Le Safari, Niçois Cooking on the Cours Saleya

A 1972 restaurant over the market

Le Safari occupies the corner at number 1 Cours Saleya, in the middle of the flower market. It opened in 1972 and is still a house of family and friends, as its own website says. Since 2013 it has had the Cuisine Nissarde label, which distinguishes restaurants that cook Nice's traditional recipes, and since 2012 the Maître Restaurateur title, which requires cooking in-house with fresh produce. In the morning it is a café terrace with the market all around; at lunchtime and in the evening, a restaurant.

Inside there is a dining room with paintings by artists and coloured jars; outside, well-laid tables on the promenade, a couple of steps from the Promenade des Anglais.

The menu

What the house champions is traditional Niçois cooking and the wood-fired oven, where they make the pizzas, the lamb and the rabbit. To try a bit of everything, order the Cascade Niçoise, a plate of several specialities: petits farcis (stuffed vegetables), peppers roasted in olive oil, truccha (the Niçois omelette), salt cod fritters, octopus and artichoke salad, rabbit porchetta. Then the Niçois daube, the house stew, with home-made ravioli, or fresh cod à la niçoise. They also have bagna cauda with raw vegetables and fresh pasta with pistou.

There are set menus at €35 (starter, main and dessert), €44 (with the Cascade Niçoise), €48 (with wine and coffee) and €60 (with the Cascade, wine, kir, water and coffee), as well as à la carte.

How to go and book

Open every day with continuous service, from 12:00 to midnight, which is handy if you get back late from an excursion. Booking is by phone only. Tram 1 stops at Cathédrale – Vieille Ville, five minutes' walk; if you go by car, there are underground car parks at the Cours Saleya, Corvesy, Sulzer and the Palais de Justice. They accept cards, including American Express, and cash.