As if Tiffany’s came to Marseille… Overwhelmingly everything at Les Bords de Mer screams speaks of “perfection”.

Perched right above the Catalans Beach, Les Bords de Mer has a birdseye view of the action on the beach and a view of the ocean so close you may as well be in a luxurious vessel in the sea. It’s divine. From the street though, the imposing white Art Deco style building catches the eye but does not scream ‘there’s an amazing restaurant here, come try!’. In fact nothing shouts at Les Bords de Mer, being host to also a *5 star hotel and spa, the serenity from above permeates the crisply luxurious dining room.

*Now, before going any further – as a native English speaker living in France, who is trying to learn French but advancing at a the pace of an escargot, I’m a firm believer the onus is on me to speak French and find a way to manage should the other person not speak English. Any help that staff are able to give in English is a bonus (although on the other hand also frustrating as you need to practice to learn).

The entrance are sliding glass doors on the main road, where you see the elegance of the venue straight away. A receptionist in black greets in French and after my first attempt to ask for a table in French, she quickly helps me in English. sigh.

The dining room is bright and the ocean view is impossible to miss. Two waiters dressed in chinos and white shirts are in control of the room. A Friday lunchtime has the room nearly full and yet the room is not noisy. Two tables of two have bottles of wine resting in an ice bucket alongside them. People are here to enjoy themselves in an unhurried way.

I am offered my choice of tables by a pleasantly friendly waiter. There are cloth napkins, leather placemats and coasters and chairs that are comfortable. I’m offered water ‘pétillante’ or ‘plate’ and then they bring a wine menu and the food menu:

It’s fantastic, the list of options are not too long, not too short and reflective of its location and the ethos of the proprietaires and location in being both skewed towards seafood and good selection of farm to plate vegetarian options .

I choose the Ceviche de Maitre and Fish of the day, my delightful waiter tolerating my terrible French and asked if I prefer English, I declined!

Seated at a table for one in a busy restaurant, no one cares or looks twice. It’s bliss. The ceviche swiftly arrives. As promised there is just the right amount of yuzu. Good fleshy chunks of white fish and mango marry the tartness of the dressing. The pomegranate balances the hint of heat from the pepper. If I could have licked the plate at the end I would have (I did, too late after my meal however, see someone do this with a dessert).

Just the right amount of time to make the meal a ‘working lunch’ passes and the main arrives. Exactly as described, grilled asparagus and fish. Under the fish, sliced discs of asparagus stem were hiding. All of it was perfectly seasoned. The fish was moist and fell apart with the fork. The asparagus cooked ‘al dente’, and while not sweet, the balance of the texture, the dressing, the hint of lemon made greens as pleasurable as dessert to eat. I also ordered a glass of white wine to accompany the meal. Having ignored the wine menu completely I am offered the house (Les Domaine de Fontenille) white, the first offering came across is somewhat buttery and with complete efficiency my waiter offered an alternative house wine (Cuvee Alphonse), with just a hint of more citrus without being tart.

Overwhelmingly everything at Les Bords de Mer screams, speaks “perfection”. No one raises their voice here, yet the atmosphere is not oppressive either. It’s a relaxed, well dressed version of south of France perfection, as if Tiffany’s came to Marseille.

Now it could all fall over with dessert. Four desserts and one cheese on offer, I will save room next time for a double dessert of the cheese and Maxi baba. This time however I chose the Mille Feuille. I would love to see this kitchen’s iteration of a chocolate dessert, the food on the menu is light enough to be able to finish with the richness of something chocolate.

The dessert arrives and the waiter pours the cream over the plate at the table. The layers of mille feuille are crisp, the cream in the middle light and fresh and the sauce with caramel falls into the gap between sweet enough and not too sweet.

Afterwards I had a cafe creme – now all too often in France, with the addition of milk being outside of the local coffee tradition, a cafe creme arrives hot as lava, the coffee is watery and bitter and the milk is just a splash, an afterthought and barely registers. I like coffee flavoured milk that can be drunk as soon as it arrives, around 50 degrees my local barista had advised me. Without having to say a word, my coffee here was also … perfect.

The bill was 91 Euros and worth every cent.