Report Abuse

Great find in Antibes!

4 Posted on 08 / 25 / 2011

I have been coming to Antibes for a few years now and have always struggled as vegan eating out.
I was thrilled to come across Chez Helen's restaurant based in the old town area of Antibes.
It's primarily a vegetarian restaurant with certain dishes adaptable to be vegan. I can recommend the home made Falafel and Houmous that comes with a generous salad.
The home made soups were also great, (I had tomato).
It has a very cozy and homely atmosphere with good service.
I very much recommend this restaurant, my only request being, that more vegan deserts are available. The desert menu was great for veggies but unfortunately only one vegan option being a Plum/Fruit Crumble I believe.
Looking forward to returning to Chez Helen on my next trip to Antibes.

Pros: Healthy Veggie and Vegan Food, Lovely location in Antibes old town., good customer service
Cons: Only one vegan dessert available! :(

Report Abuse

Veggie Heaven...

5 Posted on 08 / 08 / 2011

Having read the reviews about Chez Helen I had high expectations and this lovely little restaurant lived up to them. The menu has something for everyone and the lovely owners are very welcoming and friendly. It is sad to see people looking at the menu and walking by as it is a real gem. The menu isn't cheap and may not be suitable if you are on a tight budget but it is no more expensive than many of the other restaurants in this area (and may I add is worth every cent!!). Well worth a visit!

Pros: Lovely atmosphere, Great food

Report Abuse

Flavoursome, wholesome, well-prepared food

5 Posted on 07 / 21 / 2011

Eating at Chez Helen is a highly recommended experience. I went with a few friends one evening in July and was delighted with the service, ambience and quality of the food.
The restaurant has a cosy, personable feel, which is mirrored by the style of service.
The couple behind Chez Helen, both of whom speak excellent English (indeed the Helen of the restaurant's title IS English), are incredibly warm and welcoming, and really put you at ease as soon as you go through the door.
We ordered starters and mains, then sampled the interesting range of organic drinks the restaurant offers while waiting for our food to arrive. I had a hemp beer, a new experience, and very tasty and refreshing it was too.
For my starter I had the peanut butter balls, which were lovely: a decent size with a pleasantly cool, fresh flavour.
My main was a kind of chicken cordon bleu-esque dish, covered in breadcrumbs, and deliciously cheesy and satisfying. Both courses came with a tastily dressed generous salad, the main with a portion of what I guess was wholegrain rice or somesuch - it was unlike white rice anyway; more substantial and flavoursome.
The bill at the end of the night, considering we'd each had two courses, a few beers and a bottle of wine, was very reasonable, and next time I'm in Antibes (which hopefully won't be too long!) I'll be sure to return. Recommended!

Pros: Delicious food, Friendly ambience, Personable service

Report Abuse

Antibes Vegetarian Delight

5 Posted on 02 / 27 / 2011

This quirky and ambient vegetarian/vegan delight will not disappoint. Having previously eaten at a Paris restaurant where the present owner 'Helen' worked, we were keen to sample the cuisine in Antibes where conveniently friends of ours now live (this nicely brought forward a visit!). The food was interesting, varied and delicious. The organic drinks list had us exploring new tastes. We were treated to home-made sweets at the end of the meal comprising 2 courses that were plentiful and satiating. A refreshing and enjoyable evening was had by all, even by our adamantly carnivorous friends. Enjoy- we all did! :)

Pros: Great atmosphere, Delicious food, Central location

Report Abuse

Veg heaven in Antibes!

5 Posted on 01 / 19 / 2011

Helen's amazing food saved my tired and hungry vegan body; I spent a week in Antibes and dined there every night. Soups are heart warming and main dishes are mouth watering. Fresh seasonal ingredients are sourced locally as Seb explained.Helen is not only an incredible chef but a friendly and welcoming host.The restaurant is so cozy that it makes you feel right at home.Thanks Helen and Seb, wish you a lot of customers and a great success.

Pros: Friendly, Healthy, Ethical
Cons: Not in Viareggio

Report Abuse

fantastic - even made a French carnivore happy

5 Posted on 12 / 31 / 2010

This is an utter gem of a place, they catered for my (carnivore) chap's various allergies, and we had one of the best veggy meals I've ever eaten in a restaurant, much better than any in Paris. We had the xmas menu, which was starter, full roast dinner and totally gorgeous load of little desserts which was great as you got to taste so many different things. The menu, and in particular the cakes, were imaginative, interesting and beautifully presented as well as downright delicious. We enjoyed washing it all down with a perfect organic rose wine - well, this is Provence! The place itself is cute, smack in the old town, and the owners are a young French/English couple, charming and very welcoming. I am sure they'll do really well, they've not been open very long and they don't seem short of customers, locals and tourists alike.

Pros: wonderful food, great value, lovely staff

Report Abuse

delicious food, friendly service

4 Posted on 07 / 25 / 2010

so glad to have stumbled upon this delightful place. it's small, so reservations are recommended but not necessary. it's a vegetarian restaurant but vegan options are numerous and the owners are happy to make modifications. i had the chickpea parmentier (delicious!) and a cassis 'flan' for dessert, also very yummy. my partner was very pleased with his seitan Cordon Bleu and orange cheesecake.

the service is fast and Helen is very friendly and dynamic. we were there on a Saturday night and although i could see a lot of people outside checking out the menu, inside things were pretty quiet. it's too bad because this place deserves more customers.

it's not particularly expensive, especially for its location in Vieil Antibes.

Pros: excellent food, friendly staff, good value
Cons: no music

Report Abuse

Great food in a very friendly atmosphere

5 Posted on 07 / 08 / 2010

Finding good vegetarian food on the Cote D'Azur has never been easy -- twenty years ago, the chef would come out with a worried look and tell me that he could do me an omelette. Now, the waitress will proudly boast that they can fry me three shrivelled veggies in butter. Progress, of a sort.

Cue in Helen and her new restaurant. Finally, something entirely vegetarian in Antibes, that can cater admirably for vegans (and do a decent job for raw foodists). Since there were four of us, I managed to try a few of Helen's dishes: the mediterranean plate (delicious hummus and falafel), stuffed veggies (the courgette with blue cheese sauce was divine), and the chef's salad (peanut balls worked wonders). Dessert is a must, and we tried all four available that night. Rasberry tart, chocolate cake, cheesecake, and chocolate mousse. The first two were very good -- the last two made me regret having eaten so much beforehand.

But eating at Helen's is about more than the food. It's also about her welcome -- her mix of English and French, friendly and considerate -- so that barely a month after the restaurant has opened, we already saw a number of regulars coming as much for the food as for the experience.

So go and try her juices, salads, dishes, burgers, assortissements, and leave some room for that cheesecake.

Pros: Food/Atmosphere, Location - Old Antibes, No meat, no fish anywhere near
Cons: A terrace in the spring --> paradise

Report Abuse

Mouth watering experience!

5 Posted on 07 / 06 / 2010

"Chez Helen" was a mouth watering experience! I highly recommend this friendly and happy place. When I was there locals as well as tourits were gathered to enjoy the amazing food with generous portions. You get what you pay for.
Helen was very acccomadating when it came to my allergies (I have many) and was able to create very tasty food both vegan and vegetarian. I loved the onion soup and savery peanut butter balls. I also tasted many of her main dishes through out my week in Antibes and they were all very tasty!
Oh and the desserts......I had lemon-kiwi tart with mile high meringne on the top and equally as delicious was the chocolate cake.
Just a note.....her partner Seb was more then happy to explain where they get the local produce and products for the restaurants as well as sharing stories about the local producers/farmers all with a smile.
This young couple takes pride in bringing only the best food into the restaurant.
Thanks for feeding me on my travels Helen and Seb.
Sue from Ottawa canada

Pros: Tasty healthy food, friendly, very nice decor
Cons: wish chez helen was in Canada

Report Abuse

very good but should make efforts for vegans

4 Posted on 07 / 02 / 2010

* Strengths: good location, open for lunch and dinner 6 days / 7, nice decor, all organic, all-good, very little wait.
* Weaknesses: it's expensive (about 6 € "l'entrée", 12 € 50 a dish), there are not many choices, no good vegan dessert (only compote or crumble).
Also, it is better not arrive too late if you want to have choice.

Finally, from a personal standpoint, one thing I did not appreciate at all: the young woman, Helen, knew we had a birthday. She made a giant cookie (free). She brang it with candles on it, they applauded, then she looked at me and my partner and said : "but it's not for you"!!! Is it "Vegan-friendly" ?! I'm not sure !!!

Report Abuse

Brilliance in the South of France

5 Posted on 06 / 29 / 2010

We tumbles upon this wonderful restaurant one evening whilst in the middle of a daily whinge about the lack of good vegetarian food in France. What a find! Some of the best food in the continent served in one of the cosiest settings possible. Helen is a wonderful host who clearly takes tremendous pride in everything she does, with magnificent results. The menu offers a mix of dishes including some French but many from other European countries and beyond. Excellent local (alcoholic) drinks are available and everything is incredibly cheap. We cannot recommend this outstanding restaurant and highly recommend visitors to Cannes, Nice, Marseille, Monacco (or Antibes, for that matter) to take the trip and enjoy it was many others have. Our only regret was not being able to return a second time with our young kids, due to extreme tantrum conditions.

Pros: food, value for money, atmosphere