Restaurant Name: La Becasse (now closed, 2006)
May 2006. This restaurant has closed down.
I wish I'd found this restaurant years ago; we've eaten here twice in the last two days. What a find - sandwiched beween two tourist tat souvenir shops, between the Opera House and the Cours Saleya - the famous flower and food market of Nice, there is no restaurant front, just a doorway. You go down a dark corridor which opens out onto a wonderful, private, shady courtyard garden surrounded by trees and peace and quiet.
The only noise here is the sound of the other diners, it's a real escape from the hustle, bustle, noise, motorbikes, musicians and beggers that is taking place just a few metres away on the Cours. Not that I mind all this, it's all part of city life, it's just a lovely change to escape from it yet still be so close.
You feel you can put your bag down as opposed to across your knee and wrapped around you while you're eating. It's very relaxing to eat here.
La Becasse (a becasse is a woodcock bird) is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner. Closed Wednesdays in the winter. We walked in off the street for lunch, but in the middle of the summer and for the evening, probably best to book.
The majority of tables were occupied by French families, usually three generations worth; it's all very genteel and civilised here, very charming and not many tourists at all, it's so easy to miss this place - it took us five years to find it. There is a large upstairs restaurant indoors too for the winter, overlooking the Cours.
Favorite Dish: We found the restaurant the other night, merely because I was nosing down the corridor at the beautifully lit garden; it looked so welcoming, we went to investigate. We've been back for lunch twice; I'd like to try an evening there.
The menu is a mix of salads, pizzas, fish and meat, and Nicoise specialities, all the usual things. There are also three 3-course set menus for 14, 18 and 25 euros. My husband tried the 18 euros menu today; he chose fish soup, very hot and good, then lamb with (hand-cut) chips and salad, then creme brulee. All excellent. The day before, he had gnocchi daube (meat stew and Italian dumplings), excellent too. The daughter and I had pizzas one day, then Salad Nicoise the next. I went back for the salad the next day because I was so impressed by the look of them the day before. If you like salad, you will like it here. They all looked good especially the hot goats cheese and the Mediterranean salad. Big portions too. Half a pichet (half a litre of house wine in a jug) ice-cold red (red is often served cold in Nice) is 5,50 euros, good value and is very drinkable.
The prices are just a bit more than we would normally pay (mind you, we DO hunt out really cheap places), but I now think the salads are worth it due to the size and quality plus the setting and location make it all very good value overall. I'm only talking a couple of euros more and the prices here are at the lower end of typical Cours Saleya restaurant prices anyway.
Pizzas start at about 7 euros, Salad Nicoise, 9,30 euros, pasta dishes like spagetti bolognaise are 8,50 euros, so not bad really. I'll be adding the menu to my webpages soon so you can see for yourself.
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Theme: Local
Comparison: about average
Phone: 04 93 85 73 51
Address: La Becasse, 1 rue St Francois de Paule, Old Nice
Directions: If you stand at the west end of the Cours Saleya, with your back to the flower market, La Becasse is on your right hand side; it's just past La Quotidien and the entrance is between two souvenir shops. Easy to miss.
Website: http://www.allaboutnice.com/restaurants_in_Nice
Other Contact: fax 04 93 92 36 26
on Aug 29, 2004
