horizon

We're looking for the best seaside restaurant near Nice - or anywhere between Cap Ferrat and Cannes - that serves plateau fruit de mer, etc. It'd be good if the waiters are much fun, too. Thank you.

gracieb

For location, try Villefranche-sur-Mer. We stopped on the drive back from Monaco to Nice and the seaside village looked like a picture perfect postcard of a Mediterrian seaside village. There were multiple restaurants along the waterfront. We stopped at the one closest to the parking space we found and had little expectations. It was the Beach Bar, in the midst of the public beach. We were tired and just didn't want to do the "walk and survey the menu" thing - just wanted to eat! They were laying tablecloths and the restaurant transformed from a basic beach shack to a very nice place for dinner. My pasta with "fruits of the sea" was fabulous. We enjoyed everything from the "Surprise Salad", both dinners, dessert and coffee/chocolate chaud. It may not be the idea of your destination restaurant, although the wait staff were among the most pleasant and helpful we experienced in France. But, the village is beautiful and I'm sure there will be a restaurant there that matches your expecations. We drove around Cap Ferrat. We very much enjoyed our dinner at Barracuda in Nice, but it's not waterfront. Wonderful, wonderful pasta and mussels!

horizon

thank you, gracieb. villefranche is a nice area. i'm particularly looking for one of those boites where the waiters do a lot of antics, singing, goofing around, that sort of thing, while serving the food.

Weadles

There's a few restaurants in the old port in Nice that might fit the description, although I don't know of any that have singing waiters. I'm blanking on names ( Help- Underhill??) but if I find them in my files, I'll post again.

Good luck!

Underhill

If what you want is a really, really good seafood restaurant, head for the Café de Turin, a great favorite with locals. It's not on the seaside--nothing much in Nice really is, as the broad Promenade des Anglais separates most restaurants from the waterfront. However, the Café is only a block or two from the Mediterranean, and the seafood is extremely fresh and beautiful--our French friends who took us there were in ecstacy over the plateau fruits de mer. It's a classic French eatery--nothing at all touristy about it. BTW, if you go and order the plateau, be sure to order the brown bread to go with it; it's not served automatically, and there's a separate (small) charge.

I do have to say that I've never seen French waiters goof around or sing--that's really out of character for the kind of professional waitstaff normal in France.