Le Neuvième Art, Lyon
I decided to have a short break in Lyon, France and reserved this restaurant. I literally booked a hotel that is one-minute-walk away from the restaurant. It was a very unlucky trip, since my flight in the previous night was cancelled and British Airways rebooked me to the first flight in the morning of my restaurant reservation. Fortunately, I got to the restaurant in time. The menu was simple; I ordered the entire set.
Menu
The first course was very interesting, crab meat with tropical fruits. More importantly, the foam on top was actually tasted something; it provided a strong acid seasoning that boosts my palate from the kiwi and avocado flavours. The crab meat was pretty much non-existent compared to other ingredients except adding some protein and texture between the soft fruit cubes. In short, it was a great start.
Fresh Crab Meat, Kiwi, Avocado, Cucumber, Verbena Foam
The next dish, snail, was a traditionally French ingredient. Personally, I loved it. Because of the “Grenobloise Style”, the dish was towards greasy and butter-flavoured end. However, the almost no-taste potato gnocchi absorbed much sauce and made the entire dish better balanced. Though they are certainly in great quality, the snails, well, just tasted like snails.
‘Petit Gris’ Snails and Potato Gnocchis, Beurre Noisette Grenobloise Style
The most fun and probably show-off dish was “Cevennes Lake Char in Beeswax”. The waitress presented me the raw lake char about 20 minutes ahead, and poured the warm wax into the container that just soaked the entire char. The char was just in front of me while I enjoyed other dishes. The waitress then took back the char to kitchen, seasoned it and presented it on a plate. The end result was a mixed feeling. Obviously, the char was cooked in low temperature, hence I found that it was slightly cold yet very tender, with the help of sauce. The fried Artichoke was looked nice and tasted sweet. I had to say, I was entertained on the way of cooking but not impressed at all on the flavour.
Cevennes Lake Char in Beeswax, Lemon Butter, Fried Artichoke
Now let’s talk about something all other restaurants should follow since I do not enjoy cheese board, the restaurant provided a very nice yogurt alternative. The yogurt was beyond my expectation! It was very creamy, actually sticky, but not pasty nor too cold at all. In fact, there were even three jam flavours, which shows a great thought for people who do not like cheese board.
Pre-dessert Yogurt
The restaurant provided a great service, with pretty much one waiter per table. Given the two-star status, the quality was there for sure, though not many surprises. However, the main problem for me was that it took way too long, almost three hours, for the lunch service from beginning to the end, while I was simply on my phone during the three-hour journal. To their defence, they wanted to ensure all the dishes were perfect. However, the slowness was certainly not a friendly experience for an individual customer; I simply felt bored and wanted to leave in the end.
🐼 Score: 2/5
