Best Traditional Restaurants in Old-town Aix-en-Provence

We have two favorites. One is Chez Grand-mere at 11 Rue Isolette which was recommended to us by Willy Tourette, one of the pastry chefs at The Passage (which see in Restaurants.) On a charming square, with, no surprise, a fountain (if you've been Aix, you know that there are more fountains in Aix than just about anywhere), this is quintessential terrace dining in Aix. The trilogy of soups was excellent. The "mille feuille" of tomato, egg plant, and mozzarella was fresh and tasty, though there was no pastry - the mille feuille refers to layers of vegetables - and my daube de boeuf (which Willy recommended) was tremendous, a wonderful melding of flavors, presented in a covered metal casserole with adjacent plate. Apparently, their menu tilts more toward the "gastronomic" once the tourists leave. Certainly the kitchen has the ability to reflect whatever trend they wish - their focus on Provencale cuisine is to all of our benefit. If you are here only one night, and want to have the real outdoors Aix experience, go to Chez Grand-mere for dinner. Highly recommended.

Our other favorite is Chez Mathe at 14 Rue Felibre Gault (tel. 04 42 27 35 27). Newly opened, it has a light, crisp interior and a few tables outside. Mathe herself presides over the front of the house with great charm, and her presence is one of the reasons we like going there. Another one is that the food is excellent, both high quality and modestly priced. Chez Mathe is very accomodating to children, so if you add all these up, you can see why we keep going back. Highly recommended.

Malta is at 28 Place des Tanneurs (tel. 04 42 61 35 19) and used to be a bar / pizzeria, but has become a high quality restaurant with a liquor license. We so enjoyed it that we had dinner there twice in three days. Both times we started with a Mojito that was excellent and our only mixed drinks in our entire stay in Aix. They came with a glow-stick stirrer - one of the reasons the girls wanted to go back the second time. I had a beef with mushroom sauce that was the special, and I cleaned my plate. Stri enjoyed the fish, and the girls had pasta, which made them happy and allowed them to eat enough to have dessert. Recommended.

Le Basilic Gourmand (6 Rue du Griffon, off Paul Bert, one block west of Marie Curie) is another of the three restaurants found for Aix in the Michelin Green Book. Along a quiet back street that is a not quite nice enough to be called "quaint" is this charming little restaurant offering a traditional menu that pays extra attention to presentation. The waiter props a chalk board with the menu on a nearby chair, and before long, excellent food starts arriving. The seared foie gras was some of the best I've had in Aix, and it automatically came with a glass of Sauterne. The "St. Jacques" and shrimp appetizer was good, though it required a little too much effort to shell the shrimp. My beef was high quality and perfectly cooked. Stri's dorado (like sole) was equally good, but again, she had to expend a little more effort than I did because it was not de-boned. A very limited wine selection, but the Bordeaux we ordered was quite good, and at 21 Euro for 375 ml, reasonably priced for the quality. It was served too warm, though, in a tradition I've noticed throughout France outside of Paris. We went back a second time, with a similar, and equally good experience. Recommended.

Le Village is in the Place des Tanneurs and offers high quality Provencal food at reasonable prices. We've gone for both lunch and dinner, and enjoyed it. I had the beef tartare and was given all the condiments, in their original containers, to prepare it just to my liking. It has the feel of authenticity without any fanciness or pretention. Not much accomodation for children -- if they don't like traditional Provencal cooking, they won't find much. Recommended.

Les 2 Garcons is an institution, around since the 1700s, in a great location on Cours Mirabeau, arguably the most significant street in Aix. You've got to go there. And have coffee. Then you can say you did, 'cause everyone has to. Cezanne used to hang out there, after all. Otherwise, it is expensive and not at all distinguished in food, service, or presentation.

Le Tire Bouchon (7 Rue Félibre Gaut at Rue des Cordellieres) has a tiny little street-front with a spiral stair-case that descends into a large ancient (Ari says "medieval" but all I know is that it is very old) arched-ceilinged room, well-lit and only slightly smelling of age. The food was very good and quite reasonable, and eating in such an environment stimulates all the "we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto" sentiment of the traveler looking for something different.

Le Vielle Auberge. One of four restaurants for Aix mentioned in the Michelin Green Book, it no longer is in business.

Jacquou Le Croquant is at 2 Rue de L'Aumone Vielle (04 42 27 37 19) and is open every day for lunch and dinner. We've gone twice, but were somewhat disappointed each time. They have a very charming little courtyard, and the staff is nice, but the food just didn't meet our expections. I had a foie gras that was just OK, and duck, which is their specialty, didn't hit the quality we expected. The salads were modest in size and quality. They did have toys for the children, which is highly unusual in Aix. I wish Jacquou Le Croquant was better, but right at this juncture, I can't recommend it.

L'Amphitryon is at 2 rue P. Doumer, close to tourist central which should have been a clue, but I'd read good things about it so we decided to try it. We were disappointed in the courtyard terrace; it was crowded with sun shades and was not as pleasant as others we'd been in such as Le Riad or Jacquou le Croquant. The food was fine but not great and it was expensive. All in all, I'd give L'Amphitryon a pass.

When we first got here, we ate at a few of the many places side by side in the Forum des Cardeurs and a couple that look out over the Rotunde, which quickly gave us the determination to find real, non-touristy food in Aix, and we have. See also my posts on contemporary restaurants, ethnic ones, and a few restaurants that merited individual reviews.