Le Vingt4 — Restaurant in Nice

I last went to le Vingt4 some months ago. I had been there before quite a few times, but never got round to leaving a review.

The food was good, we tried the tartare de daurade et mango, the tourbot and the poitrine de veau. The tartare combo was impressive, the tourbot not really inventive and quite simple, possibly slightly undercooked. The poitrine de veau was ok, the meat quality left something to be desired, although the whole combo worked well.

Desert wise, we tried the café gourmand and a moelleux au chocolat. The coffee was absolutely horrible (a staple all around France actually, we need to learn something from our Italian neighbours), and the sweets that came with (a brownie, a macaron and some chocolate covered jelly stick) were stale and seemed quite industrial apart from the macaron. The moelleux was quite good, with a subtle peanut touch.

We tried the Saint Lucie Made in Provence rosé, which was excellent. Their wine list is quite good for a small place, and both owners are quite knowledgeable, and can suggest wine/food pairings. They apparently also do good cocktails, my friends swear by them.

To sum up, for a small bistro, the food is ok, the drinks are excellent, although it seems that after their cook @jennifer_taieb left the restaurant, the food has taken a turn to the worse.

One of the things that always annoys me here, is the painfully slow service. It is family run (the aunt of the famed chef next door, Jacques Rolancy, and her husband), and they have one extra waiter on busy nights, but all of them are extremely slow. They are all very nice, and make it a point to chat to customers and explain their menus, but it is not uncommon to wait more than 20 minutes to get a menu or a drink. According to the owner, it is quite typical that on busy nights they can't accept credit cards due to technical problems (this is the only time it has happened to me, as I usually come here during the week), hence I had to walk 15 minutes to the nearest ATM, which does not make for the best ending of a night out. Furthermore, this time we were charged one extra glass of wine that we didn't drink, only discovering it after leaving.

Overall, it's a nice place. A simple bistro with a simple menu, no wow factor, but well worth a visit. If only they would hire one waiter that knows how to talk to the cook and...

The food was good but the waiter Philou was just plain mean. I would NOT recommend. He treated me lesser than every other diner in the restaurant.

Philou treated every table in the restaurant very differently (and even the friend I was dining with) to me. The only difference with me and other guests was my race. With other diners he happily floated around checking in, joking and taking selfies when asked for photos.

With me he was very reluctant to recommend a dish when I asked or even a wine - considering it’s a wine restaurant, that’s amusing. I asked what he recommended between 2 dishes and he scoffed and said they’re very different. Well, duh. Obviously appreciate your intelligent, structured answer. Then I had pork and requested a white wine to go with it .. well, because that’s what I wanted in 33 degree heat. Instead of gently suggesting another wine he acted shocked and asked me ‘white?!’ 3 or 4 times. Then when he reluctantly recommended a white he tried to push to purchase bottle but again scoffed when I asked the price for a glass instead.

Didn’t ask me a single question about my night or how I was doing. Would barely look at me when talking to our table. He was either pretentious or something worse, but hey, if that’s what you need to get you through. And yes, we did try to speak some French to be respectful of...

Came here after seeing the positive Google reviews and noted in a Culture Trip article. Pretty good meal but not fantastic value, in my opinion. What we liked: l'amuse bouche (a cheese-based spread on bread), tasty tomato gazpacho starter, complimentary bread, pasta entree had great truffle flavour and texture, and my partner liked her wine. What we didn't like: I got the last glass of wine from the bottom of the bottle and it was flat (in retrospect, I should have refused it). We felt the execution/presentation of the entrees was a little lazy. We also found them to be too rich - not as well-balanced as they could be. Ambience inside was okay but nothing too distinct. It is situated in a quieter area outside the main old town. Considering some of the points above, we felt it was a little pricey for the experience.

Update: This review still stands after dining out to selective bistros and Michelin star restaurants alike across France. We had much better meals at the same price point. Can confirm we absolutely do enjoy French cuisine, as well :) …Appreciate the response from the owner...