Le Petit Port — Restaurant in Nice

We got recomended this restaurant from a couple of friends who visited it last summer. Unfortunately did we not have the same pleasant experience, actually we had the straight opposite.

Starting off with the food. When we wanted to order the sea bass they informed us that they were out of it, something they did not tell us about when we came, but thats a thing that can happen. Instead we had the beef sirlion, the meat was really good quality and nicely cooked, credit to the chef. But for the price you pay you could expect something more than a few tiny vegtables and ONE potato as a side.

But the main problem with this place is the attitude from the staff. From start to the end all three of them treated us like air. They seemed to have no intention to serve us at all. All three of them cirkulated arround our table serving other tables and avoiding eyecontact for the entire evening.

It took 15 minutes and two reminders to even get the menu. Before that the waiter had put down some starter from the house at our table, a nice gesture but it would have been even nicer if he had told us what it was or even better noticed that we neither had ordered, got any menus nor any drinks, bread or water before he left our table.

Knowing what we know now we should have left by then.

It took one more reminder to get to order. When we had finished our meal they rapidly took our plates without no interaction. Not asking how the food was. Not asiking for any desert. Or to be fair, they left the desert menu at our table without saying a word, we were thinking about getting a lemon cake but when no one made any atempt to take our order for about another 15 minutes we changed our mind and decided to pay.

When we had been waiting between 10-15 minutes for the bill I kindly reminded them about the bill the waiter answered me: "If you are in a hurry you can go insidie". And so I did. What hapened? I waited 5-10 more minutes inside with the same Staff cirkulating arround me avoiding to let me...

First let me say that we speak French and Italian. Ok so that being said, we reserved online on LeFourchette and arrived and gave our name and we were asked in French if it was by phone, we answered in French no online, and he threw up his hands and said we had to wait. The owner came over and we gave our names and she looked at the same book and we were in there. Second, the attitude from the waiter and owner was that of annoyance. She corrected us on how we ordered 2 glasses of champagne (and we speak French fluently) and rolled her eyes when we ordered San Pellegrino with the champagne. We ordered a bottle of Sancerre (37 euros) and then the Loup de mare for two people (56 euros) and it took about 30 minutes to bring the fish. In the meantime it started to rain and no one came to move the umbrella to cover us and another party. We asked twice and finally we had to get up and move and eventually the owner and what appeared to be a junior chef came and moved the umbrella. The food was OK. Sides were over buttered spring vegetables with a small baked potato which was warm, but not fresh. We ordered dessert and again (we speak French and Italian) and ordered the Clafloutis d'abricot and was told it was finished. So we ordered the Moelleux au chocolat and pointed at the menu and spoke in French and Italian and he said ok. 20 min later out comes a scoop of chocolat and melon ice cream (glace) we said we ordered the Moelleux and he said no you spoke wrong. But on the way to the toilette there were two clafloutis on the counter.

Here is my summary. Food Ok, but not for the price. Poor service. Confrontational waiter and not worth the time. They seem to only care about the guests they know, I don't...

Le Petit Port is very appealing visually - located in a cute square, beautiful lit trees and a large outside dining area that was very busy.

Food was generally decent - portions are huge, which means getting through a full three courses is a challenge. The fried calamari was a touch on the soggy side, though very fresh, whilst the stuffed figs with goat's cheese and truffle oil was pleasant but lacking a bit of punch. Beef Rossini was very good and cooked to perfection, with the sauce rich and unctuous. Couldn't work out what the accompaniment was (a nondescript spinach-y sponge thing perhaps ?). Stuffed courgette flowers were very substantial, though a bit heavy-handed in the stuffing so rendered it much less delicate than it should have been. Nevertheless, in terms of taste each of the dishes was decent, the Rossini being the best item.

What we couldn't get our heads around however is how unwelcome we felt, from the serving staff who appeared to be the owners, and to the other guests who perpetually stared at us. As very normal looking people (at least we think!) it did seem very strange that we felt we were total outsiders that had stumbled into a very cliqué society. I am not pulling out the 'R" word but it is undeniable that some element of judgement was in evidence. Certainly the owners of the restaurant did nothing to make us feel more welcome, and we left in a hurry without even considering a coffee or dessert.

Menton appears to be a lovely town, and I hope our experience at Le Petit Port doesn't tarnish our feelings...