Restaurants in Lille, Northern France

There are so many good restaurants in Lille that many people come here for a gourmet weekend or a short break. Add to that Lille's good hotels and a vibrant cultural and cafe life and its proximity to Belgium, Paris and London by Eurostar, and you have a very attractive city. You might also consider the option of a short trip from Paris either for the day or an overnight trip. There are plenty of good hotels in Lille for every budget. So what's holding you back?

01 of 07

L'Ecume des Mers

Address

10 Rue de Pas, 59000 Lille, France

Get directions

Phone +33 3 20 54 95 40

Web Visit website

This excellent restaurant majors in fish dishes. Satisfied locals sit at well-spaced tables in an open ground floor around the central bar. A new décor has brought all-white tables and chairs against a dark grey floor and the sense of space is helped by a balcony with tables and chairs around the outside walls. L’Ecume des Mers offers prix fixe menus for lunch and dinner, as well as an à la carte menu where you can choose from a wide assortment of dishes (with seafood being a star). Prix fixe menus range from 18 euros (lunch) to 25 euros at dinner and you have to ask for the menu as they don't bring it automatically. À la carte options range from around 14 euros to 35 euros.

L’Ecume des Mers
10 rue de Pas
Tel.: 00 33 (0)3 20 54 95 40
Website
Daily lunch and dinner.

02 of 07

Brasserie de la Paix

lillebrasserie — © Brasserie de la Paix, Lille

Address

25 Place Rihour, 59000 Lille, France

Get directions

Phone +33 3 20 54 70 41

Web Visit website

Bustling brasserie right on the main square, but more a local than a tourist favorite. It’s a beautiful Art Deco restaurant with all the right stained glass and brass fittings, mirrors, banquette seating and busy waiters. The menu takes in all the brasserie staples: oysters, peppered steak, roast duck with orange and mussels and more imaginative dishes as well. It’s all very well done; the cooking is a high standard and the place hums with contented diners, from little old ladies lunching on their own to large families.

Brasserie de la Paix
25 place Rihour
Tel.: 00 33 (0)3 20 54 70 41
Website
Monday to Saturday lunch and dinner.

03 of 07

Monsieur Jean

Address

12 Rue Pierre Mauroy, 59000 Lille, France

Get directions

Phone +33 3 28 07 70 72

Web Visit website

Part of the group of restaurants owned and run by Marc Meurin, who is one of the leading lights of the restaurant world in north France, the Lille outpost is in an old house opposite the Opera. Odd corners, wood paneling, an open kitchen with a range, a brick wall and a magnificent staircase make you feel you’re in a private house. Classic dishes are given a modern touch as in terrine of duck with quince cannelloni and seabass with pak choi. Daily menus from 23 to 30 euros are good value.

Monsieur Jean
12 rue de Paris
Tel.: 00 33 (0)3 28 07 70 72
Website
Daily lunch and dinner. Closed last two weeks of August.

04 of 07

Restaurant Meert

Address

25-27 Rue Esquermoise, 59000 Lille, France

Get directions

Phone +33 3 20 57 07 44

Web Visit website

One of the institutions of Lille, founded in 1761 and the place where Charles de Gaulle came for his favorite waffles. The original beautiful shop has expanded and now there’s a tea room behind for light meals and a restaurant to one side for the more serious. There’s also a delightful terrace at the back for peaceful summer dining. The menu offers club sandwiches, salads and more substantial dishes like lamb and spring onion casserole and grilled sole with asparagus. There’s a daily lunch menu at 29 euros.

Restaurant Meert
27 rue Esquermoise
Tel.: 00 33 (0)3 20 57 93 93
Website
Open Tuesday to Saturday lunch, Thursday to Saturday dinner.

Continue to 5 of 7 below.

05 of 07

La Part des Anges

Address

50 Rue de la Monnaie, 59800 Lille, France

Get directions

Phone +33 3 20 06 44 01

Web Visit website

Bars

4.3

La Part des Anges is part wine bar with a large and impressive list of wines at all prices and tastes and part restaurant. In the wine bar part, plates of cheese and charcuterie are hearty enough to make a good lunch or light snack in the evenings. And there are other small dishes on offer, chalked up on blackboards. The restaurant is off to the back, serving good classic bistro style dishes. It’s in an old building with brick walls and wooden floors and furniture and buzzes with people meeting their friends or chilling out after work. Menus run from 45 to 55 euros.

La Part des Anges
50 rue de la Monnaie
Tel.: 00 33 (0)3 20 06 44 01
Website
Open Monday to Friday lunch, Monday to Thursday 6:00 p.m. - midnight, Friday to 1:00 a.m. Saturday 6.30 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.

06 of 07

Au Vieux de la Vieille

Address

2-4 Rue des Vieux Murs, 59000 Lille, France

Get directions

Phone +33 3 20 13 81 64

Web Visit website

This is the place for good Flemish comfort food. The estaminet, in an old building with wooden chairs, tiled floors, candles and old-fashioned games to play, offers hearty dishes such as soup made with the local Maroilles cheese, sausage with apples, carbonnade of beef and chicken in Camembert. It should all be washed down with local beers. You’ll stagger out a little heavier, but very happy.

Au Vieux de la Vieille
2-4 rue des vieux murs
Tel.: 00 33 (0)3 20 13 81 64
Website
Daily lunch and dinner.

07 of 07

Le Barbue d'Anvers

Address

1 Rue Saint-Etienne, 59800 Lille, France

Get directions

Phone +33 3 20 55 11 68

Web Visit website

You come across this delightful local estaminet in a small courtyard. Go through the gateway into a 16th-century building and you walk into a bustling, two-story restaurant with wooden tables, chairs and floors, shelves on the walls and odd artefacts and pictures dotted around. Expect bistro-style, hearty dishes with a more imaginative twist than usual. Start with a casserole of shellfish cooked in beer with vegetables and move onto duck with a dish of potatoes, artichokes and truffles. Menus run from 20 to 39 euros, and the beer list has some surprises.

Monday to Saturday lunch and dinner.