The best restaurants in Marseilles

From the creeks of Goudes to the old port, at brunch time or at dinner, an overview of these restaurants not to be missed in Marseille this summer.

At the heart of a veritable creative boom, Marseille never stops reinventing itself. Facing the blue of the Mediterranean, a squadron of inspiring new chefs and other starred chefs are proliferating there. The opportunity to discover the best spots to eat there this summer.

Baita

When? At lunch or dinner
One Sunday a month, the Baïta collective storms a restaurant in Marseille and introduces people to a good local product. An ode to Provençal cuisine and local artisans, each meeting is an opportunity to explore local recipes, as when chef Lucia Gaspari sublimates flowers and edible herbs harvested around Marseille or when chef Sarah Chougnet- Strudel imagines a tasting menu around the whey of the Laiterie Marseillaise.

Tuba

When? At lunch and dinner
A stone’s throw from the small port of Les Goudes, Tuba is this new intimate hotel that everyone is talking about in Marseille. Within the walls of a former diving school, interior designer Marion Mailaender signs a brutalist decor all in rope, yellow stripes and light wood. Installed on the rock or perched above the creeks, the restaurant welcomes, this season in residence, the chefs Sylvain Roucayrol and Paul Henri Bayart (Hidden). Inspired by the local terroir and recipes from the Aegean, the duo offers a beautiful Greek salad, crispy squid, crudos, barbecued smoked sea bass or pastis cabbage.

Camas Sutra

When? At dinner
New table d’hôtes hidden in a former butcher’s shop in Marseille, Camas-Sutra parades behind its stoves the cream of the chefs of the moment. Until May 28, we discover the fine recipes of Minou Sabahi (already spotted at Fulgurances in Paris) which are inspired by good Mediterranean products and his Persian culinary memories.

Coquille

When? At lunch and dinner
Inaugurated last summer, Coquille is located close to the old port. Seaside bistro with a welcoming atmosphere, sit down on its beautiful azure terrace before discovering the menu of Marine Bottari and Jules Mollaret. Offering seafood platters and other grilled fish, the place also offers double pizzas (half anchovies and tomatoes, half cheese), mussels and chips or fish chips. Cherry on the cake? Porquerolles wine and homemade profiteroles.

Copains

When? At dinner during the week and lunch + dinner on weekends
Led by Pauline Lagon and Jules Girandon, freshly arrived from Lyon, Copains has just opened its doors on rue Tilsit in Marseille. Expert in natural wines, the place offers a gastronomic menu that gives pride of place to the seasons: lean carpaccio and crunchy vegetables, tapas of octopus accompanied by chistera and mashed corn or snacked trout, smoked beets and leek emulsion.

Limmat

When? At lunch and dinner
Right in the middle of the Cours Julien stairs, Limmat is the new food hot spot that is always full in Marseille. Led by Lili Gadola (formerly Épicerie L’Idéal), the slate menu takes the taste buds on a journey from Switzerland to the Mediterranean. Evolving according to the catch of the day and the transalpine desires of the chef, you can taste Sardinian ravioli sprinkled with parmesan, red tuna snake, Niçoise salad or sardine dumplings and fresh herbs.

AM

When? At lunch and dinner
The only chef to have won a third star in the year of confinement, Alexandre Mazzia runs the kitchens of the AM restaurant. Hidden in an alley of the 8th arrondissement, this high-flying restaurant relies on a raw decoration with its concrete wall and its oak parquet, reminding us that the important thing takes place on the plate. Without a menu, the lunches and dinners take place according to the spontaneous desires of the chef, who likes to cover his tracks with his recipes turned towards the sea and a seasonal vegetable garden, without forgetting some African influences, coming from his childhood spent in Pointe-Noire.

L’Idéal

When? At lunch from Tuesday to Sunday, at dinner on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
Located opposite her eponymous grocery store, L’Idéal is the new restaurant of the talented Julia Sammut. In a cleverly vintage decor, dressed in old-fashioned stones, wooden furniture and leather benches, the place offers a seasonal menu that is reinvented according to market finds. Like the Neapolitan smoked sausage pizzette, sea bream carpaccio, pan-fried cuttlefish or pasat al ragu.

Christian Qui

When? At dinner
Sacred by Fooding in 2021, this table d’hôtes of character has taken up residence in the
Goudes. Rocky port facing the creeks, where chef Christian Qui proves every evening to
a lucky handful, the extent of his culinary talent. A great fish specialist, he gives free rein to his imagination, mixing Japanese inspirations and beautiful Mediterranean products.

Le Petit Nice

When? At lunch and dinner
Clinging to the Corniche, with its feet in the Mediterranean, Le Petit Nice is this small intimate hotel stamped Relais & Châteaux. Led by Gérald Passédat, his gastronomic restaurant offers an anthology of pretty iodized dishes (but not only): amuse-bouche of raw fish cucumber melon and peppers, fish from the south in a northern caravan, smoked, bottarga, krystal caviar; bass with baby vegetables or even roudoudou, melon soup and vinegar as a counterpoint.

Otto

Little brother of the famous Cantinetta, Otto is the latest culinary project by Stéphanie Nardoca and Pierre-Antoine Denis. In a refined trattoria decor, the place focuses on Mediterranean cuisine with transalpine influences. On the menu? Wild clams from the Camargue, creamy burrata drizzled with olive oil, linguine with crab meat and bisque or gourmet fior di latte ice cream and melted chocolate.

Le Mercerie

Led by Laura Vidal (The Paris Popup), and Julia Mitton, we find in the kitchens of La Mercerie, chef Harry Cummins (formerly of Frenchie) more inspired than ever. Making it a point of honor to use only fresh, seasonal products, you can taste octopus salads with heirloom tomatoes, cucumber granita, grilled mackerel served with fish eggs… Good and fresh.

Jogging

When? At lunch
An essential concept store in Marseille, Jogging also has a pretty hidden terrace where you can sit down at lunchtime. A stone’s throw from its grocery corner sourced from small local producers, the locavore menu, created by Marie Vial, offers zucchini cannelloni from the bush, homemade sandwiches with fine charcuterie and seasonal salads.

Sessun Alma

When? At lunch
At the heart of the Sessun Alma boutique, which opened in 2020, this Mediterranean canteen is one of Marseille’s safe bets at lunchtime. Accompanied by hand-picked natural wines, the menu, as succinct as it is effective, combines a salad of eggplants and melting peppers, an orso risotto, a grilled chicken pita or even melting cookies sprinkled with a grain of salt.

L’Eau à la Bouche

When? At lunch and dinner
Don’t be fooled by appearances, behind its somewhat kitsch storefront and its small narrow dining room on two floors, L’Eau à la Bouche is at the top of the lists of the best pizzerias in Marseille. Led by Rodolphe Bodikian, formerly of Guy Savoy and Ducasse, the place offers classics of the genre to perfection (Margarita with ultra fine dough) but also more regional and daring compositions (Pizza figatelli and brousse, with fresh mesclun from Nice …).