What is a bouchon you ask? A bouchon is a type of restaurant that is most commonly found in Lyon France and serves classic Lyonnaise food. This is not your light lunch type of meal it is a meal normally focused around meats. They say the classic ones have red-checkered table clothes and a bistro feel to them. Lets take it a step further and discuss Lyon.
Lyon is the gastronomic capital in France with Michelin star rated restaurants all over the city; one of the many reasons we wanted to go. Though there were star restaurants all of the the city Kara and I could not wait to have a classic Lyonnaise meal. We almost didn’t get this experience because we didn’t make a reservation in advance so like a said in the previous post MAKE A RESERVATION—even the day of is good enough but you need one to be seated.
We had our bouchon experience at Le Café des Federations. You are given a menu for you to see what you will be served for your appetizers and cheese course and then you get a choice for you entree.
The meal started with oeufs en meurette which is egg poached in a wine sauce. This starter set the bar very high for the rest of the meal. Next came a lyonnaise salad which consist of frissee lettuce topped with an egg and warm bacon to wilt the greens and coated with a mayonnaise like dressing, a lentil salad, and a few different kinds of salami like meats and cornichons.
Next we had the cheese course. There were about six different of options; soft, hard, and spreadable cheese. This might be the only time in my life I left cheese on my plate. I was appalled at myself but I knew I had two more courses to go and I had already learned my lesson on trying to ask for a to go box.
Next we had the mains. I had a quenelle which is a mixture of creamed fish and it was poached with a crawfish sauce. It was heavenly! So light and almost soufflé like. My French teacher told me I must be French if I like this dish. Kara had a pork cheeks stew, which reminded me of beef bougonione. They were both amazing. Rich in flavor, which the way the French know best, and hearty and elegant in all ways food possibly can be.
Here we are super excited about the mains then we realized there was still dessert!
We got an ice cream with a berry glaze on top and then pink praline tart. The tart had a caramel like deep red texture and tasted like sugar that had pork cracklins in it.
When I think about experiences eating or not in my life this will always be one of my favorite.