This is how a holiday should be – waking up to sunny weather, walk down to the seaside, sit down at an outdoor restaurant with and enjoy the good food under the sun and pretty view.
This is how my little holiday at Marseille has been so far. Of course, I’ve been sightseeing and exploring different areas, but it has been really chilled and relaxed for the majority of the time. Every day you will find me sitting at the outdoor area of one of the brasseries or cafes along the Vieux Port chilling with my food and indulging the sunshine.
This time I was at Le Petit Pernod. This place is always busy and packed. We got a table right outside the restaurant that allows us to fully bathe under the sunlight.
What’s one of the many best things about Mediterranean cuisine? Fresh seafood! For a seafood lover like me, it’s a no brainer that I ordered the Antipasti Mer. This seafood platter includes house marinated salmon, marinated octopus, fried calamari, mussels with Roquefort sauce, mussels with tomato and basil sauce, plus salad.
I can’t stress enough how gorgeous and luscious this plate looks. When it was served to our table, the guy at the table next to us couldn’t stop eyeing it. He even pointed at it and gave us a big thumbs up haha!
It definitely tasted as beautiful as it looks, if not better. The seafood is really fresh and every component on the plate is prepared perfectly. It was a sea party on a plate and truly an explosion of the taste of the sea over your taste buds.
I was never a huge fan of raw salmon or even smoked salmon but these salmon totally changed my view. It has a smokey flavour, seasoned with herbs, and has a very refreshing marinade. The marinade for the octopus is nice too but I would prefer (or am more used to) a more acidic and citrus pairing to it.
Both mussels taste absolutely delicious. The tomato and basil sauce is very light and appetizing. The Roquefort tasted lighter than I expected but still holds its distinct blue cheese flavour. The calamari is impeccable. The size of the calamari is more inclined towards the smaller size but it didn’t get overcooked at all and has this perfect crispy coating and juicy meat.
In addition, this massive seafood platter costs only €14 – that’s very cheap for such amazing quality and portion. I really loved the diversity of flavours being offered on the plate, and have thoroughly enjoyed the freshness and intense flavours from each component.
Aside from food, I got a little street performance right in front of the restaurant:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT692aGwxMg]
This will be my last post for this Marseille trip as my holiday is sadly coming to an end. I think Marseille has been quite underrated compared to other French cities or Mediterranean destinations. I really enjoyed the fantastic food (both quality and portion-wise), gorgeous views, cultural diversity, and friendly people.
Until next time, Marseille. Thank you for the amazing time.
