Your ultimate guide to Notre-Dame-du-Mont, Marseille

From the moment Regain opened at 53 Rue Saint-Pierre, a somewhat rough-around-the-edges slope in the 5th district, Marseille’s culinary scene suddenly hit a high note. In a small room with dark green walls, bistro chairs and a long zinc bar with an open kitchen, the duo of Sarah Chougnet-Strudel and Lucien Salomon serve up dishes for lunch and dinner that are dangerous to try and replicate at home, as each plate dares to combine flavours like a team of perfect outlaws. Think tender cauliflower with sunflower tahini, salsa macha, and fresh herbs; an intriguing beef tartare with Pink Lady apples, sesame, kohlrabi, and confit egg yolk; and superb line-caught meagre with leek, sautéed chard and sorrel cream. 

Vice Versa, which opened in October 2023, partially owes its success to bartender Romain's mixological creations, but there’s another reason it’s so popular. From 11pm, a hidden door opens in the library, leading revellers to a secret room complete with dancefloor and disco lights. We’d recommend heading down on Fridays for Urban Culture, which specialises in nostalgic Y2K bangers, without ever tipping over into full-on cringe. The other days of the week are also worth your attention, with Vice every Thursday featuring the dark disco of Phred Noir, and Disco Mirror on Saturdays exploring all facets of soul and funk.

Designed as ‘a place of conviviality and openness,’ SOMA, a hybrid artistic space on Cours Julien, has been hosting numerous artists in residence since 2020, offering a diverse program of exhibitions, concerts, conferences and festivals. It’s also home to one of the must-visit bars in this area, well-known to Marseille’s night owls. Order a cocktail, sit on one of its long wooden tables and soak up the vibes (it’s open till 1am Monday-Friday).

Starting at 8.30am, the duo behind this cosy café on the charming Rue Fontange – Axelle Poittevin and Thomas Benayoun – are busy pulling espresso shots (Brazilian or Guatemalan from Ben Mouture coffee shop) with the precision of a firing squad, straight from a well-travelled La Marzocco machine. Out on Razzia’s terrace, it’s like watching a live episode of France 3 Régions, with the eclectic mix of hipsters and old-school locals from La Plaine in this rapidly gentrifying street. If the morning has you wanting to cruise through life with an almond cookie, lunchtime brings the real flavour with competition-worthy sandwiches, made with buns freshly snagged daily from the nearby bakery, Pain Pan!. Try the ‘bœufato tonnato’, featuring grilled beef spider steak, preserved lemon, sumac, pomegranate and more. 

Although Marseille is France’s second largest city, its selection of inclusive bars and clubs was sorely lacking until the arrival of Boum in 2022. Boum has innovated and transformed into an intercultural space, offering a diverse lineup of drag shows, concerts, performances by queer artists and comedy nights. It’s all curated by the Move on Up collective, committed to non-oppressive stand-up. 

The vibes at L’Écurie are sort of saloon-esque, with warm orange-yellow walls and mosaic tiles. The food is just as sweet, and all homemade: roasted aubergine, harissa oil, panisse with a sweet pepper sauce, washed down with a solid drinks menu, which is 100 percent organic and natural. But the top reason to come here? That’s the music. L’Écurie puts a big focus on DJs, as well as drag bingo nights, shows and more. 

At the helm of this neighbourhood cafe are Marie Deschodt, Manuel Mendez, Yann Djeddou, and Romain Mathy, a team of serial restaurateurs who took over the space in 2022 and gave it a makeover. On the menu at Café la Muse are sweet and savoury breakfasts (served until 11am) and bistro-style lunch options such as pork knuckle terrine with mustard, bavette steak with a red wine reduction and mashed potatoes, or duck confit with hearty Sarladaise potatoes. Later in the day, there are some tempting tapas options: Camargue oysters with a glass of white, patatas bravas and harissa aioli with a glass of red, and a grilled pork neck and tonnato sauce sandwich. A word of advice: arrive very early on sunny days, as although the terrace is huge, it fills up quickly.

Baby Club has a small dancefloor (only room for 300), but it makes up for it with giant opening hours – you can party here on a Wednesday until 6am! It’s an intimate club, but the crowd is eclectic, and everyone is welcome at Baby. Just be wary of the strobes: they’re the real deal, and DJ sets here turn into full-on sound and light shows. All this with a heavy bass, and you’re in for a serious night of house, techno and more. 

In Caterine’s charming bistro-style dining room, you can tuck into a hearty plate of scrambled eggs with pesto and crushed hazelnuts in the morning, an octopus kebab at lunch, and small plates at dinner. And they go all out: try the panisse and aïoli, the naan and raclette, the spinach and dill curry or their huge, steaming bowl of mussels and merguez (a North African spicy sausage). Wash everything down with a glass of natural wine from their menu.