Boccaccio — Restaurant in Nice

If you’re Asian, DO NOT EAT HERE.

I’ll preface this review by saying that the service and food once seated were impeccable - however, they could not completely make up for the fact that we were seated in a terrible spot despite having a reservation. If you are from any Asian country at all, China, Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, etc., consider very carefully if you want to eat excellent seafood at the cost of being prejudiced against. Especially since Nice has plenty of restaurants that serve great seafood.

When we came to the restaurant, we were checked in with our reservation. We were told that since al fresco dining tables out front were first come, first served, we could not sit out there since it was full. That’s understandable. However, we were advised to go upstairs to sit down. There were a couple of open corner booths - premium spots in this restaurant - however, our waiter told us that my family and I could not sit there because we were a party of 3, and booths were meant for 4-5 people. Sounded suspicious, but whatever. A mere 10-15 minutes after we were seated in front of the fish tank - not the best seat in the house, but better than being seated on a table in the side - a white family of 3 people exactly were seated in the corner booth we requested. That was a huge embarrassment and insult to myself and my family.

If you look around the restaurant, all the Asian customers are seated on the sidelines and in relatively bad spots in comparison to white customers. It’s like the owner and the restaurant hate Asian people despite enjoying all the money our patronage brings in.

This review isn’t all negative though - the Paella Valenciana was amazing, even better than what we’ve had in Spain. The pan it comes in is huge! Combining Provençal vegetables typically found in ratatouille with fresh seafood makes this signature dish a big hit! The linguine aux/alla Vongole was amongst some of the best dishes we’ve had in southern France, maybe even better than in Italy! The oysters we had in the beginning were fresh and huge. Even the dessert, the crème brûlée, was a large portion and very delicious.

However, the waitstaff claimed they would pack our delicious paella leftovers and they didn’t haha. We got scammed a bit leaving with nothing. Overall, I would not come back despite the food being delicious as it’s too pricey and as the waitstaff are too racist. There are plenty of delicious places to eat in Nice that treat you with dignity. If you’re Asian DON’T EAT HERE.

EDITED TO ADD-ON:

The owner’s response is very generic and not at all genuine. Reminder that we were told we couldn’t sit at a corner booth because we were a party of 3 people, but then a white family of 3 people were seated there a short while after we were seated. This place is racist, wasteful, and a scam. Please don’t eat here if you’re Asian - there are plenty of other great places to eat in Nice where you can be treated well with great food for a great price, such as Les Deux...

My wife and I are spending three weeks in Europe and one of our stops was in Nice. We were looking for dinner ideas last night and given we were staying at at city along the sea what would be more enjoyable than some seafood. I found Boccacio after some quick searching and settled on visiting after visiting their website.

We were staying in the Old Port area of Nice so it was a short ride on the tram to the Masséna stop. It is just a minutes walk from the stop to Boccaccio. We did not have reservations but were able to get a couple of seats outside arriving around 19:15 in the evening. I would suggest you make reservations or getting there close to 19:00 if you prefer sitting outside.

We decided upon steamed mussels for an appetizer, Calamari Fritti and vegetables for the main course, and Creme Brulee for dessert. You can see from the pictures that we were provided a very large portion of steamed mussels. They were excellent, full of flavor, and varying sizes. We were not able to finish them all as I needed enough room to savor my Calamari. The Calamari was mostly rings with some tentacles mixed in. The Zuchinni and other vegetables balanced out the main course. The Calamari was excellent, tender, and cooked just right.

I have to make a special comment about the Creme Brulee as it is the largest portion that I have ever been served (I frequently order Creme Brulee). It was in a 12" oblong serving bowl and was enough for four people. I rarely leave any Creme Brulee in the serving dish when I am finished but I unfortunately left a large portion. It was the perfect consistency, the custard was flavorful, and the carmelized topping was excellent.

The only downside is that we had to move from sitting outside due to some rain. I would always remind everyone that you are in France so if you order carbonated drinks (coke/coke zero) or water be prepared to pay for it. A large bottle of water was 9 eur and a Coke Zero was 6 eur.

I was a very enjoyable meal, the service was excellent, and I would recommend visiting to anyone who loves...

Came here twice. The first time the food was ok, quality of food was however not worth the €300 we paid for 3 people, the portions were quite big though. So we decided to give it a second try for it to redeem itself. Here’s the true review. Amazing decorations and interior design, target customers are mostly tourists (rich Chinese people). However this is contrasted by mediocre at best food quality and terribly bad customer service. We had a tuna tartare which had 0 texture and they gave us a soft full grained bread which does not go along with the tartare at all. We ordered a calamari which was dry and bland because they gave us no sauce at all to dip with. Like come on even Wetherspoons would not make that mistake. We then had a fish fillet with black risotto, which the skin of the fish is completely soggy and not crispy at all, despite obvious attempts to make it crispy judging by the appearance. Risotto was bland and over cooked. We also ordered a dozen oysters which they only gave us half but at that point we would rather go and eat something else afterwards which we did. Last but not least, I asked a waiter for tissue papers, which he rudely told me that tissue papers are the same as the napkin I was using and even told me to wipe my mouth with the table cloth. The first time I came here they gave me proper tissue papers when I requested, which is why I don’t understand why they service had dropped so much and the audacity to treat a customer with such rude attitude despite me asking politely. Final verdict: Come here if you want to get ripped off or...