La taverna du 9 — Restaurant in Nice

I had a tip to come to La Taverna du 9 off a friend who visited a couple of months before me. Stupidly walked in with no booking and was very fortunate that there was an hour before another booking, so we could just squeeze in. We had just walked the length of the Promenade des Anglais so my kids (aided by my wife) might have killed me if we had not been seated.

I had cote de boeuf, wife had lamb shank, kids had spaghetti carbonara and macaroni gratine a la siciliene. Portions were very generous, steak was superb, plenty of flavour, well seared on outside but medium in middle (as ordered). The lamb shank fell off the bone and came with an unctuous casserole with sweet carrots and gnocchi mini dumplings. Again, full of flavour and morish. Carbonara was enormous and my teenage son, who is eating us out of house and home, didn't manage to finish it! Spaghetti was creamy, infused with cheese and pepper, there was a generous amount of guanciale, providing chunky, crispy flavour kicks with every mouthful. Finally, I was most concerned about my daughter, who is a bit younger and a bit more picky. She likes macaroni cheese but the 'a la siciliene' version is more of a tomato based dish with cheese melted on top. Nonetheless it was a hit and again, so large that we were kindly offered a takeaway box for the leftovers. Best meal of our trip to Nice and big thanks to La Taverna du 9 for fitting us in and to Mike for the recommendation! If we ever come back to Nice, I'll make sure to...

I left here with three main regrets: first that I haven't visited Italy yet, second that we only found this restaurant on our last day in Nice, and third that my city's best Italian restaurant has been ruined for me.

It's not just the food either. The whole experience was delightful. My wife and I arrived just craving some Italian food and left feeling downright joyful. Everyone was so friendly and happy, you almost feel like part of the family.

I told the owner about my city's best restaurant being worse than his as I was leaving, and his response was perfect. He said that that's why you can't trust a large restaurant: they don't have time to cook the pasta for you specifically.

That really summed up the experience for me: it's a meal where you get to be special for a while. For one meal you're not just some random tourist, you're invited to a delightful family meal. Though no one I've ever known could cook a family meal that tastes that good. Truly, you might not expect it walking in the door, but that meal is a high contender for the very best meal...

Mr Gepetto, I came to your restaurant all the way from Monaco, as I started following you on facebook few months ago and I invited my mother for lunch as I was expecting it would be amazing. I’ve ordered gnocchi with veal and porcini mushrooms. After first bite I knew something is odd about your dish, not only the meat was chewy and hard but the sauce was sour and watery!!! I’ve mentioned it to the waiter, who completely ignored me, than you came with the meat , that the dish has been cooked. Telling me that I have teeth not strong enough. Mr. Gepetto I’ve been living all over the world and ate at so many places. I’ve never had such unpleasant experience. I only had two spoonfuls of the dish , and nobody came to ask if I would prefer something else, or if they can offer me anything instead. I felt bad and ignored. My mum dish was good so we shared it. You brought a bill with both dishes included 47€ as we only had bottle of water and two dishes . I’ve paid but I’m very disappointed, shocked and saddened by your service. It’s not what I...