Lyon is the gastronomy capital of France, so we are told. If you want authentic Lyonnais dishes while in town, then you are best served to seek out a certified bouchon. Many restaurants in Lyon call themselves bouchons; however, only 21 in the city are certified as genuine by Les Bouchons Lyonnais.
So where did we go out to eat? Let’s see. Betty’s Bar for relatively inexpensive beer (€4 pints) and hot dogs. Apparently we needed hot dogs with cheese and bacon. Next, Best Bagels, featuring bagel sandwiches and a combo meal that includes a donut. Third, we returned to Best Bagels. You just can’t go wrong with a great bagel sandwich and good donut.
Fourth, The New World Smoke, a barbeque joint. The website promised American style barbeque, so being from Memphis we absolutely had to try this place. We walked into what seemed like a large closet with cramped seating for 20 people, a small bar, decorations including an American flag and Chicago White Sox hat, with a French punk rock concert being shown on a big screen. Good start; great ambiance.
The enthusiastic chef (owner?) worked very hard to explain the very simple menu to us using his very limited English speaking skills. Thankfully the waitress (his girlfriend?) stood nearby prompting him with the occasional English word when he got lost in translation. The most amusing part of this whole episode is the fact that the menu is actually written in English.
Stephanie tried to short cut the lengthy explanation with a “we got it, we’re from Memphis” but that only seemed to confuse matters.
The menu would fit right in at any American barbeque restaurant: ribs, pulled pork, and sausage; half, whole, or mixed plate; and, beer. We decided to split the mixed plate of sausage, pulled pork (cooked in Guiness), and ribs, along with potatoes, mushrooms, and a small salad. The meal was pretty decent but did not really remind us of home (or any southern barbeque). It was a good try for France. We’re glad we went but, unlike Best Bagels, won’t be returning.
Most wait staff at restaurants in tourist zones (at least in most cities we’ve visited in Europe) have basic English speaking skills. Please resist the temptation to speak a foreign language on the fly when ordering. Your pronunciation is likely so far off that it will only confuse matters. Likewise, you probably don’t need to order by pointing at your menu. Sometimes you do, but don’t start there.
At one restaurant Stephanie immediately began pointing at her menu when our waitress arrived. Neither spoke a word to start. After much gesturing by Stephanie, the waitress said, in perfect English, “so you want a chicken gyro, anything else?” It was pretty damn funny.
Okay, since Stephanie is trying to become a foodie, and it was her birthday, we did make our way to an authentic bouchon for dinner, Daniel & Denise Saint Jean. We made reservations several days in advance as the restaurant does fill up.
While walking there, Stephanie wondered just how badly underdressed we would be in jeans and tennis shoes. Thankfully her concern was soon dispelled, as casual dress is the norm. We fit right in. It helped that we had enough sense not to show up in shorts or t-shirts. I didn’t even wear my Memphis Grizzlies hat.
We each opted for the Menu de Saison (Menu of the Season), basically a €43 meal consisting of a starter, entrée, and desert. Thank God the menu had English subtitles or who knows what we would have ordered. Actually, we would have managed just fine because our waitress spoke English. Stephanie didn’t point at her menu even once.
Stephanie started with the les oeufs François de plein air, en meurette, petite oignons, lardons, champignons, crûtons (that’s also known as soft poached eggs in meurette, onions, bacon, mushrooms and croutons) before moving on to la poitrine de cochon fermier du Cantal crousti-fondante, salade de roquette et fenouil, jus porto-raisin (roasted pork belly from Cantal, vegetable confit and red porto juice and grapes; served with macaroni and cheese), with la tarte tatin aux pralines de St Genix (apple tart with pralines) for dessert.
I chose la salade de lentilles verte à la lyonnaise, cervelas pistaché, vinaigrette au jus de viande (the Lyonnaise lentils salad, sausage with pistachio, and meat juice) for my starter. Truthfully, I almost asked if I could skip the starter and get two desserts instead. This was the only starter that I was even remotely interested in having. It was actually pretty good, though I probably would have liked two desserts more.
For my main entrée it was le paleron de bœuf français mijoté au vin rouge et olive noir, concassée de tomates et câprons (beef paleron confit with red wine sauce, black olives, tomatoes and capers; served with fried potato slices) followed up with a crème brûlée à la vanille.
A large beer was an extra €6, so we limited our alcohol to one beer each. Afterwards we stopped by the Casino supermarket and picked up a six pack of Kronenbourg for €5.
With the €3 service fee, our dinner cost just over €100, but my once a year fancy restaurant quota is satisfied for 2024.
As a reminder (to Stephanie), and for comparison purposes, our dinner at Daniel & Denise cost about the same as two trips to Best Bagels plus 12 six packs of beer, or just 20 six packs of beer.
Les Halles de Lyon Paul Bocuse is the fancy food market in Lyon. We headed there one afternoon not really sure what to expect, other than that high quality food would be available for sale.
What we found was a large, clean, and well-organized market (completely opposite from what you might find in Mexico) roughly split up as follows: 1/3 of the businesses sell products; 1/3 are just small restaurants; and, 1/3 combine the two. It would be a great place to have a meal and go shopping afterwards.
We poked around looking for baklava for dessert, but did not see any. Instead, we saw lots of tarts and fancy looking macaroons. No real surprise there. We skipped dessert.
After literally weeks of dreary days in Lyon, we finally had some sunshine. We eagerly hopped on the metro and made our way to Parc de la Tête d’Or for an afternoon. The park is large with ample green space and trails, as well as tennis courts, bocce ball courts, and playgrounds for kids. There are joggers and walkers everywhere. A lot of them. And little kids on field trips. It might just be our favorite city park.
At one end of the park is Lyon’s botanical gardens, which are free to enter. There are a couple of large greenhouses with plants and a nice sized garden. Two rose gardens are located elsewhere in the park. On the opposite side of the park is a large lake, complete with boats available to rent.
Near the center of the park is the Lyon zoo, also free to enter, but really not worth your time. The zoo is old and has few exhibits, many of which are empty and overgrown with weeds. Either the city should give the zoo a complete overhaul or just rip it out and put in some soccer fields. Adjacent to the zoo is an area of kiddie rides and games, like a tiny fair.
Notwithstanding the time we wasted walking through the zoo, Parc de la Tête d’Or is fantastic and we enjoyed the several hours we spent exploring it.
Garrett and Stephanie
The Travel Blog page contains collected links to all of our travel posts. Check it out if you have not already done so.
Want to subscribe (or unsubscribe) for email notification of new blog posts? It is only two to three emails a month. Send your name and email address to slowtravelchronicles@gmail.com, and note subscribe (or unsubscribe) in the subject line. All email addresses will be kept confidential and not sold to any third-party. You won’t get any marketing junk or sales pitches from us.