La Pyramide

To get to this iconic restaurant, take the A7 from Lyons to Viennes and follow the very prominent signs to the Pyramide (it is hard to think of too many British towns where the main restaurants would have municipal street signs to them!). The dining area is open air and overlooks a formal garden of box hedges surrounding beds of roses. It was very peaceful except for the odd train rumbling past.

Amuse-bouches consisted of a perfect gazpacho (20/20), a little dish of mussels and cauliflower in a mild curry sauce (18/20) and an indeterminate green puree (16/20). Breads were: country (16/20), basil (13/20), baguette (16/20), white (17/20), bacon (16/20) and fruit & nut (13/20).  

For starter I had a cod terrine with layers of pimento - this dish was truly sublime, with remarkable flavour and texture, with little pools of  pimento sauce, basil sauce and sweet garlic puree, served with a wafer with basil leaves and a little salad of green leaves (20/20). My wife had langoustines, both plain and coated with cereal seeds, divinely cooked and served with an avocado mousse topped with smoked fish (19/20). Both starters were truly stunning.

For main course, a sea bass was dismally filleted by a very obviously trainee waiter, who just hacked in to the fish and scooped a pile of flesh and bones on to the plate. What was left of it after he had finished was beautifully cooked, however, served with amazing courgettes, caramelised onion, a round of sliced courgettes and red pepper, and a butter and basil sauce (18/20). Red mullet was served on a bed of red peppers, green beans, black beans, mixed herbs, all with a crusty pastry base with rollmops and a black olive tapenade (19/20).   

Cheeses were: Brillat Savarin (19/20), Camembert (18/20), fresh goat (13/20), St Michellin (18/20), Epoisses(19/20), Beaufort (19/20), Reblochon (19/20) and a local cheese (18/20). The cheese was easily 18/20 overall.
 
A pre-dessert was coffee flavoured creme brulee, which was just about perfect (20/20). My dessert was apples in custard with almond cake and vanilla ice cream - this was all rather tasteless (16/20).  A cherry clafoutis had cherries which were pitted but sadly lacking in flavour, the clafoutis also rather burnt at the edges (13/20), though accompanied by a very fine almond ice cream (20/20). Petit fours consisted of: strawberry tart (13/20), Madeleine (12/20), macaroon with lemon filling (19/20), a tuile (13/20) and sugared redcurrants (13/20), with a nice chocolate (18/20). Coffee featured a little menu, with several options for country and blend - we tried Jamaica Blue Mountain (18/20) and the Pyramide own blend (18/20).   

For wine we had Torres Black label at a very fair FF 230, and a botrytis affected Tokay Pinot Gris at FF 50 for a glass.  Service, other than the filleting debacle, was impeccable (20/20). Overall the bill was FF 1755 for a stunning meal except for the desserts - however this is clearly a chef of real talent.