We have two days in Avignon. Where to eat if you only want to have the very best of regional cuisine? Thanks!!
We travel to France every spring and last year spent two weeks in Avignon. We used it as a base for day trips but ate most of our dinners in Avignon. So the bad news is that compared to say, Paris, the restaurants in Avignon largely have rather boring menus and you won’t find any chefs pushing the boundaries. There is one restaurant that I can heartily recommend and that is Fourchette. A fair number of locals eat there, particularly for lunch. The decor is sophisticated, which is rare in Avignon. The miniature basket of fried whole small potatoes brought out at the beginning of every service may well be the highlight but the food is very good, Benjamin the owner checks on every table, and the wine list is exemplary and reasonably priced.
If you arrive with low expectations-and I did-Simple Simon is a treat, literally, for artisanal cakes and solid lunch entree’s. Very cozy but touristy.
After Fourchette and Simple Simon my own opinion is that there is not much. You can not even get a great baguette or find more than passable pastries in Avignon. Make no mistake-I love Avignon. But not for the food. We find it extremely relaxing there, we know of a great B&B, and we can not wait to return this Spring.
2 Likes
Oh, La Mirande and its sister restaurant nestled around the corner from the Palais des Papes is very nice though imho the chef again takes no chances and serves solid but rather ordinary food in beautiful and posh surroundings.
2 Likes
I see I’m late to the party, but we had a lovely lunch at L’Agape, a bib gourmand restaurant on the Place des Corps Saints. In nice weather the tables are zest on the Place itself. I believe there’s a 5-course meal at dinner. I posted a review on my blog. We had leeks with trout and sheep cheese to start and fish dishes for mains – skate wing and potatoes with black sesame seeds and sesame oil and perch lemongrass sauce, and the dish came with some Nicoise olives and a tube of zucchini stuffed with ratatouille. It was a fine meal.
I’ll add that the papal palace was underwhelming, but the Elise St. Pierre had a stunning Magdalene. I did a blog post (search L’agape) for more details, but that’s the essence
2 Likes
