Dining in Arles
 

I'll be in Arles 2 nights and am looking for restaurant recommendations in/around Arles. I would like to stay under 35E per person, not including alcohol. I'm staying in town so my first preference is to dine in town to avoid driving. But I would be willing to drive to someplace special. Thanks for the help.

Le Jardin de Manon, while a bit of a walk from the center of town, is a great-value option. It's at 14, avenue des Alyscamps. I also like the Brasserie de l'Hôtel Nord Pinus right on the Place du Forum

Thanks. Any other suggestions out there?

Raising this post for SFDink...

There was a restaurant called Lou Becarou that was popular when I was there, but as my daughter says,"Mo--ther, that was 10 yrs. ago!"

We were based in Arles for 9 days and, although we thought it was a great location, there weren't a lot of what I would call "great" restaurants in town. We ate at mostly pizza type places or Van Gogh Cafe which is really more of a bar. However, if you are willing to drive 15-30 minutes outside of Arles, there are all sorts of terrific dining options. A few of them would be, La Cuisine au Planet in Fontvielle, La Petite France in Maussane, La Gousse d'Ail in St. Remy and La Chassagnette in the Camargue. If Patricia (PBProvence) is reading this thread, she can add more suggestions - she lives right in the area.
JoeG

Hmm, that makes me question my choice to stay in Arles. I chose it over St. Remy because it's a larger town, had more lodging options, and I assumed would have more dining choices. Again, I'd like to stay in the moderate range (under 35E per person w/o alcohol). When I was in Paris last year every night we always had a good amount of alcohol with dinner. We certainly weren't tipsy drunk, but it was nice to be able to walk home afterwards and not have to worry about driving. Do I need to stay in a larger town like Avignon or Aix for better dining options? Or are there other smaller towns that have better restaurants - I'm only going to be there 2 nights so only need to find 2 good restaurants. Shouldn't be that hard, right?

SFDink,
Arles is a great place to stay. So is St.Remy. Arles (my opinion) is a more fun town to just walk around in. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of good restaurants in Arles and you're right - it is fun to just walk back to your hotel and not have to worry that you maybe had one too many glasses of wine. It's just that if food is really important to you, there are phenomenal restaurants that are within short, easy drives out of town. You said you were willing to drive to someplace special. St Remy is great too but you're also correct, there are way more(and economical) hotel options in Arles.
JoeG

SFD:

Joe's correct - Arles isn't a foodie mecca, but heck, it's France! you're not going to get bad food!

And if you DO have a car, get in it and drive out to La Chassagnette, or La Telline, in the Camargue. You'll never forget either of those dining experiences.

My wife and I enjoyed La Giraudiere when we were last in Arles. It's not exceptional, but the food was very good and our host made us feel extremely welcome when we arrived without reservations on an evening when everything nearby seemed to be closed.
He also made a remarkably good recommendation when I told him I wasn't familiar with the local wines. At the end of the meal I commented on his choice. He told us it wasn't available in shops, but gave us his card and directions to the vinyard, then wrote a recommendation to the winemaker if we wanted to pursue a few bottles.
I'd have to go digging through my cards to find the address, but I do remember that it was within an easy walk of the Roman arena.
A good restaurant with a knowledgable and welcoming proprietor--what more could one want?

Thanks everyone. This gives me a better idea of what to expect. I'm not expecting the best dining experience of my life in Arles. Just good food (and like StCirq said since I'm in France it will be great) at reasonable prices. I just want to make sure I don't end up at some tourist trap. So any other specfic restaurant suggestions would be appreciated.

How far in advance will I need to make reservations for La Chassagnette if I decide to go?

What time of year will you be there? I doubt you'll need reservations unless you are going in high season, though it might be worth it to be sure. We made reservations the day before in early October - the place was about half full. I don't think it's been "discovered" yet - but of course that can change at a minute's notice.

L'Olivier, 1 bis rue Reattu, telephone 04 90 49 64 88. Ate there in 2001. It was my favorite restaurant of our trip. Very unassuming from the outside. Inside, if I remember correctly, it had the low, arched ceilings, with Michealangelo type art on the walls. Loads of atmosphere. Lots of locals. Reservations are needed. Now, don't let this put you off, but it was a Rick Steves pick for a splurge. Fantastic. I learned to enjoy the cheese course here.

We stayed at the Hotel du Forum in the center of Arles for five nights. We would scout restaurants during the day as we walked around Arles. They were all good.

Arles is a great town - you will love it - perfect for slightly intoxicated late-night strolls. In my experience, you do need to be a bit careful in choosing restaurants in Arles as there seem to be an inordinate number of as you say, tourist traps. Stay away from the largish places with tons of tables out on the terrace. And the minute you see "WE SPEAK ENLGISH, GERMAN, etc" - stay away.

If you want a bit of a change from the Provencal fare (hard to believe, but it can happen) try L'Andaluz - which is facing the Arena. It's a great little tapas bar - and since Arles seems to be sometimes closer to Spain than France in spirit - it's not a crazy idea. Anyway, they make a wicked sangria and my wife, who lived in Madrid for a year says their tapas are up to snuff.

I would recommend making reservations a few days in advance for La Chassagnette, if you decide to go.
There are times when it's packed and others when it's slower, but it's hard to guage. They are also open for lunch.
They'll be reopening in about a week (vacation) and the restaurant is located just before you arrive in Le Sambuc on the D36.
Tel: 04 90 97 26 96
Fax: 04 90 97 26 95

L'Olivier in Arles is also quite a good restaurant. And the Brasserie in the hotel Nord Pinus is good - but I seem to remember the prices being a bit high.

Patricia

SFD, if you can find a copy of the March *UK* House and Garden magazine, there is a multi-page photo spread on two Arles-area establishments, Mas de la Chassagnette and Hotel Nord Pinus. (pages 32-28). Mas de la Chassagnette is about half an hour central Arles, though.

SFDink,
I happened upon the Robert De Niro movie "Ronin" last night on cable. The movie itself is probably just okay but somewhere in the middle of it there is a 10 minute sequence that was filmed in Arles. Most of the action takes place in and around the Roman arena. There are some great street scenes that bring back a lot of memories.
If you go the La Chassagnette, I would recommend going for lunch if the weather is warm enough to sit outside. Prix fixe lunch is @23E. Stupendous!
JoeG

Thanks everyone for all the information. I will be there in late May so lunch outside at La Chassagnette sounds ideal.

SFD,
If you are interested, I can email you some photos of La Chassagnette.
JoeG