The best French cuisine restaurants North

Contemporary and warm, extended by tree-shaded terraces, this is THE restaurant of the Château de Labourdonnais, one of the best in the North, whose dishes are as tasty as the setting is beautiful. We love the cuisine of Italian chef Fabio, who skilfully revisits old-fashioned recipes and products in a creative, gastro style: lobster deglazed with vanilla and flambéed with rum, 7-hour lamb with arouille purée, ravioli stuffed with tomato chutney... At lunchtime, a menu of typical Mauritian dishes cooked over a wood fire.

It's not so much what you get on your plate that counts (international-style cuisine based on local produce, burgers, ribs, curries...) as the setting, as the restaurant is one of the few to be located on the seafront, right on the water. So you can savor the view and the cool, friendly atmosphere, packed to the rafters on evenings when sports are broadcast on a giant screen. The covered terrace overlooks the bay, and just above it, on the upper floor, a VIP lounge area allows you to relax in cocktail-tapas mode in the gentle twilight. Live music on selected weekends.

Half-inside, half-outside, this new tapas/cocktail bar and semi-gastronomic restaurant cultivates French savoir-faire (the managers and chef hail from France) through several short but high-quality menus of home-cooked dishes based on fresh produce: tapas for aperitifs in lounge mode; a sunny menu at lunchtime (poké bowl, fresh tagliatelle with prawns...); more elaborate proposals in the evening, including dishes with black truffles. It's beautiful and tasty, and you'll have a wonderful time under the varangue or in the lounges of the large garden area.

Among the tables in the Grand Baie La Croisette mall, we prefer this brasserie-style restaurant offering a not-too-long selection of Asian, French and American dishes - lava stone-grilled flank steak, red chicken curry, fish à la plancha...and moules-frites on Fridays! All to be accompanied by a glass of wine from a choice of some twenty vintages. French chef Stéphane officiates in the kitchen and selects the produce. Bright dining room and large, colorful terrace overlooking the Place de la Croisette.