Eating at La Rotonde restaurant in Nice was an unforgettable experience for us. In the heart of the legendary Negresco Palace, we were charmed by this establishment from the moment we arrived. After walking through the lobby of this 5 star hotel, we found ourselves under the ceiling of the restaurant, moving representing a starry night and an azure sky. Facing the famous Promenade des Anglais, you’ll enjoy inventive, high-quality dishes made with fresh, local, refined produce.
In this article, we will share our experience with you and you will be able to make your own opinion thanks to the many photos during our dinner.
This review is completely independent, we ate anonymously and paid our bill in full.
Why eat at Restaurant La Rotonde in Nice?
Is La Rotonde Restaurant worth it? Our review
Without a doubt! The cuisine, the setting and the atmosphere particularly seduced us. In our opinion, the main assets of this restaurant are the following:
- The location in the legendary Le Negresco palace: the restaurant’s setting is at the heart of a prestigious hotel in Nice housing a collection of objets d’art numbering in the thousands! In addition to the beauty of the place, we could enjoy the view of the Promenade des Anglais.
- The atmosphere of the place: the ceiling of the Rotunda is covered with a moving starry sky, offering a magical experience for the eyes with some piano notes in the background. During our dinner, airplanes, seagulls and meteors were flying through this animated ceiling. This show added a touch of magic to our meal.
- Quality dishes: Virginie Basselot, head chef at Le Negresco in Nice, aims to create a modern, tasty Mediterranean cuisine. Each dish is an explosion of flavors. The presentation is meticulous, this culinary experience was artistic, a nod to the hotel’s art collection. Moreover, the menus are adapted to the seasons to offer novelty and surprise on the plate.
For these reasons, we find this restaurant to be unique, offering a gastronomic experience in a setting that we will not soon forget.
A little history
La Rotonde restaurant is located in the Le Negresco hotel in Nice, a palace inaugurated in 1913 by Henri Negresco and designed by architect Édouard-Jean Niermans. You will have the opportunity to visit this jewel of Belle Époque and art deco style if you eat in one of its restaurants or if you spend a night there! The restaurant reopened in 2017 after a major renovation by decorators Marc Hertrich and Nicolas Adnet.
The result is a style that blends influences from a merry-go-round, a submarine cabin and a spaceship, while remaining true to the extravagance, elegance and finesse of the Le Negresco Palace style.
The setting for our dinner was an invitation to dream and to get away from it all. In our opinion one of the best hotels to stay at in Nice, you can also stay at the Hotel Le Negresco to discover this magical world in a different way – see photos and availability.
DISCOVER Nice
- Best things to do in Nice
- Where to stay in Nice: 15 best hotels
- Where to eat in Nice: 20 best restaurants
- The 12 best museums in Nice
- Best beaches
- Visit the Palais Lascaris
- Visit the MAMAC Museum
- Visit the Museum of Photography
- Itineraries: 1 day – 2 days – 3 days – 5 days – 7 days
- Rent a car in Nice (airport or train station)
- Most beautiful villages around Nice
What you will eat
The Negresco is fortunate to have Virginie Basselot, a talented chef, at the helm of its kitchens. Her professional career, which began in Normandy, led her to the Parisian capital, where she acquired a solid culinary experience. His signature dishes at La Rotonde, such as grilled avocado with clementines or veal breast stuffed with niçoise sauce, are tasty, surprising and elegant.
What we ate there:
- appetizer: olive, beet and cauliflower crackers,
- Dishes: catch of the day and its rock fish soup with rouille and small croutons, ravioli with truffled artichokes and arugula emulsion,
- desserts: crunchy coconut meringue and mango sorbet, chocolate hazelnut niches and crispy puffed rice with black cardamom ice cream.
The menu, short and varied, is adapted to all tastes and it was particularly appreciable! Also on the menu, a few vegetarian dishes, always with local and seasonal products, as beautiful as they are good, such as the melting leeks with gribiche sauce or the ravioli with truffled artichokes.
Our desserts were perfectly balanced: neither too sweet nor too heavy with a combination of texture, flavors and lightness to end the meal in beauty. A main menu, the “Promenade” menu, is offered in 3 steps with a choice between 2 starters, 3 main courses and 3 desserts.
Finally, the restaurant also makes delicious bread rolls, such as cereal bread and pumpkin seed bread to accompany the meal.
What you will drink
On the wine list, nearly 70 wines are listed, including some grands crus, with a nice local selection from Provence, but also for the more knowledgeable from the Rhone Valley, Languedoc-Roussillon, Burgundy, Loire Valley, South West, Bordeaux, as well as Italian and Spanish wines. The sommelier’s advice helped us find wines that went perfectly with our dishes.
For those who prefer to taste wines by the glass, the offer is also interesting, with 6 whites, 2 rosés and 6 reds, both of character and more typical.
What we drank there:
- Le Negresconi house cocktail: Bombay gin, Campari, martini rosso,
- Fresh and easy house mocktail: passion fruit, lemonade.
- And at the end of the meal: chamomile and mint infusions accompanied by sweet treats and chocolate crunch.
You can also choose from a variety of soft drinks, aperitifs, champagnes, as well as house cocktails with and without alcohol. We had a cocktail before our dinner in 3 steps!
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The atmosphere of the restaurant
The decoration and the atmosphere of the restaurant are simply enchanting. First, to get to the restaurant, we walked through the corridors and rooms on the first floor of the 5-star Le Negresco hotel, where many works of art from the 6,000-piece collection held by the hotel are on display. Paintings, sculptures, contemporary art, lighting, antique furniture… You won’t know where or what to look at anymore because there are so many beautiful objects to admire!
After this taste of wonder, once inside the restaurant, high windows let in the light and offer a breathtaking view of the Promenade des Anglais from the terrace. The main room is round, as if it were a whirlwind of a merry-go-round, with a white horse in the middle and several other merry-go-round horses in the four corners of the room.
The moving starry blue ceiling adds a touch of enchantment to the ensemble. Finally, we liked the attention to detail because nothing is left to chance. A few piano notes in the background softened the atmosphere of the room. Even the tableware, light terracotta colored stoneware plates and slim silhouette stemware, perfectly completes the sensory experience.
The staff of the establishment is charming and professional. From the moment we arrived, we were greeted with a warm welcome and a smile. The team in the dining room is also very attentive. One thing we particularly liked was that the team offered to make our cocktails in front of us, like a little show, which added a playful and interactive touch to the moment. This personalized attention makes the meal even more enjoyable and convivial.
What makes La Rotonde Restaurant in Nice so famous?
In our opinion, this refined gourmet restaurant is one of the best in Nice. We were impressed by the quality of the dishes offered, the unique setting and the impeccable service.
The restaurant offers a culinary experience immersed in an artistic universe that invites you to dream and travel. The fresh and local products chosen to prepare the various dishes are skilfully highlighted to offer an explosion of flavours in the mouth.
Another important element is its location! The restaurant is close to the Promenade des Anglais, the Jardin Albert 1er and the Villa Masséna, making it an ideal place to enjoy the city. We highly recommend this restaurant and look forward to returning!
The reception was really impeccable and the evening unforgettable for us!
WHERE TO STAY IN Nice
Our favorites: neighborhoods and hotels
On the waterfront, with sea view:
Anantara Hotel – See prices, photos and availability
In the new town, close to the sea:
Hotel Apollinaire, elegant and bright – See prices, photos and availability
In the old town, with all the charm:
AparthotelAMMI Vieux Nice very practical and pleasant – see prices, photos and availability
Practical information about Restaurant La Rotonde in Nice
Type of restaurant
Gastronomic.
Schedules
The restaurant is open every day:
- for breakfast from 7am to 10:30am,
- for lunch from 12pm to 2pm,
- for dinner from 7pm to 10pm.
Where is Restaurant La Rotonde in Nice?
La Rotonde restaurant is located in Nice, on the Promenade des Anglais, inside the 5-star Le Negresco hotel. The exact address is 37 Promenade des Anglais, Nice (0600), France.
- Driving time from Marseille : 2h20min.
- Driving time from Avignon : 3h.
- Driving time from Aix-en-Provence : 2h.
- Driving time from Cannes : 35min.
- Driving time from Antibes : 30min.
These times are approximate and depend on traffic.
OUR TPS FOR RENTING YOUR CAR IN Provence
- Compare prices on our preferred platform: DiscoverCars – one of the best rated sites.
- Choose a car that is powerful enough (the roads are steep) but compact (some passages are narrow).
- Think of thecomplete insurance (some roads are tortuous and narrow).
- There is a lot of demand, book it early.
How to get there
To get to the restaurant by public transportation, you can take the T1 tramway line and get off at the “Alsace Lorraine” stop, which is about a 3-minute walk from the establishment.
To get to Nice, you have several means of transport at your disposal: train, bus, plane and car. If you’re traveling by train, Nice-Ville station is the most important, offering connections to many destinations in France and abroad.
See the available schedules and book your train tickets now.
If you opt for the bus, several companies offer connections to Nice from various towns in the region. By plane, Nice Côte d’Azur airport is around 7 km from the city center, and offers national and international flights. Finally, if you’re travelling by car (the most practical option in the region), you can take the A8 freeway, which links Nice to other towns in Provence.
If you arrive at Nice-Ville station and wish to walk to the restaurant, allow just under a 20-minute walk.
From Nice Côte d’Azur airport by car, it’s about a 15-minute drive to the restaurant on the Promenade des Anglais. You can also take the T2 tramway line at the airport and change at the “Jean Médecin” stop to take the T1 line in the direction of “Pont Michel”, then get off at the “Alsace Lorraine” stop which is about a 3 minute walk from the restaurant.
PLAN YOUR TRIP TO provence
Our articles are coming!
- Most beautiful cities in Provence (coming soon)
- Most beautiful beaches of Provence (coming soon)
- Most beautiful villages of Provence (to come)
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Parking
The restaurant has a valet parking service for guests who wish to park their cars. This can come in handy if you don’t want to have to search for a parking space on the streets of Nice, where parking can be difficult. Valet parking can also help you get in and out of the parking lot. Parking spaces for motorcycles and bicycles are available near the establishment.
OUR TPS FOR RENTING YOUR CAR IN Provence
- Compare prices on our preferred platform: DiscoverCars – one of the best rated sites.
- Choose a car that is powerful enough (the roads are steep) but compact (some passages are narrow).
- Think of thecomplete insurance (some roads are tortuous and narrow).
- There is a lot of demand, book it early.
For people with reduced mobility
The restaurant is located on the first floor of the hotel Le Negresco, but there are 3 steps to climb to get there.
Is La Rotonde Restaurant family friendly?
This establishment does not offer a specific menu for children, but families are welcome. In addition, the spacing between the tables is sufficient to allow parents to come with a stroller without being hindered.
The bill
For the 3 course menu (starter / main course / dessert), count 65€ excluding drinks. An affordable rate considering the very good quality price ratio of this establishment and the rather atypical setting.
Reservation and contact
We advise you to reserve your table in advance, whether for lunch or dinner.
Reservations are made:
- by phone at + 33 (0)4 93 16 64 11,
- by e-mail to [email protected].
To learn more about the restaurant, visit the official website.
PLAN YOUR TRIP TO provence
Our articles are coming!
- Most beautiful cities in Provence (coming soon)
- Most beautiful beaches of Provence (coming soon)
- Most beautiful villages of Provence (to come)
- Most beautiful destinations in Provence (coming soon)
