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David Faure’s Aphrodite is my go-to spot when I want a truly extraordinary lunch at a price that won’t give me indigestion. I hadn’t been to this restaurant in Nice since it received its first Michelin star last year so I was curious whether the quality was the same as I remembered a couple of years agol. If anything, the restaurant had improved its lunch offering.

For an inexpensive fixed-price lunch (€25), some chefs decide not to exert themselves by elaborate preparations. Not here. We began with a cool amuse-bouche of a delicate mousse punctuated with crispy paper-thin potato slice and a fresh cracker but what followed was a total triumph. Chef Faure has mastered “molecular” cuisine and the entree was a full display of his technique. Fresh peas were surrounded a chunk of quail topped  with a fois gras flavoured ice cream (who would have thought?) and then dressed up with a carrot foam that looked like a flower on the plate. Insane. The main course was a perfectly broiled cod topped with a light bath of savory sauce and complemented by fried radishes. Dessert was an exquisite concoction of violet sherbet, rasberries, mascarpone plus meringue cookies over a rasberry gel sprinkled with vanilla. Mignardises of meringue and rasberry gel completed the meal.

What was great was not only the subtle balance of flavors and the summery coolness but the portions were designed to be just filling enough for lunch without weighing you down. We left neither hungry nor stuffed. It was just right. Everything was just right from the cascading water that formed a backdrop to the enclosed terrace to the carefully chosen paintings inside the formal but cheerful dining room. Aphrodite is clearly one of the best restaurants in Nice. If you can find a better-value lunch in town, let me know!

Sometimes a place is so friendly and nice, you hate to disappoint them with a bad review. Boni at 15 rue Tonduti de l’Escarène has attracted a number of fans ever since the original opened on rue Barla. The Franco-Italian style fits perfectly in our region where there is a constant flow of Italians in and French out. Maybe that was the trouble. The chef seemed to use the names of Italian favorites–antipasti! farfalle!–without remaining faithful to the spirit of Italian cuisine. As the menu was uninspired, the dishes needed that extra something that you find everywhere in Italy. There, an antipasti is composed of  freshly grilled vegetables, fruity olive oil, salty fish, Parma ham. Here, there were a few miniscule slices of raw salmon, an average tomato topped with tuna, some mesclun and a little hunk of Italian cheese. The grilled sea bream worked well but the farfalle with salmon was dry and tasteless. The risotto with asparagus was gloppy–an unforgivable lapse. The apple crumble dessert was OK but nothing special.

The concept caters to the trendy ’sorta tapas’ idea. You can choose 2 or 3 ‘bols’ plus a dessert. In practice, that meant 2 starters, a main course and a dessert for €23. The price was reasonable but the quality was average.

As rue Saint Antoine winds its way up to Le Suquet hill overlooking Cannes, there are a number of shops and restaurants set up to tempt the tourists into stopping. You can bypass many of them but don’t miss Le Relais des Semailles if you have any interest whatsoever in fine dining.

The decor is cozy and traditional, perfect for a romantic dinner or a tete a tete among friends. Chef Bertrand Saint-Vannes marries fresh, local products with traditional classic preparation and the result is splendid. The soupe de poisson drew raves from around the table. Asparagus is in season now and was delightfully presented with truffle sauce and a poached egg. Yum. My main course was a free-range chicken with creamy polenta on the side. The light sauce gave the tender chicken a pleasing zing. The dessert was OK; fresh stawberries sat on a crumbly nutty cake with a slice of chocolate on the side. I very much appreciated the amuse-bouche at the beginning of the meal and the freshly-baked bread on the side.

The lunch menu is €34. A bargain! Read more about Cannes restaurants.

Sleek and modern, L’Affable is one of the better mid-range Cannes restaurants.  The subtle lighting, modern art and gleaming tableware provide a perfect setting for a business lunch or friendly diner a deux. Chef Jean-Paul Battaglia applies a light touch to his preparations. Nothing is too terribly rich or too terribly spicy. He prefers fish and seafood over meat and does wonderful things with vegetables. I began with a Ceviche garniture mimosa, raw fish with a sprinkling of herbs on the side. The fish was sea-fresh but could have used a little something extra to highlight the flavours. The main course was a perfect dorade served over pureed potatoes married with a light and subtle sauce. But the highlight was an incredible Grand Marnier souffle at the end, a real tour de force, neither too sweet nor too rich (see photo).

The meal was excellent value for money, priced at €38. See the website or more on Cannes restaurants.

When the weather is as splendid as it has been Nice this Indian Summer, one is tempted to head to an outdoor restaurant to enjoy the burning blue sky. By opting for Don Camillo Creations we clearly prioritized the palate and we weren’t sorry. The €24 lunch menu offered excellent value as it included three courses.

Regular readers of this blog know that one of my pet peeves is snobby chefs that refuse to provide a filling meal. Oh, everything is artfully arranged, but where’s the food?

There was no problem with that at Don Camillo. The entreé was foie gras de canard, a real luxury item. OK, I don’t eat foie gras but the side salad of teeny veggies and small greens was delicious and the waiter was nice enough to give me extra as I sent the foie gras over to John. He did an excellent job of masking his dismay at my rejection and I was careful to extravagantly praise the salad dressing which hinted at sesame and citrus. The main course was chunks of St Pierre fish, another luxury item, served over humble but elegant fresh coco beans. The fish had a thin glaze on one side and was meltingly tender underneath. The light sauce was buttery and herb-scented. Dessert was a poached pear over an ice cream of very intense chocolate and something the waiter said was “macchia”. What is it? Help me out!

Washed down with a glass of excellent white wine and accompanied by amazing little rosemary rolls, the lunch was light but intensely satisfying. I liked that chef Marc Laville decided to offer three courses on his lunch menu rather than following the usual tendancy of offering two courses and an amuse-bouche.

Now, if only he would put a few tables on the beach.

See more on Nice restaurants.