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Eating Out
Guide to Drinking and Dining in Nice

Nice has a great selection of eateries all over the city, from Michelin starred restaurants to cheap and cheerful snack bars. Whereas the former are palaces upholding the finest principles of innovative French cuisine, the latter have carved out a niche for themselves, offering hearty Niçoise specialities such as the Salade Niçoise, a delicious combination of tuna, anchovies, egg, beans and olives.

Being French of course, quality is never an issue, at all levels you'll get tasty and finely cooked dishes. Hunt around the old town if you want to experience the more traditional side of eating in the town, the various local restaurants and cafés around here are always lively, serving food well into the evening and drinks until much later. French food dominates menus but international food can be found in the city particularly around the tourist areas of the beach and centre.

PRICE GUIDE: (average cost of a main course):
= less than EUR12, = EUR12 - EUR24, = EUR24 +

Fine Dining

Chantecler
37 Promenade des Anglais
Tel: +33 (0)4-9316-6400

The elegant Hôtel Négresco has blessed Nice with this highly traditional French restaurant that boasts two well-deserved Michelin stars. The prices are surprisingly modest for such an exceptional dining experience but Chantecler isn't for small budgets. A reservation, a smart set of clothes and a large wallet are essential.

Tire Bouchon
17 Rue de la Prefecture
Tel: +33 (0)4-9392-6364

Arguably Nice old town's most elegant eatery. Fine tableware combines with a rich colour scheme. Seafood such as monkfish and scallops dominate the regionally inspired a la carte selection. Dine inside the refined interior or eat outside either on the pleasant Rue de la Préfecture or on the more authentic Rue de l'Abbaye. Absolutely stunning.

Traditional

La Table Alziari
4 Rue François Zanin
Tel: +33 (0)4-9380-3403

Using ingredients fresh from the market, this little bistro is as charming and full of character as the corner of the old town in which it is hidden. The Petits Farcis are tomatoes, aubergine and courgettes stuffed with a herby meat mixture.

Spécialités Niçoises
1 Rue Pairoiliere
Tel: +33 (0)4-9385-9567

First wander up to the glass cabinet full of stuffed vegetables, whitebait, tarts, fried zucchini flowers and Niçoise-style pizza. Head round the corner to the counter to order your chosen selection of typically local bites. Dishes will be warmed up to suit. Sit on the small terrace tables and a waiter will pop over from the neighbouring bar to take your drinks order.

La Maison de Marie
5 Rue Masséna
Tel: +33 (0)4-9382-1593

Regional specialities such as seabass, salade Niçoise and Provençal lamb served with a contemporary edge. Dine in the perfect ambience of the airy, wooden interior or outside under a vine-covered trellis in the piazza-style exterior.

Samsara
2 Rue Rossetti
Tel: +33 (0)4-9380-7063

Samsara's classy chairs and tables are laid out on the lively street outside in view of Place Rossetti, the Cathedral Saint Réparate and the Colline du Château gardens. Niçoise specialities adorn the amazing value fixed price menu. Choose from among fillets of trout, slabs of beef in Roquefort, squid salad and perfect crème brulée.

Le Grand Balcon
10 Rue St François-de-Paule
Tel: +33 (0)4-9362-6074

Attracts a wealthy, well-dressed clientele, many of whom frequent Nice's elegant opera house next door. Fine portraits, heavy tableware and an outside terrace give the place a polished edge. The menu's ingredients speak volumes about its high level of class. Seabass, scallops, squid and duck breasts are but a few of the items on offer.

Mediterranean

L'Adresse
27 Rue Benoît Bunico
Tel: +33 (0)4-9380-1566

Wide-ranging tapas from Spanish chorizo to anchovies on bread and grilled prawns. Lamb, beef and tuna steaks grilled to taste. Seats outside on the bustling sidestreet.

Le Pain Quotidien
3 Rue Louis Gassin
Tel: +33 (0)4-9362-9432

Splendid snacks built around a vast array of fresh breads. Local and Italian cheeses and hams are mixed with salad, olive oil and marinated vegetables. Solid wooden tables and chairs grace both the airy interior and the raised terrace. The cool design of the place would not look out of place in London's Soho district.

Restaurant Gesu
1 Place Jésus
Tel: +33 (0)4-9362-2646

One of the old town's most authentic, most tasty and most inexpensive restaurants in front of the Eglise du Jésu. Local ravioli mixes with wood-fired pizzas and Neapolitan pastas. The rough and ready service means that you may have to fight for a seat, pour your own wine and occasionally chop your own bread!

Asian/Indian

Delhi Belly
22 Rue de la Barillerie
Tel: +33 (0)4-9392-5187

An English manageress and a Sri Lankan maitre d' conspire to produce an authentic pan-Indian spread. Coconut, lamb, cumin and king prawns are blended with hundreds of other ingredients to make a sumptuous multi-course meal. Scores of bottles of wine reside in tubes the far wall. The dark wood surroundings combined with subtle lighting make this one of the most visually appealing restaurants in Nice.

Seafood

Le Café Turin
5 Place Garibaldi
Tel: +33 (0)4-9362-2952

Seafood comes by the bucketload in Nice's classy Cours Saleya area yet this out of the way option at the inland end of the old town is second to none in terms of both quality and price. Giant silver fruits de mer platters are served on beds of ice and seaweed. Lobster, langoustine, snails, sea urchins and around ten varieties of oyster grace the lengthy menu. The 100 or so seats are constantly filled up ensuring a deliciously fresh spread. Next door the less expensive Chez Pistol also constitutes a real find in the seafood stakes.

Bars

You will find bars and pavement cafés all over town but the Vieux Nice old town area has by far the greatest concentration of innovative, happening and fun places in which to drink. Its Mediterranean ambience of small squares and baroque architecture makes it a pleasant place to while away a warm Côte d'Azur evening. Even in winter the zone is still very much alive with a cosmopolitan mix of revellers, testament to Nice's status as a year round getaway as well as a real city.

If you're looking for a relaxed and refined drink head for one of the Promenade des Anglais's many seafront establishments. Hotel bars are still popular along here, with lounge terraces evoking the Victorian halcyon days of the Côte d'Azur when the affluent English visitors would take their sundowners overlooking the ocean. Le Relais American Bar, in the famous Hotel Négresco, still employs white jacketed waiters, and its sumptuous interior makes it one of the most refined bars in Nice, reserved for only the most affluent visitor. More middle of the road are the long stream of bars on the Cours Saleya square. Cocktails and glasses of rosé meet smart dress and the odd street entertainer.

Wayne's Bar
14 Rue de la Prefecture
Tel: +33 (0)4-9313-4699
An English-language institution in the heart of old Nice. Yacht crews, visiting hen nights and young foreign residents sup cocktails and pints in a raucous pub-style atmosphere. The nightly entertainment includes live bands, a compere and often racy themed evenings. Many revellers arrive before 21h00 for a happy hour drink and the chance to find table space with which to dance on later.

Les 3 Diables
2 Cours Saleya
Tel: +33 (0)4-9362-4700
The most commercial of the bars listed here but a great bet for a lively evening nonetheless. Holidaymakers and local French trendies sup cocktails and bottled beers before a night time boogie.

Ghost Bar
3 Rue Barillerie
Tel: +33 (0)4-9392-9337
Brazilian caipirinha cocktails and red leather drinking booths set Ghost Bar aside from the crowd. Order at the bar or take waitress service for a small tip. The establishment often looks closed up at night. To gain entrance knock firmly on the door and the bouncer will let you in.

Johnny's Wine Bar
1 Rue Rossetti
Tel: +33 (0)4-9380-6597
Jugs of beer and wine for just EUR5 sends crowds flocking to Johnny's outdoor terrace. The international crowd, regular Blues and rock offerings and the constant stream of street performers make for a lively drinking spot.

Le Bar des Oiseaux
5 Rue St Vincent
Tel: +33 (0)4-9380-2733
A real find that is well worth seeking out, the "Bar of the Birds" is an almost exclusively local hang out, and divides its time between being a bar and a performance space. The emphasis is on variety and besides the relatively familiar sounds of jazz you might hear all sorts of world music, performed by local artists.

L' F
6 Place Charles-Felix
Tel: +33 (0)4-9385-7410
A brasserie/bar L'F is a favourite with everyone who likes to show off their Riviera style. The pavement terrace is the place to sit, sunglasses on and enjoy a cold beer while watching the world go by. Popular with a young, well-heeled crowd the place is always abuzz with conversation from opening until late into the night.
 

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