The Forum des Cardeurs Aix en ProvenceFinding great - and great-value - restaurants is surprisingly difficult in Aix, despite its wealth, size and importance as a tourist destination, although there are some delightful hidden gems.

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In very broad terms, visitors to Aix can choose between three types of restaurant. They can go for the overpriced, but brilliantly located restaurants on the elegant Cours Mirabeau where the experience is likely to be more memorable than the gastronomy.

Or they can opt for the cheaper but mostly undistinguished outdoor terraces on the sunny, touristy Forum des Cardeurs, pictured top left. But the little spots where the best eats are to be had are tucked away in the Old Town. The choice is yours!

THE BEST RESTAURANTS IN AIX EN PROVENCE

les deux garcons aix en provenceFor those who absolutely must eat on the Cours Mirabeau, options are very limited, especially since the legendary Les Deux Garçons brasserie was destroyed in late 2019 in a major fire. Its near-neighbour, the Bastide du Cours, closed down the following year.

One small bright spot: the 2Gs, as Les Deux Garçons is affectionately known to locals, is being restored. It will be a long job, but watch this space. Pictured: the 2Gs in its heyday.

One of the most interesting restaurants on the Cours Mirabeau, at no.19, does not look out on to the boulevard itself. You enter Côté Cour through the imposing doorway of one of Aix's grand hôtels particuliers.

But the dining room is actually in the large glassed-covered veranda at the back of the building (the restaurant's name means "on the courtyard side").

Its chef, Ronan Kernen, hails from Britanny and took over the then-ailing Côté Cour in 2010. Since then he has become one of France's TV celebrity chefs (yes, they have them here too), has been winning plaudits in the restaurant guidebooks and has turned this light-filled, buzzing venue into a place to see and be seen.

A few doors down at no.15, the recently opened Le Singe Vert has a varied menu with vegetarian options.

Right at the bottom of the Cours, at no.13, the recently opened Le Cambarou is housed in a beautiful historic building (don't forget to look up at the ceiling frescoes) and specialises in fish and seafood.

On the Forum des Cardeurs, one spot stands out from the serviceable but workaday restaurants lining this huge square. At no.40, the popular and long-established Le Poivre d'Âne has restricted opening hours but serves elegant dishes with an exotic twist on the terrace, pictured, or in the retro 1970s dining room.

Le Poivre dAne restaurant Aix en ProvenceDelve into the maze of Old Town back streets for the most interesting finds. Vintrépide (48 rue du Puits neuf) is a small, dynamic restaurant run by a young, talented team with a personal touch.

A fairly recent arrival on the scene is Le Bistrot (5 rue Campra), which has been quickly embraced by locals. It offers traditional French and provençal cuisine at unbeatable prices.

Also liked by Aixois: the gourmet Les Caves Henri IV par Le Formal (32 rue Espariat), although a question mark hangs over its future since the death of its chef, JeanLuc Le Fotmsl, in late 2022.

Alexandre Mazzia, whose highly acclaimed AM restaurant in Marseillle boasts three Michelin stars, has a bistro in Aix called Niro at 37 place des Tanneurs, on the same Old Town site as his previous restaurant in Aix, Pointe Noire.

AM Alexandre Mazzia at workThe menu has been co-devised by Mazzia, pictured, though he's not personally in the kitchen.

Niro has an outdoor terrace, though unfortunately it's right opposite a motorcycle park.

At the bottom of the Old Town near La Rotonde, the pretty cobbled place Ramus is packed with attractive little spots to eat and drink.

For all these smaller restaurants (some have fewer than a dozen tables) booking is essential. Another downside: they certainly offer terrific cuisine and outstanding value.

But many of them are found down side streets and based in tiny indoor premises, sometimes in a picturesque vaulted cellar and often without a garden or outdoor terrace, or with just a couple of outdoor tables on a dark, narrow pavement.

So they're ideal for a warm and cosy winter's supper but not necessarily the place you want to be for people-watching on summer days.

At the snobby end of gastronomy, Aix's handful of Michelin-starred restaurants are all somewhat out of the centre, except for Mickaël Féval. Tucked away in the Old Town, this restaurant lost its Michelin star in 2019, but won it back in 2021.

Update: Mickaël Féval closed down at the end of 2023. Chef Féval cited as one reason the difficulty of running a restaurant in the centre of Aix.

Pierre Reboul specialises in molecular cuisine with the usual syringes, espumas, and so on and the usual small portions at the usual big prices.

His main restaurant recently relocated to the Château de la Pioline on the edge of Aix. The move cost Reboul his one Michelin star in 2016 but he regained it the following year.

Le Saint Estève, restaurant, has also been awarded a Michelin star. It too is out of town, near the village of Le Tholonet. The line-up is completed by Le Château de la Gaude, also on the outskirts of Aix, and Le Mas Bottero in Saint Cannat.

Click here to read reviews of some of Aix's best bars and here to view a complete and up-to-date list of all the Michelin-starred restaurants in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

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