The best restaurants Montpellier

You have to slip into a small street in the St. Roch district to find the entrance to this Ali Baba's cave. In this astonishing establishment, devoted to the cuisine of the Maghreb, you'll experience a change of scenery. In addition to the food, the owners have invested in the decor, the atmosphere and the show to allow a total escape. The room seems to be straight out of the tales of a Thousand and One Nights: furniture, mirrors, earthenware, red and gold decoration… Everything comes from Morocco. In the middle of this setting, the specialties of the country parade at a high speed rhythm, it must be said that the reputation of the restaurant precedes it. Finally, on Saturdays, an oriental dancer comes to entertain already charmed guests.

In this small restaurant at the rue de l'Université, Didier is in the kitchen and Gilles in the service. The local specialty is the bull, as its name indicates. As it is in Camargue, we find white walls, photos of the arenas' lord. There are also Spanish specialities such as the delicious Iberian abanico (Iberian black pig, fed in full nature with acorns). Eleven different burgers. Bull burger with goat cheese and chorizo accompanied by homemade French fries. In the prefecture district, the address offers very very low prices.

In India, Puja is the ritual prayer; in Montpellier, it is a restaurant not to be missed. In a typical oriental decor, you sample indian or... mauritian dishes! On the menu: fried squid or eggplant, samosas, Tikka Massala chicken, Pakora and nans with cheese or garlic. This is for the trip to India, and if you prefer a stopover on Mauritius island, taste the fish Cari (tomato and coriander) for example, or with semolina puddings called Sooji Meva. In Puja, the meal is copious, tasty and affordable, with the added bonus of a very welcoming staff.

Housed near the Prefecture, the Empanadas Club is the temple of Latin cuisine in Montpellier. Opened in 2014, this address was the first to ride the wave of the Argentinean specialty. Today, it has a solid reputation and acts as a safe bet, so much so that it is number 1 in France's best-known delivery site. As the address is quickly filling up, many customers buy their meals to take away or online. However, two years ago, the house opened the Mosquito Latino in the adjoining business, a Latin bar where you can devour the bites of skill and drink cocktails from South and Latin America.

Enter this dangerous looking den, a crew member of the pirates will lead you to your table, at the foot of the tower, in the den of the boat or the gaols of the ship. In addition to the imposing decorated surroundings of death's-heads, the storm and the cannons echo by surprise in the middle of the meal, and three times in an hour, the lights display. A long list of eclectic cocktails brings the highlight of to this festive atmosphere. On the menu, there is something for everyone: salad-meal, pasta, pizzas, meat or fish. For dessert, the house opted for very classic: chocolate, crème brûlée or a scoop of frozen Bounty, composed of ice cream and chocolate, a sorbet and chips with coconut, and whipped cream. Children love this.

If this pretty smart canteen is a little far from the center, it undoubtedly deserves a small detour. Cordial, the lovely dining area raises the Catalan colors and has a corner fireplace, quite appreciable in winter. For the summer one will choose without hesitating the patio, refreshed by the bamboos and the pines, very calm and really resting where the tables of coloured mosaics bring jollity to the place. The cuisine is of inspiration Catalan and more largely Mediterranean. As starter, one will be able for example to taste mussels cooked au gratin with the garlic and parsley butter or carpaccio of Scallops has the lemon grass, ginger and lime. For the dish, small cuttlefish roasted with their aïoli or paves mature rumpsteak, compotée of shallots to the red wine. The à la carte of the desserts is very full and will not disappoint, with inter alia a macaroon with cream raspberries light with the litchis freezes limoncello, a flash with lemon-yellow basil, sorbet citrus fruits ginger or mid--cooks with the black chocolate, foams mascarpone and dress pink. The place is worth really the effort to move away from the historic center.