A couple of us Americans spent a week in Marseilles setting up a backup system for a mainframe customer. For a celebration party, the head of the customer IT department took the team out to dinner. The appetizer dish was ante pasta with chunks of grilled octopus. My friend and I were visibly hesitant, but being good sports, we tried it. We ate so much that they brought out a second plate.
Deep fried squid or octopus is OK, but grilled was really good.
I just got back from Nice. I love a good grilled poulpe salad!