Restaurant Les Arcenaulx Marseille Vieux Port

Lors de notre récente visite aux Arcenaulx au Vieux Port, mon amie et moi avons vécu une expérience très désagréable qui a gâché notre soirée. Nous étions venues pour découvrir certaines de leurs boissons, que nous trouvions intéressantes, et nous avons commandé une boisson chacune. Nous avons été installées normalement et nous étions calmes et respectueuses. Pourtant, deux serveurs ont très mal réagi au fait que nous ne commandions pas de plats, en nous disant : « ici c’est un restaurant, pas un bar », et en faisant venir d’autres serveurs pour répéter la même chose. Ils ont ensuite retiré nos serviettes, couverts et verres de façon brusque et bruyante, ce qui nous a mises très mal à l’aise, comme si nous faisions quelque chose de mal. Aucune règle n’indique qu’il est obligatoire de commander de la nourriture, et nous étions des clientes payantes. Ce comportement a complètement gâché l’humeur de mon amie et notre soirée. D’autres membres du personnel étaient aimables, mais l’attitude de ces deux serveurs était inacceptable pour un établissement de ce niveau. Nous nous attendions à bien mieux vu la réputation du restaurant. English: During our recent visit to Les Arcenaulx at the Vieux Port, my friend and I had a very unpleasant experience that ruined what was meant to be a relaxing evening. We went specifically to try some of their drinks, which we had heard were unique, and we ordered one drink each. We were seated normally and were polite and quiet. However, two waiters reacted very negatively when we did not order food, telling us “this is a restaurant, not a bar,” and even bringing other staff to repeat the same thing. They then removed our napkins, cutlery and glasses in a loud and aggressive way, making us feel unwelcome and embarrassed, as if we were doing something wrong. There was no rule stated anywhere that guests must order food, and we were paying customers. This behavior completely ruined my friend’s mood and our evening. A few other staff members were polite, but the attitude of these two waiters was unprofessional and unacceptable for a restaurant of this level. We expected much better from a place with such a strong reputation. My own words: After thinking for a long time, my friend and I went to this restaurant. We wanted to try the drinks that we found unique to be only here. There is no rule that we can't order just drinks, we were obviously not going to get drunk. We just wanted to get one drink each and have some good time talking to each other. We were welcomed and we sat. The waiter came and when we ordered the drinks he was fairly pissed at us for not ordering any food, saying "this is a restaurant, not a bar", he also brought more waiters to say the same thing, and he was visibly very disrespectful to us. He took away the napkins, cutlery, glasses from our tables with such noise and anger like we were asking for food for free there. Like we owe them to order the full course just because we entered this place. We are Indians, it is unfortunate but not unusual to face such behaviour sometimes, but we expected better frankly. This behaviour ruined my friend's mood. Such a behavior is really not expected from a high end establishment such as this one. My friend wanted to leave ASAP. But why should we leave? We have the right to get food and drink wherever we want, we are paying for it, and we deserve a good time as much as any other person. I know that people who respect other nationalties would agree with this. Very disappointed. When we sat I told my friend that I will invite her to dinner here as I will be achieving a milestone soon, but now, NEVER. It is their loss. In general, I am respectful to everyone no matter what job they do or what nationality they are, but this was really not acceptable. We were having a great evening after a stressful week, and this ruined it frankly. It would be nice if people could be better. 🙂 (2 waiters were like this, others were nice) Also a bit sinister to completely fill the glass with mostly ice, when it is so cold outside. See the pic for reference.

This beautiful French restaurant is the perfect example of polite hospitality and service. It is the first time I experience a really kind French server cater to my enquiry of the possible availability of white steam rice (don’t hate me I’m Asian) rice to eat with the bouillabaisse without being offended in response ( both facial and verbal). An unexpected bowl of black rice perfectly prepared to go best with the bouillabaisse. My friend had the vegetable curry. Food is fresh for all items that we ordered. The in-house iced tea is not sugary sweet at all which is a plus point for when travelling and watching weight.I will never forget this experience and the gentle kind gesture of the server to provide me the warmth and comfort. Definitely worth the visit.

A both classic and unique fine dining restaurant and a Marseille institution, serving classic yet thoughtful French cuisine. I stayed in Marseille for a week and this was by far the best meal of the trip. The service, ambience and food were superb. I highly recommend anyone visiting Marseille to dine here.

The food is excellent, and what is rarer still these days is a wonderfully calm and civilized atmosphere. The walls are lined with thousands of old books, and there is classical music played at a very low volume that does not disturb like the loud , « dynamic » music you find so often in restaurants (I’m told it’s meant to encourage diners to leave quickly). My favorite of all the restaurants I’ve visited these past years.

That French cuisine is the best in the world is confirmed by Les Arcenaulx. Fantastically served Marseille specialty soup Bouillabaisse and excellent seafood. A place worth visiting and appreciating the excellent cuisine.

On the recommendation of my tour guide I popped in for dinner at Les Arcenaulx. I didn’t have a reservation and they were completely full, the kind manager found me a table within 15 minutes I was pleased. Food was good, I ordered off the Menu du Jour, I enjoyed the experience overall and would recommend. Thank you.

The food was not bad. However, the service was terrible. They gave me a champagne glass that wasn’t clean and had a lipstick stain on it. When I pointed it out, the waitress changed the glass but didn’t even apologize and seemed annoyed at my request to change the glass. The mussels risotto was good, but I bit into a mussels shell which hurt my tooth. Then we ordered dessert and had to wait 30 minutes for it to come even though the restaurant wasn’t crowded. We asked the waitress where it was and they said it will take another 10 minutes. We ended up receiving the dessert almost 40 minutes after we ordered it. Overall, the poor service ruined the entire experience.

Very lively dining space - quiet and elegant. We skipped the menu du jour in favour of the bouillabaisse which we’d been hunting down. And we went disappointed. Very generous - fish delicately cooked and tender. Just perfect. We also sampled some desserts and starters which were al excellent. Not cheap but good value and great quality.

Located in a cute square just off the old vieux port, surrounded by other bars restaurants, Les ArcenaulX stands outs by its cute decor, a converted/part time book store and by its excellent food. We had the meal of the day ~(50euro)-starter+steak/veggies+dessert and the bouillabaisse which was very good. The service was good, the food was good, everyone around us was enjoying their meals and time. Also, the price was relatively decent. Hard to give anything less than a 5. Would come back and would recommend.

We came for the bouillabaisse, but enjoyed a lovely lunch! Nice atmosphere with indoor or outdoor seating. This would be a great spot for a group, as the inside is quite large. Excellent wine choice. Butter spread was phenomenal. Fish in bouillon was very fresh, but they did not have a catch of the day when we visited, which seemed odd. Staff was kind and accommodating.

Stumbled upon this place in Vieux Port Marseille when searching for a spot with bouillabiasse and it did not disappoint. Lovely outdoor seating along the promenade but even more impressive dining room inside, service and management were top notch, our tapas and cocktails were delicious and the bouillabaisse was every bit as advertised, a really nice amount of spice in the broth, caramel custard dessert also worth the visit

Love that this restaurant had a huge outdoor dining space but it's a mixed blessing as many diners smoke, some quite heavily. The service was a bit inattentive even though we were there at 7:30 PM which is considered early & not all the tables were occupied. We had to flag down the wait staff a few times for basics - water refill, breads, new plates, etc - and a few of the dishes arrived later than they should. The lemonade was watered down, the bouillabaisse was extra salty and the octopus pasta was nondescript. The best dishes were the tomato salad and the anchovies with vegetables. Mediocre experience for the price paid. I'm glad my friends & I got to experience it but we'd look for another place to try.

Great food in a relaxing atmosphere. We had cuttle fish casserole, pasta with octopus, grilled fish, and of course, bouillabaisse. All excellently prepared and presented!

This was recommended at our hotel for dinner. The restaurant is nicely located in a district of many restaurants. Used the ferry to cross the bay and walked back. We were early costumers and quickly seated outside. The setting was quite nice. Service was on and off, but generally good. Had a nice bottle of white wine from a very good wine list. Started with foie gras that was excellent. I had bouillabaisse that was very good and full of fish. Importantly, it was served hot. My wife had the mushroom risotto that was earthy, likely due to the truffles and mushrooms. It was delicious and recommended. We would return. Nice setting for date.

A restaurant run by two sisters, it's been around for thirty years. I love the concept; it's a restaurant slash bookstore slah gift shop. As my entree, I had the roasted scallop - it was to die for delicious ! We also grabbed a bottle of wine - Zoe from Pays D'Oc. Once again, it was awesome. For dessert, I got a melange of various desserts - chocolate mousse, cheesecake and a tart. Not too sweet, which was a great ending to my meal. I won't be back in Marseille, but if you're in this port city and need to go for a meal, come here !

We stayed right above this restaurant in an Airbnb and had to try it due to all the good reviews. As others have noted, it's known for their bouillabaisse, so we each got one. Overall, I thought the bouillabaisse was really good. I wouldn't say excellent but definitely worth trying. It got much better at the end of the meal since all the fish had settled and the soup became a lot more thick and flavored. We also got the fois gras as our starter which we thought was excellent and ended with an upside-down apple cake which was also excellent. Overall, I don't think you can go wrong with this restaurant and it's worth going. Finally, service was good and they do give you a menu in English if you ask.

This review isn't based on the staff (who were attentive and friendly) or the ambience (which is lovely). This review is based solely on the disappointing bouillabaisse. I know, I know, there are probably better places on the bouillabaisse trail in Marseille but €30 is already more than enough to spend on what is really just a simple fish stew. I just wanted to try it somewhere halfway decent. What can I say? It's a simple fish stew. The fish was over cooked, as you would expect. The flavour of the soup was nice and the rouille was fab but it really did not merit anything near €30. Ah well. At least I gave it a shot. We didn't try anything else but the other dishes looked amazing!

Came here specifically for the Bouillabaisse. It did not disappoint.The broth was incredibly complex and concentrated. There was ample seafood and crostini accouterments.

A wonderful lunch locale with mouthwatering rosé options. Opt for the menu of the day on the patio, if possible, and stroll through the bookstore on your way out.

Without a doubt, this is the best restaurant for the variety of gourmet cuisine, wine list, atmosphere and service in this centrally located area of Vieux Porte in Marseille. Pricing is incredibly reasonable for the quality here. Many half orders available to allow for a wide selection of food. The foie gras (half order) was a generous triangle with half slices of fig and hazelnut toast, fig compote and fig balsamic on the plate. Tomato & Buratta cheese was incredible. So beautiful, grand and delicious, it could have been a dessert! And the Scottish lamb was out of this world with 5 generous cuts on each plate. Wine list is incredible providing many local and regional selections at incredibly, reasonable prices. The bonus is the gift shop and bookstore. High end (and genuine) products from the region. We've dined there more than a dozen times with & without friends and never been disappointed! Reservations recommended for a peaceful and lovely evening.

This restaurant was absolutely amazing and hands down the best meal we had in Marseille. We were a bit early so we stopped by their bookstore and wandered around. For dinner, we had the fish soup to start which came with the most phenomenal spicy aioli. I had the squink ink pasta and my husband had the grilled octopus. Both were amazing and my pasta was quite possibly one of the best I've ever had. Highly recommend!

Charming ambience with the library setting. Right within the magnificent Place aux Huiles. A tentative staff. And the most important part, the bouillabaisse was superb, although it took awhile. I came to Marseille in part to eat bouillabaisse & was not disappointed.

Their food was overall just okay. The bouillabaisse, which we came here to eat, was not really what we were expecting. I'm sure that's just because we're used to the North American version of it. We found that the other monkfish entree was actually better than the bouillabaisse. The service was the most disappointing part. No one was particularly rude or anything, but just way too busy and slow. Hard to get anyone's attention.

Started with the terrine of foie gras which was very good, then ordered the bouillabaise for my main which was frankly horrendous. The mussels had broken shells and were full of sand and the fish was so overcooked it resembled my shoe, the broth having no period or anise flavor and was very bland. I am a chef in the US so maybe my standards are a little higher than most, but this came down to basic cookery skills and flavor, both of which this lacked severely. Left without getting dessert. Try another place if you want a good bouillabaise in Marseille.