Restaurants Around the Vieux Port in Marseille
The Travel Pages recommends the best restaurants around the Vieux Port in Marseille, plus a couple of bars, and where to get the best bouillabaisse.
These restaurants around the Vieux Port in Marseille are listed alphabetically according to price range, signified by the € symbol, with the cheapest first. We don’t give exact prices because we have written far too many guidebooks where exact prices have to be stated, when of course it totally depends on whether you have a bowl of soup and a glass of water or lobster with a bottle of Krug. Instead, we’ve always found that dividing restaurants into three simple categories works the best.
€ = budget
€€ = moderate
€€€ = expensive
Brasserie l’OM Café
labrasserie-omcafe.fr
25 quai des Belges
€
Right on the old port is the Olympique Marseille sports bar and restaurant, decked out in the official team colours of blue and white. It’s a lively place with a terrace area and a bar and restaurant seating inside. The walls are plastered with front covers of old sports magazines like L’Équipe, and there are TV screens as well as rugby balls, soccer balls and baseball caps all over the place. Food is much better than you’d expect from a sports bar/brasserie.
Chez Etienne
facebook.com
43 Rue de Lorette
€€
Marseille rugby players eat here, as does Michael Caine when he’s in town, and there are photos on the wall to prove it. Chez Etienne is a very warm and homely Italian place in the Panier district, with a genial Sicilian owner who makes everyone welcome. The house special is lamb’s foot with tripe and spices, but you can have pizzas from the wood-fired over, seafood spaghetti, and a handful of other wonderful dishes.
Chez Madie Les Galinettes
restaurantchezmadielesgalinettes.eatbu.com
138 Quai du Port
€€
Lovely place, well worth walking to the far end of the quai du Port for, which many local people do to escape the bustle of the city end. Look for the bright table settings along the pavement, and there’s indoor seating too. The cooking is superb, with dishes such as red mullet tart with tapenade, and duck breast with figs.
Restaurant Miramar
lemiramar.fr
12 quai du port
€€€
The Miramar is one of the places to eat in Marseille, and has become renowned as the home of bouillabaisse. There’s a terrace right on the Vieux Port, and an indoor dining room too. The service is formal, with immaculately-dressed waiters attending to your every need. Long-serving chef Christian Buffa has inspired a wide range of regional, mainly seafood dishes, but their tour de force is bouillabaisse and having it here is a theatrical experience… and a similar price to a theatre visit, but worth every cent!
BARS
A couple of the best bars we tried around the Vieux Port are:
Bar de la Marine
www.facebook.com
15 quai de Rive Neuve
Part of the charm of this place, which features in Marcel Pagnol’s plays and films about Marseille, is its rather scruffy Bohemian atmosphere. Inside is an old zinc bar and at the back are tables under the stone arches straight out of the 1930s. Most people sit outside, though, at the tables by the Old Port, and it’s busy from morning till the early hours.
Le Pelle-Mêle
lepellemele.eatbu.com
8 place aux Huiles
If you’re in the mood for a smarter bar, this little jazz place off the Vieux Port on what was once a canal is a relaxing spot. They have live music at least two nights a week, tables indoors and outdoors, and they also serve the local beer, La Cagoule, a very tasty, nutty brew.