La Table du Castellet***

This is our fifth three Michelin star restaurant we have visited in the last two weeks in this trip and it was the most unpleasant experience. Food: The food, except perhaps the sea bass, which had a wonderful combination of flavors and the taste buds were touched for the first and last time, was completely inexpressive. I didn't remember anything else from this dinner. It's good that they put salt on the table at the very beginning, and it was possible to add flavor to the dishes. Because some of them were rather bland. And I'm not saying this because I like saltier dishes, it's a matter of bringing the ingredients to their ideal taste. The pre-dessert was cloyingly sweet, although you could feel an attempt at sour flavors, but the pastry chef overdid it with the sugar in the sauce. Service: I was amazed by the sommelier, on the one hand he picked a good wine for our description. But at the same time he poured three times more wine into his own glass for tasting than into my glass. Maybe he also likes this wine, but my friend, we ordered this bottle for two, not for three. The waiters tried sincerely, but we had to constantly add water ourselves. Serving dishes from different sides. And many another small thing, what can be much better. This is not the level of service that we have encountered in other restaurants of this level. Overall this experience was not worth the 900 euro final bill, you can get much better experiences in many one star restaurants.

This review may be slightly unusual, but hopefully it is also creative, useful and pleasing - just like La Table du Castellet. When a language lacks a term, it invents a metaphor. For example, many of the boats around Var evoke multiple meanings by their metaphoric names. Not that I’m anywhere close to naming a super yacht (or a restaurant), but to me, this restaurant symbolizes a gong. When a gong is struck, a soft texture meets and even dominates a solid one, reminding me of the haptic profile of La Table’s dishes. Especially the first bites of several dishes tend to present a perfect contrast between crisp and melting. A pleasant splash of flavor follows, pure and balanced, slowly adding new nuances and length of taste. It’s a bit like hearing the impactful sound of the gong take up echoes while the resonance persists. Even the decor of round forms and vertical lines is reminiscent of how a gong looks when it is hung. When eating the fish dishes, I felt connected to the sea. The squid was too salty and monotonous, but I found its sauce artful. During dessert, I wished every strawberry was this expressive. The gong is just one metaphor. The experience of eating here presents many playful metaphors and meanings. I hope you can experience your own. The smaller 6-course menu (more like 10) can actually be done in 2 1/2 - 3 hours. Don’t miss the best part of dining here. Try to take pauses for outdoor walks, especially if the moonlight is reflecting off of the sea. I would have welcomed the music playlist from the hotel breakfast: subtle classical. The silence in the first half of dinner was fine, but I did not like the late-session music. After this dinner I am once again convinced to not rely on anyone else pouring my water. That system fails everywhere, every time. That includes Asian countries where each table has a dedicated server for water. Dear restaurant, please decide. Either fill the glass to 80% or top it up every 10 minutes. Filling up to 30% every 30 minutes while keeping the bottles away from the table is a guarantee of dehydration. Surely not your intended outcome. Again, this is not a question of staffing. I have yet to experience a restaurant where your water system works. There’s no shame in leaving the bottles on the table. Thanks for your understanding of this important issue.

Amazing place, food and team. Everyone was joyful and adorable. We even had the opportunity to come and have a tour of the kitchen with the chef!

Phenomenal experience at La Table du Castellet!! Fabien Ferré and team are onto something absolutely exceptional yet simple: take the best ingredients from the region and elevate them to their maximum. It's French cooking executed at the highest level. We had an amazing welcome with a nice table and a wine card that speaks for itself. Service was exceptional and same goes for chef Fabien who we got to meet after our dinner for a brief chat. The food and service speaks for itself and nothing can describe it better than exceptional. However, one small piece is that the next morning (we stayed at the hotel) chef Fabien gave us a friendly wave himself first after tennis. Just to us strangers who he met for 2 minutes the night before. Of course he didn't have to, but this just speaks to the, in my view, to the type of exceptional, and warm place you will encounter here. This really feels like a passion project everyone pours their heart and soul into.

A truly outstanding experience in terms of freshness, variety, creativity, taste and service. The only criticism which one can level are the prices (€35 for a glass of rather plain Roederer champagne!) and the size of the portions except only for the desserts, the most unhealthy part of the meal. Eating in Tokyo/Osaka is top restaurants is actually cheaper. I personally would rather do away with the myriad of small dishes (many of which are part of the so-called "experience") and have a proper size of portion of the main course. The location is sublime but rather isolated.

Beautiful moments.. amazing menu - unforgettable. A young gentleman Sommelier performed great explanation for our pairing. Thank you very much for your hospitality and making our day, very special.

Unique experience. Impeccable service and friendliness. The wine list is pricey on the lower end but some great bargains can be found for some rare cuvée if you can spend a bit more.

Excellent across all measure. Food, service and ambience all as you would expect from a 3 Michelin restaurant. It did not disappoint.