Eating is a major pastime in Calvi, and you'll find a wide selection of restaurants and snack bars catering for all tastes. Fish restaurants predominate in the marina, where - at a price - you can eat excellent seafood fresh from the bay. It's cheaper to eat in the inland streets of the ville basse whose stairways and cramped forecourts hide a host of buzzing pizzerias and Corsican restaurants.
Cafés , complete with raffia parasols, line the marina, becoming more expensive the nearer they are to the Tour du
Sel.
Cafes and Bars
Café Rex , at the top of bd Wilson, on the corner of place Christophe-Colomb. The most down-to-earth and animated bar in central Calvi, with a small but sunny terrace and a mixed clientele. A good breakfast venue for crowd-watching.
Restaurants
Chez Christian , place Marchal. A good option if you're on a tight budget, with a filling €11.40 menu, served in a small roadside square beneath the Mairie. As an accompaniment, try their light French cider.
Chez Tao , rue St-Antoine, in the citadel (tel 04.95.65.00.73). Legendary nightclub, opened in the wake of the Crimean war by a Muslim White Russian, and long the haunt of the Riviera's glitterati. Now turned into pricey piano bar serving fussy nouvelle cuisine and local fish dishes, costing €15.20-22.80 à la carte. Outstanding view of the bay. June-Sept 7pm-midnight.
Le San Carlu , place St-Charles, off rue Clemenceau (tel 04.95.65.92.20). Fine seafood and moderately priced French-Corsican cuisine served in the colonial-style garden of a sixteenth-century former Genoese hospital. Five menus fixes (€12.92-19.76) and sixty à la carte dishes. Closed Nov-March.
Le Santa-Maria , on the square in front of Ste Marie-Majeure church, rue Clemenceau (tel 04.95.64.04.19). Good-value four-course tourist menus (€13.68), and filling paella (€15.20), served in an atmospheric setting. Recommended on Saturday evenings, when jazz guitarists busk on the church steps.
Thi Nam , opposite Total petrol station, 1km east of town on the main road (tel 04.95.65.38.62). Authentic, spicy Vietnamese main dishes for around €7.62-9.88. The interior's uninspiring; you'd do better to take away.
International Bar , Camping International , rte de I'Île Rousse. A campsite bar, but the most consistently fun spot on weekends, when local bands play thumping rock covers through the small hours. Drinks at regular prices, and an internationally mixed crowd.
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