A great option for a Michelin star in the vicinity of Saint-Malo – with exquisite service: Restaurant Le Saint Placide (2. June 2026)

If you’re looking for a restaurant in Saint Malo, then you might be surprised to find the Le Saint Placide since it is – in all honesty – a bit out of the city centre, but if you manage to get a cab or Uber (there seem to be only two drivers in the whole town), then it’s worth the travel. We decided to go for the “Tasting Menu ‘Choisir, c’est se priver du reste …'” (EUR 175.00), which means, “chosing is depriving oneself of resting” and they are quite right with that.

In any case, you get a nice selection of different dishes, which will make your need to chose obsolete.

The first bite of the evening was the “to whet the appetite, sardine”, which was a sardine served on a slice of bread, and it was the perfect combination of the saltiness of the sardine with the balanced adding of some bread.

Next in line were the “Boutrais family oyster with sherry vinegar Mackerel granita”, which sounds a bit funny and frankly, I’m not a big fan of oysters, but I must admit that these were actually superbly enjoyable – mainly because they did not taste like oysters, but much more like something sweet and light, which might largely be due to the granita.

The “cracker with some liver paste” came with the oysters, and, I must admit, it was complementing the dish quite nicely … but a bit unusual in terms of flavor profile!

What I truly enjoyed was the combination of “bread and local butter”. Usually, I try to moderate myself when it comes to the consumption of bread and butter, so, I keep a little space for all the food, but in this particular case, it was too hard, and I felt like I just wanted to keep going since the bread – as well as the butter – was so damn good!

The first course was the “veal tartare and langoustine”, which looked a bit like veal tartare with fat (but the ‘fat’ is the langoustine). However, it tasted very differently from fat, but – to my own surprise – the combination of veal with langoustine actually works a charm and was truly delicious!

Then, it was time for the “spider crab, celery, pea cream”, and, similarly, the dish was absolutely great! You can’t really see the spider crab meat in the picture, but it was there and there was plenty of it, and it was truly delicious!

I don’t necessarily have positive memories of abalone, since the texture of when I had it the first time back in 2017 in Shanghai hadn’t appealed to me. However, given it was part of the menu, of course I would try the “abalone, garlic”. The texture is – for sure – not for everyone, as it is rather chewy, but in this particular case it was actually quite amazing. I still remember how it tasted – and of course that was aided by the tasty garlic – now that I’m writing the review 24 hours later.

Usually, I find lobster overrated, but today it was different. The “lobster, broad beans, turmeric” was a close to perfect dish. I was missing the “oral orgasm effect”, but other than that, the dish was simply just perfect. The lobster was rich and full of flavor – the sauce in which it was served was truly great, and the fact that it was served in its own juices really added to it. The texture of the main body was also somewhat interesting (positively) and complemented perfectly by the smoothness of the meat of the claw.

Unfortunately, the next dish was somewhat underwhelming. The “John Dory, tonka beans, asparagus” didn’t really taste like much, which was really something I found rather disappointing. The sauce was nice, the asparagus too, but the John Dory itself really didn’t taste like much – it was rather bland and somewhat difficult in terms of texture.

Luckily, the next course, the “sweetbread, puffed buckwheat, orange, Banyuls vinegar” was exquisite again. The sweetbread was rich and full of flavor – and (given it’s one of my favorites) it was truly delicious. The buckwheat gave it a nice little crunch, which added to the dish.

Then it was already time for dessert in the form of “almond, amaretto cream, raspberries and strawberries, blackcurrant sorbet” and I must say that the balance between sweet and fruity, between crunchy and soft was just perfect. I don’t say that often about desserts of a certain size, but this was exquisite!

The friandises were a little different this time in the form of “rose water” and a “calamansi sorbet cornet”. The rose water was … rose water. I suppose it helps you clean your palate. The calamansi sorbet on the other hand was superbly delicious and definitely something I can imagine enjoying soon again!

The place is simple, but overall super lovely. On top of that, there is relatively much space between the tables, which is nice. On top of that, the staff is superbly friendly, jovial, and competent – just how you want it to be. It’s run entirely by ladies, and they do an amazing job at making you feel welcome.

All in all, I truly enjoyed the dinner at Le Saint Placide and would highly recommend you to visit the place when you’re in Saint-Malo. Make sure to book your table well in advance – the place was almost full on a Tuesday (!) evening!

Rating:

Atmosphere:
Service:
Dishes:
Price-Performance Ratio:
Overall Rating:

Contact Details:

Restaurant Le Saint Placide

Pl. du Poncel 6

35400 Saint-Malo (F)

Tel.: +33 2 99 81 70 73

Homepage: https://www.st-placide.com

About the Author: Sven

I started the blog in October 2009, while living in Milan which I definitely consider to be one of the food capitals of the world. I was in touch with food since my early childhood (as my father is a former chef). Whenever I can, I travel the world to discover new places, to meet people but mostly to try local dishes and to find hidden gems! If you know a place worth going, please drop a line to: info@thediningexperience.org. Currently, I am a member of the following food-related associations: Chevalier @Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Zurich-Ville; Membre Gourmet Dégustateur @Ordre Mondial des Gourmets Dégustateurs [OMGD]; Gesellschafter @Goldener Fisch and Member @Slowfood Convivium Zurich City.