Where to eat out in Calais

France is the nation that invented the restaurant, haute cuisine, and Cordon Bleu, the picque-nique, baguettes and crème brulée. The French certainly live to eat, not eat to live. Whichever part of France you visit, there will be culinary treasures to tempt your taste buds, including the city that is the UK’s nearest neighbour, Calais. We share where to eat out in Calais – delicious dishes guaranteed.

Food shopping in Calais

Calais is the first and last port of call for millions travelling between the UK and France, creating an ideal opportunity to indulge in a spot of shopping and a delicious meal whilst you visit the historic town on the edge of the English Channel, discover its museums and cultural experiences from the renowned Cité de la Dentelle et de la Mode which has an exhibition of more than 10,000 pieces of lace as well as several historic working looms, to memorial tourism sites and an excellent Fine Arts gallery with a section devoted to August Rodin whose monumental sculpture of the Burghers of Calais sits in front of the art deco inspired town hall.

Calais has excellent shopping facilities including a blend of big shopping centres and bijou boutiques including fromageries, boulangeries, patisseries, chocolateries and charcuteries. Cité Europe mall and Carrefour hypermarket (the biggest supermarket in the area), are within minutes of both the port and Eurotunnel terminal. Don’t miss l’Atelier du Chocolat at 66 rue Royale in the city centre. The company have been making chocolate for 73 years and are famous in France for their irresistible chocolate bouquets. They also pay homage to Calais’s majestic dragon with a chocolate souvenir. Pretty much every cake shop in Calais will bake the local specialist Le Calais, a mouth-watering concoction of almond-hazelnut biscuit and coffee buttercream. Tip: Boulangerie Dejonghe et Fils in Les Attaques (on the outskirts of Calais), have twice won the award for the best Calais cake of the region! And cheese lovers will be in seventh heaven at the Maison du Fromage (which also stocks regional products to take home), at 1 Rue d’André Gerschel.

Where to eat out in Calais

There’s a huge choice of restaurants in Calais, from refined dining to cosy cafes and you’ll find a super list on the tourist office website (see bottom of the post).

But here are a few of our favourites we think it would be sinful to miss:

Lunch: So much choice, it’s hard to know where to start!

Aquar’aile has magnificent panoramic sea views and a superb menu including succulent oysters and a scrumptious fruit de mer platter, leave room for a dessert or two – it’s hard to choose just one!

Long a favourite or locals and visitors alike, you’ll get a warm welcome at l’Histoire Ancienne and be served dishes that you’ll remember well after you’ve finished that last delicious mouthful in the lovely art-deco dining room. Chef Patrick Comte specialists in bistro style food, authentic, classic, and utterly delicious. Celebrate your dining experience with a Champagne gourmand – a glass of fizz and an array of sweet temptations.

Enjoy a gastronomic feast at Le Grand Bleu in the port of Calais. Classic meets innovative here, hot-dog au boudin de St Jacques with spicy shrimps is absolutely irresistible!

Feast on the atmosphere as well at Les Grandes Tables du Channel at Calais’s National Theatre. With a restaurant serving modern classic dishes, (the 5-course menu de extraordinaire really lives up to its name) and a cosy bistro serving local favourites in theatrically decorated surroundings, this is one of the best kept secrets of Calais and foodies will adore it.

And last, but by no means least, restaurant Le channel overlooking the pleasure port is an absolute must for all food lovers. It’s not unusual for visitors in the know to time their ferries to arrive or depart in time for lunch or dinner at this fabulous family-run restaurant. Accompanying the local and seasonal dishes is a superb wine list (some 1200 different wines are proposed by the excellent sommelier) and the cake cart is second to none.

Dinner: Côte d’Argent – an institution in Calais with its beach views and the Calais dragon wandering by! This liner-like restaurant with its huge windows has fabulous sunset views over the horizon. Chef Bertrand Lefebvre offers a menu of classic French dishes with fish specialties including sole, cod with herb butter, shellfish, lobsters, as well as excellent meat dishes with angus beef from the Ferme de Saint-Pô in nearby Wissant.

Locals love: La Tablée in Peuplingues. Just 15 minutes from Calais, surrounded by glorious countryside and a stone’s throw from the famous cliffs of the Opal Coast, facing their cousin the White Cliffs of Dover, La Tablée stands out for its creative menu which changes each month according to seasonal produce available, and prioritises local produce with everything home-made, from the meat matured in the cellar to the ice cream. When the sun shines, dine outside in the lovely garden in the shade of fruit and willow trees.

Cook your own: at Secrets des Saveurs – enjoy a cooking lesson with Chef Laurent Desnoyer. After working all over France as both a chef and cookery teacher, Chef Laurent has settled in Calais where he leads workshops. Join a 2 hour two-course workshop, 4-hour market visit and 3-course workshop, or a cooking lesson suitable for kids. Perfect for the whole family (and suitable for English speakers), you’ll eat the food you prepare, pick up a heap of gourmet cooking tips, and go home with a new skill – the ideal souvenir of your visit to France!

You’ll find a superb listing of restaurants on the tourist office website: Calais-cotedopale.co.uk/restaurants

Find heaps of things to see and do in and around Calais and the Opal Coast at: Calais-cotedopale.co.uk

Janine Marsh is the author of several internationally best-selling books about France. Her latest book How to be French – a celebration of the French lifestyle and art de vivre, is out now – a look at the French way of life. Find all books on her website janinemarsh.com