Restaurant Paul Bocuse — Restaurant in Lyon

An interesting experience from a review perspective. No doubt this was a five star experience. But there were errors. It feels slightly churlish to lead with the negative but let’s get them out of the way. The bread was burnt on the base, and even forgiving that, was not great and would have benefitted from being warmed through. The butter also was forgettable. The amuse bouches were good, not great. And the sommelier forgot to serve the glasses we ordered so the starters arrived before the wine. But these were small things. The food proper - we ordered from the a la carte menu - was mostly spectacular. The langoustine raviolo with sorrel sauce was wonderful. The lobster salad starter with caviar was good (the caviar v good) but the langoustine was better. The mains were where we really started doing the happy dance in our seats. We had the chicken and the bbq-d lobster. The lobster arrived sizzling on a hot stone, the aroma of charred lobster filling the dining room. It was theatrical, fun, and tasted of smoky heaven. The chicken came poached with an amazing sauce, dotted with beautifully cooked morelles. It’s one of their signature dishes and you can see why. I could eat it for breakfast, lunch, and supper. Desserts come presented at the table for you to choose from, which is a lovely experience. The staff were great - so friendly and welcoming. Happy to chat but discreet, striking a great balance. I don’t know if I mistakenly ticked a box saying it was one of our birthdays (it was a few weeks from our anniversary?), but they did a lovely rendition of happy birthday and the rest of the restaurant applauded generously while my wife and I tried to burrow into our chairs. And then we both tried to blow out the candle because we weren’t sure whose birthday it was meant to be. Anyway, this is all a bit rambling… most importantly we loved the experience, loved the food, thought the staff did a wonderful job and little touches like the birthday candle (even if it was unmerited!), sorting our cab seamlessly, and giving us a souvenir menu to take home all added up to a truly memorable and delightful evening which I don’t think we’ll forget....

Tldr: sucks, scam, do not go unless u enjoy losing money

It does not deserve 2 michelin stars ... or even one. I do not get the hype. I ve been to michelin star restaurants before and this is really not it. We usually do this on our anniversary or a bday so we were excited for months before we went so our disappointment was massive. 1st of all, the food. We got the menu centenaire which consists of 9 dishes. Most of em were fine, nothing new or imaginitive, nothing to write home about except for the quenelle which was really good. But you could get that anywhere else in Lyon for a fraction of the price. The bread was cold, the butter tastless as well as unslated and three people were serving the entire room. Then came the chicken... the supposed pièce de resistance. This rubbed me really the wrong way. They straight up brought a boiled chicken, with its skin, that was cooked in an inflated cow's bladder, and made a big show out of getting out of the bladder to your plate. But it tasted like the worst chicken you ve ever had. Slimy and buttery (not in the good way). Then they cut the chicken in half. I was like ok they are gonna give me half and give my gf the other half or something... boy was i wrong ... they cut the half in quarters, gave a quarter to me and a quarter to my gf then took the rest away. I got curious, so I asked the waiter ... what do you do with the other half and he was like we use it and we eat it... I was left speechless... this dude had the gall to tell me they eat the rest of your food while u stay hungry. Then came the desert...honestly just get urself an eclaire from any bakery, it will be much better than the crap they served. Then after you paid an ungodly sum of money, they ask for tip ... They ask ...and look at you while u pay ... which is not something that happens in a michelin star restaurant or even any restaurant in France cause the French do not have the tipping culture. It is the worst scam ever and I genuinely think you should go to anywhere else literally. The restaurant was pretty, the atmosphere was nice and calm, the staff was friendly.. credit where...

I'm really sorry but I'm very disappointed with this restaurant. There were six of us and we were really looking forward to the food. Paul Bocuse - the legend! However, we had to realize that you should stop when the legend dies.

The service was already of a high standard, but the fact that the fork was put down twice from the right, the bread crumbs remained on the table until the end and there was a greasy fingerprint on my knife... THAT should not happen in a restaurant like this.

The amuse bouche were very tasty, praise here. The lobster salad was also very good, but the scallops in the next course were almost overdone and the red wine sauce would have gone better with lamb, but they were still delicious.

The fish for the main course was the biggest disappointment, it looked good but the fish meat was far too dry and tasteless. The chicken was also absolutely bland, not even a hint of salt. The sauces for the main courses were tasty but far too rich. Both main courses were distinguished by the sauces alone and that's not good at all.

I've also never seen loaves of bread being placed on the table whole and only cut into quarters in high-end restaurants. If I want to take a piece of bread, I have a baking stone on my small bread plate. The foie gras was not yet known in this form but the taste was okay. The desserts (cheese selection) and sweet dessert selection were very good.

I have to give the restaurant credit for the following: Two of our gourmands had stomach problems due to intolerance and heartburn, which I clearly don't hold against the restaurant. In the menus there was first a cheese selection and then a sweet dessert selection. I only had cheese, my partner had neither and the rest had either cheese or dessert. When we paid, they deducted €75 for me and my partner alone because we didn't use all the courses, which was actually only our problem. Let legend be legend and close this former posh restaurant in its name. But don't continue to ruin what was once unique.

Honor to whom...