Born in the nineteenth century from a cheeky penchant for pork products and red wine as the working classes were going through a political awakening, the bouchon (the local version of the classic French bistro) has inadvertently become the double-cream ascendant emblem of Lyonnais gastronomy, where vegetables still only timidly emerge on the plates in the form of pickles, a handful of salad leaves lurking under a squadron of lardons, or a sprig of parsley tucked beneath a slice of head cheese. In other words, bouchons are small temples to excessive meat and charcuterie consumption, where you’re encouraged to feast in a festive environment, with bottomless appetites and glasses raised high.
Gingham tablecloths, pig-shaped tableware, rosy-cheeked owners… The bouchon could have slipped into a dark caricature of itself if a few die-hard fans of pork rind hadn’t ardently defended their bacon-heavy restaurant of choice. Lying in wait in Lyon, the authors of Tour de tables and columnists Goulven Le Pollès and Alicia Dorey have selected the crème de la crème of places where you can indulge in excess, and where you’re guaranteed to have an excellent time.
The criteria for this sensational selection:
° A traditional bistro-like atmosphere. An old-timey haven filled with spotted mirrors, timeworn parquet flooring, classic wooden furniture and cheerful owners.
° A gleefully repetitive menu. Summer and winter alike, it’s never lacking in heartiness: cervelas sausage, andouillette, pickled herring and potato salad, veal kidneys and sweetbreads are all there with a similar absentee rate to an event thrown by Le Fooding.
° A heaping dose of soulfulness. Well-seasoned vinaigrettes, rich jus de viande, top-notch cuts of meat, freshly-made golden croutons, plump baba au rhum and heavenly pink praline desserts, or nothing at all!
° Pitchers full of local (and if possible, natural) wines. Whether you opt for a glass of wine or a fillette, there are plenty of Beaujolais and Côtes-du-Rhône vintages ready to stain even the world’s most immaculate jacket.
The most festive spot
Low ceilings, a vibrant atmosphere, tightly-squeezed together tables covered in waffle paper, a chatty owner posted up at the bar, regulars who come in groups or on their own for a slice of gâteau (chicken liver gâteau that is): without a doubt, this is the most convivial spot on the Presqu’île, where you chew the fat with perfect strangers, waxing poetic about the tenderness of your sirloin steak. For us that evening at Le Petit Bouchon, otherwise known as “Chez Georges”? We opted for some perfectly seasoned pickled herring and potato salad, followed by a flank steak covered in saint-marcellin cheese sauce, plus an incredible slice of pink praline tart that’ll get your engines revving… All improved by a small glass of Marc de Bourgogne fruit brandy served from a magnum bottle or a low-intervention Beaujolais wine, selected from the “special natural wine” menu – which you’ll need to special request from the owner. Set menus €30-35, à la carte €38.50 to €43.50.
Au Petit Bouchon “Chez Georges” – 8 Rue du Garet, Lyon 1st arrondissement
The most theatrical spot
A century-old institution on Rue Neuve, La Meunière is a vintage bouchon that fills up with loyal customers as dusk falls, bringing together several generations under the gleaming utensils and old paintings hung up on the walls, all seated around rough wooden tables topped with Lyonnais-style pots of wine, gingham napkins and cast-iron Dutch ovens. Feeling daunted by the all-you-can-eat buffet appetizer option (pork muzzle salad, lentils with cervelas sausage and veal trotters), we opted instead for half a dozen escargot with garlic and parsley butter, plump and tender guinea fowl thighs covered in an exquisite morel mushroom sauce (served in the pan they were cooked in, so you can wipe it clean with bread afterwards), and a pink praline flan that’ll leave you speechless. There’s also a lovely albeit concise wine selection. Set menus €23-37.
La Meunière – 11 Rue Neuve, Lyon 1st arrondissement
The most lard deco spot
A few minutes by foot from Cordeliers, Bouchon Tupin is the preferred dining experience of all those who like eating with their pinky raised high. Here, you won’t find any red and white gingham tablecloths, oval-shaped portraits of old-timers raised on lard, or copper pans… But rather a dining room with ceramic tiling, marble tables, fringed chandeliers and big mirrors where you can discreetly watch the well-practiced waltz of the waiters. The day we went for lunch, they carried out a superb pickled herring and potato salad with sauce ravigote, mustard seeds and pickled red onion, before bringing us a smoking hot mushroom royale served with a reduction sauce, walnuts and a velvety bleu de Sassenage cream. That classic bouchon spirit with none of the excess fat! Set menus €25.50 to €33, à la carte €38-41.
Bouchon Tupin – 30 Rue Tupin, Lyon 2nd arrondissement
The most authentic spot
1920! That was the year Le Garet first opened its doors, an authentic bouchon that has always resisted the taste of the times (the French Resistance leader Jean Moulin was a regular there), where you feast in a dining room that doesn’t seem to have changed an ounce in decades – tiled floors, varnished wood-paneled walls, vermillion red banquettes… On the branded plates: calf’s brain with sauce meunière, skirt steak with shallots, calf’s head with sauce ravigote, cervelle de canut cheese… And barely any fish, apart from the ever-present pickled herring and potato salad. We wash everything down with a pot or fillette of Beaujo’ or Saint-Jo’ and then it’s off to bed! Set menus €25.50 to €34, à la carte €34 to €52.50.
Le Garet – 7 Rue du Garet, 69001 Lyon 1st arrondissement
The most hard-partying spot
Boasting 18 years of loyal service since last March, this wine-lovers’ den (old speckled tiling, a line-up of natural wines, an angular terrace) remains a sure bet in the city center. Here, we pop open local bottles served in pots or jéroboams, so there’s plenty to wash down the ravioles du Dauphiné salad, pike quenelle with lobster sauce or the dish of the day – like this nearly half-kilo veal chop served with new potatoes and an incredible black trumpet mushroom sauce. What about dessert? Spike your blood sugar with a chocolate lava cake or a Bourbon vanilla crème brûlée, made even more magical by one of the aged De Montal Armagnacs. Set menu €34, à la carte €33.50 to €42.50.
Vieille Canaille – 14 Rue Saint-Jérôme, Lyon 7th arrondissement