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Archive for the ‘Restaurants’ Category

“La Reserve”, the lushly praised (and lushly expensive) restaurant shepherded to Michelin stardom by Finnish chef, Jouni Tormanen, is in bankruptcy proceedings. Despite an unbeatable location overlooking the sea, the two-tier restaurant was hit hard by the recent economic crisis despite having opened a lower-priced “bistro” on the ground floor.

On a recent visit, we found the “gastronomic” restaurant upstairs was closed for the winter, probably in an effort to cut the massive overhead that running this establishment entailed. Although the €25 two-course lunch was not expensive, the portions were miniscule, like a parody of nouvelle cuisine.

Celeb-chef Jouni has left the scene pending appeal but the restaurant remains open. The current holding company is presenting a new prix-fixe menu running from €30 to €65. Perhaps the new management will push up the calorie count over the ‘lean cuisine’ level?

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Maybe it’s unfair, but I always assume the worst about any place with an ideal location along the Promenade des Anglais. How could it be good value when it’s right on the tourist trail? Sarao has proven me completely wrong.

Not only is it well-located but the interior is spacious and tastefully decorated in warm, Mediterranean colors. The wood floors are polished to a sheen and the lighting is cheerful. How could the food be good?

Well it was. The inventive menu is designed to satisfy a wide range of palates, including non-meat-eaters such as myself. The emphasis on Spanish-style tapas allows you to nibble on a wide range of snacks or dig through a full meal, depending on your appetite. We sampled fried calamari rings, Spanish tortilla, stuffed mushrooms, mussels, fish cakes and fried potatoes. All were delicious. We choose an excellent Spanish red wine to wash it all down. Best of all were the reasonable prices. Sarao looks upscale but is not a budget-buster. Adding to the ambience was live music. The manager informed us that the violinist fiddling away was world-renowned. Unfortunately he was stuck with a mediocre group and a dreadful singer. At least the volume was not set to maximum.

Boccaccio (tel:04 93 87 71 76, 7 rue Massena) serves up rip-roaring portions of carefully prepared fish, seafood and top-quality meat in an Art-Deco dining room. It’s not cheap (figure €25 to €40 a main course) but you won’t go away disappointed–or hungry.

I normally avoid restaurants on the touristy rue Massena as the cafes and restaurants here are reported to be more concerned with fleecing tourists than providing good value for money. But Boccaccio does an honest job.

The amuse bouche was an octopus salad with diced tomatoes, olive oil and herbs. It was nice to have something to actually eat for an amuse bouche as opposed to the ubiquitous froth-in-a-glass.

For a starter, I chose the “tapas” which was really various sushi-size cuts of fresh, lightly cooked fish on a bed of various vegetables–from onion confit to grilled peppers to seasoned leeks.  It was copious and tasty.  John happily dug into a huge mound of mussels and praires, steamed in light sauce. As you can tell, the theme was no-fuss Provencale.

The main courses were equally impressive. I chose the dorade; it was impeccably grilled and then filleted with a pot of basil and olive oil on the side. The quality of the fish was superb. It had obviously lived a happy and free life in the sea. John chose the milk-fed lamb and also found the quality of the meat and the preparation were excellent.

Dessert was also giant-sized. We split a concoction composed of a chocolate mousse sandwiched in a thin, crunchy pastry with candied orange zest scattered on top.

Verdict: Non-pretentious but highly satisfying cuisine. Not for the budget-conscious.

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And, I’m still hungry–or would be if I hadn’t filled up on bread. Nice’s trendiest and most celebrated restaurant, La Reserve (tel: 04 97 08 29 98; Palais de la Reserve),  has an unbelievable location overlooking the sea facing west. (I can just imagine the sunsets).

Jouni Tormanen is the chef, justly praised for his finely executed delicacies. Although La Reserve opened last year offering two restaurants–La Reserve and Bistro La Reserve for the budget-minded–this winter there’s only one. La Crise?

Lunch service offered two options: the Bistro menu for €30 which included a main course and dessert and the La Reserve Menu for €65 proposing an entrée, main course and dessert. We opted for the Bistro menu.

No one could argue with the quality of the cuisine or the presentation. The amuse bouche was a double purée of chestnut and topinambour (Jerusalim artichoke) and then, for good measure there was another amuse bouche –an emulsion of leek and potato. If only there was four times the quantity! The main course was a boudin of fish in a sorrel sauce. Absolutely divine. I’ll take three, please. No not three pieces, three servings! It was really starter-sized. All the hearty, home-baked rolls were used to sop up the sauce.

Dessert was equally ravishing–two delicate, flaky crusts topped with fresh rasberries and blueberries enclosed a chestnut purée. Caramel ice cream on the side created a lovely, cool bath for the concoction.

Verdict: First-class cuisine, first-class view but stingy portions.

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O Mai restaurant (tel: 04 93 62 73 54; 5, rue Blacas) reflects the creeping popularity of sushi in Nice. (I’ve been waiting a long time for this trend to take off and now it has!) O Mai is a sleek, bright Japanese restaurant in the heart of Nice’s commercial district. There’s a no-frills dining room and a U-shaped counter–perfect for single diners, especially women. You can tell they had our needs in mind when they thoughtfully installed discreet under-the-counter hooks for hanging our handbags. The menu also seems designed to cater to the ever-slimming sex. Sushi is present and accounted for but I choose their special salad which consists of brochettes of beef, chicken or shrimp on a bed of noodles with bean sprouts, cilantro and lettuce topped with sweet Asian sauce. It was delicious. The shrimp was fresh and perfectly grilled and the rest of the ingredients worked together beautifully. But it was. . .light.  A few hours later I was again ravenous. Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.

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