Another Sunday, another new dining adventure. We never know what each Sunday will bring and just go with the flow. We really had no idea about this particular week, because we didn't even know where we were going to dine. In previous weeks, we picked a restaurant prior to setting out, but this week, we all climbed in the car, put on Jay Z and Kanye's WATCH THE THRONE album on blast and drove around downtown looking for a place to dine. We wanted to go to somewhere in either Chelsea or the West Village. We settled for the latter and boy were we happy with our choice of LYON (118 Greenwich Avenue at West 13th Street), a modern bouchon. What is a bouchon you ask? According to LYON'S website, the Bouchon evolved as a modest local restaurant where silk craftsmen and traveling through Lyon would stop to eat. The bouchons, akin to present-day taverns, welcomed guests with warm hearty meals created of locally produced ingredients and serving delicious wines poured from heavy bottomed decanters called pots lyonnais. Basically this means good-eatin.
LYON is a fairly large restaurant with plenty of seating and a separate bar area for drinks. There were lots of couples dining and not many children, but we did arrive a bit on the late side for a Sunday evening, but that's another story. We got a table immediately, which is a huge bonus when you are with young children who are "starving".
I am not the most ardent fan of French cuisine, but I can definitely get my meal on, especially since spending so much time in Paris for various fashion weeks over the years. Regardless, there were many items on the menu that struck a chord and were not your typical French cuisine and everyone seemed to find something that wet their whistle.
As per usual, we started with some appetizers because, as previously stated, my kids were "starving". First, we started with the barbecued duck wings, which were dressed with an orange glaze and red chili's. We rarely order duck so we were pleasantly surprised when we bit into them. I never knew how big a duck wing was, but these were huge and equally as delicious. Next on the menu, were two tasty salads; the Salade Lyonnaise which consisted of mixed greens, smoked bacon and a poached egg. Honestly, when I bit into this salad, I joked that I was going to the kitchen to slap the chef for creating something so wonderful. I eat tons of salads but this was by far in my top 3 all-time faves. We also ordered a beet and orange salad with goat cheese. We devoured that one, too. Without a doubt, I would order each of these appetizers again.
Next out were our main courses. The kids had the Lyon Hot Dog. This was nothing like your typical NYC street vendor hot dog. This was a real delicacy. The hot dog was served with a hint of black truffles, Dijon mustard and sauerkraut, but the clincher was the pretzel roll that it was served on. I have never seen Cyrus enjoy something so much. He was pretty full after the appetizers, but he literally wouldn't put the hot dog down. He said "Dad, I am so full that I feel pregnant, but I just can't stop eating. It is too good". Grady couldn't speak much because he mouth was full pretty much from the jump-off. Tim and I decided to share the Steak Au Poivre with green peppercorn sauce and frites. Tasty, but needed a bit more salt, which was easy to adjust. It definitely didn't take away from either of us liking it, as was evident of the clean plates.
While we were all incredibly stuffed, we didn't want to go without dessert as the food was so good. The desserts didn't disappoint either. Grady chose the chocolate mousse, which was rich, creamy and so very delicious. We had our spoons all over that bowl. Yum. I ordered the vanilla bread pudding with raisins and vanilla ice cream. As I don't really like vanilla or raisins, I am not exactly sure why I ordered this, but I was more than pleasantly surprised that I loved this. It was just the right blend of spices and vanilla and was served warm. Very happy with my choice.
We ranked the experience as
Calvin 9 out of 10 Tim 10 out of 10
Grady 10 out of 10 Cyrus 10 out of 10
Total 39 out of 40 or 97.5%
We highly recommend LYON to others and will most definitely make another visit.
LYON (118 Greenwich Ave at W. 13th Street 212.242.5966)
http://www.lyonnyc.com/
