France - Eden Rock 3

While I was in southern France with my family two summers ago (2006), my grandparents, who have a house in Mougins, brought us to Eden Rock for lunch. Apparently it's "the" place to eat if you're in the French riviera. My grandparents eat there once every week and had only the most magnificent things to say about the establishment and the food.

Upon arriving, we were immediately welcomed with the overwhelming size of the restaurant and the surrounding area. Oversized umbrellas littered the decks below the main building, next to luxurious and elegantly-shaped pools, of which no one appeared to have any intention of using during my visit.

Once inside, I was struck by the intricate wood paneling and emerald green wallpaper. The place was quite stunning, and as I directed my attention out through the gigantic windows next to our table, I was further stunned by the sight out in the bay. There were personal yachts the size of cruise ships anchored densely across the water. My father whispered in my ear that you could probably feed an entire 3rd world nation for a lifetime for the same amount of money spent to maintain one of those yachts for a year. I believed him. As I continued to look around I saw the hordes of shirtless, 20-30-some-year-old men strutting around as if they owned the place (and the world), I suddenly felt slightly sick to my stomach.

This was all of course even before we got to the food. According to my grandparents Eden Rock's specialty is their hor d'ouevres, which were all laid out neatly and abundantly on a large table in the middle of the main dining area. Considering those were supposed to be the specialty, they weren't anything to brag about. Wide assortments of strange combinations of mostly seafood and vegetables, all cold. I'm not the seafood type myself, but my mother, a seafood fiend in her own right, said she wasn't impressed. As good as it all looked, the actual results could not match.

And it didn't get any better for the main courses. I can't remember what anyone else ordered, but I started with potato gnocchi soup, which was decent. I can't say the same for the chicken "sandwich" I got. They tried to be clever and inverted it so two strips of chicken breast sandwiched vegetables in the middle. The chicken was completely dry, and the vegetables were bland. The food was not helping my impression of the place as I continued to stare out at the immense yachts.

Then, of course, came the check. My grandparents were more than willing to pick up the entire thing, THANKFULLY. All in all, for the six of us, the meal cost over 1,000 euros. I immediately concluded that they weren't charging that much for the food, and that most of it was simply the price of being able to say, "I ate at Eden Rock with the yachts and beautiful people."

My nausea slowly subsided as we pulled away from the sprawling establishment. It never quite completely disappeared though for the duration of my stay in the area. It was an environment I knew I did not belong in, nor that I ever would want to.