La Pointe Courte District Restaurants
Tucked between the Étang de Thau and the Canal Royal on the northwestern edge of Sète, La Pointe Courte is a tiny fishing hamlet of wooden shacks and moored flat-bottomed boats that looks almost unchanged since Agnès Varda filmed her debut feature here in 1955. The handful of open-air restaurants serve some of the most honest shellfish in France.
What to Order
The menus at places like Chez Philippe or the informal guinguettes along the waterfront are built around whatever the oystermen dragged in that morning. A plateau de coquillages — a heaped tray of Bouzigues oysters, tellines, mussels and sea urchins — served with sourdough and salted butter is the definitive Sète meal.
Tellines, the tiny wedge-shell clams unique to this stretch of coast, are sautéed in garlic and parsley and eaten by the bowlful; order them as a starter and you will probably order a second round.
The Setting and Atmosphere
Plastic chairs, paper tablecloths, herons standing on the jetty hoping for scraps — La Pointe Courte operates entirely without pretension. The lagoon is so calm and shallow that you can see the bottom through the green water as you eat.
Come for Sunday lunch when local families occupy every table and the atmosphere reaches its peak; reservations are strongly advised on summer weekends. The walk back along the canal towpath into town takes about 20 minutes and passes the colourful hulls of the jousting boats.
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