Monaco restaurants
TravelSavvy holiday guide to restaurants in Monaco
As you would expect, Monaco has many luxurious restaurants catering for extremely rich residents and visitors.
Luckily, unlike some wealthy resorts, the food really is wonderful - many of Monaco's restaurants have Michelin stars - although the prices can be equally mouth-watering.
However if you're a savvy traveller you can also find excellent good value food in Monaco. Head for the Rock for a range of atmospheric restaurants - there's both more touristy prices and decent down-to-earth Provencal and Italian dishes.
Monaco's restaurant food is basically French cuisine, though it does put a local twist on its specialities and there are many restaurants in Monaco that serves delicious Italian meals. Given its location you would expect food in Monaco to be Mediterranean in character and the restaurant menus are mainly based on seafood, fish, fresh vegetables, olive oil and rice.
Pastries feature a lot on Monaco menus. Try the barbagiuan appetizer, a rice-filled pastry with spinach, leek and cheese and another fragrant orange flavoured pastry, fougasse, topped with nuts and aniseed. Other favourites are found all along the Riviera, notable socca, made with chick pea flour, and stocafi, cod cooked in tomato sauce.
Monaco has plenty of bars, bistros and cafes and the wide choice can be bewildering, from high-end French restaurants to snack bars and bistros. Prices are generally high, so be prepared to dig deep. Bills normally include a 15% service charge.
Le Louis XV, at the Hotel de Paris, is the most renowned establishment in Monaco. This is an Alain Ducasse- run restaurant and probably his best; he has others in Paris and London.
You’ll be eating refined Mediterranean food in a truly magnificent 18th century style room. In the same hotel, the Grill de l’Hotel de Paris also has a fine reputation with magnificent views from the 8th floor and open-air seating also available.
Other top class Monaco venues include La Coupole at the Hotel Mirabeau and the Vistamar at the Hotel Hermitage while the Bar et Boeuf at the Monte-Carlo Sporting Club is superbly positioned on a promontory to the north of the principality.
L’Hirondelle, Maxim’s and Saint Benoit all have established reputations. The Café de Paris has fine terraces overlooking the casino while the Salon Bellevue has exactly what it claims, a beautiful view taking in the French and Italian Rivieras. The menus change regularly, Provencal, or traditional French. There's also take-away sea-food and ice cream.
A little way inland, almost to the French border, is Polpetta, in the Rue Paradis, a small Italian restaurant with three different settings – a veranda, rustic dining room or intimate room at the rear of the restaurant. To the north of the casino, Loga is a pleasant restaurant specialising in regional cuisine and fresh pasta dishes.
Other Italian restaurants include Langhe Doc, with specialities from Piedmont, including while Alba truffle dishes; Il Capitano, with a magnificent terrace looking over the Port and the beaches of Cap d'Ail; and Rampoldi, which offers both French and Italian cuisine.
For location, particularly for motor racing fans, the Rascasse-Café Grand Prix, situated right on the famous bend at the southern end of the harbour, is a must. The food is decent and the prices reasonable – except during the race when you’ll pay a staggering €1,500 a head for your table for the weekend with a view of the circuit.
Another restaurant with a fine position is the Castelroc, over the square from the Royal Palace on the Place de Palais. Prices are reasonable for the pleasant regional cuisine.
One of the best places for a cheap lunch is the market at the Place des Armes where water fountains mix with cafes and food stalls.
Monegasque citizens are exempt from taxes and military service
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