Rich J.
Yelp
Fantastic! This is what great bistro fare should be, and especially in tourist towns such as Nice, isn't. They speak fluent English if necessary but the menu is in French.
Starters: great beef tartare as in TripAdvisor and Yelp pictures. Nice and fresh, perfect in presentation, and thoughtful in ingredients. Nightly special crab ravioli with lobster foam, while on the smallish side (4), were formidably crafted with a soft, light, thin dough while not being too delicate and a tremendous filling shining through. This ravioli dish would rival anything similar at any restaurant in Italy. No joke, it was that good. And at 10 euros.
Mains: Beef cheek was as advertised and as in pictures - tremendously flavorful without being heavy. No veggies but a half carrot, so you'll be married to meatiness for this dish. Wife's special, pork shank, had more veg and was delightfully prepared. These two mains signify good bistro cooking at its finest. For 14-15 euros, find me better food in Nice.
Dessert: split a quick panna cotta, which seems silly in France, yet it was also done with care and attention. The raspberry compote on top was on point without being too sweet.
Service was attentive the entire evening and we needed help with translation, which our server was happy to provide. Expect a bit of terseness as the night wears on and the restaurant gets busy. Don't worry - it's not you. The 3-4 servers have a big burden to keep things churning.
The bread served is fantastic and the woman at the front was nice enough to disclose which baker they buy it from. From start to finish, this was a truly wonderful meal, a taste of France without the fluff, landing in the middle price-wise and with a very, very high quality:price ratio. My wife and I are good cooks and enjoy a good meal out, ordering things that take too much time to cook or are something we would not make ourselves. This one fit the bill.
Highly recommended. Reserve in advance! This meal was so much better than what we had at Chez Acchiardo, it's not even funny. No comparison in the slightest.
They take pride in their craft and care about their food. How do I know? I watched a young chef whose knife needed a quick sharpening stop midway through cutting a duck breast, break out a wet stone, give the knife a few sharpenings, clean up, and continue to get the duck breast perfectly sliced. That dish comes with two slices per plate. That tells you all you need to know.