Toinou, les Fruits de Mer ! — Restaurant in Aix-en-Provence

Overrated and disappointing.

Yes, the servers were friendly, but the service was painfully slow. We waited ages just to place our order, only to be told that four of the dishes we wanted were suddenly “unavailable”… then watched the table next to us get those same dishes minutes later. To top it off, we were charged for 3 dishes that never even arrived. No apology - just quietly removed when we pointed it out.

The atmosphere? Awful. We weren’t told we’d be seated next to multiple smoking tables, and the smoke made the whole experience miserable. Even worse, a nearby group spent over 15 minutes loudly ranting with racist, antisemitic, and anti-immigrant comments - and the staff said nothing. Not necessarily the restaurant’s fault, but their silence was unacceptable.

Food was mixed. Cold and steamed dishes were decent but forgettable. Grilled items were underwhelming - overcooked, charred, dry, and flavorless. The octopus in particular was chewy and bland. Not even close to the quality you'd get in Spain or Portugal.

Avoid the white sangria — just flat white wine with no flavor.

Unless you're coming only for oysters and can tolerate slow service, chaotic ordering, poor ventilation, and an inconsistent kitchen, skip this place. There are far better seafood spots worth your time and money.

—— the following is my response to the owner’s reply since the review thread cannot be extended ——

Your reply to my review is both dishonest and offensive. The claim that you haven’t served white sangria “for ages” is false - the server personally offered it to us, recommended it, and prepared it without hesitation. To deny this now is blatant misrepresentation.

I do not typically leave restaurant reviews, but the experience at your establishment was so unacceptably bad that I felt compelled to warn others. Every word in my review stands. The service, the atmosphere, and most importantly the racist behavior we witnessed were intolerable. Trying to dismiss or silence criticism with threats of “defamation” only further proves the lack of professionalism and accountability.

As for the terrace, no one informed us it was not smoke free. That was just one more element of a deeply unpleasant experience.

I stand fully by my review, and I will not be intimidated into silence. Instead of attacking customers who share honest feedback, you should reflect on the serious issues with how your restaurant...

It actually started with a both pleasant and competent waiter. The Or d'euvre was a tasty plate of fried squid and the wine recommended by the waiter (an Entre deux mers) had a good caracter that suplemented both squid, oysters, king crab and lobster which was all nicely prepared. But it ended anything but pleasant when we ordered a dessert (crème brulée) with an espresso for me and a cappuchino for my female companion. What the waiter brought had nothing to do with a cappuchino: It was a heavily sweetened sorry excuse for a coffee drenched in an opulent pile of whipped cream. We told the waiter that this was a strange cappuchino and not what we expected... And - although he told os us that "That's how we make cappuchino here!" - that we sent it back with what we thought was a common understanding that my companion (due to the grotesqueness of the cappuchino) couldn't drink it and wanted to change to an espresso instead. Actually the waiter told us that he had arranged for a change of the order. The surprise was great when the bill claimed that we had 1 cappuchino and 2 espressos. I thought it was a simple mistake on the managers part, but it turned out that the manager wanted to discuss and insist that we paid for 3 coffees instead of 2, including the cappichino monster we sent back. To cut a story short: After a short but futile attempt to make the manager understand that "a cappuchino" is a worldwide concept of coffee and foamed milk with no forced sugar, the manager insisted with some aggression that we paid the 4 Euros for the hopeless cappuchino as well as 4 Euros for our 2 expressos... I paid the bill and the manager said "Merci and au revoir" to which my only reply coud be and was: "Non!" And to my surprise the manager again turned on his aggression and said something I neither heard or understood... but needed and got a swift response frased as a precise "F... you!" as we left the resturant. Basically a very nice restaurant experience turned bad because of a manager with a bad temper and no sense of customer service. Wouldn't recommend this place to anyone who would like to enjoy a pleasant...

Pro: open on Sunday evening, Friendly English speaking staff, clean and fast service.

I would have given 5 stars if it is not for €4.95 per one fairly small to medium Grill shrimp.

We are from US and are in town for only one evening. My wife and I visited on Sunday evening around 7pm, and the staff are very friendly. The prices are reasonable and food are very fresh. We ordered

1. Fish and chip: we enjoyed it very much
2. fried Anchovies: to our surprise, very fresh and no fishy smell (my wife is very sensitive to smell)
3. stream clams: very tasty

All 3 above dishes were great and price are normal. I would even dare to say I would consider inexpensive for location

4. the last one was Grilled shrimp. It cost almost €5 but underwhelming is understatement (if there is a word for it). To be fair, the restaurant has much cheaper alternative if you order "cold". We wanted Grill, maybe that's why. Anyway, we were a bit disappointed but it didn't effect our evening

As many reviewer stated, this is self service. You order and you pay at cashier like fast food restaurant or cafeteria. They do bring the food to our table, and clean up after it.

They provide free fountain water and ice but you will have to buy everything including sauce.

I would strongly recommend to any seafood lover. I will definitely go back to...