Dark side of the force not welcomed!

When in Nice during Nov 09, I was left with the responsibility of deciding where to eat. When I found out that the best restaurant in town had an affordable lunch time menu, I jumped at the chance to eat somewhere posh. M wasn't as enthused since there was somewhere else she had in mind to try first.

Due to my overwhelming ability to convince others through Jedi mind tricks we made the short walk towards the beach towards Hotel Negresco (37 Promenade des Anglais 06000 Nice, France 04 93 16 64 00, http://www.hotel-negresco-nice.com/htgb/0004.htm), and were given directions to The Chantecler.

We checked the menu outside again just to make sure that the prices haven't changed dramatically and went for it. I said "por deux, s'il vous plait?" and thought it shouldn't be too much trouble as it was early in the afternoon and it was a weekday.

However, the nice gentleman in the restaurant, (the head waiter) came over and said in his broken English "No sorry monsieur, shirts and jackets only" as he points out what the rest of the clienteles were adorned with.

A bit embarrassed in my Darth Vader t-shirt and torn jeans, I said determinedly"In that case I would like a table for two tomorrow at the same time please." Since we were staying in Nice for 3 nights.

So we spent the entire day looking for shoes for M to wear to this posh place and a pair of trousers for me as I knew something like this may happen and had pack a shirt and blazer in the luggage already.

Anyhow, when we did get to The Chantecler the next day, the same head waiter was there and we reintroduced ourselves. He said something to the order of "Oh yes, I remember you two. You look very smart today." We felt like naughty children that have turned over a new leaf, very chuffed indeed.

It was all worth it as even fussy me had no complaints as everything was top notch. The appetisers, entrees, palate cleansers, mains, deserts, glasses of red and white, desserts, service, presentations and attention to detail were hypnotic!!! There were a lot of love that went into making that extravagant meal. It is easily one of the top 3 restaurants I have been to of all time.

Some of the highlights were definitely my pheasant for mains and M's monkfish. We made sure that we tried all of each others' courses of course.

The Chantecler is my first entry into this blog of mine, it is definitely one that others will be measured against. They knew what we wanted before we did! A special mention has to go out to the petite fours which comes with the coffee, YUMMY!

Dinner is around double what we had paid for lunch. At 60 euros per person, not only was it pure luxury but also well worth it. So if you ever find yourself in Nice, treat your taste buds to an investment in your long term memory bank.

We were quite hesitant to take the camera there because at that time of indulgence I had not decided to do this blog yet and unfortunately I could only find photos of the restaurant itself on the net. I guess the menu just changes too frequently with the season.

Photo courtesy of the official L'hotel Negresco website.