Restaurant La Renaissance
6 place Malherbe, Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume
83470 France
La Renaissance
Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume (St Maximin to be short) is a town located in the Var département. It is close to Aix-en-Provence (35km), Marseille (45km) and Toulon (50km) where you can get from London-Stansted if you dare to fly with Ryanair. The town is famous for its old basilica (its construction begun in 1295) dedicated to Mary Magdalene. La Renaissance restaurant is in the center of the town, next to the basilica by the way, in the Place Malherbe where ruins of the Roman Villa Lata have been found beneath it.
We were five at the restaurant. We ordered one pichet de vin (6.50 euros), one salade de poulpes (échalottes, câpres, cornichons, huile d’olives – octopus salad with shallots, capers, pickles, olive oil – 12 euros), one salade de St Jacques tièdes (salade, St Jacques, noix, tomates, oeuf – salad with warm scallops, nuts, tomatoes, egg – 13.50 euros), one tagliatelles carbonara (11.50 euros), two St Jacques à la provençale (scallops with parsley, garlic, tomato – 27 euros), one coca cola (3.10 euros), one crème brûlée (5.50 euros), one profiteroles (5.50 euros), one Baba au rhum (4.90 euros) and three coffees (4.50 euros).
Other interesting meals were the magret de canard au vinaigre de vin au jus de framboise (duck breast with wine vinegar and raspberry juice), magret de canard aux morilles (duck breast with morel mushrooms), entrecôte sauce aux cèpes (steak with with mushroom sauce), tagliatelles Pistou (garlic, fresh basil, and olive oil), salade de scampis à l’indienne (salad, cherry tomatoes, fried prawns tandoori way, pineapple, orange, grapefruit, egg), salade de melon (lettuce, melon, prosciutto, cherry tomatoes, feta, egg), salade du berger (lettuce, tomatoes, eggs, fried peppers, cucumbers, goat cheese, mushrooms), andouillette sauce moutarde à l’ancienne (mild pork sausage with mustard sauce), alouette sans tête à l’ancienne (no, it is not a headless lark but rolled veal scallops with tomato, garlic), gambas grillées à l’ail et basilic (grilled prawns with garlic and basil), truite aux amandes (trout with almonds) or the cuisses de grenouilles (frog legs, if you are into them. I am not!).
Salade de St Jacques tièdes
Salade de poulpes
Tagliatelles Carbonara
St Jacques à la provençale
Everyone was happy with their meals. Good news! We were a little worried as the town gets plenty of tourists because of the Christian pilgrimage to the basilica but the restaurant was quite good. Personally I had the salade de St Jacques tièdes (first photo). The salad was very fresh and crispy and it did not come too cold. This happens often with salads staying too long in the fridge. I believe mine was made upon request. The scallops were excellent, coming warm and nicely seasoned.
Crème brûlée
Profiteroles
Baba au rhum
The desserts were also good. I had the rum baba/baba au rhum which was nice. It was well soaked in rum (as you can see in the photo above) so only order it if you are into alcohol!
Cost and conclusion: it was 94 euros and we were 5. Not a bad value for money considering the quality of the food and the central location of the restaurant. Highly recommended if you are in the area!
Some photos of the Sainte Madeleine (Mary Magdalene) basilica:
The entrance
Beautiful organ
