L'Hippocampe — Restaurant in Marseille

During our visit to Marseille, we made a stop at this place specifically to try the famous bouillabaisse soup. The location itself is quite pleasant, offering a nice view of the harbor, and the overall atmosphere is delightful. The waitstaff were exceptionally friendly and polite, providing a welcoming experience.

We opted for the bouillabaisse for two, priced at 69 euros per person. The portions were impressively generous, served in two rounds. The first round consisted of just the soup, while the second included both the fish and the soup. The food was enjoyable, although it became apparent to someone familiar with the taste of truly fresh fish that what we had was not as fresh as it could have been. However, it was still acceptable.

Overall, despite the slight disappointment with the freshness of the fish, our experience at this place was pleasant, and we were able to sample Marseille’s renowned bouillabaisse in a nice setting with...

Just unsatisfying, I would avoid. Extremely expensive - 176 euros for a bottle of sparkling water and 5 main courses, and note the fish portions whilst tasting fresh & nicely cooked, are not generous. The waiter (who kept sniffing the whole time!) mixed up our order - mistakes can always occur but it's how you respond to them. My husband's order arrived very late, after we chased 3 separate waiters, so that the rest of us had finished eating and yet nobody owned the problem, truly apologised or discounted the (36 euros!) plate. Felt disrespectful. There's so much choice in the area, go somewhere else. Can also see from their response that they invented a situation that never happened! - we were already sitting inside and there was no accident with cassis or anything else. Rude people who don't care about their customers...

We were staying in the vieux port area when visiting Marseille and decided to stroll around looking for a good French seafood restaurant when we came across L’Hippocampe. We ordered Spaghetti aux Fruits de Mer (which I didn’t care for too much but my spouse loved it) and the Poêlée Royale which we both thought was superb., The restaurant is a bit on the expensive side (cost about €100 for the two of us) but the location, service and ambiance here was really great so it was worth it for us.

Just be mindful that the toilet here is located on the upper floor and you have to go up a very narrow stairway in the dining area (where other customers can see you from below). Women wearing dresses and skirts may not feel comfortable using the toilet here for that reason, and it would not be suitable for any person who is...