Le Malthazar

If good food in Marseille was for many years mostly a tale of bouillabaisse and pizza, the homecoming of native-born chef Michel Portos after years of cooking in Bordeaux offers delicious evidence of the remarkable recent transformation of this brawny old port town into a serious gastronomic destination.

Portos has settled in the heart of the city and created a handsome restaurant with an intriguing sepia-tone atmosphere created by a collection of antique black-and-white photographs on one of the chocolate-painted walls. Though the serving style of this table is more brasserie than bistro, which is to say brisk and saucy, the menu is wonderfully old-fashioned and provençale, but with cosmopolitan touches that reflect the ethnic diversity of the city.

Start with a beautifully made salade niçoise (also served as a main course), some oysters or spaghetti with shellfish, and then try the whiting with Moroccan spices or an entrecôte with an impeccable sauce béarnaise. The pudding not to miss is the sublime Tropézienne à l’Orange, the singular sponge cake filled with orange cream from Saint Tropez. An excellent selection of southern French wines, including a splash out white Château Simone from Cassis for €68.

Le Malthazar, 19 rue Fortia, 13001 Marseille + 33 4 91 33 42 46 www.malthazar.fr Open daily. Lunch €40.