Brasserie Georges, Lyon France

Brasserie Georges

Bread

Duck Foie Gras, Rhubarb Marmalade, Toasted Bread

Extra Large Burgundy Snails “Maison ROMANZINI”

Pike Quenelles in a Creamy Shellfish Sauce and Mushrooms

Baked Alaska Flambée

Georges’s Special Rum Baba

Continuously operating since 1836, thus the oldest restaurant of its kind in Lyon, many would consider Brasserie Georges the quintessential ‘grand dame’ of Lyonnais cuisine, and with an in house brewery plus more tables than would ever seem necessary the space has been both praised and denigrated for its grandeur – on one hand a place where tourists no doubt flock, yet on the other a place where locals have been coming for ages, the crowd during my 13:30 Sunday lunch leaning far towards the later as nearly everyone in my immediate vicinity was several decades my senior while all seemed known to the house.

Renovated more than once, but maintaining its high ceilings and vast windows harkening La Belle Epoque, it was just hours after landing at LYS that I entered the leather banqueted space, and seated promptly towards the center of the room it was not long before a young waiter approached with menu in hand, the order largely predecided and confirmed after brief perusal to be delivered in five courses with perfect pacing guaranteed by a room less than 20% full.

Known in part for beers paired to sausages with sauerkraut, but equally well regarded for specialties more traditionally associated with brasserie cuisine throughout central France, it was a bottle of water and forgettable bread that the meal began, but as the Maitre ‘D cued the crank organ to serenade a middle aged woman with “Happy Birthday” the dining itself really began with a thick slab of foie gras paired simply to housemade marmalade and grilled raisin bread, the 15.90€ a veritable steal for 3+ ounces of creamy liver that far outdoes nearly anything served stateside at more than twice the price.

Progressing next to a half-dozen snails cooked tender in a traditional sauce of butter, garlic, parsley, and chives it was just as the final bits of sauce were sopped up that a medium-sized quenelle in cast iron was served, and although the texture was slightly less fluffy than a few others experienced during the trip one would be hard pressed to find any flaw in the sauce, a semi-thick shellfish gravy that found a surprising degree of nuance in lightly cooked mushrooms well dispersed throughout the sauce.

A bit disappointed that the restaurant’s signature Baked Alaska is offered only at a two-person minimum, but throwing caution to the wind in ordering both it as well as George’s ‘special’ Baba, suffice it to say that smiles were elicited each time the sparkler topped ice cream cake emerged from the kitchen, and although not flambéed tableside as one might have hoped, both the charred-booze flavor and the creamy texture were every bit as good as any version experienced, the yeasty butter cake topped with cream and candied fruits no less impressive when doused in house-infused rum rife with spices including cinnamon, vanilla, citrus, and cloves.

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