When one thinks of a MICHELIN Star restaurant, images of white tablecloths, extensive wine lists, and many dollar signs come to mind. However, not all spots are prohibitively priced. Across France are exceptional Star spots offering diners fabulous set menus for under €50.
Below, we break down 20 of the least expensive One MICHELIN Star restaurants in France. Bon appétit!
La Grange de Belle-Église, Belle-Église, France
At this restaurant just an hour from Paris, chef Marc Duval serves one of the cheapest lunch menus in France for a Michelin-starred chef: at €28 for starter, main course and dessert, it is a real bargain! This offering attracts regulars and newcomers alike – they are delighted to find this inviting restaurant housed in a converted coal barn, where produce from France's terroir is cooked with passion and creativity.
"Menu du Marché": starter + main course + dessert for €28, served at lunchtime Tue-Fri, excluding public holidays.
Le Mascaret, Blainville-sur-Mer, France
("perfect" slow-boiled egg) with an almond milk emulsion.œuf parfaitFrom Paris to Lausanne, chef Philippe Hardy has worked in some of Europe's most prestigious kitchens, including the French Embassy in Bulgaria, where he became head chef. However, it was on his home turf, in Normandy, that he set up his first restaurant in 1995. Twelve years later, he moved the establishment to Blainville-sur-Mer and turned it into an inviting hotel-restaurant. In his perfectly executed dishes, he gives pride of place to local farm produce, which he serves alongside vegetables and aromatic herbs from his garden, in dishes such as
Lunch menu: starter + main course + dessert for €29.90, served at lunchtime Tue-Sat.
Les Genêts, Brem-sur-Mer, France
Not far from Les Sables d'Olonne, chef Nicolas Coutaud dreams up creative dishes inspired by the catch of the day. This means that the menu features fish that are all too often overlooked, such as mackerel, sardines and hake. This fresh, modern approach is reflected in the bistronomy lunch menu priced at €37, including starter, main course, dessert… and a glass of wine!
Menu Bistronomique: starter + main course or main course + dessert, plus a glass of wine for €33, or starter + main course + dessert + a glass of wine for €37, served at lunchtime excluding weekends and public holidays.
Les Cadets, Nantes, France
Cooking is often passed down from generation to generation, but in this case it's shared between brothers Charles and Tristan Bernabé. In this restaurant in Nantes, the division of labour is clear… Charles Bernabé runs the kitchen: influenced by his Breton origins, he carefully selects his fish, which he serves with a simple accompaniment of a sauce and local vegetables. Front of house, Tristan Bernabé is in charge of the wines. Their first Michelin star, received in 2023, is proof – if proof were needed – that this duo works wonderfully well.
Four-course lunch menu: two starters + main course + dessert for €36, served at lunchtime Wed-Fri.
L'Anthocyane, Lannion, France
For chef Marc Briand, L'Anthocyane is the culmination of an impressive career. Building on his experience in Paris, he chose to open his own restaurant with his wife Marie here in the town of Lannion. He serves up his own brand of contemporary cuisine, in which he masterfully incorporates top-notch seafood, Japanese flavours and seasonal vegetables.
Menu à Midi Sonnant: starter + main course + dessert at €37, served at lunchtime Wed-Fri.
Les Tables de Gaspard, Saint-Crépin, France
Virginie Blampoix and Sébastien Corniau's restaurant is nestled in the main street of Saint-Crépin in the Hautes-Alpes département. After spending some time in Bora Bora, the pair transformed an old stable in this medieval village into a restaurant and bed and breakfast. With a magnificent 16C vaulted hall, the premises have retained their old-world charm. As for the food, think local produce, adroit cooking and a perfect balance of flavours. With its three guestrooms, this is also the ideal base for exploring the region further.
Set menu: starter + main course + dessert for €42, served for lunch and dinner from Thu evening to Mon evening.
L'Embrun, Brest, France
The name Guillaume Pape chose for his first restaurant denotes the foam formed when the sea washes up on the rocks – both an obvious nod to the beaches of Finistère, where he grew up, and a reference to the land cultivated by his parents and grandparents. This heritage informs his work in the kitchen. With the "Retour du Marché" set menu, served at lunchtime for €39, he aims to surprise by putting a new and modern spin on local and seasonal ingredients that are familiar to all.
Retour du Marché set menu: starter + main course + dessert for €39, served at lunchtime Tue-Fri, excluding public holidays
Le Raisin, Pont-de-Vaux, France
This restaurant is located in the village of Pont-de-Vaux, in the heart of the natural region of Bresse. In the continuation of a successful career, chef Frédéric Michel has taken over Le Raisin from his parents-in-law. His "Menu de Saison", served from Tuesday to Saturday evening at the tempting price of €41 for three courses, gives you a taste of the best local produce prepared with his very own touch of originality. The vegetables are sourced from a local organic market gardener 2km from the restaurant. For €48, you also get to choose from the cheese trolley – an opportunity not to be missed here in the Ain département, where Comté, Morbier and Bleu de Gex have protected designation of origin (AOP) status.
Menu de Saison: starter + main course + dessert for €41 served Tue evening to Sat evening.
Lunch formule: starter + main course or main course + dessert for €26, served at lunchtime.
L'Aspérule, Dijon, France
At L'Aspérule, chef Keigo Kimura's delicate, rigorous cuisine is suffused with the skills learned during stints training with some of France's greatest chefs. After studying in Japan, he spent several years working with Marc Veyrat, Christopher Coutanceau and Joël Robuchon. In 2014, he spread his wings and opened his first restaurant in Auxerre, L'Aspérule, followed by a second of the same name in Dijon four years later. Faithful to the principles of great French cuisine, he has made a name for himself by incorporating into his cooking Japanese touches, in a nod to his home country. His unique dishes are featured in the €45 lunch set menu, in which you can choose between meat and fish.
Lunch menu: starter + main course + dessert, €45, served Tue-Sat.
Pastis, Montpellier, France
This restaurant in Montpellier is the amalgam of the expertise of two industry professionals with impressive CVs, for whom putting the ingredients in the spotlight is something akin to an obsession. In the kitchen is chef Daniel Lutrand, an alumnus of L'Astrance in Paris and Maison de la Lozère in Montpellier. Sommelier Jean-Philippe Vivant exercised his profession all over the world before joining Mathieu de Lauzun's team in Gignac. Respecting the seasons and the terroir, the menu is dictated by the producers, so it's impossible to predict what the €45 lunch menu will consist of, other than delicate, local and inspiring cuisine.
Surprise menu: starter + main course or main course + dessert for €30, or four-course menu with two starters + main course + dessert for €45, served at lunchtime Tue-Sat.
Rozó, Marcq-en-Barœul, France
The culinary heritage of the Hauts-de-France, a European Region of Gastronomy in 2023, is not widely known. Yet the region has some very appealing restaurants, Rozó being just one of them. Chef Diego Delbecq and pastry chef Camille Pailleau devise a modern, technical and creative menu that explores the whole spectrum of flavours without making the slightest compromise when it comes to the freshness of the produce. This unique universe secured its first star in the MICHELIN Guide in 2023.
Parenthèses set menu: starter + main course + dessert for €45, served at lunchtime Wed-Fri.
L'Empreinte, Buxy, France
Here in Saône-et-Loire, chef Maxime Kowalczyk blends medieval history with contemporary cuisine. Trained at Lameloise by Éric Pras, he and his partner Tiffany Gastal share a passion for Burgundy's terroir. The couple opened their first restaurant in 2018 in the 12C stone-built Tour Rouge (Red Tower), a listed building in the village of Buxy. In this historical setting, the young chef makes his mark with modern, creative cuisine characterised by unlikely combinations – cooking that earned him a star in the MICHELIN Guide in 2020.
Empreinte no. 1 set menu: starter + main course + dessert for €45, served at lunchtime Wed-Fri.
Le Pot d'Étain, Danjoutin, France
When chef Philippe Zeiger and his wife Florence Zeiger took over Le Pot d'Étain in 2008, the 60-year-old restaurant near the city of Belfort had lost some of its shine. The couple restored its lustre and warmth; on their watch it has become a friendly eatery where people go as much to chat with the chef as to tuck into the generous, authentic dishes available for €45 at lunchtime on weekdays, a price which includes a glass of wine and coffee.
Retour du Marché set menu: starter + main course + dessert + glass of wine + ¼ litre mineral water + coffee for €45, served at lunchtime Tue-Fri.
La Table de Philippe Girardon, Chonas-l'Amballan, France
Chef Philippe Girardon has been at the helm of the restaurant of Domaine de Clairefontaine since 1983, and his masterful cuisine has always kept pace with the times. In this 18C building, once the summer residence of the bishops of Lyon, he proposes a €48 set menu that changes to reflect the local produce available. The chef likes to add the aromatic herbs he grows himself to his dishes. As well as being fed, guests have the option of staying in one of his two charming hotels or the cottage, to bask in the tranquillity of the 3ha grounds.
Les Plaisirs du Déjeuner menu: starter + main course + dessert for €48, served at lunchtime Thu-Sat, excluding public holidays.
Maison Medard, Boulleret, France
The son of a chef and grandson of a farmer, chef Julien Médard has inherited a love of nature and quality produce. At Maison Medard – which he and his wife Delphine opened here in the Cher département – he advocates respect for the environment and living things, with accessible, local, zero-waste cuisine. To reduce waste, he designs his dishes with a view to using foodstuffs in their entirety.
Escapade four-course menu for €48, served at lunchtime Wed-Fri, excluding school holidays and public holidays.
Les Rosiers, Biarritz, France
For over 20 years, Andrée and her husband Stéphane Rosier have been united by a passion for food. At Les Rosiers, their restaurant in Biarritz, they cook together, in tandem. Their dishes have surprises in store for diners, in the form of their combinations of the finest produce from the Basque country and Japanese flavours.
Lunch menu: starter + main course + dessert for €46, served at lunchtime Wed-Sat.
Hostellerie la Montagne, Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, France
After several years abroad, chef Jean-Baptiste Natali returned to his native Haute-Marne département in 2001 and opened his own restaurant, which was awarded one star in the MICHELIN Guide a year later. He was just 27 at the time. Since then, he has stayed put, and still occupies this magnificent 17C stone house.
Menu du Marché: starter + main course + dessert for €39, served at lunchtime Wed-Sat.
L'Auberge du Pont, Pont-du-Château, France
In 2005, Christelle and Rodolphe Regnault moved into this Auvergnat restaurant, the earliest traces of which date back to 1835. In the kitchen, chef Rodolphe Regnauld sets himself apart with dishes combining ingredients from his native Brittany with those from his wife's homeland, Auvergne.
Les Bateliers set menu: starter + main course + dessert or cheese for €40, served at lunchtime on Tue, Thu and Fri, excluding public holidays.
La Renaissance, Argentan, France
Behind the atypical façade of hotel and restaurant La Renaissance, Arnaud Viel pays a heartfelt tribute to his native Normandy. Served from Tuesday to Friday by Cécilia Viel and her team, the "Au Jour le Jour" menu takes diners on a pilgrimage to the beaches and plains of his childhood. This €43 set menu comprising starter, main course and dessert, keeps time with the seasons. The bold balance of surf and turf and a focus on local produce are the two constants of the chef's cooking.
"Au Jour le Jour" set menu: starter + main course + dessert, served at lunchtime Tue-Fri, excluding public holidays.
Le Mas Bottero, Saint-Cannat, France
From childhood, chef Nicolas Bottero was always passionate about the produce of his home region – Provence. Today, in his farmhouse (mas) surrounded by vineyards and olive groves, he makes the most of the magnificent garden to grow his own herbs, aromatic flowers and Mediterranean vegetables. He puts his harvest centre stage in recipes such as seasonal vegetable tartlet, the ingredients for which change from June to September.
Lunch menu: starter + main course + dessert for €50, served Wed-Sat, excluding public holidays.
Hero image: Aurore Degaigne/Rozó
