Les Clos des Gourmets - Four Points by Sheraton Elysee Palace - Nice - France - review

Name: Les Clos des Gourmets

Address: BP 1291, 59 Promenade des Anglais, 
6005 Nice, 
France‎

04 93 97 90 90‎

Food: French, Modern French, European

Average price:$8Euro - $29Euro.

Complimentary: Bread roll.

We ordered: $29Euro for three courses.

Tomatoes carpaccio with mozzarella salad

The tomatoes were watery and devoid of flavour. Not particularly tasty at all.


Salad with Parmesan and cherry tomatoes

Needed more tomatoes (there were only two) otherwise it was fine.


Lamb and Parmesan semolina

Ok, nothing special.


Tuna with potatoes

The tuna was overcooked and dry and there was barely any flavour in the dish at all, it highly resembled plane food.


Red berry salad

The flavours were nice, until we found 4 blackberries covered in white mould...


Apple tart tatin

The apples turned to complete mush and the pastry was very tough. Didn't even want a second bite.

Cost: $49Euro for 2 entrees, 2 mains and 2 desserts (they ended up charging us less ($9Euro) as they compensated us for the mouldy fruit dessert).

Service: Very relaxed. Perhaps it was because we were seated by the pool, as the service felt more like 'poolside service' than restaurant service. Food also took a little while despite there being only one other table seated, most likely due to the extremely tiny outdoor kitchen.

Atmosphere: We were outside by the pool which had lovely rooftop views and was very relaxing, however once the sun sets, beware of the mosquitoes.

Parking: Limited street parking - there is underground parking for guests.

Website: http://www.elyseepalace.com/fr/index.php

Hours:  12 noon to 2:00 pm and 7:30 pm to 10 pm

Would I return: No.

11ème Art - Nice - France - review

Name: 11ème Art

Address: 11 Rue Meyerbeer, 
06000 Nice, 
France 
+33 4 93 87 57 15

Food: French, Modern French, Cafe

Average price: $5 - $10.50Euro.

Complimentary: Sliced white bread and water.

We ordered:

Entree: Vegetable bruschetta - $9Euro

 Really delicious and generous portion. The cheese and veggies (eggplant, capsicum, tomato, mushrooms) were all tasty and well cooked. The bread had a crunchy crust and fluffy centre. The lettuce dressed nicely. We both enjoyed this and I would order it again.

Main:  Herb omelette - $8Euro

The chips were bland and had an unpleasant texture. The omelette on the other hand reminded me of my Yia Yia's omelette - well cooked (I prefer my scrambled eggs well done), seasoned and sprinkled with herbs (perhaps oregano?). Yum - although a little too big for me to finish.

Chicken with mushrooms & cream sauce - $9 Euro

Once again the chips were stale and tasteless, unfortunately R thought the chicken was bland but the mushrooms and sauce were sweetly tasty.

Dessert: Creme Brulee - $5Euro

I was expecting a classic brulee, this however, was raspberry flavoured. My first disappointment was the lack of crack from the teaspoon, it just sunk right through. The custard had a nice consistency but was lolly-sweet from the raspberry, it tasted a little like a sugary children's treat, there was no tartness from the raspberry at all.

Cost: $32Euro for one entrée, two mains and one dessert.

Service: Great. Food came out quickly, water was topped up and the waiter accommodated our lack of French well and without judgement.

Atmosphere: Casual and upbeat. We sat outside, amongst the lively street-scape but the inside scheme was neutral and fairly modern. I'm not sure what the evening atmosphere would be like, I think perhaps they become less cafe-like.


Parking: Risky. Walk or take the bus.

Website: None.

Hours:  Daily 6:30pm-10:30pm

Would I return: Yes. Cheap and tasty food in generous portions.

Four Points by Sheraton Elysee Palace - Nice - France - review

Name: Four Points by Sheraton Elysee Palace (Room Service).

Address: BP 1291, 59 Promenade des Anglais, 
6005 Nice, 
France‎

04 93 97 90 90‎

Food: French, Modern French, European

Average price:$7Euro - $26Euro.

Complimentary: Nothing.

We ordered:

Cheeseburger - $19Euro

R said this was ok. Chips were under-seasoned and the salad undressed.


Fresh fruit salad - $7Euro

This was 2/3 juice, and the fruit itself didn't taste incredibly fresh, but it might have been the juice that was making them taste tinned.


Chocolate & raspberry romance - $8Euro

We ordered this twice during our stay, and I much preferred the size and presentation of the first one, it also had raspberries whilst the other had only two strawberries and a blackberry, even though the dish is called a chocolate and raspberry romance...

The first tart also had a nicer, molten chocolate centre. The chocolate was milk and therefore sweet, which is why the raspberries suited it more with their tartness.

Cost: $34Euro for 1 main and two desserts.

Service: N/A.

Atmosphere: N/A.

Parking: Limited street parking - there is underground parking for guests.

Website: http://www.elyseepalace.com/fr/index.php

Hours:  12pm - 11pm.

Would I return: Yes.

Radisson Blu Hotel - Marseille - Vieux Port - France - Review

Name: Radisson Blu Hotel Marseille Vieux Port (Room Service).

Address: 40 Quai de Rive Neuve
13007 Marseille,
France

04 88 92 19 50

Food: French, Modern French

Average price:$7Euro - $26Euro.

Complimentary: Two sesame seed bread rolls with butter, ketchup and aioli, all lovely.

We ordered:

Vegetable and tapenade tart tatin, salad, balsamic vinaigrette - $12Euro

This was rather delicious. The fresh rocket added a lovely pepperiness to the sweetly acidic balsamic, salty tapenade and sweet tomatoes upon a flaky and crispy pastry.

Fresh fruit salad - $7Euro

I was pleasantly surprised with the rather 'uncommon' selection of fruit. The fruit was fresh but what I liked most were the tart redcurrants which I have not had in a fruit salad before, and I also enjoyed getting to taste the ground cherry (physallis) which had an interesting savoury taste to it. It was quite a generous portion presented beautifully in a black bowl.

Cost: $19Euro for 1 main and 1 dessert

Service: N/A.

Atmosphere: N/A.

Parking: Limited street parking.

Website: http://www.radissonblu.com/hotel-marseille

Hours:  Daily 6am - 10:30pm.

Would I return: Yes.

Christian Ettiene - Avignon - France - review

Name: Christian Ettiene

Address: 10 Rue de Mons
84000 Avignon,
France
04 90 86 16 50

Food: French, Modern French

Average price: $12 - $125Euro.

Complimentary:

anchovy bread

Nice salty, sweet and tangy flavours

tomato gazpacho with watermelon

Too sweet for me - R liked it.
Tomato bread twist was nice.

We ordered: Tomato degustation - $70Euro


Royal de tomate "Saint Pierre"
heirloom tomatoes, minted celery juice

I found the texture a little too akin to baby food for me, but R enjoyed it.

Traditional tomato tartare
with basil three ways, summer salad with olive oil

The red one had too much onion otherwise the others were quite nice and fresh.

Cuttlefish flan with its own ink,
confit of "Olivettes" tomatoes, lemon vinegar foam with basil

R really enjoyed this

Tomatoes with beans - There was a nice sweetness - acidic tomatoes worked well with beans.

"Marmande" tomato consommé
with cumin, brunoise of Provençal vegetables

The pasta was quite doughy and the broth was extremely salty.

Lamb meatballs rolled in basil,
"Cœur de bœuf" tomato concassée, Parmesan emulsion

Egg in foam - ok, rather heavy and salty.

Goat curd cheese with Picholine olives,
mousse of "Noire de Crimée" tomatoes, tomato grissini

This was quite a heavy mousse, I needed water in between mouthfuls. But it was ok. I couldn't really taste the goat cheese that much.


Tomato-green tea pastry with a salad of cherry tomatoes and strawberries,tomato sorbet, sesame praline

This tasted like a Greek fruit lolly to me. Sometimes the tomato was too savoury and the sponge was a little hard (I think it was perhaps matcha?). It was interesting but I didn't like it much, R thought it was ok.

marshmallow

Good texture, subtle flavour.

saffron and strawberry macaron

Quite nice.

chocolate coconut

too bitter, no sweetness, the base was a little soft but R liked this.

cannelle 

A little doughy within and very chewy outside - not cooked well but it had a nice flavour.

Cost: $140Euro for two tomato tasting menus

Service: A little young. The two waitresses we had were very young, a little sloppy in appearance and knew very little English. They did not know much about the menus and did not refill our water very frequently. The older gentlemen that we had for a few of the dishes however was very well informed, polite and polished. Like all other Michelin starred restaurants the head chef himself came over at the beginning of our evening to introduce himself and ask exactly what I could and could not eat so he could better suit the menu to my dietary requirement.

Atmosphere: A rooftop garden. The mood is very relaxed and suited towards a great night with friends spent under the stars with a glass of wine. The summer terrace did have shelter and blinds that were unfolded as the night became cool. The edges of the area are brimming with wonderful wild flowers and fragrant herbs. There's a small view below to the church square. Some patrons chose to dress up slightly but most were dressed fairly casually. I'm not sure what the main, indoor room is like.

Parking: Risky. There are even less car parks in Avignon town which is geared towards pedestrians so take the bus or train and leg it.

Website: http://www.christian-etienne.fr/

Hours: Open Tue-Sat 12pm-1:15pm, 7:30pm-9:15pm

Would I return: Yes.

Hiely Lucullus - Avignon - France - review

Name: Hiely Lucullus
Address: 5 Rue de la République
84000 Avignon,
France

04 90 86 17 07

Food: French, Modern French

Average price: $

Complimentary: Bread roll

The roll was warm and soft but there was no butter to eat with it.

Melon three ways with ham

The sorbet, melon and melon juice were all sweet - and therefore this dish was overly sweet. The sorbet had a wonderful texture though.

We ordered:

Entree: Artichoke and lettuce 

This was bland, bland, bland. The soup was just stock with a few pieces of tough artichoke with wilted soggy lettuce on top, barely ate it despite my hunger.

Les escargots petits gris des Alpilles

R said the snails tasted like mushrooms and he didn't find the dish particularly tasty.

Main: Duck with cherry

R loved this, he said cherries went beautifully

Asparagus risotto

The rice was still chalky and needed lots of seasoning. Some asparagus spears were brown and unattractive. I did not like this dish.

 Dessert: Fig tart with vanilla icecream and lavender

I adored the addition of lavender. The ice cream was smooth and full of fragrant vanilla. The figs were sweet but crunchy. The biscuit base let the rest of the tart down, so basically this was just figs with ice cream.

Raspberry tart with lemon verbena

The herbs were languid and bruised. The raspberries were nice but the syrup was too sweet even for their tanginess and the acidity of the lemon curd. Once again the biscuit base, the same as above, was below par.


Cost: $85Euro for two entrees, two mains and two desserts.



Service: Bad/Inexperienced. At a Michelin starred restaurant I was hoping at least one of the waiters would know how to speak English, unfortunately only one knew about as much English as I knew French, which isn't much. Language barrier aside, our water was rarely topped up and the food was painfully slow to arrive and to be taken away. Towards the end of the meal I got a stomach pain and wanted to get the check to leave, despite asking for the check four times it took 30mins and us walking to the door before someone came with it.


Atmosphere: Golden hued elegance. I really loved the combination of warm woods and sunburnt hues with flourishes of jade green, it gave the room warmth and life. The windows that looked over the main street allowed light to flood in and gave the room a feeling of even more space. There are very few tables and they are spaced far apart so that it does feel at times you are the only ones eating.

Parking: Risky. There are even less car parks in Avignon town which is geared towards pedestrians so take the bus or train and leg it.

Website: http://www.hiely-lucullus.com/

Hours:  Open Daily 12pm-2pm, 7pm-10pm

Would I return: No.

Cafe des Deux Moulins - France - Paris - review

Name: Cafe des Deux  Moulins

Address: 15 Rue Lepic
18eme Arrondissement
Paris

01-42-54-90-50

Food:

Average price: $2.80-$18.50 Euro.

Complimentary: Glass of water.

We ordered: Pain au chocolat - $1.30 Euro

Nice, not the best nor the worst.

Amelie's breakfast - $9.90Euro
Also pictured above

Quite generous portion of half a bread stick, a croissant, jam, butter, coffee, orange juice and an omelet (I forgot to photograph it, but it was quite large).

Everything was cooked fine, not fantastic but good value.

Cost: $11.20Euro for one breakfast meal and a chocolate croissant.

Service:  OK. The waiters were fairly rushed and it took a while to get our menus. But the food itself came out quickly.

Atmosphere: Kitschy. The decor remains mostly true to the movie with its tiled floor and pale green accents with pink ceilings, the glass partition that Amelie wrote on has disappeared and a large picture of her sits at the back of the cafe as well as another above the bar. The cigarette counter is also gone.The patrons are a mixture of locals, who sit at the front of the cafe, whilst at the back are the groups of tourists no doubt on an Amelie tour, behind us is a tour group of 15 Asian tourists happily taking a million snapshots of everything, including their cutlery. There was this one moment when a homeless person came in and stood in the middle of the cafe whilst the staff walked around him as if he were part of the furniture, eventually he made his way to the bathroom where he stayed until after we departed. I didn't quite gel with the atmosphere which felt so divided and also rushed.

Parking: Forget about it. Parking in France is a nightmare (and sometimes laughable at how ridiculous it is, we saw an instance where are car was so pinned in, both cars next to it were touching its bumpers). Do yourself a favour and take the Metro (trains every 3mins) or a bus.

Website: None.

Hours:  Daily 7am - 2am.

Would I return: No.

L'Opera Cafe - Avignon - France - review

Name:L'Opera Cafe 

Address: 24 Place de l'Horloge

Avignon 84000

France

 

33-4-90-86-17-43 

Food:

Average price: Lunch 15.90 - 18.90 € - Dinner menu 24 - 30 €

Complimentary: Just bread, three cold, chewy loaves.

We ordered:


Tomato gazpacho and salad -$7.50Euro

I was surprised with the frequency tomato gazpacho appeared on all price-ranged French restaurant menus. The salad was limp and completely unappetising, I wouldn't be surprised if it was yesterday's. The soup was quite chunky, was all onion and no tomato and also tasted like yesterday's lunch.


Salmon and salad

Same, scraggly salad as above doused in vinegar. R liked the salmon though.


Steak with potatoes and aioli - $12.90Euro

Worst steak of R's life - chewier than leather and even harder to cut through, he had to spit some out when he got lock-jaw from trying to break it down enough to swallow. Potatoes were soggy (some undercooked) and as tasteless as the aioli.


Lemon tart

The crust was nice but the curd was too runny, too sweet and without that wonderful lemon tang. The syrup was lovely, wish there had been more, and the sorbet was wonderfully surprising with its real strawberry-ness, the only real winner of the day.


Cost: $26.40Euro - for 2 special 2-course lunch deals.


Service:  Almost self-service. The waiters seemed more suited to being doormen and bartenders, barely looking at you whilst taking your order, hurrying back inside without ever refilling your water once. On a positive note the food came out fairly quickly and was cleared just as quickly.

Atmosphere: Bustling bar-cum-daytime eatery. The inside decor is definitely suited towards a bar rather than a cafe. The black floor looked like the Metro nightclub floor, meaning fairly dirty and the chairs inside were more suited to sitting back with a drink in hand rather than hunching over a table to eat, that said the chairs outside were comfy under the incredibly orange awning.

Parking: Risky. There are even less car parks in Avignon town which is geared towards pedestrians so take the bus or train and leg it.

Website: None.

Hours:  Monday - Sunday:  from 9:00am to 1:30pm, reopens at 2:30-7:00pm or 11:30pm (turns into a bar at night).

Would I return: No.