Restaurant Le Vauban
7 bis rue Thuret 06600 Antibes
France
Le Vauban
Le Vauban seemed to be the perfect place for enjoying the last evening in the French riviera before going back to London after almost a month of vacation. The restaurant has already been reviewed (first long review here) at the end of June so this review will be shorter.
We ordered 3 menus at 27 euros plus a 37.5 ml bottle of red wine (an excellent Bouverie – 13 euros) and a bottle of sparkling water (4.50 euros). The menu at 27 euros gives you the choice between 3 starters, 3 main courses and 3 desserts.
They also have a menu découverte (discovery menu) with a first starter, a second starter, a fish, a meat and a dessert for 39 euros or 58 euros with 4 matching glasses of wine. It is fully a discovery menu as they do not tell you what you are going to eat. Of course you can tell them what you do not want, like if you have some restriction on foods you can eat. I will try that menu next time if I feel brave.
Melon and tapenade as pre-starters
Pieces of melon in its juice
Before the starters arrived, we were served a little glass of pieces of water melon in their juice. It was quite good and a refreshing way of starting the dinner after being out in the heat (still around 27 degrees) during the day.
Cream of potato with oysters & saffron
Tartare of salmon
Foie gras
My friends had a cold soup of potato cream with oysters and saffron, and a tartare of salmon. Both were good and nicely presented. I had foie gras which was excellent. The slice does not look big in the picture above but actually it is quite a large piece. It was smooth and nicely seasoned. It came with a little glass of strawberry mousse (at the left) and a ball of icecream (at the right).
Fish meal
Scallops with cream
Close-up of the scallops
Magret de canard
The main meals got great feedback as well. I do not remember the kind of fish as I was busy with my own plate of magret de canard. I will have to ask. The magret tasted very good and was perfectly cooked, being slightly red while the fat outside was crispy. The mashed potato between the slices was mixed with truffles. The sauce was a little sweet (not oversweet), making this dish light. I did not have the scallops but I wish I ordered them! They were served with a very creamy sauce, almost too creamy for my friend. For me, it would not have been a problem since I like anything creamy or buttery, well I am into the typical classical French cuisine 
Panna cotta
Between the main course and the dessert we all got a little cup of panna cotta. It was a small and rich, with a nice texture. A good pre-dessert.
Cooked apple
Chocolate biscuit
The desserts were great, especially the chocolate biscuit which two of us chose. It was a kind of light and smooth chocolate mousse between thin and crispy biscuit. I am not really into chocolate but this dessert was truly fantastic. The other dessert was a cooked apple but looked a little like Mickey mouse with its biscuits stuck on it. I did not pay much attention to it since my dessert desserved all my attention 😉
Cost and conclusion: it was 98.50 euros. An excellent value for money, a good dinner and a nice surrounding. The service was attentive and discret. What else to ask? Highly recommended!
Next to the walls in Antibes
