I spent a fine amount of time looking up bouchons, and mapping each bouchon on my Google maps that I use for travel. In Lyon, a bouchon is a traditional restaurant serving Lyonnais food, according to Wikipedia. The official label people say that a bouchon has "respect for the culinary tradition of Lyon", serves "homemade family cuisine prepared on-site" with "quality and origin of fresh and local" (lol) in a "typical Lyons atmosphere in a historic setting" with a "warm welcome". I looked up each on Tripadvisor, and put the rating next to the restaurant, and chose a bit based on where I was, a bit based on the Tripadvisor rating, and a bit based on what I had set out to eat, which were oeufs meurette and quenelle. I proudly present my Google map but note it has a bunch of other things in it.
I found myself in Vieux Lyon, the old city. I decided on Les Lyonnais, currently ranked #210 on Tripadvisor, as it was right there, had the highest rating of all 4 bouchons in the area, and had everything I wanted to eat. Not to be boring and repeat myself (OK I guess I am boring and repeating myself), I ordered the oeufs meurette, which is poached eggs in a red wine sauce with onions, mushrooms and pork, and quenelle, which is ground pike fish dumplings in a lobster sauce with rice on the side. The oeufs meurette was an OK dish. I enjoyed the mushrooms and pork, but found that I could not really taste my egg yolks (I love runny egg yolks) due to it running into the red wine sauce, which was rather watery and not that flavourful. The dumpling of the quenelle dish itself did not have a ton of taste, but the lobster sauce was DIVINE. I could have drank that thing, but I resisted and almost said no when the waiter asked if I was done. For dessert I got a praline cake, which was not bad, but I think I want a praline tart, and only a praline tart will satisfy my praline craving.
Overall not a bad meal, I would recommend it for someone who wants to try Lyonnais food. The service was efficient and friendly and I liked that. Someone two seats down from me ordered this ravioli in a gruyere sauce that smelled like heaven. The ravioli, from what I understood with my bad French, was sort of from the region too, so it wouldn't have been the worst thing if I ordered it, I suppose.
Here is an article on bouchons from the Lyon travel website.
http://www.en.lyon-france.com/Discover-Lyon/Gastronomy-Fine-Dining/Le-bouchon-lyonnais-Traditional-Restaurants
Here is a list from the official bouchon website.
Bon appetit!
I found myself in Vieux Lyon, the old city. I decided on Les Lyonnais, currently ranked #210 on Tripadvisor, as it was right there, had the highest rating of all 4 bouchons in the area, and had everything I wanted to eat. Not to be boring and repeat myself (OK I guess I am boring and repeating myself), I ordered the oeufs meurette, which is poached eggs in a red wine sauce with onions, mushrooms and pork, and quenelle, which is ground pike fish dumplings in a lobster sauce with rice on the side. The oeufs meurette was an OK dish. I enjoyed the mushrooms and pork, but found that I could not really taste my egg yolks (I love runny egg yolks) due to it running into the red wine sauce, which was rather watery and not that flavourful. The dumpling of the quenelle dish itself did not have a ton of taste, but the lobster sauce was DIVINE. I could have drank that thing, but I resisted and almost said no when the waiter asked if I was done. For dessert I got a praline cake, which was not bad, but I think I want a praline tart, and only a praline tart will satisfy my praline craving.
Overall not a bad meal, I would recommend it for someone who wants to try Lyonnais food. The service was efficient and friendly and I liked that. Someone two seats down from me ordered this ravioli in a gruyere sauce that smelled like heaven. The ravioli, from what I understood with my bad French, was sort of from the region too, so it wouldn't have been the worst thing if I ordered it, I suppose.
Here is an article on bouchons from the Lyon travel website.
http://www.en.lyon-france.com/Discover-Lyon/Gastronomy-Fine-Dining/Le-bouchon-lyonnais-Traditional-Restaurants
Here is a list from the official bouchon website.
Bon appetit!
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