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Restaurant Don Camillo Creations is located in Rue des Ponchettes in Nice. On this photo taken at dusk you can see Musée National de la Marine de Nice in the background with Tour Bellanda at the top.

Rue des Ponchettes in Nice is a quiet street despite the fact that it belongs to Vieux Nice (Old Town Nice). Don Camillo' exterior is simple and not very inviting - at day time, when it is not illuminated, you would not probably even notice that there is a restaurant.

Close-up on tables in Don Camillo Creations in Nice

Restaurant Don Camillo Creations

Address: 5, rue des Ponchettes, 06300 Nice, France
Don Camillo Creations on map

Restaurant Don Camillo Creations popped up on my radar screen while we were searching for a perfect restaurant in Nice, France. First, it appeared on the list of places to visit as a result of my Internet research of restaurants in this city - ratings looked promising. Later, when a concierge in our hotel recommended to visit it, we decided to visit it. Here is my brief account (call it review if you want) of our impressions and observations.

I should add that this dinner was our only experience with Don Camillo Creations. I mention this, since, as you will soon discover, our dinner turned out to be well below expectations. Was it a bad luck for us, and not a good day for the restaurant's chef? And, usually, the chef is capable of delivering much more of a culinary art? I do not know. But you are warned now.

Anyway, let's talk about the restaurant. It is located on quiet street in Vieux Nice (see link to map above) not far from the lift to the park of Colline du Chateau. This location is within walking distance from most hotels in and around Old Town Nice. From inside, the restaurant presents itself as a lovely place with a contemporary feel. It is small - at any given time it can serve not more than 40 - 45 customers. Restaurant decor is simple but strikes with the attention to details - the latter is typical for many things you will find in this place. To my taste though, the lighting was too bright - if you are on a date looking for a romantic evening, you may forget about an intimate candlelight dinner for two.

The service was excellent with same attention to details I already talked above. I also want to mention that food presentation was good as well as creative. So, with all these nice things, what went wrong? The most important thing for the sake of which people come to restaurants - food!

The restaurant menu looked very good with reasonable for this type of establishment prices. In fact, this menu is the very thing many people have praised the place. From what I understand, Don Camillo Creations has survived many chefs last several years. The new one has managed allegedly to inject some momentum into the kitchen. Yet, it failed miserably for us that evening.

I hate to say but we could not find anything good about any of the dishes we tried. Let me give you specific examples. The amuse-bouche offered, a green pea mousse, was terribly cold. We really did not get it - was it a part of the innovative menu or just a missed detail? We hope it's not the former: it was just our bad luck. But let's continue - as an appetizer I had terrine de foie gras. This dish turned out to be so mediocre - I actually suspect that it was either a leftover from previous days or a canned food.

The final blow was delivered by main course - poitrine de pigeon fumée minute. The presentation was spectacular. The cover was removed with the gesture of a magician to reveal a pigeon in smoke that looked on a plate like a ground fog. However, I immediately smelled a burning paper - was that a piece of newspaper burned under the dish cover? I could not believe that I am in a French restaurant!

I do not know what else to tell you. I am hopeful that the restaurant is capable of much more; simply, something terribly wrong was going on that particular evening in its kitchen. However, what happened - happened. Because of this, all I can do is to finish this review with unusual summary. That dinner with a bottle of good Laget l'Arnesque Châteauneuf-du-Pape was €175; but with our experience any talk about value for the money has little sense. So, if you want to go to Don Camillo Creations in Nice, do it at your own risk.

The restaurant Don Camillo Creations in Nice, France is small and has a very contemporary ambiance inside.

Entrance to the restaurant Don Camillo Creations in Nice, France as seen from inside

Don Camillo Creations' menu