Mickaël Féval - Aix-en-Provence

We took the train to Aix from Avignon to spend the day. We had a guide book which we had brought along from the US and in it was a restaurant listed as excellent. We went in search of the restaurant and instead found this restaurant had moved in when the other had gone out of business. We looked at the menu and thought it a bit pricey but decided to stay and treat ourselves. We were both so glad that we made that decision. This is one of the most upscale and best restaurants in town, if not the very best. The service and the food was exceptional. Beautiful presentation of all the dishes and all beautifully prepared. We did not regret any bit of this wonderful lunch. Best meal we had in all of the three countries we visited on our holiday.

We visited this restaurant for lunch on a week-end. I had understood we could have the 5 dish menu with the wine pairing, but understood wrong... :( Only for dinner... So we had the 3 dish menu for which they improvised a wine pairing. The food was tasty, the plates were beautiful, the wines were well paired, the waitress looked a bit sad/tired but did her job well and guided us while we tried to guess the wines.

We had lunch during our week-long visit to mostly the northern area of Provence. It was easily the best meal of the trip, and we dined at other Michelin 1-star restaurants. My husband and I had 6 different items, purposefully ordering different starters, mains and desserts, in order to try as much as possible of the lunch menu. Every single item we ordered was excellent, the most outstanding of which was the sweetbreads. This was the best sweet bread preparation we've ever had. Service was very good and the lunchtime ambiance was very nice. Highly recommended.

We were very excited to dine at Mickael Feval. We did a wine pairing and 5 course meal. In Provence, it is understood that service is leisurely. However, the service was beyond leisurely. The service was very uneven. We waited easily 20 minutes before getting menus. Even though we had a reservation, other walk-ins who came later were served first. The maitre de apologized. However, the service continued to be longer than even what would be expected for Aix. 5 course meal was over 3 hours. Also, the bill was inaccurate. When we mentioned it, the maitre de said she wrote it down so it must be right. After we pushed back, they pulled it off the bill. However, it left a sour ending to the meal. The food was actually very good. The service was less than what we expected of a Michelin star restaurant.

To celebrate our last evening in Aix en Provence we decided to try a Michelin rated restaurant - the Michael Faval restaurant. We both tried the four course dinner. I had the La Sardine, La Langoustine (prawns), Le Filet de Boeuf (filet mignon), Le Fromage (assortment of four cheeses), and finally the desert. Dishes were very well presented, and most importantly the combination of various ingredients / flavors made the experience very special. Service was attentive. Staff is well trained: our waitress was very informative and knowledgeable. A very special, good experience. Prices are or low.