Restaurant in Montpellier, France
Montpellier's Michelin star with a riverside terrace.
La Réserve Rimbaud holds Montpellier's strongest case for a special-occasion dinner: a Michelin star (2024), a riverside country-house setting on the Lez, and ingredient-led modern cooking rooted in Languedoc-Roussillon produce. At €€€€ and open only Monday to Friday, it is hard to book — plan three to four weeks ahead minimum.
Yes — La Réserve Rimbaud is the most convincing case for a special-occasion dinner in Montpellier. The Michelin star (2024) is earned, the riverside setting is genuinely unlike anything else in the city, and chef Charles Fontès brings a pedigree — former second to Alain Dutournier at the Carré des Feuillants in Paris , that shows in every plate. At €€€€, this is a serious spend, but it holds up against the price if you are planning a celebration, a business dinner that needs to impress, or simply the leading meal of a trip to the Languedoc.
La Réserve Rimbaud sits on the banks of the Lez river at 820 Avenue de Saint-Maur, a deliberate step away from Montpellier's busy city centre. That distance is the point. The restaurant occupies a restored old country house, and the spatial experience it offers is one of the clearest reasons to choose it over the city's other fine-dining options. The riverside terrace, shaded by plane trees, functions as one of the better outdoor dining rooms in the south of France during the warmer months: cool, unhurried, and framed by water rather than traffic.
Inside, the setting carries the same sense of deliberate remove. This is a room built for long dinners rather than quick covers , appropriate for the format Fontès runs here. For a special occasion, the physical separation from the city's noise matters. If you are planning a landmark dinner, the space does the work before the food arrives. Compare this with Jardin des Sens, also at €€€€, which operates with a more urban, hotel-adjacent formality. Rimbaud's setting feels earned rather than constructed.
Fontès trained at one of Paris's most technically demanding kitchens , Arpège in Paris represents the kind of standard that defines that generation of French cooking , and his approach at Rimbaud is defined by restraint rather than showmanship. The Michelin citation describes compositions that revolve around the ingredient, with subtle texture and flavour contrasts aimed at authentic simplicity. Regional identity is central: Languedoc-Roussillon products, Camargue eels, Lucques olives, and Mediterranean fish (seabream, squid, red mullet) anchor the menu in Occitania without making it feel like a regional theme park.
This is modern French cooking with a clear sense of place. If you have eaten at Bras in Laguiole or Mirazur in Menton, you will recognise the instinct: ingredient-first, technically precise, deeply rooted in its landscape. Rimbaud operates at a more intimate scale than either, which suits the format.
La Réserve Rimbaud is the kind of restaurant that anchors its neighbourhood rather than simply occupying it. The Saint-Maur address is not where visitors default to in Montpellier , most dining energy concentrates around the Écusson and the tram corridors , and that is precisely why the restaurant has the quality of a discovery rather than an obvious tourist stop. It draws a local and regional clientele that knows what it is getting, which keeps the room honest. If you are visiting Montpellier and want to eat the way residents eat at their leading, this is the address. For a broader look at the city's dining options across all price points, see our full Montpellier restaurants guide.
Other restaurants in Montpellier worth knowing for context: Leclère, Pastis Restaurant, Aliro, and Anga - Beaulieu each represent different points in the city's dining range. None of them offers the same combination of setting, pedigree, and regional cooking that Rimbaud delivers.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Booking Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|
| La Réserve Rimbaud | Modern Cuisine | €€€€ | Hard |
| Reflet d'Obione | Modern Cuisine | €€€ | Unknown |
| Jardin des Sens | French Gastronomic | €€€€ | Unknown |
| Ébullition | Creative | €€€ | Unknown |
| Soulenq | Modern Cuisine | €€ | Unknown |
| Umami - La Cinquième Saveur | Korean | €€ | Unknown |
Key differences to consider before you reserve.
Bar dining is not documented for La Réserve Rimbaud. Given the €€€€ price point and Michelin-starred format, this is a full table-service restaurant — plan for a seated lunch or dinner rather than a casual bar stop. Book a table to guarantee your spot.
Book at least two to three weeks ahead for dinner, longer if you want the riverside terrace in summer. The restaurant is closed Saturday and Sunday, which concentrates demand into five service days a week — lunch slots (12–2:30 PM) can move faster than you'd expect for a weekday Michelin table. For August or holiday periods, a month out is safer.
The address at 820 Avenue de Saint-Maur puts it away from central Montpellier, so factor in travel time and don't arrive without a reservation. Chef Charles Fontès trained under Alain Dutournier at Carré des Feuillants in Paris, and the cooking reflects that technical grounding applied to Languedoc-Roussillon ingredients. Come expecting a composed, ingredient-led menu — this is not a bistro-format meal.
At €€€€ with a Michelin star (2024), La Réserve Rimbaud sits at the top of Montpellier's price bracket and delivers cooking that justifies it — Charles Fontès's focus on Languedoc-Roussillon produce and textural precision gives the menu a regional identity that sets it apart from generic fine dining. If you're comparing value against Jardin des Sens, Rimbaud's riverside setting and tighter culinary focus make it the stronger spend for a single special meal.
The tasting menu format suits the kitchen's style: Fontès builds compositions around single ingredients with plays of texture and flavour, which lands better across a sequence of courses than on a short à la carte card. If you're booking at this price point, the tasting menu is the format the restaurant is built around — ordering à la carte here is like buying one chapter of a book.
Yes — it's the clearest special-occasion booking in Montpellier. The riverside terrace shaded by plane trees, the old country house setting, and a Michelin-starred kitchen (2024) make the combination hard to match in the city. For anniversaries or celebratory dinners, aim for a warm-weather evening to get the terrace; the interior works year-round but the outdoor setting is what makes this address distinct.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
