Restaurant in Bordeaux, France
Hard to book. Worth the effort.
Amicis earned its first Michelin star in 2025 and is now the most compelling tasting menu option in Bordeaux at the €€€€ tier. Chef Paul Canales runs a creative programme built around deliberate menu progression. Book three to six weeks out minimum — demand has accelerated sharply since the star announcement. For a step-down in price, consider Cent33 instead.
Getting a table at Amicis is genuinely difficult. Since earning its Michelin star in 2025, having already held a Michelin Plate in 2024, this creative restaurant on Rue Mably has moved from a well-kept Bordeaux discovery into a reservation that requires real planning. If you are visiting Bordeaux and serious about a high-end tasting menu experience, Amicis belongs on your shortlist — but build your trip around the booking, not the other way around.
Amicis sits at 19 Rue Mably in the heart of Bordeaux, a city better known internationally for its wine estates than its restaurant scene. That context matters: the Bordeaux dining tier at €€€€ is a smaller pool than Paris, which makes Amicis — operating at the leading price point in that pool , both notable and easier to assess. At this price level in Bordeaux, the competition is thin. Le Pressoir d'Argent - Gordon Ramsay is the other recognisable name at €€€€, but it plays in a very different register: a hotel flagship anchored in celebrity-chef branding versus Amicis, which earned its star on the strength of its own creative programme.
The cuisine category is listed as Creative, which in Michelin terms signals a kitchen that is building its own language rather than executing within a French classical framework. Under Paul Canales, that creative ambition has been recognised at the highest level the city currently offers. For a first-timer, the most important thing to understand is that you are not coming here for bistro comfort food or a direct Bordeaux region meal. You are coming for a composed tasting menu that has a deliberate arc , a sequence of courses where the kitchen is making decisions about progression, contrast, and resolution. That is the format Amicis is built for.
The 2025 Michelin star is the most significant trust signal here and it matters in a specific way. Bordeaux is not Paris: the city does not have the density of starred restaurants that would make a single star feel routine. Earning it here, in this market, in 2025 , after a year with the Plate as a precursor , signals a kitchen that has been building consistently and has now arrived at a level of technical and conceptual reliability that the Michelin inspectors consider sustained, not accidental. The Google rating of 4.7 across 153 reviews reinforces that picture: diners at this price point are not easily pleased, and a 4.7 is a meaningful signal of consistency.
For a first-timer, the tasting menu format at this price tier (€€€€) carries specific expectations. You should anticipate multiple courses, a wine pairing option, and a meal that takes two to three hours. The creative classification means individual dishes may surprise you , this is not a restaurant where you will predict what arrives from a standard French playbook. Come with an open brief and let the kitchen set the direction. That is the intended experience, and fighting against it at a restaurant like this is a mistake.
The temporal context is relevant for how you should think about the booking difficulty. Amicis moved from Michelin Plate to Michelin star in a single cycle. That kind of recognition jump compresses demand sharply. Diners who were watching the restaurant before the star arrived now compete with the post-announcement wave. If you are reading this in the period immediately following the 2025 award, expect booking windows to be longer than they were even six months ago.
For context on what €€€€ creative tasting menus look like at Michelin-starred level elsewhere in France, consider the range: from Mirazur in Menton to Bras in Laguiole to Arpège in Paris. Those are three-star operations with decades of recognition behind them. Amicis is at the other end of that trajectory , a one-star restaurant in its early star-holding period, which is often when the kitchen is most energised and the experience most focused. That is not a consolation prize; it is often the leading moment to visit a restaurant of this kind.
If you want creative tasting menu cuisine in Bordeaux at a lower price point, Cent33 at €€€ is the most direct comparison and considerably easier to book. If you want something completely different in the city, Inima and Racines by Daniel Gallacher are worth knowing. For the broader Bordeaux dining picture, see our full Bordeaux restaurants guide.
Booking difficulty is rated Hard. That is the practical reality of a newly starred restaurant in a city with limited comparable alternatives. Book as far ahead as your plans allow , a minimum of three to four weeks is a reasonable baseline, but given the 2025 star timing, six weeks or more is safer, particularly for weekend dates. No specific booking method is confirmed in available data, so check the restaurant directly or via the major reservation platforms. No phone number is publicly confirmed at this time.
Amicis is at €€€€, the leading price tier in Bordeaux. Budget accordingly: at this level in France, a tasting menu with wine pairing is a full evening commitment, financially and in terms of time. If the price tier is a stretch, Cent33 at €€€ gives you creative cuisine at a step down in cost and a step up in booking accessibility. If you want the Bordeaux wine region context beyond the restaurant itself, see our full Bordeaux wineries guide.
Quick reference: Michelin 1 Star (2025); Creative cuisine; €€€€; 19 Rue Mably, Bordeaux; Google 4.7/5 (153 reviews); booking difficulty Hard.
| Venue | Price | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Amicis | €€€€ | — |
| Le Pressoir d'Argent - Gordon Ramsay | €€€€ | — |
| La Tupina | €€ | — |
| Ishikawa | €€ | — |
| Le Chapon Fin | €€€ | — |
| Cent33 | €€€ | — |
How Amicis stacks up against the competition.
Amicis is a tasting menu restaurant — come in knowing that format is the whole point. It earned a Michelin star in 2025 (having held a Michelin Plate in 2024), so expectations are calibrated to precision and intention, not comfort food. At €€€€ pricing, this is not a casual dinner; first-timers should arrive with time, appetite, and a reservation secured well in advance.
For classic Bordeaux grandeur with a big-name association, Le Pressoir d'Argent - Gordon Ramsay is the obvious alternative, though it skews more toward prestige than creative cooking. La Tupina is the right call if you want regional southwest French tradition over contemporary tasting menus. Le Chapon Fin offers historic setting with strong local credentials. Cent33 is worth considering if you want a more accessible price point without leaving Bordeaux's city centre.
Book at least four to six weeks out. Since earning its Michelin star in 2025, Amicis has a booking difficulty rated Hard — demand has outpaced availability at this small creative restaurant. Bordeaux has limited direct equivalents at this level, so if your travel dates are fixed, securing the reservation before anything else is the right move.
Group bookings at a newly starred creative restaurant in a city-centre address like 19 Rue Mably are typically limited by table configuration and pacing. Parties of two or four will find the tasting menu format works naturally; larger groups should contact Amicis directly to confirm capacity and availability, since tasting menus require the kitchen to pace the table as a unit.
Yes, if you book specifically because you want a structured creative tasting experience. The Michelin recognition — a star in 2025 after holding a Plate in 2024 — signals consistent technical quality. At €€€€, the price is in line with comparable starred restaurants in France. If you prefer à la carte flexibility, La Tupina or Le Chapon Fin are better fits.
Yes. A Michelin-starred creative restaurant in central Bordeaux at €€€€ pricing is a clear match for birthdays, anniversaries, or significant celebrations where the meal itself is the event. The tasting menu format works in your favour here — every course is chosen, the pacing is deliberate, and there are no menu decisions to distract from the occasion.
At €€€€, Amicis sits at the top of Bordeaux's dining tier, and the 2025 Michelin star provides external validation that the cooking justifies it. For comparison, Le Pressoir d'Argent operates at a similar price point but with a different creative register. Amicis earns its price if you are there for the tasting menu format; if you want flexibility or a shorter meal, the value calculation tips in favour of a less structured alternative.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
