Lou Pilha Leva, Nice

The original language of Nice is called Nissart and it is still used in parts of the Old Town. The roads signs in Old Nice are written twice, in French and Nissart - the Nissart looks a little bit like Italian - a reminder of when Nice was not part of France. Lou Pilha Leva is Nissart for The Take-away.

Lou Pilha Leva is in the heart of the Old Town at a crossroads. The 'restaurant' is a simple serving hatch and there are tables and benches outside. You will need to suss out if you want sunshine or shade; we went in April and managed to catch a bit of welcome sun at the end of a table. It is very simple and basic. You queue up, get served on a tray which you take and sit down - just fill up any spaces at a table, you will probably share with others but that is ok. Drinks are served at your tables by waiters from a bar opposite the serving hatch on the other side of the road. We ordered two lots of drinks over lunch and although normally you would pay the drinks bill at the end, the waiters seemed happier to take payment with each order, which seems sensible enough. I have always wanted to try here as the menu looks excellent value and it is a lively, buzzy place with good scope for people-watching; the world and his wife seem to pass through here. The down side is the queuing. It has always put us off. Today it wasn't too bad plus there were obvious spaces available at the tables - another thing that put me off was the possibility of acquiring food and having nowhere to sit. There is a slight element of people baggsi-ing tables BEFORE queuing up for food, not really fair, but utterly understandable. In fact, we did this ourselves - the husband queued (briefly, only two in front) and the daughter and I sat down. To make it look better, I caught the eye of a waiter and got the drinks in quick so that we felt were legitimate paying patrons. It does state on the board that you must buy a drink if you intend to sit and eat your food rather than take it away - 'boisson obligataire en terrasse'.

I had a Nicoise Salad, it was fresh and bright and a big plate full. There was plenty of tuna, egg, peppers, tomatoes etc and even the lettuce was nice - sometimes it can be a bit manky in these salads, but I could have eaten every scrap (as usual) It also came with a bread roll so it felt even better value at 7 euros. The daughter had a chicken Panini - an Italian toastie (her second choice as they had run out of ham and cheese!) and the husband had sardine fritters called beignets. I had 2 coffees, good value at 1, 10 euros each and the husband had a beer - there was a good selection of continental beers from 3-5 euros. The drink prices are written up clearly all over the outside of the bar; likewise the food prices are clearly marked up on large boards surrounding the serving hatch. The food is cheap and cheerful with portions of Socca (chickpea flour savoury pancake - delicious) for 2 euros, paninis for about 3, 50 euros, salads and various nicoise fast-food specialities like beignets sardines - battered or fritterd sardines about 4-5 euros a portion. A Pan Bagnat, another nicoise speciality which is basically a large bread roll stuffed with Nicoise Salad, is only 3, 50 euros. It is a popular place so you need to choose your time or not mind queuing. Plenty of French seem to eat here which I always take as a good sign; mind you they are likely to be tourists themselves rather than locals. A half-litre of local wine is about 4-5 euros and a bottle of Cote de Provence rose wine is 12 euros. Nice food, and if you can't get a table get a take-away Pan Bagnat and have a picnic on the beach or up on Castle Hill.

Nice Hotels

Lou Pilha Leva, Nice

Visiting Nice?

Visiting Nice?

Nice Hotels