Lyon / Beaune / Paris - Upcoming Visit

Regional Dining Discussions France
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Very grateful that it looks like we will be able to visit France in 2 wks…after cancelling multiple trips, we dragged our feet a bit on planning (assuming this one may be cancelled) We are traveling with our 12yr old - she’s desperate to be an adventurous foodie but isn’t quite there yet (meaning lots of offal, or very avant garde is a no go).

We’ve pulled together some ideas largely based on where we are staying, but open to reasonable travel (20-30 min walk or train). What we’re looking for is good, solid food at a reasonable price point. We’d like one “traditional” option in each city, but completely open past that and prefer not to eat the same food in a different location each evening. We have one nicer option in Lyon booked.

Lyon (staying in Vieux Lyon) - need a Sunday night option here

  • Notre Maison
  • L’Atelier des Augustins (nicer option)
  • Le Cabaretier
  • La Gache

Beaune (need a Monday night option here)

  • La Buissonniere
  • Le P’Tit Paradis
    Was hoping for a reservation at La Lune, but they may be on holiday and suggested we write back in early April (they weren’t sure if they’d be able to travel)

Paris (for some reason really struggling with where to book here) - we are staying near Place Vendome

  • La Regalade St Honore (throwback, really - we ate at the original Montparnasse location our first time in Paris)
  • Le Mermouz (via Paris by mouth - we’ll be doing one of their tours during our stay)
  • Juveniles

Any feedback or recommendations are most welcome. I’ve always appreciated the supportive advice from Chowhound and promise to report back with where we went and what we thought! Thank you –

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I’m interested in a Sunday night in Lyon in May, following this thread!

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I’ve learned from years of business trips to Lyon to avoid eating in Vieux Lyon. I’m not a huge fan of bouchons because so many of them are identikit and the only one I happen to know that is open on Sunday is Bouchon Comptoir Brunet in the Presqu’ile (on the other side of the river but walkable from Vieux Lyon). Notre Maison on your short list could be one of the bouchons I have been dragged to over the years but, since they are all so similar, they have become just one big blur in my memory. Ditto Le Cabaretier. La Gâche, I vaguely remember eating a rather good daube de joue de boeuf (sort of like a boeuf bourguignon but without the tiresome chunks of beef, and not on many bouchon menus) last October. The only bouchon I thought a cut above the others is Le Galet but not open on Sunday.

Beaune, no recent experience. I do have fond memories of a dinner in the lovely garden of Garum but that was in the summer and it’s a bit removed from the cutesy tourist-pleasing areas of Beaune… and I have no idea of its current quality.

Paris. Other than the licensed name, La Régalade St Honoré has nothing in common with the original Régalade in the lower 14th (not Montparnasse)… I found it adequate but a bit dull and have not returned for a second visit. If you want a little recherche du temps passé, maybe you should follow the original Regalade’s chef, Yves Camdeborde, to his newer Comptoir du Relais resto. Or, much more liked by me, the three wine/ French tapas bars (L’Avant Comptoir de la Terre, L’Avant Comptoir de la Mer, and L’Avant Comptoir du Marche) in St Germain des Prés… food is small plates style, not many tables, most customers are standing, kids ok.

Le Mermoz is a fine choice for the excellent cuisine but not sure it’s very convenient from the Vendôme quartier or that it is suitable for a 12-year-old.

Finding places to eat in the rather grand and rarified Vendôme quartier is always a challenge. We locals tend to congregate at Le Petit Vendôme on rue Capucines. For a fun ambiance, Balagan ( Israeli/ Levantine) is quite good if you want a little break from French cuisine. For a little olde-worldy interlude, Le Rubis wine-bar (kids ok) on rue du Marché St Honoré is great for a simple lunch or early dinner. Or just give in to the area’s “glamour” (pronounced in the French way) and go to the see-and-be-seen restaurant at Hotel Costes on the rue St Honoré… food is more international than French and not entirely memorable but the ambiance often is.

For a very good example of impeccably done trad bistro fare, Chez Monsieur near the Madeleine is excellent and an easy walk from the Vendôme quartier.

With a 12-year-old in tow, Le Grand Colbert near the Palais Royal is probably a good choice… sparkling décor and ambiance, a bit film-set-y (and indeed it has been used as a location for some American film whose title I forget), food “pas mal”/very decent but not outstanding, very varied menu.

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Jmags, I think all the places you listed are closed Sundays. I think I grabbed a res at Sommelier for that evening, have to check my calendar.

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Just one little correction. La Gâche is open on Sunday. But it’s a modern version of a bouchon and doesn’t have that cutesy olde-worlde appeal that lots of tourists require.

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@ParnParis Question: We enjoyed a fabulous and quintessential meal at Daniel et Denise, original room on rue Créqui. I have been pleased to read that it still ranks high on lists for authentic and quality bouchons. But a glance at the current MENU classic tripe dish, tablier de sapeur is missing. It appears that offal is almost minimal. Is this taking place across the bouchon category?

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I haven’t been to Daniel et Denise in a long time and have no clear memory of it. But not surprised that its menu has been reduced to best sellers because it’s now a mini-empire. Fried tripes are not for everyone and so the accountants probably removed it. Just last October when I was in Lyon on business, one of my Lyonnais friends remarked rather cleverly when we were considering of where to go for lunch that Daniel et Denise had replaced “ses jus” (essential flavour as a long-standing bouchon) with “miel”/ honey for the tourists.

I usually don’t have the choice of what bouchon but am dragged along by some Lyonnais business associate declaring it to be the best in Lyon. But, yes, the menus at most bouchons seem far less varied than in the past. I almost always know the menu before I read it.

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@ParnParis ]
As usual, you speak not only truth but truths.
“xxxxx are not for everyone and so the accountants probably removed it.”

Enter your favorite esoteric, hard to source, less crowd popular, perhaps “grandma” dish and only pray that it stays relevant enough to be featured.

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Thanks to all for the comments and recs! Just returned and had a fabulous time. will add more detail next weekend but wanted to get some initial thoughts up.

Lyon:

  • La Gache our first evening - was your “typical” bouchon - good food and a very good value in the set menu. More modern in ambiance than many of the other spots in Vieux Lyon. I now understand why you should go to only one of those – the menus were nearly identical in other options! This is open on Sunday and would be a good “typical bouchon” Sunday evening dinner.

  • L’Atelier des Augustins - this was our “nicer” dinner (which would still be okay for a 12 year old). Small place on rue des Augustins that cooks with all local ingredients and therefore has a set number of courses, but not a set menu. Well thought out wine list and our sommelier made an excellent recommendation of a Fixin white to pair with our meal. Each course was delicious - well prepared, looked fantastic on a plate and every aspect of the dish contributed to the overall flavor. First course was mushroom based, followed by 2 fishes, a poultry and 2 desserts. The desserts were the most interesting, in part perhaps because they had a more savory component than what we is common in the US (e.g. a meringue with black truffles, thinly sliced mushrooms and hazelnut spread). My only negative is the progression of dishes didn’t necessarily make sense (to me, at least). Overall thought it was a fantastic value (think 65E for 6 courses) and would return without hesitation.

  • Restaurant La Cambodia - after a big dinner the previous evening, wanted something a bit smaller for Sunday night. This bilevel restaurant in Vieux Lyon fit the bill - I haven’t eaten enough Cambodian food to compare the food here, but we thought the food we ate was very good and an excellent value.

Beaune

  • Le P’tit Paradis - another small restaurant run by a couple (he’s in the kitchen, she’s front of the house). Fully booked the evening we dined there. Menu with 4 options for entree/plat/dessert and very fairly priced. 3 of us had the menu and the 12 year old went a la carte. Overall the food here is very good and very high quality of ingredients. The plat’s overall were stronger for us than the entree’s - the entrees lacked some balance in the dishes for us (e.g. some were a bit on the blander side). The 12 year old had the pave de boeuf and inhaled it - it was excellent. Plat’s - very, very good. We enjoyed the baba au rhum and cheese plate more than the millefeuille for dessert. Well chosen wine list and was guided towards a very good bottle for the meal. They are open Monday evenings which is a great option. Would return without hesitation

La Bussonniere - slightly larger restaurant, again run by a couple (she’s in the kitchen, he’s the front of the house). Everything is a la carte. The food here was also very good. Entrees were more enjoyable for us than the plats. The 12 year old had outstanding fried chicken tenders. Escargots were good, though not as good as a version we had for lunch the previous day. Marrow was excellent. Their fish of the day and smoked pork belly rounded out our meal. Had a great local beer on offer. Overall - very good food and would return, but not as good a value as the preceding night.

Paris
L’Ami Jean - went with this on a paris by mouth rec (we did one of their food tours - HIGHLY recommend). This was just okay for us. 50/50 split between english speakers and french speakers in the restaurant. Very meat centric and its possible we weren’t avant garde enough in our order - did razor clams, duck breast, veal cheek and pork. The razor clams - broth was great, grit still in clams (not my favorite); the duck tasted excellent though difficult to cut. The pork came with lentils (very good) and veal was good. Rice pudding for dessert – I know its the popular order, but I actually like my version of that better. Price including a bottle of wine was 200E. We sat next to a gentleman from Chicago who was raving about his pigeon and mentioned he returns yearly. If you want to try interesting cuts of meat, this may be your place. Probably not on my return list.

We were to try Marietta one evening, but following the Paris by Mouth tour we could not eat anything else!

Juveniles wine bar - table and seating are more cafeteria like but the food and wine here is fabulous. We thoroughly enjoyed every dish we ordered (terrine / octopus / cod / hake / lamb followed by apple crumble), was recommended an excellent bottle of wine. Very well priced. Would absolutely return.

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Many mercis for your excellent feedback. It’s always intriguing to see what fits each individual and what doesn’t.

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Thanks for your feedback, always glad to hear them.

Yes, their version is heavy on chantilly cream and not a lot of rice.

Recently, I did notice that happened in the few places I’ve been visiting with shell fish. I think freshness and time the key to clean them thoroughly. A recent meal at Pierre Gagnaire had this problem as well, so I don’t know what is going wrong, or people no longer know how to clean them.

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A dumb question if I may: WHERE do all you “researchers” conduct said research? How do you come up with the lists like OP and others? I always went to CH AS my research; are there other sites you use to consider various options? Other than going down the Michelin list? How does everyone know about Septime, for example, as a go to (even if it’s somewhat out of favor now)?

I leave next week and feel mostly done with my planning (I’ll tweak I’m sure) but I’d really love to know for the future! Thanks for indulging.

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I hope you’ve already made reservations.

I’m curious about this as well. There are a dozen other chefs as talented in Paris, and the queues are much shorter.

Maybe Septime is on the list World’s 50 best restaurants? Or because Beyoncé has eaten there?

Founded by graphic-designer-turned-chef Bertrand Grébaut in 2011 and has since been awarded one Michelin Star. In 2017, Septime even won a Sustainable Restaurant Award.

Read this just now. Didn’t know this. Ha!

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Hi all! @ParnParis

Can anyone here recommend 1-2 solid ‘go-to’ spots in Lyon? No real constraints on food or budget, other than I top out at 3 courses max (my wife is Korean and hates coursed menus lol).

I’ve been pretty disappointed with the past 3 boucheries I’ve visited.

I’ve avoided the old town.

Eaten at two Bocuse spots, both fine but unmemorable.

I am having a hard time understanding how this is the ‘food capital of France’…am I doing something wrong?

I only have a few more days here, so any help would be appreciated…

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(If money is no object) I had a fabulous expense-account dinner at Le Neuvième Art about 6 months ago. Between the Parc de la Tête d’Or and Part-Dieu train station.

I had the tasting menu but they also do à la carte. Modern French cuisine/ very elegant contemporary decor. If you are looking for trad in cutesy surroundings, this is not the place for you.

You are not going to find memorable meals at the traditional but now identikit bouchons. Three is two too many.

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I had a very good meal at Léon de Lyon when I was last in Lyon a few months ago.

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A question about Septime, svp. I hear little about Gare au Gorille today. There was much speculation about the future of Septime when some of its major players decamped to create this new venture. We found Septime quite disappointing after this, but it seems that they have regained or retained their former “luster”? And how has GsG fared?