Restaurant in Bastelicaccia, France
The island's larder, cooked simply, priced fairly.
A Michelin Plate family auberge in Bastelicaccia that has been cooking since 1860, Auberge du Prunelli delivers valley charcuterie, garden vegetables, orchard desserts, and over 200 Corsican wines at a €€ price point that makes it the strongest value meal in the area. Book the terrace in warm weather and ask for a wine recommendation. Easy to get a table; you will need a car.
If you are travelling through Corsica and want one meal that captures the island's larder in a single sitting, Auberge du Prunelli in Bastelicaccia is the booking to make. Holding a Michelin Plate in 2025 and rated 4.8 from over 1,270 Google reviews, this family-run auberge delivers a deeply local experience at a €€ price point that is hard to argue with. The catch, if there is one, is timing: the terrace overlooking the Prunelli valley is the place to be, and in fine weather it fills quickly. Book ahead, ask specifically for terrace seating, and go at lunch when the light through the surrounding greenery is at its leading.
Auberge du Prunelli has been welcoming travellers since 1860, when the building served as a coaching inn on the road through the valley. That is over 160 years of hospitality in a single structure, which gives it a continuity that most restaurants in this price tier cannot claim. The Orlandazzi family took over in 1997, and the current generation of sons now runs the kitchen and the floor. For the food-and-wine enthusiast looking for depth rather than theatre, that lineage matters: the cooking here has not been reinvented for a trend cycle. It has been refined slowly, the way long-simmered dishes are.
The kitchen draws its ingredients from a tight radius. Charcuterie, cheeses, and honey come from the valley. Vegetables are grown in the restaurant's own garden. Fruit tarts are made from produce harvested in the orchard on-site. This is not farm-to-table as a marketing position; it is how this family has always cooked. For a traveller who has already eaten their way through the tourist-facing restaurants of Ajaccio, 15 minutes up the road, the contrast is immediate. The produce here smells of where it came from — herbs, woodsmoke, and ripe fruit from an actual garden rather than a wholesaler's catalogue. Those sensory details are grounded in what the kitchen is genuinely doing, and they show in the plate.
The wine list deserves its own paragraph. Over 200 Corsican wines is not a token regional gesture; it is one of the more thorough island-focused cellars you will find at this price range anywhere in France. Corsican wine remains underappreciated by the wider market, which means the list here functions as a proper education for anyone arriving with curiosity. The island produces Nielluccio, Sciacarellu, and Vermentino in styles that range from lean and mineral to dense and structured, and a cellar of 200 labels gives you genuine range across those varieties. If the drinks program is your reason to visit, this list alone justifies the trip. For comparison, building a Corsican wine list of this depth at a casual auberge price point is something that larger destination restaurants on the island — charging considerably more per head , often do not bother to do.
Format is country cooking in the most direct sense: slow-cooked dishes, house-made charcuterie, garden vegetables, orchard fruit. There are no tasting menus and no amuse-bouches. The simplicity is the point. At €€, you are getting honest Corsican food in a room that has been serving it for generations, with a wine list that would not embarrass a room charging twice as much. For the travelling explorer who wants to eat where locals eat rather than where tourists are sent, Auberge du Prunelli is the more interesting choice than most of what Ajaccio's harbour-front offers.
Booking is direct. There is no allocation system, no months-long waitlist. This is a well-loved family restaurant with a large terrace in a valley outside a mid-sized Corsican town. Call or arrive with reasonable timing, and you will get a table. The difficulty is not access; it is getting there without a car. Bastelicaccia is not walkable from Ajaccio, so factor transport into your planning. If you are already mobile on the island, this is an easy addition to any itinerary anchored in the south.
For context within the wider French auberge tradition, Auberge du Prunelli sits in good company. The classic French countryside inn format, from Auberge de l'Ill in Illhaeusern to Auberge du Vieux Puits in Fontjoncouse, rewards travellers willing to leave the city. At the €€ end of that spectrum, the Orlandazzi family is doing something genuinely worthwhile: keeping a 160-year-old coaching inn focused on its valley, its garden, and its island's wines rather than chasing the next Michelin star. The Plate recognition in 2025 reflects that consistency. Other country-cooking practitioners worth comparing at the accessible end of the register include 21.9 in Piobesi d'Alba and Andrea Monesi - Locanda di Orta in Orta San Giulio, both of which share Auberge du Prunelli's instinct for place-driven simplicity over complexity. If that register appeals to you, this family's auberge belongs on your shortlist for Corsica.
See our full Bastelicaccia restaurants guide, Bastelicaccia bars guide, Bastelicaccia wineries guide, Bastelicaccia hotels guide, and Bastelicaccia experiences guide for planning the rest of your trip.
Auberge du Prunelli is located at D55bis, 20129 Bastelicaccia, France , approximately 15 minutes by car from Ajaccio. You will need a vehicle to get here; there is no practical public transport link. The terrace overlooking the Prunelli valley is the main draw in warm weather, so if you are visiting between late spring and early autumn, ask for that seating when you book. Hours and a direct booking contact are not listed on our current record; check local search or the address directly to confirm current service times before making the trip.
For other French country auberge experiences worth comparing, see Auberge de l'Ill in Illhaeusern, Auberge du Vieux Puits in Fontjoncouse, and Georges Blanc in Vonnas. For destination dining at the higher end of the French register, Arpège in Paris, Mirazur in Menton, Flocons de Sel in Megève, Troisgros in Ouches, Paul Bocuse in Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or, and La Table du Castellet in Le Castellet are all worth knowing.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Auberge du Prunelli | Country cooking | Michelin Plate (2025); A cosy, inviting atmosphere reigns in this restaurant that first welcomed guests in 1860 in its former life as a coaching inn. It's been a family affair since 1997, when father André Orlandazzi bought the place – today his sons have taken over the reins. Charcuterie, cheeses and honey from the valley, vegetables from the garden, simple dishes simmered for hours on the stove, tarts made with fruit from the orchard, over 200 Corsican wines... Timeless! In fine weather, you might like to take advantage of the large terrace surrounded by greenery overlooking the Prunelli. | Easy | — |
| Plénitude | Contemporary French | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Pierre Gagnaire | French, Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen | Creative | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Kei | Contemporary French, Modern Cuisine | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Le Cinq - Four Seasons Hôtel George V | French, Modern Cuisine | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
Comparing your options in Bastelicaccia for this tier.
Focus on the produce the kitchen grows or sources locally: charcuterie and cheeses from the valley, vegetables from the garden, and fruit tarts made with orchard fruit. The Michelin Plate recognition is built on dishes simmered low and slow, so lean into whatever is slow-cooked that day. With over 200 Corsican wines on the list, ask the floor for a valley pairing rather than defaulting to something you already know.
Bar seating is not confirmed in available venue data, so plan around the dining room or the large terrace. The terrace is the stronger call in fine weather — it overlooks the Prunelli valley and is surrounded by greenery, which sets the tone for the meal better than an indoor seat would.
The kitchen is rooted in a specific Corsican larder — charcuterie, cheese, garden vegetables, orchard fruit — so options for guests avoiding meat or dairy are narrower than at a menu-driven city restaurant. The garden-sourced vegetables and fruit-based desserts give some flexibility, but check the venue's official channels before booking if you have firm dietary requirements, as hours and contact details are not publicly listed.
At €€ pricing with a Michelin Plate, yes. You are getting ingredients sourced from the surrounding valley and orchard, a wine list of over 200 Corsican labels, and a family-run kitchen that has been refining the same approach since 1997. That combination at this price point is difficult to find anywhere on the island, let alone 15 minutes from Ajaccio.
It works well for a low-key celebration where the food is the point rather than the setting's formality. The auberge has been running since 1860, the family has owned it since 1997, and the Michelin Plate gives it credibility without the stiffness of a starred room. If you want a grander occasion with full table service theatrics, you will find that better in Ajaccio proper, but for an intimate, produce-driven meal on a terrace overlooking the valley, this is the right call.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
