Le Pot Lyonnais

After searching for good, genuine French cuisine, I came across Le Pot Lyonnais... and I did not regret it.

I've travelled to France several times purely for the food and atmosphere. This restaurant is as close to the real this as it gets.

Patrick (the manager and only full time chef) produced some of the best food I have ever placed in my mouth. I started with 3 starters (between me and my partner) of a lovely cold traditional meat dish (chacuterie), a beautiful French salad, and of course, some of the most flavoursome snails in London.

Following the starters (served beautifully and quickly by the brilliant Adrian and lovely Lorien), I went on to have one of the French specialties: steak and chips... rare of course.

I have been to several steak houses in the UK and in France... none of them compare. The steak was cooked to perfection and the chips were crispy and fluffy just as a good chip should be. The peppercorn sauce was beautiful, and did not burn the throat whenever a peppercorn was accidents swallowed.

I have since been back several times to try the wines. I did one order the steak baguette from the bar. This was no ordinary 'subway' steak baguette... it was a fully blown steak... cooked how you like it... served in bread made the same day and coated in melted cheese. I was served b the beautiful yet efficient Holly. My glass was never empty thanks to the amazing service.

I wish Patrick and the team the very best of luck. With only small staff numbers the place become hectic. Highly recommended food... highly recommended wine... and an atmosphere and company to die for.
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9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Tuesday, February 15, 2011

I agree with everything written here, with the exception of any suggestion to avoid the place. I have a great time every visit and that is not altogether infrequent. The service is substandard, so I can see how somebody trying impress a friend, colleague or significant other, might feel agrieved that their every whim is not catered to in the professional and courteous manner one might expect of a reasonably priced establishment. That said, the service is so informal that it actually makes the experience (in my opinion) more comfortable, relaxing and ultimately enjoyable.

I should point out that I generally find being called 'Sir', an unpleasant side-affect of treating myself to a night out in a restaurant or hotel. Unless the Queen one day dictates that this is how I should be addressed, a simple "Can I take your order?" will suffice.

The food is always very tasty, with the exception of some slightly obscure hash browns I had about 3 months ago. I have never felt hurried by over attentive staff seemingly looking to shift me asap, and in this respect I find it the most welcoming place ever. If a night (or late morning) out, chatting with friends, reading the paper etc. with food and drink turning up at reasonably regular intervals sounds good to you, then I thoroughly recommend this place. If however, awkward silences are frequently a problem amongst your chosen company and you require regular intervention from the staff to relieve the situation, or if you've a tight schedule to keep, I'd probably suggest somewhere else.

McDonald's family restaurants do a fine hash brown and in good time too...
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Craig Saddington
7 Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 6
Sunday, October 31, 2010

I don't normally write reviews but after dining at this establishment twice in a matter on months i felt i had to break with tradition. This first time i went here with my family, we spent three hours in the restaurant and only had two courses along with copious bottles of wine to relieve the boredom of waiting! Cofffee was put on hold to have at home!

I went there again for lunch today with my father. I was already sceptical after the last woeful escapade but i thought a quick lunch would see them in a better light. Far from it....

We arrived and were greeted by a surly waitress who spoke little English. We sat down and ordered a glass of wine, a lemonade and two glasses of tap water. She then, after 5 minutes, returned to say she couldn't remember which type of wine we had ordered! We then told her and then after another five minutes the wine, lemonade and one glass of water appeared.

To eat we both ordered the lamb stew off the specials board only to be told that they had run out! So instead we ordered a platter of charcuterie and two gravadlax - all to be brought at the same time please. After a fairly short wait a basket of (warm! - only good point in the whole event) bread arrived with the charcuterie. All perfectly palatable except some rather ancient looking spam!

The waitress then brought us two beers which we hadn't ordered! Next she cleared our plates and then arrived with a plate of cheese?! We then questioned her and she said i thought you said cheese platter and not gravadlax! We sent this back only for her to return a few minutes later saying the chef ran out of gravadlax last night!!! At this point we gave up and said could we just have the bill!

To add insult to seriously underfed stomachs she had charged us for the two 'beers' we never ordered! Not even Fawlty Towers and dear old Manuel were this incompetent!!! AVOID!
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Henry - View all reviews by this user
2 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 2
Wednesday, September 29, 2010

I find the reviews confusing. We've now been 4 times and each time really enjoyed the food.
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Rob
8 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 8
Saturday, August 28, 2010

I went here last week, and can safely say 'NEVER AGAIN'. Awful.
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gooseman
1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Thursday, August 12, 2010

I went to have brunch with two girlfriends there last sunday and could not disagree more . We had a great time, staff wasnt the most friendly but this place is great VALUE for the money, atmosphere is very good and the food...

The best place to go for breakfast on this area.
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Ana
9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, June 23, 2010

** DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY **

Avoid at ALL costs unless you are happy with a Starter of Sarcasm & Mains of Disrespect with a Side of Arogance. All of which will arrive late. Service is the worst I have experienced and food is well overpriced.
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James C
1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Monday, June 21, 2010

Shocking! Shocking! Shocking!

This has to be the most unpleasant experience i have experienced in a restaurant. The staff, and when i say staff, i must point out their was only a French Chap serving (i have no idea if he was the owner or a employee) and no other staff visible thankfully as if they were all as rude and ignorant as this man, then there is no hope for this little eatery what so ever.

I still cant believe how bad the service was and i feel so incensed by this i have felt the need to voice my disgust and write this review.

The Chap serving us and taking our Order was instantly uninviting, however we decided to stay and enjoy the breakfast we were looking forward to.

My Girlfriend had specifically chosen this restaurant as she wanted to have the eggs Benedict, so that's what she ordered.

We didn't have to wait too long before our breakfast arrived, however when it did, it wasn't what my girlfriend had ordered, so she mentioned this to the French Chap serving.

Instead of being apologetic, this Rude French guy decided to shout quite aggressively towards my girlfriend insisting that was what she ordered, and continued for a few minutes before offering to change the order to what she had originally asked for.

Now while this was all going on, i was still waiting for the toast and the coffee that was to come with my breakfast, however this chap decided to go outside and have a sit down and a fag, totally forgetting my order. When he came back in he realised he had forgotten the toast and went to get it, not before muttering that he had got all confused after the problem with the original order. He also delivered my girlfriends breakfast, this time the right order arrived so I thought it was a good time to ask for the coffee that was part of the menu i ordered. This chap aggressively told me i had not requested the coffee, even though it was part of the menu, so i requested the coffee there and then, so he begrudgingly went to get me a coffee.

After all of this, I asked for the bill, but had to query the bill as it did not add up again the chap was aggressive in his answer pointing out that the bill was correct and threw a menu at me to check the prices. Now lets just say at this point my patience had been totally tested and i was ready to blow my top, however my girlfriend requested me to leave without making a fuss.

The best bit, which did make me laugh was that he had the audacity to put a service charge on, although only a couple of pounds, we begrudgingly paid this in order to vacate the premises.

This guy is extremely lucky I was persuaded to leave the premises without causing a huge fuss and i can assure you if i had i not been with my young lady, he wouldn't have been so lucky!

I recommend you refrain from visiting this establishment and chose another that welcomes and values their customers as well as offering a service that is acceptable.

Overall, shocking service, rude staff and overpriced!
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1 Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Monday, June 21, 2010