Café l'Écomotive — Restaurant in Marseille

So I visited this cafe, after seeing reviews about the friendly co-working facilities. But it was NOT co-working friendly or NOT even just friendly.

When I walked in, clearly there were many people who were sitting with their laptops, so I felt good. There was decent wifi and some tables had sockets. So I sat in one of the available tables with a socket.

While I was in the middle of a call, the waiter just interrupted and said I cannot sit there unless I order lunch. I had already spent 6 EUR there, and it was not even 2 full hours since I was there.

This behaviour right there is enough to warrant a one-star review.

I had agreed to buy something, and the call was still ongoing. I asked if I could order their burger (listed as 9 EUR) for which he replied no at first and said I need to order a 'plat'. Later he said yes and brought me the burger with some sides for which they charged 13 EUR.

Still, I was expected to tip (Sure, we will pay high taxes, social security, chomage and also give a generous tip for your horrible service). And the look of the rude guy in the counter when I chose 'no' to tip on the machine was priceless. He was so annoyed just because my French was limited and I didn't know the word for tip which was written on the machine where I was asked to chose yes or no. How dare I ask him meaning for a word?!

The top area for co-working isn't there anymore (at least according to the waiter today). Maybe it is open only for special guests.

Coffee and food was average or below. I read comments praising the vegan/vegetarian food. I wonder how bad the vegetarian dishes they ate in their life before were.

If they're in the service business, they should be ready to serve, if not, they should please quit. With a cafe near the gare, strange to see they didn't want to deal with tourists.

I understand its a cafe near the gare and at lunch time they can make good money with food. Then communicate that beforehand than coming up whenever the fish you want and telling the customers to duck off. It could have been solved with simple signage / boards or just telling me when I ordered my first coffee (or the second).

Go here if you want to be greeted by people who clearly are miserable working there if you have absolutely no other options to eat. Otherwise there are plenty of options with people who know how to serve and are happy to have you...

We reached this lovely cafe a little after they decided to close the kitchen. We were terribly hungry and didn't really have other places to choose from because we were looking for a vegan restaurant. As we were about to leave, they were nice enough to tell us that they'd serve us before actually closing the kitchen. I think that was a really nice gesture.

What really struck me about the place was its casual and friendly vibe - the chefs were cooking and singing along to music and chatting us up and cleaning up, all in the same stride. Also, after you've ordered your food here, you're supposed to collect your cutlery on your own, they'll get you your plate of food. Afterwards you're expected to place the used cutlery in a bowl of water kept near the exit. To some people, this attitude might seem a bit strange and unprofessional, but for me, it tickled my hippie heart. It made me feel more for the place than I would usually have in one sitting.

The food itself was delicious. I had lentil patties and my colleagues had the broccoli tart, both served with salad and...

I suggested l'Ecomotive, because we had an hour wait for the TGV to Lyon

We already knew that you have to climb some stairs for this. But the view from the station over the city is beautiful!

I saw that the vegan cake was sold out and that there were only vegan cookies.

So I took an oat cappuccino for myself and Grenadine juice for Joris, as I'm not a big fan of cookies

But after 10 minutes the vegan cheesecake turned out to be replenished! I was very happy!! Then of course I ordered a piece of cheesecake (with lemon and blueberries)with extra grenadine juice.

I thought it was a wonderful combination. The cake was magic to me! 🫐🍋🍰 It had a good crust and a delicious fresh-sweet substance

We enjoyed the terrace and the people around us. It was very cosy.

Advice: You never know how crowded this place is and which cakes are left. So please never be disappointed, only be surprised! A veggie restaurant close to this station is great in itself!

You can order at the bar. The staff was...