Finding a table in Lyon was not easy. Having to dine there twice I wanted to vary the pleasures with a starred restaurant and something more modern and creative. I was too late to find a table in a starred restaurant until one became available at Jérémy Galvan.

I booked online but after a few hours I received an email telling me that they could not honor my reservation. The odds are pretty good that they would have preferred to make a reservation for two than for one, which is becoming more and more common and about which I hear more and more people complaining. Anyway, I have to find a restaurant at the last minute and I added Galvan to the list of restaurants I will avoid when I dine with someone.

That said, there is no lack of good restaurants in Lyon and if you have to eat in a “normal” restaurant, having a lot of possibilties makes the decision more complicated. Hopelessly and also lazily I set my sights on a local institution: Léon de Lyon.

By not taking any risks, there is no risk of making great discoveries, but I didn’t want to tire myself out by searching too much. I am a bit apprehensive, however: the last time I dined at an institution, namely Los Caracoles in Barcelona, I found a property that had lost all its charm and was content to serve hordes of tourists in an almost industrial way. This is the risk with such properties and I am crossing my fingers that the same mishap does not happen to me twice in a row.

For the record, here are all the articles about this trip to Lyon.

The concept of Léon de Lyon

The restaurant presents itself as a gastronomic restaurant of French cuisine. In terms of gastronomy, I would rather talk about a high-end restaurant or brasserie.

This term of gastronomic restaurant undoubtedly refers to the past of this property, an institution that has seen all the local gottha and various celebrities but that has lost the star with which it was long haloed.

The setting of Léon de Lyon

The property looks like a very wealthy mansion.

The reception area is a cosy lounge.

The room is actually composed of two rooms. The first one looks like a rather bourgeois dining room with a typical starred restaurant setting. The second, where I will eat, will be simpler with more of a brasserie style. An impression may be due to the absence of tablecloths on the tables unlike the first room.

A difference in treatment that I find hard to explain. I just hope it won’t be the same for the service.

One last thing: the restaurant has an open kitchen.

Leon de Lyon’s menu

We find very classic dishes of the French cuisine.

A very classic and not very innovative menu but that’s what we are looking for in this type of property.

The property also has two set menus.

A simplified wine list accompanies the menu. I’ll settle for that.

I occasionally learn that Laurent Gerra (a french humorist born in Lyon) makes wine, I just hope it’s better than his morning humor on RTL (a french radio). Anyway, it won’t be my choice.

Dinner and service

When I enter the restaurant there is no one at the reception. Other customers are waiting and visibly getting impatient. We end up walking towards the room in the hope of finding someone.

They will be taken care of by a butler and I by the person who obviously should have been at the reception. She will accompany me to my table without a glance or a smile. Good atmosphere.

After a certain time of waiting, the menu is brought to me. I was going to order an appetizer but the waiter turned away before I even opened my mouth.

My choice is quick: I’ll have the snails confit in brioche and the beef wellington, Gordon Ramsay‘s signature dish of which we are fans at Travelguys. I hesitated with sweetbreads but I eat enough of it all year round, being one of my favorite dishes, so I decided to change it up a bit. I will accompany this with a glass of red wine (not Laurent Gerra).

I look at the room with more attention: old fashioned, stylish but not dusty. So that’s a very good point.

The waiter comes to take my order and I finally manage to ask for my aperitif. It should have been done earlier but well…It will be a glass of Mumm.

The waiter comes back with the cutlery and asks me if I will have wine. I tell him that I have already ordered it with the rest of the dishes. So far the least I can say is that I am not impressed with the service.

He brings me my appetizer and asks me if I want the wine at the same time. I feel like answering that I will wait to drink it with my coffee but I hold back.

The wine will arrive immediately but they won’t let me taste it. Anyway it is good.

Nothing to say about the presentation. The dish is good without being exceptional and in the end I will count maybe 4 snails! Disappointing.

Then comes the beef wellington after a logical wait but which I did not find excessive.

When cut in two, it looks like this.

It comes with mashed potatoes and sauce.

The meat is very good but I am still looking for the foie gras. Maybe 3 or 4 tiny pieces that I will have trouble identifying. This aside (but for a beef wellington it matters) the dish will be very good as will the mashed potatoes.

However, I had to wait forever to order my dessert. I’ll have the crepes suzette.

The speed at which they arrive on my table seems suspicious given the amount of preparation time it takes.

Again, it’s good.

The table is then cleared without me being asked if I want a coffee…which will be done 10 minutes later.

Then a lot of waiting to get the bill. I really want to go and I pay mechanically. It’s only when I arrived at the hotel that I realized that there was a 30 euro error on the bill (they counted my two dishes plus a menu). For once I’m not in control this will serve as a lesson but it doesn’t improve my perception of the service in this property. 129 euros for that hurts a lot.

The atmosphere

Friendly but not noisy and I had very nice German neighbors. So it was quite pleasant.

The staff

Nobody at the reception, then a very cold greeting.

Service a little slow, things I was asked twice, especially about wine service.

A mistake on the bill (even if it’s my fault for not noticing it).

Not an impersonal service but a strange one: friendly but not very focused, as if they were thinking about something else.

Bottom line

Let’s start with the basics: the dishes. It was good but stingy (number of snails, foie gras in the beef). So a bit disappointing compared to the promise of the property.

The staff was friendly, except for the receptionist, but the service was inconsistent overall.

I am far from having experienced the same disappointment as in Los Caracoles, but perhaps Leon de Lyon lives a little too much on his reputation and his past without questioning itself and thinking that in any case it will be enough to fill the room. There is nothing gastronomic here: it is a very good traditional bourgeois cuisine but not more. The same goes for the service.

In the end a good restaurant but disappointing if you compare the promise to the real experience. This is unfortunately too often the case with institutions whose reputations often turn out to be overrated.

Articles similaires

Restaurant le Soufflé, Paris. Good but not breathtaking. L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon, Dubai Le violon d’Ingres Paris: good but very perfectible for a starred restaurant Restaurant L’Auberge Bressane : a high quality traditional cuisine. Ribe Restaurant, Tallinn