Eating and drinking
France > Corsica > Ile Rousse > Eating and drinking

Sea Urchins

Though there's an abundance of mediocre eating places in the narrow alleys of the old town, a few restaurants do stand out, some offering classic gourmet menus and others serving superb fresh seafood. The best cafés are found along the southern side of place Paoli.

Le Grillon 10 av Paul-Doumer tel 04.95.60.00.49. Hotel dining hall with a limited, but consistently good menu of mainly French dishes. Their steak au roquefort and cod in spicy Créole sauce are perenially popular, while for vegetarians there's a delicious courgette-and-basil pâté, rounded off with home-made honey-and-almond ice cream. Count on €20–27 per head.

Les Jardins d'Emma col de Fogata, 2km along the Calvi road just past Super U supermarket, on the left tel 04.95.60.49.07. This is the place to head to if you fancy a more sophisticated meal. The cuisine is "gastro-corse" on a single four-course €30 menu that changes daily. House specialities include spider crab soup and sea bass stuffed with brocciu; and they do stupendous desserts.

L'Ostéria place Santelli tel 04.95.60.08.39. On a quiet backstreet in the old quarter, this established Corsican speciality restaurant offers an excellent set menu (€16), featuring delicious courgette fritters, soupe de nos villages, tarragon-scented gratin d'aubergines, stuffed sardines and fresh pan-fried prawns. You can sit in a vaulted room adorned with farm implements or on the shaded terrace.

A Quadera 6 rue Napoléon tel 04.95.60.44.52. Sunny Mediterranean salads, quality charcuterie and imaginative seafood dishes, stylishly served inside an eighteenth-century town house with exposed stone walls. Their €15.50 menu offers great value for money.