Set in a grand Avignon mansion, this place is just asking to be labelled ‘trendy’. Don’t let that put you off, the outdoor area is in the huge courtyard in the middle of the building, with a cocktail bar, and sometimes a DJ is at work: you almost expect a catwalk to pop up for a fashion show. Inside and out, they have injected bling into a marvellous old building. The food is good, typical modern French fare, with very good service. This is for the young and the young at heart. Also a great place to come for a pre-dinner drink and take it all in. Mojito 8 euros, lunch menu 2 courses at 17 euros, dinner menu 3 courses at 30 euros.

Like eating in a beach hut in a little harbour just outside of town, Chez Paul has great service, very good pizza from the wood-fired oven, simple pan-fried fish straight from the boats, and epic desserts. Average for 3 courses is 40 euros per person.

A simple, real place with no pretensions, used by locals and students, you probably wouldn’t look at it twice in passing, but it’s an authentic piece of Avignon life. It’s a cafe more than a restaurant, a place for breakfast, a beer and a sandwich, and for people-watching. You can sit out in Place des Corps Saints which is a great little square shaded by plane trees, with fountain of course.

If you want a gastronomic (and expensive) dinner, there is one luxury address in Gordes, the Bastide de Gordes hotel. Confusingly it has 3 restaurants, the best of these is called Peir / Pierre Gagnaire TT (more confusion). Perhaps it is enough to say that the executive chef Pierre Gagnaire has 3 Michelin stars in other restaurants and in 2015 was voted best chef in the world by his peers. The Bastide de Gordes has a wonderful big terrace with view to the west.

This modern cafe sprawls across the new shopping centre of Les Allées Provencales. We wouldn’t recommend it for lunch when service can be slow and food is average, but it’s a good place for breakfast – freshly squeezed juice, decent coffee and croissants. And if you have kids with energy, it’s on a big pedestrian square that’s perfect for burning some of it off.

A simple-looking bistro by the giant olive pots set back from the port behind the Hotel de Ville, but with food that packs great flavours. The menu changes all the time and is dedicated to the Mediterranean region. You choose from two starters, two mains and two desserts. Lunch menu 28 euros, chef’s dinner menu at 45 euros.

Cafe Gaby is at the centre of village life in Lourmarin, physically and socially. It is a place to start the day with coffee and breakfast, or to enjoy a drink in the sun or a simple lunch and to people-watch – the centre of Lourmarin is a great place for that. Dishes are basic cafe fare – goat cheese salad, omelettes, a daily special, fries. On market day – Fridays – the typical Provencal dish of aioli is added to the menu. And the owner is a delight.

Situated on the main square of Bonnieux, Le Terrail continues fels like a village hub. It continues to serve up good, honest, simple Provencal fare at a good price, like aioli, lamb chops, rabbit stew, salade nicoise. There is also an outside terrace with a great view, fantastic for sunsets. 3-course menu at 17 euros.

A Marseille institution, this is the place to try Marseille’s specialty fish dish, bouillabaisse. At Fonfon you are a few feet from the fishermen’s boats that brought in the catch, they take care to show you all the fish that will go into your bouillabaisse, and you can spend the evening just savouring this hearty and substantial classic. And the setting is amazing, in a sea inlet tucked away in a city of a million inhabitants. Bouillabaisse is 53 euros per person.

The freshest shellfish is at Toinou. You have to engage with the process, it is now like a canteen service: you queue up to buy your dinner and extras in advance, and it is delivered to your table. But the food is irreproachable, as fresh as can be. Here you understand the beauty of shellfish accompanied by a flinty white wine. Go for a platter of fruits de mer with oysters, mussels, clams, prawns, langoustines, crab. The house lemon tart is also memorable. The restaurant is big, with 3 floors, so you won’t wait long to get a table.

First the location is stunning, on a promontory jutting out into a wonderful view of the ochre cliffs of Roussillon and beyond. Then the food follows suit, it’s at a very good standard, in the Provencal style. In summer the market menu puts tastes and colours of the local markets on a plate, in winter the fireplace menu delivers roast suckling pig, lamb and rabbit. If you only knew the old David, it’s changed, coem back, it’s the best in Roussillon again. Be sure to book. Menus from 29 to 48 euros.

Very charming family-run ‘tartine’ bistro, very homely, like belonging to a French family for a brief period. Also plenty of tables out in the sqaure. Tartines are basically open sandwiches, a slice of baguette with hot or cold topping, and very good they are too. For example: goat cheese and honey, or salmon and horseradish, both great combinations. An ‘assiette gourmande’ menu is 3 half-tartines for 11 euros. Also soups and salads. The cute boy on the poster is still the owner, though his appearance has somewhat changed!

Highly rated chef Daniel Hebet presides over a classy dining experience in a delightful walled garden, loved by locals and visitors alike. There is a set menu with no choice, it depends what the chef found that day. This will not suit everyone, especially fussy eaters. The setting is an old town house and being in Isle sur la Sorgue means antiques and collectables make up the elegant decor. 3-course menus are 37 euros at lunch and 45 euros for dinner.

L’Aparte is a simple place offering good value for money, and a perfect spot for people watching on market days. Food is Provencal, and it quickly fills up with locals who appreciate the unpretentious, friendly service. As the owners say, what they do is simple, but not simplistic. Set menus from 14 to 28 euros.

A delightful restaurant in vaulted rooms that date back to the 14th century, or on the terrace on the street, where food is of a very good standard and local to the region. Pork slow-cooked for 8 hours, or duck Wellington stuffed with foie gras, both are as mouth-watering on the page as they are on the plate. 3-course menus at 31 and 43 euros.

A delightful contemporary bistro with Mediterranean home-style cuisine that does not give you the feeling that you are a tourist. It’s small with outside tables right in the main square of Gordes by the chateau, and you should book ahead. Strong on meat – the lamb and the duck with chanterelles especially. Dinner menu for 37 euros.

Strictly for carnivores, with meat-heavy menu, and the go-to place for that French classic, steak & frites. Outside seating on the terrace. Menu at 21 euros.

Friendly service and inventive menus that change every day according to what fresh and seasonal produce is found, with a choice of 3 starters, main courses and desserts. The menu is 25 euros for 3 courses. Inside you dine in a vaulted room and there is also a nice terrace outside on the main square of Bonnieux.

Edouard Loubet is a big name in Provence cooking, and he has two Michelin stars to his name. His hotel and restaurant Bastide de Capelongue lives up to everything you might expect – the setting is wonderful, the food divine, the service impeccable, the prices as high as the steeple of Bonnieux’s church. The menu is complicated to the point where you may only understand what the main ingredient in a dish is, but put yourself in the chef’s hands and you won’t regret it. 5-course menu at 140 euros, 7-course menu at 190 euros.

About a mile outside the village on the D3 to Bonnieux, Bastide de Marie is a luxury boutique hotel with restaurant. The outside setting is magical, on a terrace with a canopy of trees, in a sea of vineyards, quite stunning. The vineyards produce the wine of the Bastide. The restaurant is calm and elegant, service reassuringly correct. Typical dishes might be squid stuffed with ratatouille, grilled sole with Swiss chard gratin. The chef only uses seasonal ingredients, sourced from the markets. For fine dining, expect to pay around 50€ a head for lunch before drinks. You must book well ahead as there are limited tables for non-guests.