Restaurant L'Essentiel

Travelling round South of France this was without doubt the very best meal of the entire tour! Wonderful food - cooked perfectly and with great flavours. Excellent service in an incredible courtyard setting. Can't recommend highly enough.

The food and service for lunch was very good until the bill came. I had asked to substitute food grad for smoke salmon on the 36€ menu. Waitress said fine. When bill came they rather rudely insisted I pay the 48€ menu ( even though the food price was cheaper than the salmon). Left a very bad taste in our mouths.

Ordered the set menu lunch (entree, main, dessert and glass of wine for euro p.p). Excellent meal and service. Would recommend for a bit more of a up market lunch dinner. Did notice a lack of custom we walked passed it daily...during our day visit) which may be price sensitivity. A shame as it is a cut above the other eateries we tried.

Everything in this restaurant was excellent - food, wine, ambience - but be prepared to eat with smokers all around you. In most Paris restaurants now, you simply can't smoke unless you are right outside, but here outside has been translated as outdoors. The place is full of smokers, and the shape of this courtyard ensures you can't escape - and neither can the smoke. It spoiled an otherwise memorable meal.

Received rec from our driver guide. Local and knowledgeable. He was right on all day. Ok here’s my evaluation. Quiet place. Decor more modern-ish. Waitress super nice and helpful either in English or French. Had limited menu. prefixe’s with some choices within. Meals good+.......however my duck was undercooked by my standard and very tough. They were very willing to take it back to cook a bit more. Wine list great.

Arrived early to try and book a table, having been told the restaurant tended to get very busy with locals. We were seated in the garden area which filled to capacity during the course of our meal. Food was simply splendid; a delicious salmon tartare set the tone for the remaining courses. Service was exemplary; attentive without being obtrusive. Also, I really appreciated staff capable of switching to (very proficient) English whenever my schoolboy French ran dry! So - a great meal, relaxed setting and great service. What more could you ask?

Reading about L’Essentiel on Trip Advisor, and realizing it was only a very short few steps away from our Avignon digs, we selected it for our first meal out.A very fine choice, too!Great ambiance, super welcoming staff, and great food!Our first meal was so good we booked the same table for an anniversary meal a number of days later, and they did not disappoint. Don’t know about others, but Sarah and I will often go back to a restaurant where we’ve had a good meal, betting that it wasn’t just good luck. I’m sure we miss finding another good meal from time to time, but I’ll bet we avoid getting a crook one at times, too!L’Essentiel has an ‘indoor outdoor,’ area, which they refer to as the ‘ex...

The friendly staff at L’Essentiel moved quickly to make us feel welcome and comfortable. They have an attractive garden where most patrons were seated but we chose inside, which for us was equally inviting. Our food was excellent but their hospitality and crisp, efficient service particularly distinguished L’Essentiel and made for very pleasant dining. We started with Champagne and followed with an equally tasty white Burgogne. My entre was an English pea veloute with leeks, chevre and pecorino and mushroom “crunchies.” Main was roast chicken with a delicious artichoke sauce, snow peas and potatoes with onion chips. My wife's starter was a beautifully presented saumon tartare with a cucumber...

Our AirBNB host recommended L'Essentiel as a fine dining experience, and since he knows the town, we went with his recommendation. We didn't have a reservation, but got decidedly lucky, nabbing a table outside in the lovely garden area. The one English-speaking waitress of the evening and an English menu assisted us with the meal. I'm honestly not quite sure how the menu worked in terms of what was included or not, but we both had an amuse-bouche (a small complimentary appetizer from the chef), a real appetizer, entree (chicken, fish), and dessert. And also a pre-dessert (which seems like a fine idea). The pacing was just right - a bit leisurely, but not enough to have us itching with impati...