Brasserie l'Est

This must be a joke, we thought, perpetrated by Paul Bocuse; a gag, a spoof. Why? Well:
The sardines were from a can. From a can! For nearly 20 euros! Where are we, we wondered: a New York City coffee shop? Then we got the wrong food, chicken instead of the calf's liver, and no apology, just a huff. The risotto? Also from a can. What the freak gives?

Service was amateurish, with lots of Gallic fol-de-rol masking comic incompetence.

Prices are HIGH. This place is VERY EXPENSIVE. And the food STINKS.

Oh. Then we did some googling and figure it out. Paul Bocuse, the Donald Trump of French cooking, licensed his name to a bunch of ripoff "artistes," and this ripoff joint is one of the franchises. Bocuse, may he RIP, may have been celebrated 60 years ago, but this is a Cheesecake Factory paying royalties to his estate. Shameful.

On the plus side, it's kind of cool, in an old train station.

What an embarrassment! But that's the Donald Trump of France for you.

The myriad of English reviews might be a great tip to stay away. I really wanted to like this place. Came with my french hosts and we were excited to try a restaurant that was supposed to be inspired by Paul Bocuse.

After an incredible lunch we were severely disappointed with our dinner, so much so that we ended up not getting a dessert. The terrine de canard was literally just taken from the freezer, sliced and thrown onto the plate with some picked just grabbed out of the jar. The roast chicken was uninspired and the polenta was cold and over spiced.

Guys, this is lyon. There is much better

Yes, it has the breeding and the pedigree, but it's not a Michelin quality restaurant....Not bad...just not outstanding....I had the Entrecôte vs. the Fillet as suggested by our waitress...her first of many mistakes throughout the meal...my wife had one of the price fixed menus, and her pork was really good...But my steak was just plain tough...I should have sent it back rather than just complain at the end of the meal...management did offer amends and comped a glass of wine and a dessert, so kudos to them for that...The green beans with my steak were really good, as were the roasted potatoes ...desserts were good; just good; otherwise, a pretty average meal in a culinary capital. I'd try a lot of other options before going back.
Three stars for an average rating.

Second time in a week and the food was amazing, the best in France so far. Te only point was the staff a bit in a hurry to keep up with the full restaurant night.

The Fois Gras Pate for starters was fantastic. The beef cheek was OK. The dessert was also good. Service could be better though.

We felt robbed. We were unsuspecting tourists and we felt taken advantage of. We thought our waitress was helping us pick a better deal on the menu but the fine print actually caused us to pay 50% more than what we thought we were going to pay and 40% more than we would have paid for the items we initially requested. So the service was downright terrible. Now for the food:

The steak we bought cost €120 much to our surprise, having just traveled through Italy, including Florence. We had been privy to some of the finest florentine steak. Though similar in size to the steak we purchased in Florence, this steak was much less flavorful and approximately €52 more expensive. The green beans were quite good, the wine was overpriced for the quality.

This place is marked with a 2 € price range on Google but should have a 3 or 4 € price range seeing as we paid over €200 for two people with just wine, a main course, and dessert.

1. Service - very poor. We were a group of around 30 chefs and food enthusiasts. Reservations made well in advance. Given one long table with half facing wall and three additional round tables. Those at the long table had to slide down 6 place settings to fit in. No explanation of menu, selections, wine, or anything. Our group had to pull out google translate to help. Waiter yelled from top of very long table for a hand count of who wanted what. Place was so loud we could not hear him. Unprof. and rude. I had to request my first course three times as it appeared the waiter would stand behind me and talk to the back of me (according to others at the table.)
2. Incredibly noisy. Packed full with barely enough room to get in and out. Tables almost all touching. Wed. night.
3. Food. Uninspired. Adequate but ordinary. No steak knife and one would have been helpful for the beef. Dessert a disaster. Baba Rum had only very slight flavor? with plain whipped cream as accent. It could not have been soaked in a rum syrup or even a vanilla syrup. Or it had sat around way too long and the flavor had drained away or evaporated.

4. Price - High for the quality of food and service. Much better restaurants in Lyon.
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Disclaimer: I last dined at L'Est in 2004.

Looking back on my experiences at L'Est, I remember 3 things: the trains that run around the restaurant on a tracks near the ceiling, the delicious souffles, and the professional yet comfortable service. I ate there twice that I can recall, and both times, got one of the souffles for dessert. So light and fluffy and delicious. Definitely the souffle against which all others are judged.

I'm sure the rest of my meals were equally phenomenal, but I don't remember it (and yes, there are some meals from that summer that I do remember). I do remember the lovely feeling of being sated and happy from a special meal that was totally worth the expenditure. And since you can't live in Lyon for two summers and not eat at least one meal from a Paul Bocuse establishment, L'Est fulfilled my expectations.

#Yelp365 - 188/365

Very nice restaurant. Very pretty and a darling train set circling the upper reaches of the room. Cuisine was very good, the staff worked very hard to do a good job, and they were perfect. My only criticism is that it's very big and Bocuse is very famous. So many people go to this restaurant. However it is very much mass produced and therefore not a personal experience as much as they try to make it so. It just isn't possible on this scale.

I have a soft spot for this place. I'm regular because it's in the 'hood, it's always open, always busy, and the food is consistently good.

I love the old train station, I love the little train that runs around the restaurant, I love that you can see the chefs with their big hats prepping the food and yelling at each other.

As an appetizer, I particularly appreciate the veggie pizza to share. The menu of the day is usually a good deal. Also, no matter what the season is, I always make sure to reserve one of their "tartes" for dessert (because if you get there late, sometimes they run out by the end of the night). I've had raspberry, strawberry, plum, apple ... they're always fabulous.

The Saint jacques risotto is to die for. The bread basket is good.

Service is quick, efficient, and very thoughtful (if you order anything to share, they'll bring to the table and cut it up for you. And one day when they ran out of strawberry tarts, they brought me fresh strawberries with freshly whipped cream - on the house - because I seemed so crushed). They never try to rush me out of there. It can get a bit loud but it's exactly the "brasserie" feel that I enjoy.