Good evening all Francophiles

Where would you dine if you had just one dinner in Lyon? Or one lunch.

OK, make that two fantastic meals. One dinner, one lunch. Under 100E for dinner, under 50E for lunch. Under 50E for each would be fantastic.

Thanks!

You might want to look in viaMichelin to see what it recommends.

It's been several years since we were in Lyon. We had a wonderful meal there...but places could change so I hesitate to pull out the reference. It wasn't as expensive as Paris, as I recall. And it was pretty much off-season -- OK it was Les Adrets. People seem to like it on Trip Advisor, with good recent ratings. It is on "Beef Street" (That cracked me up) in the old town. You will want to get a reservation as it does fill up, apparently.

Another recommendation for Les Adrets (at the risk of revealing a gem, but clearly at least two of us here have eaten there so it can't be that hidden!). Was there again last year and it's still a great meal. Otherwise, Aux 24 Colonnes around in the less imaginatively-named rue des Trois Maries, still in the Old Town, is another Bouchon with Lyonnaise (and French) classics at good prices. Les Retrouvailles also in rue Bouef is an alternative is Les Adrets is full. I also had a lovely meal in the sweetly named Pierre et Martine which is tucked away on the other side of the Cathedral to the restaurants above, on rue Ferrachat. It's beautifully laid out, white table cloths, great wine list, small a la Carte menue (4 or 5 choices in each course) or Set Menu prices. The atmosphere is quiet and just a little bit romantic, but food-wise you may find your choices limited if you are fussy.

I can never remember the names of any of the Bouchons in the small alley which runs between rue St Jean and rue Bouef, but there is one on the left as you turn from rue St Jean which has a barrel out the front, looks "rustic" but has some of the best escargot (snails) and cuisses de grenouille (frog's legs) I've had - delish! And a great wine list all at good prices.

For lunch I had an excellent pan of moules with frits at Brasserie 1900 about 5 years ago. Including wine it came to €16. It's on the walk street in old town.

spaarne, think Brasserie 1900 is on the pedestrian area between Place Carnot and Place Bellcour called rue Victor Hugo (the one with all the shops), not the Vieux Lyon (Old Town). I've walked past it many times, but not eaten there - will add to list.

While we're in that part of town and talking brasserie, there are two great brasserie on either side of the start of rue Victor Hugo as you cross over from Place Carnot on the pedestrian crossing. One is on the left with a yellow awning and called (I think, really must start writing things down) Brasserie l'Espace Carnot. On the other corner opposite is a burgundy (how appropriate!) awning for Brasserie Victor Hugo. Both have great local dishes, good prices and outdoor and indoor seating.

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madamtrashheap on Aug 5, 11 at 3:13am
spaarne, think Brasserie 1900 is on the pedestrian area between Place Carnot and Place Bellcour called rue Victor Hugo</i>

You are right. It is on rue Victor Hugo per my notes. Lunch was not served until 11h45 so I had a glass of wine until the kitchen opened.

My first nigth I went to Brasseries Georges...since 1836. Very nice old style decor, big and bustling, and good food. Live jazz band at night. Bit hard to find.

La Machonnerie in the Old Town is a good bouchon. I've read somewhere that not all bouchons are "authentic". Very friendly chef and owner, small, hang out for locals.

I ate at L'Est, a Bocuse restaurants and it was good.

bookmarking

My best meal by a long shot last year:
La Boname de Bruno:5 grand rue des feuillants 04 78 30 83 93

Another vote for Brasseries Georges
http://www.brasseriegeorges.com/
"...a very large room, dating from far back enough to have been renovated in Empire, Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles.

The staff is very well trained. Watching them navigate among the tables is like being at a stage show. Not one dropped dish all night.

Roberta had the "The Traditional" seafood plateau - 25E - 2 ea of 3 kinds of oysters, 3 mussels, 4 snails, 3 red shrimp, 3 grey shrimp, a bowl of periwinkles, a bowl of teeny, weeny shrimpies (sort of like popcorn), lots of bread, butter and the usual condiments. The oysters were particularly good.

I had the "Menu Lyonnais" - 25E - A salad with herring, lentils, greens, beans and calf's foot (XLNT), Choucroute of smoked fish (Yes, you can mix fish with sauerkraut), cheese, Rhum Baba for dessert.

With aperitifs and a bottle of dry Muscadet fuissé -100E".

Enjoy your visit.

All: thanks for the tips. I have plenty of options now. No hotel yet, but I'll probably sort that out this weekend.

<<Watching them navigate among the tables is like being at a stage show. Not one dropped dish all night.>>

So, ira, is it common for wait staff to drop dishes where you dine? LOL.

flygirl, I enjoyed La Machonnerie very much. And French friends took my son and me to Les Trois Cochons, which was also very good, though I have no idea how "authentic" it is. I had pigs' feet (an acquired taste), and my son had pigs' ears, which were just like pork cracklins and quite delicious.

Been awhile but for a lunch I'd try any of the Bouchon in old town. For dinner we dined at several places that were associated with the great chefs. I know one was called Cafe/Bistrot de Nord and another de est or some such other direction.

Some of the restaurants in the Old Town are a bit tourist oriented: guy standing outside, hawking his food. I tried one (Panier a Salade) and it was not very good.

There is however, a very nice pattiserie as you walk into the Old Town from the cathedral, on the right hand side, near the old gate. I made a couple of lunch time stops there.

Bocuse has several restos in Lyon. L'Est is in old train station. A little touch I liked was the small burner they brought to table and then place under metal dish with my potatoes. Nice service.

If you try Machonnerie, ask for gnafron drink. It is his homemade concoction. He even poured it over my ice cream. Bit of a kick to it though.

We'll be in Lyon in September, and La Machonnerie sounds very interesting. I went to their website, looked at the 'menus' and saw something I can't quite figure out - "Cervelle de canuts à l'huile de choux" which would seem to translate to "silk workers brains with cabbage oil." Could one of you Fodorite foodies please enlighten me? I'm pretty adventurous with food, but what in the world is this?

Another item on the menu is "fromage blanc avec sa "berte" à crème." Don't find "berte" in my dictionary either.

Wikipedia to the rescue

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cervelle_de_canut

I believe it's berthe, not berte, and is basically vanilla-flavored tapioca pudding.

Lyon was the home of the silkworm industry in France. The now-famous traboules are the alleyways the canuts (silk workers) used to allow them to get quickly from their ateliers high up on the hill down to the lower town.

Thanks again everyone, only a week before I leave...

Hi Fly,

What are you looking for in a "fantastic" meal?

We found http://www.brasseriegeorges.com/ quite good - about 50E pp w/wine

I believe that http://www.les-3-domes.com/uk/index.php is a 1*

Enjoy your visit.