Le Saint Jean — Restaurant in Aix-en-Provence

As Americans travelling in France, this was the first restaurant we went to for dinner that felt authentically French. The location was gorgeous - right in front of a fountain in gorgeous historic Aix en Provence.

We got the mixed charcuterie board to share, the tomato salad for me, and Caesar salad (which was more like an American Cobb Salad) for my friend. Stephan and Fabio took very good care of us, recommending wine and guiding us through all of our menu selections. They both made us comfortable despite our not knowing any French. Their English was great, and they were so kind!

There was so much on the mixed board that we didn't think we could finish it amd eat our salads, too. Chef Patrice came out to see what was wrong when we didn't finish. It was delicious, including the head cheese (don't think too much about it, I promise it is scrumptious!) - if we had a refrigerator in our hotel, we would have taken it with us, but we really wanted vegetables, too, amd only had so much room!

The salads were fantastic, and we decided to try dessert, too. We couldn’t finish those either, but not for lack of trying. The creme caramel is very like flan, and the floating island is like a meringue in a lake of creme Anglais....

The Saint Jean is well known for its meats, but its appetizers are little jewels to be discovered. The salmon smoked “maison” was a delicacy and so different from current preparations. The foie-gras and the warm brie were also spectacular. The dish presentations were very detailed and the staff made us feel that their objective was to provide us a pleasant experience. Having had a heavy lunch, our light dinner at Le Saint Jean was an experience of good tastes and...

The place is alright and the food is okay. The service could have been better as we waved so many times to be able to order the food. There was also some confusion as to what we have ordered. The most annoying part about the atmosphere specifically is that there is a street sweeper at around lunch time. And all the dust can end up in your food. The restaurant seemed good based on ratings and menu but unfortunately it didn't live up to its...