Traditional Lyonnaise Bouchon: Aux Trois Cochons

If you plan to visit Lyon, the gastronomical capital of France, prepare to get overwhelmed with the sheer number of food options ranging from the Michelin-starred restaurants, or the famous local bouchons. 

I tried to do some research before leaving, but the only thing I managed to figure out is that there's a list of certified bouchons, that is updated every year, but there is almost a bouchon on every corner, some more popular than the others, so I decided I wanted to visit a certified one and a not certified one, then compare the experience.

We arrived in Lyon on a Monday, which is not ideal at all as a lot of the more traditional bouchons are closed on that day. We relied on our landlord Jocelyn, you can read about our stay with him here, to recommend a nice place to eat and he told us to walk to Rue des Marronniers, a walking street lined with restaurants because he said everything there was good.

We decided to try Aux Trois Cochons - which literally translates to the
Three Pigs. I don't know if they were little.

Bouchons normally have a basic set menu, a little more expensive one,
or the option to order a la carte. 

The place we chose seemed to be a family run place, and they own
2 other places in the city.

We arrived a bit early for dinner so it was easy to get a table, and take pictures of the place without disturbing the other guests. The ambiance just feels like you got invited to someone's overdecorated home, in this case the decoration was anything to do with pigs.

The also had an old school chalk board with books on the bouchons of Lyon.
Interestingly, this book (The Bouchons of yesterday and today) features
Brunet, the certified bouchon close to the apartment we also planned to try.

I think my favorite dish from the bouchons are the starters.

Ady ordered the Goat Cheese Salad

Look at that cheese peeking out.

Goat Cheese goodness.

While I ordered the Pate de Foie.

Super yummy, especially with their freshly baked baguettes.

Look at my plate! I think I was already quite full after the starter,
but I just wanted to eat more.

For the main course, Ady and I decided to order the safer sounding items on the menu as bouchons are known for serving weird stuff, like calf or veal's head. We were also quite wary about ordering something that got lost in translation. Hahaha.

We ordered the chitterling sausage casserole. It was the sausage part that
sounded safe, but I think chiterling means pork innards. Hahaha.

The dish tasted good anyway, sort of like a cross between sisig and bacon,
with something like sauerkraut and rosti potatoes.

The hot sausage that we ordered was more boring, but also good.
It was served with boiled potatoes and sour cream, so I'm glad Ady and I
shared both.

For dessert, I wanted to try the Gateau Lyonnais.

Nothing special here. It had some sort of cherry filling at the bottom,
so it reminded us of a deconstructed crema di fruta.

Chocoholic Ady went with something safe, like chocolate mousse.
I loved the presentation in air tight jars.

It tasted even better with salt!

Food coma oncoming after a really good meal.

When we left, the place was already bustling with the dinner crowd.

Aux Trois Cochon, I think I will see you again!

A really satisfying meal at a bouchon does not cost
much. Ady and I just paid €19 each for our set meal.

I loved Lyon after Ady and I walked around to explore it, but I loved it even more after we had our first meal. Thank you Aux Trois Cochon for the really warm welcome! just saying.

You can read about my post on our 20 hours in Lyon here.

Aux Trois Cochon

9 rue des Marronniers, 

69002 Lyon, France 

Hours:

Mon - Thu 19:00 - 23:15

Mon - Sat 12:00 - 14:00

Fri - Sat 19:00 - 23:30