La Mere Germaine

La Mere Germaine is a restaurant with history, and a fine view. It is in a parade of shops overlooking the Villefranche harbour; across the road is the sea, and so it is a lovely place to sit on a warm Riviera summer day. Established in 1938, the restaurant in its heyday attracted stars such as Brigitte Bardot, Charlie Chaplin, Jean Cocteau, filmmaker Michael Powell, Lauren Bacall and David Niven.

The food itself has seen better days. I was encouraged to see pata negra on the menu, and was stunned when it appeared cooked, a really tragic thing to do to such a fine piece of ham. A simple dish of sardines was pleasant (11/20), as was a prawn curry with a very mild curry sauce and rice (11/20). Service was friendly. A pleasant place for a drink and a simple lunch to revel in a little local history, but not a foodie destination.