Best Restaurants in Northern France – Nord, Pas de Calais & Picardy

Northern France has so many great restaurants that it’s difficult to pick out the best. For a start there are 16 Michelin-starred chefs in northern France. Two restaurants, both in Pas de Calais, have two stars; 14 spread through Nord, Pas de Calais and Picardy have one star.

And don’t forget the restaurants with a Michelin bib gourmand (good quality; good value). Always look out for the local estaminets which are good bistro-style restaurants often with a Flemish twist.

There are many that should be included in this list of the best restaurants in northern France. So please if you find top restaurants, bistros, small local estaminets or even places for excellent snacks, do let me know.

For this article, Northern France refers only to the Hauts-de-France region. More on Normandy restaurants later!

PLEASE NOTE: I have only included set menu prices. Every restaurant has a carte to choose from as well.

A Note about the Maps

Here is a map for the whole northern France – Hauts-de-France region. You’ll find restaurant maps for each department – Nord, Pas de Calais and Picardy at the top of each list.

I have listed the restaurants geographically. So go to the map, see where you might be staying and click on the relevant restaurant. Information of the restaurant is in each department, following the geographical layout. I hope this makes sense!

Restaurants with 2 Michelin Stars in Northern France – Pas de Calais

La Grenouillière

Alexandre Gauthier cooks up a storm at La Grenouillière near Montreuil-sur-Mer. It’s a beautiful location in an old farmhouse now transformed with two impressive metallic marquees. The view is over the extensive woods and gardens to the countryside and Montreuil’s ramparts.

Alexandre Gauthier took over from his father in the kitchen 20 years ago. One of France’s most inventive chefs, his molecular cooking is contemporary, providing a meal to savour. He has a 19/20 score in Gault Millau. He also has the new ‘Green’ Michelin star given for his local, regional credentials.
There are 4 rooms to rent in the grounds.

Château de Beaulieu

Château de Beaulieu is owned and run by Christophe Dufossé . The estate has a vegetable garden (watered by springs from the estate and the moat), citrus greenhouse, a small farm for animals, an orchard, aromatic garden and beehives. The chef is a champion of organic, self-sufficient and sustainable fish and meat. Don’t miss out on the desserts! There are two restaurants in the red brick 19^th-century mansion, the Michelin-starred dining room and a country style brasserie. He has a green Michelin star for his use of over 30 local producers like saffron and fish from the Côte d’Opale.

For more restaurants in Pas de Calais see below.

Best Restaurants in Northern France – Nord Department

Haut Bonheur de la Table – 1 Michelin Star

Perched high up on a hill with great views, this restaurant is in the charming typically Flemish village of Cassel, well worth a visit for its windmill and museum. And here you’ll find this small restaurant (20 covers only) where chef Eugène Hobraiche produces some spectacular cooking. Fish comes from Dunkirk; try grilled wild turbot or tuna for a treat.

L’Auberge – Bib Gourmand

Once a tannery, now a very good simple restaurant near Hazebrouck. Chef Antonin Maresciano champions local produce and cooks well-known Flemish classics given a light modern twist.

Auberge du Vert Mont – 1 Michelin Star

Florent Ladeyn champions Flemish food with some of his inspiration from nearby Belgium. In a dining room with exposed rafters and overlooking the West Flanders hillsides, the food is cooked on a wood fire in front of the diners. He has always championed local produce using flowers and plants to decorate his dishes and he has been awarded a green Michelin star as well. Don’t miss the fries cooked in Maroilles cheese with caramelised onion.

Nature – 1 Michelin Star

Opposite the Saint-Vaast church in Armentières, Nicolas Gautier’s cooking is classical with contemporary twists. Local specialities produce dishes like lightly smoked scallops and roast Flanders pigeon stuffed under the skin with mushrooms. Fish comes from Boulogne and Dunkirk; local cheeses are excellent and varied.

Bistro RG – Bib Gourmand

Just next door to Nature, this more casual restaurant is run by Nicolas Gautier and his brother Mathieu. The short menu is based on the cooking of their father, Roger Gautier. It’s an acknowledgement of how important their father’s cooking was. Short bistro-style menu has favourites like steak frites, mussels; service is very good.

Outside Lille

Lille, capital of the Nord department, is a foodie destination. Its proximity to Belgium has added another Flemish layer with cosy small restaurants specialising in Belgian specialities as well as some notable destinations.

Balsamique – Bib Gourmand

Benjamin Bajeux is the inspiration behind this pretty restaurant which has a terrace for summer dining. Try inventive dishes like a beetroot Baba with smoked haddock from one of the top smokeries in Boulogne; classics like magret de canard with oven-cooked boulangères potatoes are equally good.

Le Val d’Auge – 1 Michelin Star

Christophe Hagnerelle is typical of the young chefs making a name in France today. He worked with Joël Robuchon at Le Jamin then went to Beirut and later spent six months in  Connecticut. He is strong on fish and also game in season such as grouse and hare.  

Arborescence – 1 Michelin Star

In a former textile factory near the station, Félix Robert and his sommelier wife Nidta run the restaurant. The dishes are geared towards fish and vegetables often with a Japanese or Asian slant. So expect dishes like tempura and subtle curries, all given a classical French and beautifully presented.

Rozó – 1 Michelin star

In Marcq-en-Baroeul, a suburb of Lille, pastry chef Camille Pailleau and chef Diego Delbecq are cooking up a few storms in a former printing works which took 2 years to restore. The open-plan, airy loft-style dining room has a glass roof and metal beams. The chefs operate in open kitchens behind glass panes and produce some great modern dishes using local ingredients like chicory and tartes au sucre. Two signature dishes to try: mushroom medley from the chef and heather honey dessert from the pastry chef.

In Lille

Le Restaurant du Cerisier – 1 Michelin star

On the first floor of a bold contemporary building in the heart of Lille, the former chef of Le Meurin, Mathieu Boutroy, can be seen performing in a superb theatrically visible kitchen. Mixing classic technique with modern flavours. Try lamb in a ras-el-hanout crust.

Pureté -1 Michelin Star

Lille’s old town is the location for another great restaurant. Behind a conventional wooden shop front, Gérald Guille’s restaurant decor is modern with wooden floors, tables and chairs and banquette seating. At the end an open kitchen shows the chef and his team cooking classic dishes with inventive touches, using the likes of yuzu and kumqat.

La Table – Hôtel Clarance – 1 Michelin star

The Hotel Clarance and La Table are located in an 18^th-century mansion in Lille’s delightful old town. You can eat in the wood-panelled dining rooms and in the former library. In good weather, dine on the terrace looking out over the grounds. Chef Alexandre Miquel, originally from Bethune, is equally at home with fish or meat and uses local, seasonal ingredients with herbs from the hotel’s garden.

Best Restaurants in Northern France – Pas de Calais

Hotel/Restaurant de la Plage

Niece of Michelin-starred William Elliot at Le Pavillon in the Hotel Westminster in Le Touquet, Solène Elliott won various big awards including Escoffier Young Talents in 2019. In 2020 she opened her restaurant in her parent’s hotel. Championing local produce, her menus include dishes like warm cheese pastry with salted radishes and smoked herring. Main dishes might include pork loin cooked in smoked garlic and paprika with creamed artichoke, onions and broad beans. The hotel, set on  the beach, is a delightful seaside destination.

Atlantic Hotel La Liégoise – 1 Michelin Star

Take in the panoramic sea view from the first-floor restaurant in the delightful Opal Coast Atlantic Hotel, much beloved by the locals. Benjamin Delpierre concentrates quite rightly on fish and shellfish, red mullet, snails, oysters, razor clams and mussels.
There’s also the excellent Brasserie L’Aloze on the ground floor which is open for lunch and dinner daily.

Le Colegram

This small bistro which opened a year ago serves the freshest food using local ingredients. In an old house on a corner, it’s simply but stylishly decorated and has a professional, friendly staff. Attracting both locals and tourists, the good value menu includes starters from €7 and mains from €17. Don’t miss the desserts (from €6) of the young pâtissier, 24 year old Candice Declercq.

Au Soldat Laboureur

Conveniently located near St Pol-sur-Ternoise, Arras and Béthune, Al Soldat Laboureux is a great, thoroughly traditional restaurant. The red brick building has a rustic décor, complete with wallpaper and a fireplace and is particularly good for families. The traditional menu has classic patés, well cooked meat and crème brûlée.

La Cour de Rémi – Bib Gourmand

Owner Sébastien cooks everything, from sourdough bread to ice creams. Well-sourced ingredients produce dishes like pink haunch of venison with dauphinoise potatoes or scallops with parsnip mousseline. It’s good value for money. If you want to stay, book one of the excellent rooms.

L’oeuf ou la Poule 

In the heart of Arras, this buzzing, friendly and very local restaurant delivers traditional French dishes with a modern touch. Try la poule au pot or any of the chicken dishes cooked in different ways (or go for the guinea fowl or vegetable risotto). And of course any egg dishes come from happy, free range hens.

Restaurant N9UF

The Leplat family runs this new restaurant opened in August 2022 on the ground floor of the large, grand, red brick Manoir Sainte Paule in a small town near Béthune. Chef Maxime Leplat produces modern dishes like veal paupiettes with a chausseur sauce and potatoes roasted with rosemary. All ingredients are locally sourced. There’s a terrace for summer dining.

A l’Fosse 7

This family-run, joyous restaurant is always buzzing with locals. Mellow stone walls, wooden floors and beams set the scene for good value, classic cooking. Dishes might include French onion soup and pot’je Vleesch and – great idea: all mains can be ordered in smaller portions. And with vegetables from the Sallaumines market gardens 3 kms away, you don’t get much more local than here.  

Air Accueil – Bib Gourmand

Chef Franck Gilabert offers good value for money and local specialities in this large restaurant near the Bitry-en-Artois airfield. Once the officers’ mess, now the restaurant offers the likes of local trout with creamed buckwheat and celery mousse. For meat try pork loin, braised chicory and creamed mushrooms. A far cry from the past.

For more restaurants in Calais, here’s my guide to this great, unexpectedly interesting city.

Best Restaurants in Northern France – Picardy

La Clé des Champs – Bib Gourmand

Nicolas Chamoin and his wife Adéline are enthusiastic, knowledgeable and charming. The restaurant’s modern décor is delightfully comfortable rather than startling. Concentrate on the excellent fish and shellfish from the coast, though meat dishes are equally pleasing. They do take-away, and have a small shop attached.

L’Orée de la Forêt – 1 Michelin star

This family–run hotel and restaurant has a great location in a late 19^th-century mansion surrounded by wooded grounds. The restaurant was opened by the grandmother of the chef Nicolas Leclercq in 1956. From the beginning, vegetables from the large kitchen garden were used, something of a novelty back then. Nicolas Leclercq won his Michelin star in 1994 and has held it ever since. He uses top seasonal ingredients to produce classic dishes.

Auberge À la Bonne Idée – 1 Michelin star

The restaurant is in a medieval village in the middle of the forest of Compiègne, near the Armistice Museum. With stone walls, beams and a fireplace, its’ a delightful venue. Try something a little different from chef Sébastien Tantot whose dishes are chalked up on a board. Set menus are adventurous and vegetables, fruit and aromatic plants and herbs from his own kitchen garden dominate.  

Le Verbois – 1 Michelin star

Le Verbois is another very successful family-run restaurant. Located in the former Rothschild family late 19^th-century hunting lodge, the décor is modern. Guillaume Guibet is the third generation, highly successful chef offering new creative dishes often with an Asian twist.

Auberge de La Grange aux Loups – Bib Gourmand

Julie and Dorian Wicart have established themselves in this enterprise – essentially a restaurant with rooms. Design is contemporary with exposed stone walls, wood beams and a central fireplace. Come here for excellent classic dishes with modern flourishes. Try a starter like salmon terrine with ratte potatoes and herbed fromage blanc. Mains include fish and meat with modern touches like roast shrimps and Camargue rice with chorizo and fennel. There’s a terrace for summer dining.

La Grange de Belle-Église – 1 Michelin star

This is the restaurant for great traditional cooking. The pretty restaurant is classically decorated with plush and comfortable tables and chairs and there’s a garden for outdoor dining. Chef Marc Duval champions classic dishes using local ingredients: asparagus, gnocchis, escargots. Main dishes are divided into 4 fish and 4 meat possibilities. Try roasted guinea fowl cooked in its own juice and in Jura vin jaune with sweet potatoes. For fish? Go for roast turbot with morilles and asparagus.  

More about Hauts-de-France

In 2023, Hauts-de-France won the Best European Gastronomy Award. Here’s an article about why the region won – ingredients, restaurants, dishes and more.

More about Food in France

The Food of France – An Intriguing Story
Discover the Best French Regional Food
Discover the top Food Festivals in France 
Read more about Food in Burgundy
Read more about the Food of Provence
French Christmas Food

Surprisingly, the artist Toulouse-Lautrec was a great cook. He followed the seasons and local produce. More about this unexpected gourmet and the Art of Cuisine.

France Regions
France Departments
How to get to Nord, Pas de Calais and Picardy