Olive&Artichaut — Restaurant in Nice

Lovely experience last night! You can read the other reviews for opinions about the food, I'd like to help would-be diners understand their options on the menu.

You have two choices to make: seating location and what to eat.

Seating location: restaurant is very small. When we visited there was one table outside, 3-4 near the chef line and 3-4 in the dining room. Choose the dining room if you want a quiet experience. Choose the chef line if you want to see all the food prep and action. I enjoyed watching everything personally!

What to eat, you have three choices: A la carte, two items, five item tasting menu. If you choose a la carte, that's pretty simple, you pick what you want from the menu and pay the price listed. For 39€ you can choose two items from the menu (one from entree one from plats) as denoted by a little icon what you can choose from. There were only two entree and two plat choices when we visited if I recall. Last option (what we did) you can choose the five course meal (6 if you count dessert), but everyone at your table has to agree and order this and you won't really know what will be served to you. It's a mystery. This is 65€. For the adventurous!

On the wine: One area I wish this restaurant would dive into deeper into is on the topic of wine pairing. To create a lovely wine and food pairing is complex, varied and nuanced and requires a bit of trial and error. I wish they offered either wine suggestions per dish, offered more by the glass options (they can get a Coravin to make that easier), or offered a pairing menu upgrade. I opted for the white wine shown in the photos, Les Baux de Provence). It wasn't my favorite wine on its own (more tart, slightly effervescent and heavy on the Sauv Blanc) and did not pair well with the olive bread or olive spread nor with the zucchini soup first course. However it really sang alongside the tuna, fish, red pepper, and beef courses. Best of luck with your wine pairing! Or you can do beer or cocktail and make your...

Was quite excited that I could get a table at this place after hearing many glowing recommendations. Place is quite small, trendy dining type thing, and they got a mention in a recent Michelin Guide

I ordered the 5 course taster because why not.

The issue: It seems I picked my day badly because it was the birthday of the chef'sother, or something like that. A big table had been booked with 4 children ages around 8 to 12, who were yelling, running around the place, and in general just causing a ruckus.

I don't believe these types of establishments should necessarily be kept child-free. Two other tables around me had children and there was no issue, but these ones were getting up every minute, running around the restaurant, yelling, getting in fights, etc. I spent about 3h in there and the ambience was reminiscent of a birthday party a chuck e cheese more than any sort of dining establishment you want to spend your time in. After an hour I wished I would have just ordered a single course so I could leave earlier. Since these were the chef's children, none of the staff seemed to intervene or tell them to just sit down and be a bit quieter.

Whole thing costed me around $100 euros with drinks. I don't go out in this sort of fancier establishment too much, and I was ready to splurge for my night in Nice. Felt completely ripped off. Whatever the quality of the food, the experience was just downright unpleasant.

I don't know how often this sort of stuff happens, maybe 99% of the time this is not an issue, but in my case my night was ruined and I felt like my $100-so euros was wasted

Would not recommend, I would have been better served by any one of the overpriced tourist traps on...

Egg with asparagus and kale - 4.25 stars The runny texture of the egg contrasted nicely with the crunchy kale and croutons. The dish was nicely brought together with the dressing and the white asparagus spears added a refreshing touch. A delightful starting dish.

White bread - 4.5 stars

Olive bread - 4.25 stars

Sea bass - 4 stars Maybe it's sea bass itself but it was a little dry on the inside. The skin was crisp and the sauce was on point though. The accompanying fennel was the best fennel I've had (I haven't had much fennel though) - like a delicious roasted onion but with a subtle fennel flavour. The zucchini and accompanying vegetables were fresh and well-cooked as well.

Roast chicken - 4 stars (husband's review) The mashed potatoes were delicious and the accompanying vegetables (carrots and peas) were well seasoned. The Hasselback potato paired well with the jus, however the center was slightly dry. The chicken was well-seasoned and moist close to the bone, however about half of it was dry. The dish came together aesthetically.

Chocolate lava cake with ice cream - 4 stars The lava cake had a good texture - well-cooked on the outside with a runny and dense centre, as you would expect from lava cake. Would have liked a darker, more intense chocolate flavour given that the surrounding gelee was on the sweet side. The ice cream was average. The pistachio crumble added a unique touch but didn't seem to add too much to the dessert.

Friendly service and we liked the decor. Overall, one of the better meals we've had in France (although we haven't had too many fancier meals) but if we come back to Nice I'd want to try...