Marea — Restaurant in Grasse

Honestly, I am just so perplexed by the difference in service quality between Marea and the Canopy hotel as a whole and also in comparison with Café Crème, that I have no idea where to start this review.

We stayed in the hotel for a week and was planning to dine in the restaurant the whole time as we were here for pure relaxing before flying back to Vienna. But oh my, were we disappointed on our first visit here.

We arrived in Cannes on Saturday late afternoon and asked the receptionist at check-in to reserve a table at Marea for us the next day for dinner. So we went there on Sunday evening, the reception was lovely, then it all went down:

1. Wanted to order a bottle of rosé. After over 10mins, the waitress came back just saying repetitively "Non, non, non, finished". Ok, well, no big deal, we chose another rosé.

2. Were planning to have oysters with perles de citron as starter, no problem. Then wanted to have Cocotte Marea as main dish, again suddenly the repetitive shock "Non, non, non, finished". Hmm..then we said, ok no problem, we’ll have the loup de mer farci (stuffed sea bass), and guess what… again "Non, non, non, finished, we don’t have”. At this point we were like, then what are we supposed to eat here the whole week if this and that are not available and the choice on the menu is not that big. We had to change the whole plan of the dinner that night and ordered totally other stuff on the menu.

3. Between the time the rosé came until we got the dessert, only maybe 2-3 times the waitress poured our glasses. Other than that we did it by ourselves. We realised the guests at other tables were also wondering if they should wait if someone would come to pour the wine or if they should have just done it by themselves. After finishing the main dishes, we waited quite a while until the waitress brought us the dessert menu.

4. The evening seemed so disorganised. A couple of staff were running around disoriented. Going around to the sideboard next to the kitchen, then stopped in the middle of the way, then turned around to where she came from, without having done what she actually wanted to do or maybe picked up. This wasted time could have been used to go over to the tables and asked the guests if everything’s alright and maybe top up the glass wine.

Other than that, we noticed a commotion at one table where the guests were unsatisfied with something and complained or cancelled their orders. Not our problem actually. But the fact that 2 female staff walked to the bar area and stood there, chatting about the guests at the table behind their back, not noticing that we and other guest knew what they are doing, is just ridiculous & unprofessional. Just go hide somewhere in the kitchen if you want to talk smack about the guests, but not in the middle of the restaurant. One of the waitresses seemed to inform the chef at the kitchen about the issue, but he just seemed unbothered and couldn’t care less.

5. We requested the bill from another staff as our waitress was never coming over to our table anymore or asked anything, after she brought us the desserts. And we finally got the bill after almost half an hour, that was after we flagged the staff and asked her the bill for the second time.

I must say we are generous tippers and if the service and quality of food are consistent and as expected, the tip is earned. We charged the bill to the room and left cash tip (around 20%), but after we got the bill, and were waiting for 1 hour, nobody was interested to check with us and also the bill, I took back the cash tip and we...

Terrible Restaurant from start to finish. I don’t usually leave reviews but with no opportunity to speak to staff about your experience I’m left no choice. I wish I checked the reviews before I went. Queue to get in with a reservation. Sat down at a table with a nice view, the waiter serving us was storming around very fast but not really getting much done. We ordered our drinks and food. Drinks took 20 minutes to arrive and they came along side or main courses, he had forgotten to put through our starter. An honest, rectifiable mistake. We waited 30 minutes for our starter, which was cleared promptly so they could bring back out the same main courses that had been waiting. No recook. The octopus was cold and the lamb had dried. After calling the waiter over he said he’d get a new octopus. That took 15 minutes (understandable) meaning I was left to eat on my own. At this point, we’d had enough. The second octopus was bland and okay at best. He then cleared every other empty table before clearing our main courses. Then had the cheek to drop the full bill on the table. If you had to apologise to a table for multiple mistakes at least try and make it look a little better. I work in restaurants and this place is shambolic honestly, I would not be proud to call this...

Don’t hesitate- go if you can!

We had dinner at Marea on July 14th, where we got to choose from a pre-set menu selection (because of the fireworks). Each course was phenomenal — not overly complex, but rather refined in its simplicity, which only served to highlight the exceptional quality of the ingredients and the chef’s craftsmanship- and with fair pricing!

The service was just as exceptional. We were served by Alexander, who truly elevated the evening. He struck the perfect balance between guiding us through the experience and giving us the space to fully enjoy it. His attention to detail and professionalism made us feel genuinely welcomed and completely relaxed, which makes that Marea is one of the few restaurants in Cannes where we felt incredibly valued as guests- from the moment we entered as the moment we left.

We’ve had several dining experiences in Cannes over the years, but we can now confidently say that Marea has definitely become one of our favorites, also because of the great atmosphere. We sincerely hope to return next year — this place is a true gem.

Compliments to Girish...