Rock, paper… comfort! Right in the thick of Montpellier’s buzziest bar-hopping strip, Ceba hunkers down beneath medieval vaulted ceilings, in a space that’s equal parts grand and intimate, with soaring arches, an open kitchen and safe-haven warmth that makes you want to settle in and stay awhile. At the helm, Agathe Visier (ex-Le Servan in Paris) – half Catalan, half culinary conjuror – stitches together plates that are like geometry in motion, yet always razor-sharp in execution: melting fried eggplant drizzled in honey sauce; delicate pork terrine crafted in-house by Oscar, the resident charcutier; a punchy lentil dahl crowned with crispy onions, yogurt and coriander; or gloriously juicy pork loin from Maison Febeo in the Tarn, draped over creamy, spoonable polenta. To close? A balm-like Fleur du Maquis sheep’s cheese with apricot paste – a pure edible embrace, or, for the sweet-toothed nostalgics, a divinely old-school floating island, cloud-like and covered in caramel, delivering a full-blown childhood throwback. · Megan Linar

FEELING THIRSTY? A sharp selection of natural wines, digestifs and house-made non-alcoholic ferments: Amorcito, a syrah-black muscat from Laura Aillaud (€7 a glass), Connexió Còsmica, a Catalan white from Còsmic Vinyaters (€43 a bottle) and Eponyme, a syrah-grenache from Carmen Etcheverry and Martin Ballot (€38).

PRICE: Set menus €18-23 (lunch), plates €7-21 (dinner).