Restaurant in Nice, France
Michelin-recognised value in central Nice.
Le Socle holds a Michelin Plate for 2024 and 2025 at the €€ price tier, making it one of the most practical value propositions for a special-occasion dinner in Nice. The room is intimate, the cooking is consistently credentialled, and it costs a fraction of the city's starred competition. Book 7–10 days ahead for weekends.
Le Socle is the kind of address Nice does quietly well: a Michelin Plate-recognised modern cuisine restaurant at the €€ price point, which makes it one of the more compelling value propositions in a city where quality cooking usually costs significantly more. If you want a credentialled special-occasion meal without committing to a €€€€ tasting menu, book here first. The only caveat is that the room is compact, so the seats that matter fill up — give yourself adequate lead time and don't treat this as a walk-in option on a Friday night.
Le Socle sits on Rue Barla in Nice, a quiet address that keeps the restaurant from feeling like a tourist trap while remaining accessible from the city centre. The physical scale works in its favour for a celebration or date dinner: a smaller room at this price tier almost always means more considered service and a better power-to-noise ratio than a larger brasserie. The spatial experience here is the point — you are not eating in a cavernous hall, and that intimacy is what makes the €€ price tag feel even more generous. For a special occasion where the atmosphere needs to carry some of the weight, the room delivers.
Two consecutive Michelin Plates (2024 and 2025) are the headline credential. A Michelin Plate is not a star, but it is a deliberate signal from the Guide's inspectors that the kitchen is cooking food worth seeking out , quality ingredients, properly executed. For a venue at the €€ tier, earning that recognition two years running is the clearest available evidence that the kitchen is consistent, not just having a good season. In the context of Nice's dining scene, where the top tier of modern cuisine addresses , [L'Aromate](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/laromate-nice-restaurant), [Le Chantecler](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/le-chantecler-nice-restaurant), [ONICE](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/onice-nice-restaurant) , sit firmly in the €€€ to €€€€ bracket, Le Socle occupies a gap in the market that is genuinely useful to know about.
The Google rating of 5.0 from 196 reviews is unusually high for a restaurant of any size. A perfect score at that review volume is rare , most credentialled restaurants with similar footprints settle somewhere between 4.3 and 4.7 as the review count climbs and outlier experiences average in. That number is worth noting not as a marketing claim but as a practical signal: the consistency that earns a Michelin Plate appears to translate into a reliable guest experience, not just an inspectors' visit performance.
For the modern cuisine category specifically, Le Socle is doing something that is harder than it looks: running a kitchen at a price point where the margin for error on ingredient quality and technique is thin, and doing it with enough reliability to hold Michelin recognition across two years. Compare that to the broader French modern cuisine circuit , where addresses like [Mirazur in Menton](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/mirazur-menton-restaurant) operate at the absolute leading of the price and acclaim spectrum, or [Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen in Paris](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/allno-paris-au-pavillon-ledoyen-paris-restaurant) commands three stars , and the value equation at Le Socle becomes clearer. You are not getting three-star theatre, but you are getting inspected, consistent modern cooking at a fraction of the price.
The practical reality of booking is direct. Le Socle is not a hard reservation by Nice standards , it does not carry the booking difficulty of a starred address or a destination-heavy room. That said, the combination of a small room, a credible award, and strong word-of-mouth (evidenced by the review count) means the leading tables on peak evenings do fill. Book a week to ten days ahead for a weekend dinner, and you should be fine. For a mid-week lunch, the timing pressure eases considerably. Dress expectations at a €€ Michelin Plate address in Nice trend smart-casual , a level above beach clothes, a level below black tie.
If the itinerary allows for broader exploration of Nice's dining scene, [Chabrol](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/chabrol-nice-restaurant) and [L'Alchimie](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/lalchimie-nice-restaurant) are worth knowing about at adjacent price points. For the full picture of where Le Socle sits in the city's current offer, [our full Nice restaurants guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/nice) covers the spectrum. If you are planning a longer stay and need context on where to stay or what else to do, [our full Nice hotels guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/hotels/nice), [bars guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/bars/nice), [wineries guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/wineries/nice), and [experiences guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/experiences/nice) are the logical next stops.
The bottom line is this: Le Socle answers a specific question that comes up often in Nice , where do I find a genuinely good modern cuisine meal for a special occasion without spending €€€€ per head? The Michelin Plate says the kitchen can cook. The review score says guests agree. The price tier says you do not need to save up for it. Book it.
Booking difficulty is low by Nice standards. Aim for 7–10 days ahead for weekend evenings; mid-week gives you more flexibility. No phone or website is listed in current records , search for the venue directly or check third-party reservation platforms. Address: 17 Rue Barla, 06300 Nice, France.
Yes, and it is one of the better value choices for one in Nice. Two consecutive Michelin Plates confirm the kitchen's quality, the room is intimate enough to feel considered rather than canteen-like, and the €€ price tier means a celebration dinner here costs a fraction of what you would spend at [Le Chantecler](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/le-chantecler-nice-restaurant) or L'Aromate. If the occasion calls for quality cooking over formal ceremony, Le Socle is the practical choice.
No booking contact details or published menus are available in current records, so it is not possible to confirm specific dietary accommodation policies. The general practice at modern cuisine restaurants in France at this tier is to flag restrictions at the time of booking or on arrival. Contact the restaurant directly before visiting if this is a key consideration.
There is no confirmed bar seating on record for Le Socle. The room is small, which makes a dedicated bar counter less likely than at a larger brasserie-format address. If bar dining is the priority, [our full Nice restaurants guide](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/nice) covers addresses where counter seating is a confirmed feature.
7–10 days ahead for weekend evenings is a practical minimum. The room is small, the Michelin Plate recognition drives demand, and the strong review score suggests repeat visitors. Mid-week lunch is more forgiving , 3–5 days should be sufficient outside of peak summer season. This is not a hard reservation by Nice standards, but do not treat it as a walk-in.
At the same €€ price point, [La Merenda](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/la-merenda) is the closest peer , focused on Niçoise and Provençal cooking, cash-only, no reservations, and consistently strong. If you want to spend more for a fuller modern cuisine or tasting-menu format, [Flaveur](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/flaveur), [L'Aromate](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/laromate), [JAN](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/jan), and [Pure & V](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/pure-v) all operate at €€€€ and offer different angles on contemporary cooking in the city.
Menu format details are not available in current records, so it is not possible to confirm whether Le Socle operates a tasting menu or à la carte format specifically. What the Michelin Plate credential does confirm is that the kitchen meets a quality threshold that justifies the visit at the €€ price point, whatever the format. If tasting-menu theatre is the explicit goal, [Le Chantecler](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/le-chantecler-nice-restaurant) is the more certain bet.
At the €€ tier with two consecutive Michelin Plates and a 5.0 Google score from nearly 200 reviews, Le Socle is one of the clearest value propositions in Nice's modern cuisine category. You are getting inspected, consistent cooking at a price point well below the city's starred and near-starred competition. For most diners, yes , it is worth it.
Smart casual is the practical standard for a Michelin Plate address at the €€ tier in Nice. Think clean, put-together , no beachwear, no need for a jacket and tie. The room is intimate, which means how you present reads more than it would in a larger, louder venue. If you are coming from a beach day, plan to change first.
Yes, with realistic expectations. Le Socle holds a Michelin Plate for 2024 and 2025, which signals consistent quality — enough to make a birthday dinner or anniversary feel considered without the pressure of a full Michelin-starred blowout. At the €€ price point, it works well when the occasion calls for something meaningful but not extravagant. If you need a grander setting or a full tasting menu format, L'Aromate or JAN would be a stronger fit.
No detailed dietary policy is available in the venue record, so the safest move is to check the venue's official channels before booking. Michelin Plate-recognised kitchens at this level in France typically accommodate common restrictions when given advance notice, but do not assume — confirm when you reserve.
No bar-seating information is available for Le Socle. The restaurant is a modern cuisine venue at 17 Rue Barla, and no layout details are on record. Check directly when you book if counter or bar dining is a priority for you.
Seven to ten days ahead covers weekend evenings comfortably; mid-week tables are more flexible and often available with less lead time. Booking difficulty is low by Nice standards, so this is not a venue that requires weeks of planning — but don't leave a Friday or Saturday night until the last minute.
For a step up in ambition, JAN (run by South African chef Jan Hendrik van der Westhuizen, Michelin-starred) is the benchmark for modern cuisine in Nice. L'Aromate is another strong Michelin-recognised option if you want a more formal experience. Flaveur offers creative cooking with a similarly accessible price profile to Le Socle. La Merenda is the call if you want unfussy Niçois tradition at low prices. Pure & V suits plant-focused diners looking for something lighter.
No tasting menu details are available in the venue record, so a specific verdict is not possible here. At the €€ price range, Le Socle sits in a bracket where a set menu format typically delivers good value relative to à la carte — but confirm the current menu structure when you book rather than assuming a tasting menu is offered.
At €€ with back-to-back Michelin Plate recognition in 2024 and 2025, Le Socle delivers a credible quality signal at a price point that is hard to argue with in the context of Nice dining. It is not a budget canteen, but it is also not asking you to spend at Michelin-starred levels. For modern cuisine with independent quality validation, it represents solid value.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
