The best bouchon in Lyon: Comptoir Chabert

Inside Comptoir Chabert

Or is it only the second best bouchon in Lyon?

Ed's family friend, Catherine, had tried to get us a reservation at her favourite bouchon in the city but they didn't have any tables left, so she booked us in at Comptoir Chabert instead.

It was, quite simply, a fantastic evening.

A selection of the starters

The 27 EUR menu has a single starter and not long after we sat down a plate containing two types of pâté and a salami hit the table. The bouchon was immediately living up to its reputation of being about all things pork.

Shortly long after the pâté arrived at our table a selection of big salad bowls were bought across. The most 'exciting' salad was the veal feet (top right), surprisingly mild and tender cubes of veal. The tastiest salads were the vegetarian potato and beetroot options, covered in sharp and tasty dressing. We also had mackerel and two types of pork. One that looked like thinly shaved bacon and the other a baloney. If I'm honest I wasn't that keen on either.

So generous were the salads that we had to be careful not to fill up on them as they were only the first course!

Bavette

The main courses were the only choice of the evening. There was a lot of offal of the menu. Head, trotters, sweatbreads and andouillette were all on offer. I whimped out and went for the safest option on the menu, the bavette steak topped with crispy shallots.

Accompany the bavette was a creamy and garlicky gratin dauphinoise. It was heaven.

Gratin Dauphinoise

Once we'd scraped the gratin dish clean, the cheese course was bought out. We had three cheeses to share, a boursin style soft cheese with garlic and herbs, a fresh cheese and half of a Saint-Marcellin (I think).

The fresh and Saint-Marcellin cheeses were my favourites and both appeared to be Lyon specialities as we saw the same cheeses in all of the markets we visited.

Cheese selection

The meal hit its peak with dessert as the big communal bowls arrived back at our table. We had a creme caramel, poached pears, rice pudding, stewed plums and a bucket of îles flottantes.

I enjoyed the poached pears and stewed plums. The rice pudding was sweet and creamy, but my favourite by a long was was the îles flottantes. I love crème anglais and the îles flottantes didn't disappoint and I helped myself to lashings from the huge share bowl.

A selection of the dessert

Everything about the evening was excellent, from the lively atmosphere in the small restaurant to the food which was on point. There wasn't a foot put wrong in anything we ate.

Comptoir Chabert is easily my favourite meal of 2015 so far. If this was the second best bouchon in Lyon I'd love to visit the best!

Comptoir Chabert
13 Quai Romain Rolland

69005

Lyon

France

There is a Comptoir Chabert at No 13 and No 14 Quai Romain Rolland. We visited No 13 which is on the left.

Lyon Day 1: London to Lyon and lunch at Brasserie des Brotteaux

My favourite drop of the holiday 

On Friday Ed, Mike and I took the Eurostar to Lyon for a long weekend in France's food capital.

It was an early start and there was a bit of a scrum at check-in, but the train really is a pleasant way to travel. We had a half hour hold up when we emerged from the chunnel as they checked the tracks for a suspected sighting of people on the line. As we were stationary we could see refugees on a bridge above the tracks looking down and, at one spot, blanks flung over barbed wire at the top of the fences. It was all a bit sobering.

Back underway the French countryside glided past at speed, although we couldn't make up the time lost and we arrived in Lyon forty minutes late.

Mike and Ed inside Brasserie des Brotteaux

Our first stop was Brasserie des Brotteaux a 100yr old brasserie located ten minutes walk north of the station. Due to the train delays we were late for our reservation, arriving just after their  kitchen closed at 2pm. However, they still welcomed us in an offering us a limited menu, presumably of dishes that they could knock out quickly.

We all opted for the lamb and shared our first and best bottle of Cote du Rhone of the holiday. The brasserie had a classic interior with tiled walls. I'm not sure if they were original tiles added 100yrs ago, but they were certainly classic.

Lamb

Lunch was definitely enjoyable, but the high standard of food we ate during the weekend and the fact it was on the first day, meant it slightly faded in the memory.

The mille feuille I ordered for dessert was a modern interpretation served on its side. I definitely enjoyed the créme patissiere that was gluing it all together. Mike's tarte au citron looked a picture.

If I remember correctly it was 30 EUR per person including wine and service which we all thought was great value.

Mille Feuille

After lunch we headed to the AirBnB apartment we had rented for the weekend. From the restaurant to the apartment was around a 40 minute walk through some of the more modern, and less interesting, parts of Lyon. However, we did get to see some brutalist concrete architecture. Some of which had held up better to the test of time than other parts...

Our apartment was better in real life than the photos and proved to be an excellent base for the weekend. All of the rooms had shutters, which I always love, as it means you get to sleep in the complete darkness.

Tarte au citron

After an hour or so relaxing in the apartment we headed down to the river to meet up with Catherine, a family friend of Ed's who lives in the city. She very kindly bought us all a drink at one of the river side bars and we sat and chatted about Lyon and her recent visit to see Ed's mum in London for an hour. Catherine speaks excellent English and has a witty sense of humour, very dryly destroying Ed's pronunciation. I'm just pleased she chose not to pass comment on my French!

Catherine had very kindly made a reservation for us at what she thought was the second best bouchon in Paris (the best being already fully booked). Thanking her for our drink we headed off to find the restaurant for what would be my favourite meal of 2015 so far.

La Basilique Notre Dame de Fourvière

Brasserie Brotteaux
1 Place Jules Ferry
69006
Lyon
France
www.brasseriedesbrotteaux.com

Honeymoon Day 6: Syracuse, Sicily

The small beach near our hotel on the island of Ortigia

Only five months late and I am getting close to finishing the blog post from our honeymoon!

On our final full day in Sicily we decided to stay on the island of Ortigia after our big museum adventure the day before. We started with a walk along the sea wall on the Eastern side of the island. Ortigia only has a few small beaches and rocky outcrops, but they were busy with swimmers which I thought was quite surprising for an early weekday in May.

As we reached the northern end of the island, it started to get less picturesque and a little grittier so we cut inland through backstreets where it still seemed possible to pick up a run down house ready for gentrification. (Although I doubt at a knockdown price.)

Once we'd arrived back in the historic centre we hit the shops! I managed to comprehensively out purchase Becks (poor form from her) and leave with a new wardrobe. I justified it by telling myself it was cheaper than shopping in the UK and we were doubly benefiting from a strong exchange rate.....

Piazzo Duomo Ortigia

We returned back to our hotel via the Piazzo Duomo, the main square in Ortigia which is home to the cathedral, town hall, the majority of tourists on the island and a couple who were having some wedding photos taken on the steps of the church.

Needing some lunch we headed to a cute little cafe on the same road as our hotel called Cala Piada. It turns out they haven't been open very long and the friendly lady running the shop explained to us that that all of the bread is homemade and how long each of the hams had been aged for.

Inside Cala Piada

We took the freshly made, and still warm piadino, back to the terrace of our hotel. The flat bread was possibly still a little doughy, but the eighteen month old ham, soft fresh cheese and rocket filling went down a treat. It was a bargain at around 5 EUR.

Ham, soft cheese and rocket piadino

After lunch and some time reading, we decided to go for another spin round town to see if we could find a honeymoon present to buy and to soak in the delights of Syracuse for one last time. We'd been joking all week about sampling the brioche ice cream sandwich which is apparently a speciality of Sicily. As we passed a gelateria near the Duomo I could resist no longer and we dived in to buy one.

Brioche and ice cream sounds like it should be a perfect combination, however, I didn't think the brioche added that much. I think I prefer my gelati in a cup.

Ice cream in brioche

With the honeymoon memento purchased, I headed to the small beach near our hotel for my final paddle in the sea. Having only had one swim on the holiday it seemed right that I dipped my feet in the water for a second time even if it wasn't a fully fledged swim.

We were indecisive over where to go for dinner having eaten at the places on the top of our list already. I also had the nagging feeling I should have a pizza while in Italy (even though it isn't a Sicilian speciality). Takeaway pizza and beers on the roof terrace of our hotel for dinner it was. Such a romantic end to our honeymoon!

Final dip in the sea of our honeymoon

Mamma Dough, Honor Oak Park

Lorena pizza at Mamma Dough 

Free from the shackles of the Berlin Marathon, it is time to start eating out again! Last weekend it was a return visit to Masala Wala and this Sunday we headed down to Honor Oak Park to check out Mamma Dough for dinner.

They were busy and we were put on a share table - which wasn't really a share table, just a table for six - with a family group of four. Luckily it all worked out, and to be fair to the waiter, he did warn us that was the only table they had available.

Sardinian meat plate 

They have a compact menu with just four starters and six pizzas, plus a couple of daily specials.

To begin we decided to share the Sardinian meat plate (£6). There were three types of cured meats, an excellent pickle and some of the homemade sourdough. The salami at the top of the board was a fiery number with a real chilli kick. The homemade sourdough didn't have any smoke from the oven and the crumb was pretty dense. If it was one of my loaves, honestly, I'd be a little disappointed. However, I thought it was excellent value at £6. The pickle might have been worth the money alone.

Jon Bon Chovy

I found the prospect of anchovies on my pizza appealing, so went for the Jon Bon Chovy (£10) with anchovies, chillies, capers and olives.

The pizza was a generous size and and I liked it, but didn't love it. Most of the toppings (anchovies, chilli and capers) were concentrated in the middle of the pizza and not that well distributed. Despite what you might expect from the photo, the base wasn't that crispy either.

Becks wasn't keen on the idea of anchovies so I didn't get the opportunity to exchange a slice of my pizza for some of the lorena (£8).

Tiramisu and chocolate brownie

What I did love, without doubt, was the tiramisu (£4). It was luscious, rich and beautifully balanced. I definitely want to eat another one sometime soon. The chocolate brownie (£3.50) was good too and I particularly liked the vanilla ice cream. However, no dessert was going to eclipse the tiramisu.

The service was quick and friendly. There were a couple of minor blips when our table and menu were dirty and we had to ask for them to be wiped down. They also forgot our carafe of wine. However, once it arrived I really liked the red we chose and it was welcome to be able to buy wines by the carafe on a school night.

At £23 each, including service, we thought it was good value too.

Mamma Dough
76-78 Honor Oak Park,
London
SE23 1DY

Berlin Wrap Up

Part of the Kent AC team who ran in Berlin

After the Berlin marathon I headed back to the apartment for a shower and stretch before heading back into town to the Georgbraeu brew house which had been nominated as the post race venue. It was a pub that I'd visited three years ago when I was in Berlin with my uni friends.

We spent a pleasant couple of hours chatting about our races in the late afternoon sunshine over a couple of beers. Even though we were genuinely all on our best behaviour and no one was drunk told us it was last orders and stopped serving us even as they continued to serve nearby tables. We'd obviously done something to offend and running up a 300 EUR tab obviously wasn't good enough business for them!

Swiss Miss from Zsa Zsa Burger

I surprisingly wasn't that hungry after the marathon but decided that I'd better go out for dinner so headed to Zsa Zsa Burger which was close to the apartment and recommended by the person we'd rented it from.

I decided to wear my medal to the restaurant, hoping it would be a conversation start so I could tell someone about my epic 2:49 or perhaps even a free drink. I noticed a few other runners in the restaurant from the blue wrist bands and none of them were wearing their medals. Deciding it perhaps wasn't the coolest thing after all I tucked my medal inside my jumper.

The burger was pretty good. In London the trend is very much for decadent US style burgers and I'd assumed it would probably be the same here, but it was more a Berlin take on a burger. The coleslaw had a sauerkraut edge and the cheese was a punchy raclette rather than the mild American style cheese.

Half way through the burger I thought my stomach had finally come back to life and I was going to have to order a second, but I was forcing it down by the end and decided not to have dessert.

Inside the Pergamon Museum

My flight back to the UK wasn't until 6pm on the Monday and I'd bought a museum pass so that I could check out a few of the exhibitions on Museum Island before I left the city.

My first stop was the Pergamon Museum. It's currently undergoing a huge renovation project and two of the three wings are currently closed, including the Pergamon Alter that I was hoping to see.

However, the wing which was open was still pretty impressive. Most of the exhibits were on an epic scale like the theatre entrance you can see above. The website describes some of the exhibits as architectural superstructures from Greek and Roman antiquity and I think that is a pretty fair description.

I couldn't help thinking whether they get in any bother for having these superstructures in Berlin like we do for having the Elgin Marbles in London?

After an hour looking round the Pergamon my legs weren't thanking me for so much time standing up.

Neues Museum

My next stop was the next door Neues (New) Museum. I'd read a review that morning saying to go for the architecture of the building if nothing else and it certainly was a beautiful building.

I haven't looked into the history of the building so I don't know how much of it was there pre-war, how extensive the repairs were post war and what type of state it was in at re-unification. However, the latest renovation is a thing of beauty. The different eras of the building have been moulded together brilliantly with a simple palate of materials. It no doubt cost a fortune.

I spent another hour wandering around the Neues museum and my legs certainly weren't thanking me by this stage so I decided to make my way back to the apartment.

East Berlin's TV tower / observation deck

On my way back I walked past the Altes (Old) Museum . The pass I'd bought entitled me to free entry to this museum as well, but I secretly thankfully it was close on Monday's as it gave my legs a break.

Back near the apartment I had some lunch and an ice cream, before buying a couple of gifts for Becks, putting my feet up for an hour and then heading out to the airport.

The plane on the way home was definitely the 'marathon express' with quite a few people wearing their medals and lots of others sporting the distinctive blue wrist bands. After looking distinctly un-cool the night before, my medal was firmly in my bag and I'd cut my wrist band off. Was I the quickest runner on the flight? I'd like to think so.

Altes Museum