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The best restaurants in Marseille

Le Petit Nice, Marseille
Le Petit Nice, Marseille

Being a port city, it makes sense that Marseille’s signature dish is the overwhelming bouillabaisse fish stew. It should be tackled at least once – as long as you like fish. Avoid cheap versions: anything under €35 (£30) counts as cheap. Other local dishes are of a similarly sustaining nature: daube, a beef stew in wine; and le grand aioli, which is warm cod flanked by a full floor show of vegetables, shellfish and, of course, garlic mayonnaise. It requires a cooled bottle of Provençal rosé – or Cassis white – to do it full justice. As France’s oldest city, Marseille also enjoys plenty of foreign influence. Look out for fine food from the Mahgreb, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and, naturally, from Italy just along the coast.

For further Marseille inspiration, see our guide to the city and its best hotels, nightlife and things to do.

Le Petit Nice


Undoubtedly the finest, most inventive table in Marseille, whence its three Michelin stars and throat-grabbing prices. The restaurant is on the ground level of Le Petit Nice hotel, looking directly onto the briny – a serene setting for Gérald Passédat’s imagination and technical mastery. The French chef uses fish no one has heard of, in dishes no one else would have conceived at prices only a few can afford. Lunch menu is €190 (£160), cheapest dinner menu €310 (£262). Meanwhile, the on-site bistro, Le 1917, has a slightly more affordable take on fine cuisine.

Contact: passedat.fr
Reservations: Essential
Prices: £££

Le Petit Nice
Le Petit Nice

Chez Michel


Most people travelling to Marseille will, at some point, be seeking bouillabaisse, the city’s emblematic, full-frontal fish dish. It comes in two servings: the stock first as soup, then a scrum of solid fish follows. Among the very best is Chez Michel near the Catalan beach. The decor hasn’t much changed since it opened in 1946, concentrating instead on the cooking and the white-jacketed serving ceremonial. Just as well, when they want £67 a throw. Pricey, obviously, but the Visciano family have been running things for three generations. They’re largely on top of what is a difficult job.

Contact: restaurant-michel-13.fr
Prices: £££
Reservations: Essential

L’Aromat


These are bright, city-centre surroundings for one of Marseille’s brightest young talents. Young chef Sylvain Robert has an enviable reputation for his contemporary take on Mediterranean cooking. Try the squid ravioli with tomato, chard and tapenade, or the celebrated hamburger de bouillabaisse.

Contact: laromat.com
Reservations: Recommended
Prices: ££

L’Aromat, Marseille
L’Aromat, Marseille

L’Alcyone


This is the posh restaurant within the monumental Intercontinental Hotel - Hotel Dieu, where Lionel Levy exercises Michelin-starred skills in elegant, calm surroundings. Those with slightly tighter budgets might make for Les Fenêtres, the hotel’s brasserie which spills out onto the biggest and loveliest terrace in town. Views to the Old Port and up to Notre-Dame de la Garde are sumptuous – as is the building itself. It served as the hotel-dieu, or hospital, from the 18th-century – when treating the sick was thought to require classical grandeur. The 21st-century make-over has been quite splendid.

Contact: marseille.intercontinental.com/alcyon
Prices: £££
Reservations: Essential

Chez Fonfon


Fonfon is a landmark spot – slotted into the Vallon des Auffes, an unlikely little fishing port in the heart of the city – and does bouillabaisse as it’s meant to be done. It’s not cheap (€53/£48), but you get the full monty: stock served first as soup, then the five-fish stew with all the palaver. The family-run restaurant, opened in 1952, has also had time to perfect other fish dishes and southern specialities.

Contact: chez-fonfon.com
Prices: £££
Reservations: Essential

Chez Fonfon, Marseille
Chez Fonfon, Marseille

Le Relais 50


The restaurant associated with the Hotel La Résidence du Vieux Port starts with the advantage of the finest of settings – right by the Vieux Port, with a terrace which is more or less in the water. It builds on this with a vaguely retro décor and inventive Med cooking from chef Noël Baudrand. If you are going to lunch or dine around the old port – an you really should; it’s the city’s beating heart – then the Relais 50 must be a most serious contender for your custom. The value-for-money helps make it a stand-out.

Contact: hotel-residence-marseille.com
Prices: ££
Reservations: Essential

Le Peron


A Marseille classic, perched on rocks directly over the sea on the corniche. The food is expensive but brilliantly worked, notably in the fish department, and it comes with a sense of privilege. By day, the outdoor wooden terrace has maybe the most unfettered sea views in Marseille. By night, the light extends just beyond the windows; there are pinpricks from boats and islands a little further out, rendering the night both infinite and intimate.

Contact: restaurant-peron.com
Prices: £££
Reservation: Essential

Le Peron, Marseille
Le Peron, Marseille

Chez Madie Les Galinettes


This friendly, bustling establishment is a point of reference for Provençal specialities – both fish and meat (including a rare chance in France to eat lambs' testicles). There’s contemporary art on the walls, a terrace out front and the best of Marseille on your plate. The daube beef in wine may be the finest in town, and the bouillabaisse isn't at all bad, either.

Contact: madielesgalinettes.com
Prices: £
Reservations: Essential

Esplaï du Grand Bar des Goudes


From Marseille centre, take N° 20 bus out to Les Goudes, where the final straggle of the city cedes to arid rocks, deep creeks, a pint-sized fishing port and ramshackle cabins where real Marseillais have spent weekends drinking pastis and barbecueing fish for generations. Here you will find the almost excessively convivial Esplaï du Grand Bar des Goudes where the sea food is good, the bouillabaisse and bourride first class (and cheaper than in the posher establishments back in the centre), the views directly over port and sea eye-smacking, and the atmosphere perfectly Marseillais at its picaresque best.

Contact: grandbardesgoudes.fr
Prices: ££
Reservation: Essential

Les Trois Rois


Les Trois Rois is set on a lively little pedestrian street crammed with restaurants up near Notre-Dame du Mont. The style is baroque, the service first-class and the modern French food comes elegantly presented. Look out, too, for meat and fish à la plancha, tatakis and gourmet burgers. All that for very affordable prices. Seek it out.

Contact: 00 33 491 534484; see Facebook page
Prices: £
Reservations: Recommended