but this was ridiculous. We left the full payment in cash instead and were thoroughly disappointed in the experience. I enjoyed the ambiance and decor. The other people in the restaurant seemed to have a good time. If you trust the other yelp reviews, do yourself a favor and order their pizza or steaks. Seemed like to us everything else on the menu would be too risky. -1 star bad service -1 star dry and cool chicken dish -1 star bland beef meatball and ravioli -1 star felt invisible to the staff I generally don't leave one star reviews for restaurants unless they insulted me or wronged me somehow. I hope this restaurant can turn it around because it looks to be run by good people, but we had a terrible experience.

From the owner: Une cuisine aux accents du sud Depuis sa création en 1996, cet établissement dont le créneau est la…read more"cuisine du marché à tendance provençale", connaît un succès qui ne décroît pas. Mais ce n'est pas pour autant que le chef s'endort sur ses lauriers ; bien au contraire puisque l'on trouve sur la carte des nouveautés culinaires chaque semaine aux côtés des classiques de la gastronomie régionale. La décoration de la salle dans les tonalités aubergine et verte s'avère être à la fois sobre et contemporaine. Résultat : l'espace est simple, agréable et convivial. Dès l'approche des beaux jours, il fait bon déjeuner sur la terrasse et profiter de l'une des places les plus sympathiques de la ville, avec vue sur le Vieux-Port.