La Cigale

Good to be back after 8 years away from Nantes ! We booked for dinner then we change our mind and we had lunch. The food was good as usual, the service as well excellent and the atmosphere was great as usual! Keep it up next time.

An excellent display of French hospitality. We began with a plate of beautiful oysters with a glass of Champagne. For main, I had perfectly cooked cod with spinach with a delicious cod sauce. I also added beurre Nantais for extra, which was excellent. My girlfriend had John Dory with well cooked asparagus in an almond butter sauce. Our server was very knowledgeable and friendly and it was good to watch him orchestrate some classic French traditions like making steak tartare at the table. The dining room was absolutely stunning but could use a little spruce up in places

A timeless gem in the heart of Nantes. I stopped by La Cigale for drinks and was immediately struck by the atmosphere. The staff were incredibly welcoming, professional, and always smiling, they made us feel right at home from the moment we walked in. What truly sets this place apart is the interior. The decor is absolutely mesmerizing, full of rich detail, elegant tiles, mirrors, and ornate touches that transport you to another era. You can feel the history in the room, and it’s no surprise La Cigale is considered a landmark in Nantes.

A wide selection of delicious dishes? Yes. Stunning views both outside and inside the restaurant? Yes. Whether you're with company or on your own — absolutely yes. Attentive waiters and excellent service? Yes! P.S. Special thanks to Huong Lan — an incredible, energetic, smiling, and cheerful person 🙏💖💕

This place was described as a must go once tourist trap. HOWEVER it was nothing but positive! You walk in and the staff greeted us with a smile and we were slapped in the face with gorgeous decor that would rival the cistine chapel. Oh Mon dieu, the food. The bread was muy incroyable! And the boss man turned out to be a friend for life. I ordered the steak tartare which is a must if you're good with raw meat. They make it in front of you, so you know it's fresh and juicy. If you're a vegetarian, there's a risotto to enjoy, but mediocre in taste. All in all, food 8/10, experience and ambiance, an 11/10.

Service was excellent, but the food was honestly so disappointing for a restaurant that’s been around for a while. The snails were good, but I was chewing the magret de canard for so long I felt my jaws gaining definition; dessert tasted average at best and didn’t deserve a photo. Interior is very beautiful.

Thought this place was going to a tourist trap. We circled Nantes trying to find a late lunch and reluctantly sat down here. We were so pleasantly surprised. The wine list is extensive and well priced. Service was super warm. The oysters were amazing. Highly recommend.

A heavenly culinary experience at La Cigale! The Atlantic oysters and langoustines were incredibly fresh and full of flavor, perfectly complemented by a crisp glass of Muscadet. A true taste of the French Atlantic coast, elegant, vibrant, and unforgettable

Make reservations ahead! Lovely interior and pretty legendary profiteroles, if you can make it to dessert with all the other things you might order.

This place is so beautiful inside. It's well worth the meal you pay for. All the dishes we had were great: smoked salmon, escargot, Grapefruit sorbet, rum baba. The problem is they had no AC indoors. It was about 82F outside. Thankfully, we were staying in the area and always carried with us our portable fans. All the other patrons were fanning themselves. They have outdoor seats but all were taken.

Amazing afternoon Dinner. We were a group of 7. Service was good. Entries and main dishes were very good. The Boeuf with salad was very tasty. Cod fish was ok. Desserts were excellent. The environment and location made up for the rest.

Went here December 2016 and was just reminiscing about how wonderful my evening was here. The oysters the duck every dessert we had the service was on point and the atmosphere can't be beat. The Mille-feuille which I have no picture of but my dad and brother had was beyond AMAZING!

The first time I went to La Cigale was 5 years ago and I was impressed with its style, atmosphere and service. I went back there again for today for brunch after 5 years and I was so disappointed. The place was dirty. I had to ask to move to another table because they first sat us at a section that was filthy and very dusty. The chairs had food on the seats and the floors were disgusting. The walls were so dusty that when my son touched it, the dust scattered on the seats. We were given our order without any plates or forks. We had to ask for them. They also forgot to give us the rest of our order which we also had to remind them about. Overall, I couldn't wait to be finished with our brunch. The food was not great and definitely overpriced, the service was just OK, furnitures are very outdated and torn, and the place was filthy. This is sad because the artwork and paintings are incredible! I just wish the owner can do a major fix of this place. I used to think La Cigale was so beautiful and nice, unfortunately not anymore. I would definitely not go back there again unless they make significant changes.

This brasserie is a real gem: its 1895 interior is intact, and absolutely amazing. The interior is dense with mosaics, mirrors and paintings: a feast for the eyes before you even get your food! However, the restaurant is more than a museum piece. In fact, it's so popular that I would recommend booking for main mealtimes. The food is superb: my steak tartare was prepared in front of me, and is the best I've ever eaten. Service was brisk but pleasant and helpful. Outside mealtimes, the brasserie operates as a salon de the. Prices reflect the surroundings as well as the quality of the meals, so they're not cheap but are justified by the experience.

AVOID! Super overrated!! Food is overpriced & badly cooked and the service is not great at all. It is truly a beautiful restaurant - the tile work is amazing; however, it has seen better times (huge holes in the wallpaper, dirty floors etc.) That it is on the Nantes tourist bureau tour is understandable but they should not be sending people there. Avoid but if you must get pictures, go in for a drink, take a few pictures and leave without ordering food!!

We went to Nantes to visit the Hellfest festval in nearby Clisson and went into town the day before the festival to grab some proper restaurant food before 3 days of festival grub. When we spotted the seafood bar outside La Cigale we knew we found our spot. unfortunately there were no seats left outside so we had to sit inside, but this tuned out to not so bad as the restaurant has an interesting decor (a bit too pompous for my liking, but still interesting). Of course we ordered a seafoodplatter and it didn't disappoint. A very nice collection of shrimps, clams, oysters, langoustines, prawns and periwinkle. The wines were a bit expensive (90 euro's for a standard champagne) and the food wasn't exctly cheap either. For the price you'd expect excellent service, but it was a bit slow. Still a nice way to start your festival weekend with some good food.

This restaurant is considered as a national monument as the inside is a huge piece of art. Definitely worth a look! I regularly enjoy this place when I come to Nantes. The food is good, they serve great see food, oysters, etc... presented on a beautiful plateau de fruit de mer. Also good meat. For desert, they have an amazing strawberry macaron ;-) (and the traditional profiteroles au chocolat, my favorite) Service once in a while a bit slow, it depends on the affluence and time of the day, but last time was again very efficient. Also they appear to serve a nice brunch, but I've never been able to test it as Nantes had loads of little cafes to take a simple cafe with a baguette.

My first introduction to French cuisine...We shared the large seafood plate which included escargot, sea snails, mussels, prawns, and oysters. We also shared foie gras which was good but did not quite live up to expectations. The food was very good. The decor was beautiful and worth a visit on its own merit. Service was pretty good and the staff was patient with our sloppy attempts at French. Quite expensive but if you ever find yourself in Nantes its worth a visit, at least for lunch.

Lovely atmosphere. It's a typical turn of the century French restaurant that hasn't changed much. I was here last April and was able to walk to it from my hotel. Nantes is small enough that most places in downtown can be reached walking. La Cigale was recommended to me by a local business associate. I went there myself and had to, of course, ask for the English menu which was available. The waiter was very nice and helpful in finding the right meal, which in my case isn't always easy as I may be the most difficult eater on earth. I think. At least I've been told. Anyway, this place is good and you will have a good time by yourself, with others and for a date or business meal.

I went to university in Nantes and La Cigale was the place we all wanted to go to (but never could as it's pretty expensive!) This is reckoned to be the oldest brasserie that is still open in France, and certainly the décor lives up to its name, with amazing sculptured decorations on the walls. It specialises in seafood, so if you don't like that I wouldn't recommend as the menu is really geared for the big dishes of multiple types of sea creature, accompanied by the most extensive set of esoteric eating irons I have eever seen! Dessert menu: go for the Koueen Aman, a Breton speciality. I had the profiteroles and they came with a great lashing of food envy at my other half's choice. Wine list is excellent and it really has that brasserie buzz. A night to remember for us!

The decor remains splendid. The food we ordered this time was a disappointment. The fish badly cooked. Had to be sent back to the kitchen to be cooked to no avail. The special veg platter was loaded with cauliflower embedded in a mash potato base and my 12€ tagliatelle dish had nearly nothing of any redeeming value on it. We drove 300 km again looking forward to a memorable lunch. It may be that the original staff is simply gone. Amateurs have taken over or so it seems. The decor however remains splendid.

HIGHLY OVERRATED! Extremely disappointed in the service. Our waitress was like a Bull in a China shop with her ways. The food was tasteless. Nantes has too many beautiful authentic restaurants to get caught out by a disappointing experience.

The place is absolutely lovely and the staff is very nice too. The options in the menu are limited and prices are a bit expensive. I recommend to go just 1 time yo get to know this iconic place.

Horrendous service. Sat for almost 40 minutes waiting for an acknowledgment from the waiter. Flagged hostess down who was visibly upset with him for ignoring the table for that long. He finally took drink orders and then proceeded to ignore us for another 15 minutes before we finally left. The hostess and other wait staff seemed friendly and the building is very nice. But don't get the hipster douche waiter if you plan on having anything to eat or drink.

Guilty of trying to dine here while American. Sat at our table for 40 minutes before flagging down the hostess to get our waiter, who was visibly annoyed. The waiter got fed up with out attempts at ordering in French and left. We walked out and had an excellent meal down the street.