Café Comptoir Abel — Restaurant in Lyon

Note, three stars is not bad. It was ok and that is fine too. You can see my reasoning why I'm not gushing about the restaurant and decide for yourselves.

**As others stated, you are not going to a Michelin star restaurant. This is like a family restaurant for hearty food and that's what you get.

We asked our travel agent to book us an authentic bouchon experience. I would guess this largely hit the mark (but this was our one and only bouchon experience). There is definitely a feeling of authenticity. The prices are overall good. We saw a mix of locals and tourists.

Service was reasonably efficient and pleasant.

For the price, our wine was a good value.

We ate a lot (as we usually do). We started with the house paté and the fois gras toast. *The foie gras toast was the definite winner of the night and highly recommend it. 23 Euros was a bargain for the quality and flavor.

The pate was a little tasteless and dry. For our main course, we ordered the roasted potatoes, mixed vegetables and each had the beef. One with sauce and one without (because of a dairy allergy).

The quality of the beef widely varied between the two (even though it was the same plat). The one with sauce had a lot more fat and grissle than the one without. Also, I really didn't enjoy the sauce and thought it did little to enhance the beef.

The desert was a nice treat and well priced. We had a chestnut sorbet with chocolate sauce (all nondairy) which was nice.

All in, we had two starters, a bottle of wine, two orders of the beef steak, roasted potatoes, vegetables, (rice is included for free), and split the sorbet. The price was 185 Euros with 10 euros left in cash for a modest tip.

I sit between 3 and 4 stars, but lean a little more towards 3 because of the obvious disappointment of being served such a fatty piece of meat. Otherwise, you do get a lot of decent food for the price.

You still may want to go. Looking at the other reviews, I'm guessing that I just had a little bad luck with the cut of beef because the overwhelming majority of people like the restaurant, and I believe is a nice way to get an authentic...

One of the main reasons we went to this restaurant is because it is in the food capital of France and was featured on an Anthony Bourdain program. Sadly, the restaurant seems to have drastically changed since then: different ownership and different chef. The food was mediocre at best - absolutely not anywhere worthy of 4+ stars, and the service was not of the quality of a restaurant at this price point and (former) reputation. We left feeling angry, disappointed and cheated of a true Lyonnaise meal.

Good French chefs should know their sauces. Enough to make them flavourful, and enough to be able to make a simple substitution if gluten free is requested (due to allergy). Instead, my partner was served the equivalent of a flaccid, boiled piece of chicken (poached), which somehow turned out dry. No sauce (make a demi-glace instead of something with flour, perhaps?) and absolutely no seasoning. Ever heard of salt? No imagination and no consideration. The vegetables also looked and tasted boiled. I’ve literally seen better food at a cafeteria. One might expect this caliber of meal in the high-traffic tourist areas of the city - the kind of place that practically accosts you to lure you in. Trust us, don’t be lured in. (The attached photo actually looks better than in person). My partner could not even finish the meal, it was so bad. They deducted a part of the cost of his meal after two complaints, which is why I gave it 2 stars instead of 1.

The other two meals were mediocre, lacked seasoning and finesse. Edible, sure, which is more than I can say for the bread, which seemed like it sat out all day, as it was very dry. Now, the service... we were never rude (we are Canadian, so almost always polite), but the service staff were abrupt, inattentive and apathetic.

One comes to France and especially Lyon to experience true French cuisine. We are fortunate enough to afford good food and I can speak French well enough to communicate clearly and politely to the servers. I have never posted a negative review in my life but if I can save you from spending your money at Comptoir Abel, my job is done. Do...

We came with high expectations as a friend highly recommended it and especially after speaking on the phone when making our reservation. The staff gave us full confidence that they understood how to handle gluten-free requirements — particularly important for us as I was dining with my celiac son. Unfortunately, the reality didn’t match the promise.

Upon arrival, we were told there were only three gluten-free main dishes available (essentially their regular dishes, minus the gluten-containing sides like rice). These were offered with a side of plain potatoes, served quite literally by count. There were no gluten-free starters, no desserts, and no bread alternatives — quite surprising for a place that claims to accommodate gluten-free diets.

The food itself arrived barely 10 minutes after ordering, clearly pre-cooked. The chicken dish we chose was underwhelming: supermarket-quality poultry in a watery cream sauce with morels that had neither taste nor aroma. The overall meal was finished in under 45 minutes — not quite the culinary experience we had envisioned for our only night in Lyon.

We’re both gourmet and gourmand travelers — happy to pay premium prices when the experience and food quality justify it. Sadly, this meal felt more like an overpriced canteen than an authentic Lyonnaise dining experience. At €40–50 per person with no starter, desert, coffee, we expected far better.

Even setting dietary restrictions aside, we honestly didn’t understand the buzz around this restaurant. It may have enjoyed a good reputation in the past, but based on our experience, it seems to be relying more on that legacy than on the quality of the current offering. In a city with such a rich culinary scene, there are surely many other places far more deserving of the attention.

Most importantly, we would have appreciated some honesty from the start. If the restaurant didn’t have the will, time, or energy to properly serve gluten-free customers, they should have told us that clearly on the phone. We could have used that time to research and find another address where we could enjoy a safe and...