Restaurant in Clermont-Ferrand, France
Michelin-recognised modern dining, no fanfare.
Le Duguesclin is a Michelin Plate modern cuisine restaurant in central Clermont-Ferrand, rated 4.7 across 345 reviews and priced at €€€. It delivers a composed, food-serious meal that sits comfortably between the city's casual bistros and its starred tasting-menu rooms — easy to book and well-suited to couples, business diners, and food-focused travelers who want quality without full formality.
Le Duguesclin is the right call for food-focused travelers passing through Clermont-Ferrand who want a serious modern cuisine meal without committing to the price tier or formality of the city's two-Michelin-starred options. It suits couples on a weekend in the Auvergne, business diners who need a reliable room and a menu that won't disappoint, and explorers working through the region's dining scene before or after a visit to the Massif Central. At €€€, it sits in a practical middle band: more ambitious than a brasserie, more accessible than L'Ostal or Jean-Claude Leclerc.
Le Duguesclin sits on Place des Cordeliers, one of Clermont-Ferrand's central squares, which puts it in easy walking distance of the city's cathedral quarter and its dark volcanic stone streets. The address is a useful one: central enough to build an evening around, without the tourist-trap pricing that sometimes follows a prominent location. The square setting gives the room a spatial logic — the kind of place where the physical surroundings justify choosing a window or street-facing table when the weather allows.
The space itself signals mid-register formality. This is not a bare-bones bistro and not a ceremonial dining room either. Expect a room calibrated for a proper meal rather than a quick lunch: table spacing that permits conversation, service that is present without being theatrical, and a pace that suits two or three courses taken seriously. For diners who find the choreography of high-end tasting menus exhausting, Le Duguesclin offers a useful alternative — a room that feels composed without being stiff.
That spatial composure is part of what makes the Michelin Plate recognition in both 2024 and 2025 make sense here. The Michelin Plate designation , awarded to restaurants that serve good food in the Michelin inspectors' assessment , is not a star, but it is a meaningful signal in a city like Clermont-Ferrand, where the dining scene is less dense than Lyon or Paris. It tells you the kitchen is cooking to a consistent standard and that the inspectors returned. A 4.7 rating across 345 Google reviews reinforces that this isn't a one-visit reputation.
Modern cuisine at this price point in a French provincial city tends to fall into one of two traps: it either mimics the tasting-menu format of the starred restaurants above it without the technical backing to carry it off, or it retreats into safe bistro territory with a modern label applied loosely. Le Duguesclin's consistent Michelin attention across consecutive years suggests it avoids both. The kitchen appears to be cooking food that justifies the €€€ positioning on its own terms, not by comparison to something grander.
For context on the regional cooking tradition Le Duguesclin operates within: the Auvergne is not a lightweight culinary region. It sits within reasonable distance of some of France's most referenced kitchens , Troisgros - Le Bois sans Feuilles in Ouches, Bras in Laguiole, and further out, Mirazur in Menton. That proximity to serious cooking culture filters down into the region's mid-range restaurants in ways that don't always happen in less food-focused French cities. A modern cuisine restaurant holding a Michelin Plate in Clermont-Ferrand is operating in a context where standards are taken seriously.
Diners who have eaten at Plate-level venues in larger French cities , or who have used places like Apicius or L'Instantané as reference points in Clermont-Ferrand itself , will find Le Duguesclin coherent with those expectations. The question is less whether the food is good and more whether the occasion calls for this tier or for stepping up to a starred room. If you want a confident modern meal in a composed setting without the full formality of the city's starred options, this is the booking to make.
For evening dining in particular, Place des Cordeliers provides a useful anchor: you can walk to the venue without logistical complexity, and the central location makes it easy to extend the evening elsewhere. If you're putting together a full Clermont-Ferrand itinerary, the full restaurants guide, the bars guide, and the hotels guide are worth reading alongside this portrait.
See the comparison section below for Le Duguesclin's position relative to its Clermont-Ferrand peers.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| Le Duguesclin | Modern Cuisine | €€€ | Easy |
| Le Pré - Xavier Beaudiment | Creative | €€€€ | Unknown |
| L'Ostal | Modern Cuisine | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Le Bistrot d'à Côté | Modern Cuisine | €€ | Unknown |
| Il Visconti | Italian | €€ | Unknown |
| Mouffu | Traditional Cuisine | €€ | Unknown |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
Le Duguesclin holds a Michelin Plate for both 2024 and 2025, which signals consistent kitchen quality without the ceremony of a starred room. It sits on Place des Cordeliers in central Clermont-Ferrand, making it easy to reach on foot from the cathedral quarter. Expect modern cuisine at €€€ pricing — this is a serious meal, not a casual drop-in. Come with appetite and a reservation.
Book at least one to two weeks ahead for weekday dinners; weekend slots at a Michelin Plate venue in a city the size of Clermont-Ferrand fill faster than most visitors expect. If you're travelling specifically to eat here, lock in the reservation before you book trains or hotels. No phone or online booking link is currently listed on Pearl, so check the restaurant directly for current availability.
Dietary accommodation specifics are not confirmed in Pearl's current data for Le Duguesclin. As a Michelin Plate modern cuisine kitchen, it is reasonable to contact them ahead of your visit to flag requirements — that's standard practice at this price point. Call or email in advance rather than assuming on the night.
Le Pré by Xavier Beaudiment is the city's Michelin-starred reference point and the step up if you want a fuller tasting experience. L'Ostal and Le Bistrot d'à Côté offer lower price points for less formal meals. Il Visconti covers Italian if you want a change of register, and Mouffu suits a casual, neighbourhood-style dinner. Le Duguesclin sits between the starred tier and the bistro tier — it's the right call when you want culinary ambition without a full tasting-menu commitment.
At €€€ with back-to-back Michelin Plate recognition in 2024 and 2025, Le Duguesclin earns its price for food-focused diners who want a serious modern cuisine meal in Clermont-Ferrand. It is not the cheapest option in the city, but it is priced below the starred tier while delivering above bistro-level cooking. If value-per-plate matters most, compare it against L'Ostal or Le Bistrot d'à Côté at a lower spend.
Yes, with the right expectations. Two consecutive Michelin Plates and a central location on Place des Cordeliers make it a credible choice for a birthday dinner or a business meal where you want to impress without booking a full starred experience. It is better suited to couples or small groups than large parties. If the occasion calls for the full Clermont-Ferrand fine dining statement, Le Pré by Xavier Beaudiment is the higher-tier option.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
