The Location
So I am thinking…fresh seafood, beachside location, people watching and gazing idyllic gaze at the beauty that is the Monte Carlo coastline? It just so happens I found the perfect secluded place to indulge my desire… it is a seasonal restaurant (only open in summer) on the cliff and the edge of the Monte Carlo Beach Resort, La Vigie.
Here is the beach walk on the way to the place.
The Walk to the Restaurant
The restaurant is hidden away, which requires a beautiful scenic walk through a rocky cliff face as you approach the restaurant with its wooden deck chairs, seaside style buffet and oh the staff have this chilled beachie style look. Its quite the idyllic setting.
Lunch
We have a choice of the buffet, which is selection of fresh regional antipastos as entrees paired with a pasta dish and beautiful fresh fish and a selection of the desserts or a combination of the buffet and some fresh seafood from the tank.
My dining companion opts for the buffet, while I choose the combination – I just can’t go past freshly caught seafood. I also opt for a light glass of light French red wine, while my dining companion is a little more adventurous with a glass of chilled champagne.
Entree
We then move onto the the entrees, which are a relaxed affair of quality ingredients.
The buffet has fresh buffalo mozzarella, prawns, octopus, juicy tomatoes, rich silky olive oil, beautiful oily salty anchovies, freshly baked bread, olives and other amazing antipasto. Its such a beautiful start to lunch.
Main Course
For the main course, my dining companion has the pasta and a fillet of fish from the grill.
The chef prepares the pasta on the spot and serves it up with fresh juicy tomato sauce and a generous sprinkling of parmesan cheese. I am suffering some serious food envy now.
Then there is the mullet fillet. It looks amazing, they show it to us at the table then whisk it away to have it prepared. Its served with delicious Mediterranean vegetables, olive oil and fresh squeeze of lemon juice. Oh so simple but looks divine.
Being a fan of fresh seafood, I just couldn’t contain my delight when I saw these lil’ babies in the tank at the entrance of the restaurant.
When you are perched on a cliff face overlooking the beautiful sea, your single greatest desire is to have a fish or crustacean from that sea. So here’s the order – lobster from the sea, into the tank then onto the plate. Fresh succulent seafood – its the way to go. I get to choose the desired lobster and away we go…. well not quite, I am tinged with sadness on the fate of the chosen lobster.
I opt against the classic style of cooking with garlic butter and instead have the lobster is cooked in a rich tomato sauce and then flamed with cognac. Okay its not simple, there’s some class to it, but it is oh so good. The smokiness of flaming, the juicy tomato sauce, the sweet tender succulent lobster meat… its an experience that suspends you in a timeless dream, a taste sensation to be savoured for ever and a day, its knowing that you have gotten so close to the source of the dish. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Dessert
So the sun continues to shine and blue waters continue to glow as we move onto dessert.
There are a selection of fresh fruits and berries
Delicious pastries and cakes
I choose the coffee flavoured ice cream, a beautiful baked berry tart with pine nuts (such a taste sensation), a cronut style pastry with custard and some other flaky crumbly baked goodies with some fresh juicy blueberries.
Coffees are chosen to finish off, and you can drink them out the straw which is pretty cool (I feel like I am four years old again)….
Then we make our way to the exit, full and satisfied of this beautiful lunch experience. Of course we stop for that split second to savour the view and reflect again on such a simple but fine dining experience.
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