Les Terrasses de Lyon Restaurant (Lyon, FRANCE) ★★★★☆

We only have time for one formal meal in Lyon so I decided to make it count. Following weeks of research, I eventually decided on Les Terrasses de Lyon, a restaurant better known for its view of Lyon than its cuisine.

Housed inside 5-star Villa Florentine Hotel on the hills of Fourvière, Les Terrasses de Lyon has been a Michelin starred restaurant since 2000. The restaurant is currently under the direction of executive chef David Delsart with Chef John Leon handling the day-to-day operations. Chef Delsart has worked in different capacities at Villa Florentine since 2004 before taking the helm at Les Terrasses de Lyon in 2015; and is best known for his innovative approach to traditional French cuisine.

We arrived a bit early via Uber so while the staff was getting the venue organized, we took a back seat at the waiting area which was a perfect blend between elegance and comfort.

Of course, I have asked for one of the best tables in the house next to the ceiling-to-floor windows.

This felt like dining inside a glasshouse with tree top views of Lyon. I won’t call this a stunning view of the city but it did provide an inviting vibe for a lovely evening.

Our amuse bouche tonight was a trio of small nibbles starting with a tiny parmesan pastry topped with artichoke cream and lemon caviar. I managed to forget about jotting down the details on the remaining two but thought I heard the word “snail” mentioned.

Trout, herbal coulis, lemon vinaigrette – Small chunks of chilled trout from Isère each crowned by a tapioca cracker was paired with smoked butter infused with yuzu, herbal coulis and lemon vinaigrette. 

The lovely acidity from yuzu and lemon is always a nice match with the fatty trout.

Sea bass quenelle, celeriac, Iberico chorizo – The silky smooth sea bass quenelle was covered in a lobster bisque like sauce.

Hidden under the quenelle were chopped celeriac and Iberico chorizo risotto so some nice, contrasting textures for the sea bass mousse.

Veal tenderloin, squash – Veal tenderloin smoked with hay was topped nicely with grilled veal sweetbread, chanterelle mushrooms and pumpkin purée. There was a small French Onion tart served alongside the veal.

This wasn’t bad. The veal was tender but I would expect a little more smokiness out of it. The sweetbread turned out to be the star here. It came with amazing texture boasting a charred crust and a soft, flavorful centre.

Variations of raspberries, roquette, mirliton biscuit – This was just a raspberry lover’s dream with raspberry cream and mashed raspberries (loads of them!) served with roquette sorbet, crumbs and mirliton biscuit (the biscuit more on the hard side). 

Little guy had his own version of the variations of raspberries served with vanilla ice-cream.

Mignardises were a mini cream puff with vanilla ice cream and a soft brioche with a hint of mint, topped by a roasted hazelnut.

Les Terrasses de Lyon was as good as any place in Lyon’s poetic Old Town to spend our only evening in town. Service was at a level (good but not great) we would expect from a long standing Michelin starred restaurant and the casual yet refined cuisine came with some fine touches but it was the atmosphere that truly took our breathe away the moment we stepped into the dining room. That simple elegance, coupled with its welcoming ambiance was something that we would cherish for a lifetime.

Food Rating: 6.8/10

Price: €€€

Address: 25 Mnt Saint-Barthélémy, 69005 Lyon, France

Closest Metro Station: Vieux Lyon

Tel: +33 (0)4 7256-5602

Website: www.villaflorentine.com/fr/restaurant.html

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 1:15pm (Wed - Sat), 7:30pm - 9:15pm (Tue - Sat)