Trip to Lyon - Part II A Gastronomic Delight (cont'd)

Whenever you "google" restaurants in Lyon, the type of restaurant called a "Buchon" comes up. Whenever you "google" "Buchon" restaurants in Lyon, the name Chabert et Fils comes up. The Chabert family runs 4 Buchons in Lyon, one of which, Au 3 Cochons was near our hotel on Rue des Marroniers. We made a reservation for 8pm, relaxed a bit and then later, walked through the light rain
to the restaurant.

The Buchons are about 180 degrees from the L'Institut. We were greeted by a large, friendly waiter and were shown to our table by the window while the Patron chatted with a group of his friends nearby. A little bit different ambiance than our lunch time setting.The waiter spoke no English except "drink?" and "thank you" but he was very welcoming and helpful. He suggested a local Cote du Rhone and then brought us an appetizer of pigs ears for the table. They were tasty bits of pig flesh especially when eaten on a piece of bread with some "special sauce".

Frog's Legs

Henry was the most daring in his choices. He ordered "Jols" for the appetizer. We really had no idea what they were. But once we saw the big basket of little fried fish we guessed they were some sort of minnow. Not sure what they were, but they were good. I couldn't find any translation of "Jols" on line. Next, he ordered Frogs Legs which he said were terrific. I'll take his word for it. Gigi had an onion tarte for app and ordered an Ox Tail Parmentier, casserole of meat with a layer of mashed potatoes.It looked good.

Quenelle

Chicken a la ?

 Judy and I weren't too daring. For an appetizer, I had an omelet with a crayfish sauce. Then I had a sort of chicken in creme fraiche with gratin dauphinoise and Judy had a quenelle de brochet, a creamed pike in a light crust. Everyone was pleased with their meal although we needed another bottle of wine to wash it down.

The highlight for us was when the waiter and owner came to the table to give each couple a book about the restaurant and all the recipes. We were very appreciative. Henry said it made his day. We shook hands with the waiter and Patron and walked back to the hotel in a little bit more rain.

It was a beautiful sight to see the Basilique on the top of Fourviere lit up at night. 

The next morning it was raining again but we still had to make a bit more of a tour of Vieux Lyon. We took the metro again to the Vieux Lyon stop and just walked around a bit. We had crepes at a small cafe and ducked in and out of cover to avoid the rain and wind. Surprisingly, we had worked up an appetite and decided to try another buchon before heading back to Paris. We had just enough time for more food. Here's me giving the stink eye to the troops to try to get them rounded up for our next meal.

 This time we chose a buchon on the corner of Rue du Boeuf and Neuve St Jean called Le Comptoir du Boeuf. It was barely lunch time, so when we walked in it looked like it was not yet open for business. But the chef sent a waiter who walked us next door to another room with a few customers.

The waiter was a friendly young guy who worked the whole room. He had to carry all the orders from the kitchen in the next building to the dining area through some connecting doors. He never dropped a thing while going up and down stairs and opening and closing doors with his feet and elbows.

We ordered a carafe of water and a carafe of Cote du Rhone and chose our meals. Henry decided on the Carrot soup, Gigi had another parmentier of saucisson chaud (hot sausage) while I had a hunk of boeuf with frites and Judy had a hot goat cheese salad.

This time we also had dessert. The Cafe Gourmand is a combo-plate of special desserts along with an espresso

 And I had Profiterolles (ice cream puff) which was delicious. Luckily we had extra spoons to help me finish it.

It actually took a couple of hours for lunch and we needed to get back to the hotel to collect our back packs to get to the train. 24 hours, great tourist attractions, 4 great, memorable meals and a high speed train back to Paris. Not a bad way to spend a day.