Restaurant La Pinède — Restaurant in Aix-en-Provence

Stepped inside while just walking through the city, solely because the decore and place looked good from outside and the place has just left a bad impression through and through..

We were asked at entrance if we wanted table for dinner or just drinks.. we said drinks and some snacks may b but not dinner and were seated afterwards.. ordered 2 cocktails and 1 sweet potato fries, here goes nothing afterwards:

Food: extremely soggy fries, they shouldn’t be called fries at all and should be named boiled and mushed together sweet potato slices at best.. and yes, with some feta cheese here and there. 1/10( one only for feta cheese). Custom drink menu names after sun signs and the taste is pathetic..

Service: 0/10. If there was a possibility to give negative rating, I would. The server was rude and kept saying that it’s not allowed to order only 1 snack with 2 drinks and he is gonna do us a favour by allowing us, but normally it’s not allowed. Bear in mind, the place was empty.. extremely rude and unprofessional for a customer facing business. Tap water took total 30 mins to be served despite there being hardly 5/20 tables occupied and multiple servers available. Guess it was punishment for ordering only 1 snack with 2 drinks.

Location: the place is well located in a nice street, ambience is cozy but pls go only if you have some extra money that you want to throw away while getting yelled at and punishing your taste buds.

Absolutely not...

I rarely write reviews but I am just very disappointed with the service my mom and I received here today. In one of the dishes - the beef onglet - one (of 3) small pieces had a large muscle running through it, making it inedible. We politely brought this up with our server and asked if it was possible to get another small piece instead. However, he basically just told us "it's normal" and just shrugged, and giving us a half apology while backing away. Disappointed with his response, we tried to move on and see if we could still eat the piece but we could hardly even slice through the muscle with a steak knife. Despite trying to show this to the server, he just kept insisting this was normal and there was nothing they would do about it. Another server comes and we explain the same thing, and they basically give the same response and say that they can't tell if a meat will have a muscle in it or not. I mention that I understand it is normal and can happen, but that it's unfortunate that nothing else was offered in it's stead to the customer. I was met with some more shrugging and insistence that it was normal. We gave up and asked for the bill.

It's a shame because the other dish we ordered was great, and so was this dish if not for this disappointing...

EDIT: I come every time I’m in Aix, and it’s terrific every time. Amazing cocktails, great charcuterie, perfect pasta. Sit on the terrace for drinks or if you don’t mind smoke as you eat; or indoors if you want to avoid the cigarettes.

EDIT: returned in October. Pasta just as good, great cocktails. Went on a day that there was a private function which meant staff were a bit overwhelmed, but they were still friendly and would still recommend.

Delightful restaurant with great cocktails and fantastic food. We had a charcuterie platter, which was excellent, and we had it with some of their astrology-themed cocktails. I’m not a big drinker, but the cocktails were astoundingly good - crisp and balanced and refreshing.

The highlight was the truffle pasta. They only offer one shape - mafaldine - and it is PERFECT for the rich truffle flavour. It was cooked perfectly and had an excellent bite to it. For €15 it was outrageously good value.

Service was friendly and flawless, and the whole experience - the outdoor covered terrace, beautiful decor - was terrific....