Casa Bomba

For a taste of the Mediterranean in the Pink City, this is the place to be! A bathing suit is not required if you want to try Fabrice Mignot’s cuisine, who is also the owner of Biquet Plage and Nudisme Interdit in the Aude and Hérault departments. Alongside his partner Guillaume Corona and his longtime friend Théo Mandement (Jour de Marché), the TV-famous chef has set up shop on Place Dupuy for the rowdy Casa Bomba: a restaurant with industrial decor (exposed tubing, a metal and glass roof) dotted with small statues of the Virgin Mary, a kitsch nod to southern Spain and Italy. And our plates smelled divinely of the Mediterranean the day we went for lunch: refreshing flame-charred mackerel with peas, a pea pod jus and seaweed; chicken breast intensified by an intense crab jus, a surprising surf ’n’ turn combo complemented by a carrot purée with crumble topping; before an ingenious strawberry, arugula and almond millefeuille. At night, there are shared snacks (hummus, anchovies, smoked taramasalata, etc.) or squid ink and red shrimp rice. Toulouse has never felt this close to the sea! // Auguste Marie 

FEELING THIRSTY? : Wines that have gotten a healthy dose of sunshine: a Pinot noir from Carcassonne produced by Pierre Tailleur de Vins (€5 a glass), a rioja Granacha from Bodegas Moraza (€40 a bottle), Miral, a Nero d’Avola from Cantine Fina (€35)… 
PRICE: : Set menus €21-25 (lunch), snacks €7-13, mains €20-22, rice €65 (to share), desserts €10-11.