Every so often in life you have these moments when the planets come together and you have a really enjoyable experience. Dinner at Chez Hugon was one of those times.Lyon is according to some commentators the foodie capital of France.
It is the home of one of the greatest of all French chefs, Paul Bocuse. He of the Michelin 3-star restaurant at Collonges.
However, to those in the know, the real places to eat in Lyon are the bouchons.
Bouchons are small restaurants, typically family owned, that serve down-to-earth traditional food, much of it featuring offal and other extremities of animals.
Don,t let this put you off though as there will be other traditional dishes on the menu also.
The real authentic bouchons are nearly all small cosy places that exude atmosphere. They are also usually very good value and are generally packed with locals.
Eating at a bouchon was top of my agenda for my trip to Lyon. I was so keen not to miss out that I decided not to book a bouchon for our first evening in case our late Thursday afternoon flight from London was delayed.
I therfore booked our bouchon for Friday evening. As you'll read later this turned out to be a great decision.
Chez Hugon is a classic bouchon. Set down a side street it is small (approx 30 covers) with tables set closely together. The kitchen area is part of the same room, separated only by a partition.
We were greeted by the lady of the house who seated us at a table between two French families. As it transpired we we were the only foreigners in the restaurant for the whole night.
Very soon we were engaged in conversations with the people around us. They saw us looking at their food as it arrived and they helped us make our choices by explaining what their dishes were.
A nice atmosphere was developing as we all chatted away to each other. We tried our best at speaking French and they all happily spoke in English to us.
Bouchons typically have small menus and some choices may not be available if they have run out or they were unablc to get the ingedients at the Market that day. When it came time to order we indeed found that one or two of the choices were not available.
In the end the four of us had two starters to share followed by
2xPoulet au vinaigre (chicken in vinegar)
Quenelles de brochet (pike quenelles)
Langue de Veau (veal tongue)
The highlight was undoubtedly the chicken. It came with a delicious sauce with only the merest hint of vinegar to it.
My quenelles were also delicious if a slightly unusual texture. They came with a deliciously creamy sauce which I think may have been a crayfish sauce.
During the meal our French neighbours were offering us their dishes to try and we reciprocated. We got to taste a number of other dishes all of which I would be happy to eat.
We ordered the house red wine by the "pot", a thick-bottomed pitcher. Very drinkable. It always seems appropriate in places like this to drink what the locals are drinking.
We rounded of our meal by sharing two desserts between the four of us - a tarte tatin and a creme brulee.
During our dessert an old man and woman, who had come in earlier, appeared by the door, guitars in hand. The next thing we know the whole restaurant is singing along to French songs and a party atmosphere has developed.
We didn't know any of the songs but that didn't detract one bit from our enjoyment of the music.
Then the chef came out from the kitchen and did his party piece. It was obviously a rude song judging by the expressions on his face and the peals of laughter from the diners. He had a fine voice and went on to sing a couple of other songs.
The guitarists picked up that we were not French and asked to play a song for us. My wife misunderstood what they were saying and started to hum a French tune she knew. The guitarists quickly picked up the tune and started playing it. Then the whole restaurant joined in.
Great fun. And my wife got a nice round of applause. I think the French were surprised that she knew one of their songs.
After a few more songs the evening drew to a close. And what a cracking evening it turned out to be. Definitely one of the best evenings out in a restaurant for a long time.
This is peasant-style food with no pretensions or concessions to tourists. Go there for a truly authentic Lyonnaise experience.
The bill for 4 came to €147 euros which I rate as excellent value for a brilliant evening.
If you want to try the bouchon experience then I thoroughly recommend Chez Hugon I believe the musicians are only there on Fridays so try and go then.
My only fear in writing this is that if enough people read this review then I might not be able get a table the next time I go to Lyon!
