Café Comptoir Abel

I found out that Lyon is a city famous for its food. I didn’t like the French food which I had the first time and I was unable to accept that one of the most renowned cuisines in the world actually sucked. I would like to put it down to the poor choice of restaurants which we made that time. This time, in Lyon, I’m making sure that I make the correct choice, most of the time. Café Comptoir Abel is one of those restaurants which are known in Lyon. I managed to get a seat here by calling ahead of time but by the time I got to the restaurant, there was already a queue outside. Curiously enough, you can’t really see inside the restaurant. All the curtains were drawn presumably to keep the restaurant private. It would be irritating to have people queuing outside the restaurant while you finish you food.

I felt like I struck the jackpot when I got in the restaurant. It was actually a very small restaurant. To be able to support this kind of size, and say no to potential customers, the price would probably have to match – and it does. This is not a cheap place to be in, at least for me. However, for a taste of a famous restaurant in Lyon, this is probably what I need to pay.

Lyonnaise food is known for its use of exotic ingredients, like offal. I guess, this is not very common even in France but I don’t really mind offal. If they can make offal taste good then they are probably doing something right. Fortunately, the staff speaks fluent English, contrary to popular perception, they were quite friendly. I had saucisson chaud or sausage with lintels for my appetizer. I don’t really know what to expect here since French food is somewhat unknown to me. The plate came with a plateful of lintels which kind of looks like rice and some slice sausages. It was nice introduction to Lyonnaise food and I was eagerly looking forward to the main course.

My main course was Quenelle de brochet en gratin maison which according to Google Translate, means Quenelle of pike in homemade gratin. This seems to be one of the signature food of Lyon and I was eager to try it out in one of the more well known restaurants in the city. I know pike is a rather substantial fish but I have never eaten it before. It seems to be another uncommon ingredient found in Lyonnaise cuisine. Quenelle is a dish I had never had before. Biting into the quenelle reveals a strange non-fish texture. It was almost like a baked dense scrambled egg or very soft fish cake in texture. The fish is nowhere to be found, it seems that was all ground up and it is in the quenelle. The taste is very delicate that it almost seemed intentional that the quenelle was almost tasteless to enable to you get the flavor of the fish itself. There is more cream to add more flavor to the dish. The dish looked impressive coming in a rather large container. However, the taste was very mild that, I left not getting satisfied with the dish which was supposedly the main course. I personally prefer the appetizer compared to the main course. This time around, I don’t think I can fault the restaurant. I don’t have much appreciation for the quenelle as the other dishes I tried here.

To finish off my meal, I had some chocolate mousse. There wasn’t anything special with it but it is always nice to finish the meal with dessert. Naturally, I accompanied the meal with some wine just like any decent French person would do. I liked the restaurant, there was a nice and cozy feeling to it. It was in a quiet corner of the district and the only people passing by would be people who are waiting outside. Fortunately, the curtains make you oblivious to all that. What I like about this restaurant was how you do not have to rush through your food only because someone else needs a seat.

Café Comptoir Abel
25 Rue Guynemer, 69002 Lyon, France
+33 4 7837 4618

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