EAT > Le Train Bleu, Paris (13/20)

There are few restaurants that offer the grandeur of Le Train Blue located at the boarding end of the hall in the Gare de Lyon railway station in Paris.

The restaurant was originally built in 1900 as part of the Exposition Universelle (The World’s Fair) and it features a series of connected dining rooms each with paintings on the walls and ceiling to represent various cities and regions in France.

Originally it was named Buffet de la Gare de Lyon but it was renamed to after the famous over night luxury train ‘Le Train Bleu’ in 1963. The train ran from Calais to Nice via Paris from 1886 to 2003, offering a luxury overnight route to the French Riviera.

You enter the restaurant though the station and as much of the buildings facade is under restoration you go through what appears to be a worksite but when you enter through the doors you are definitely transported to a location like no other.

A room of gold gilt, beautifully turned timber, leather banquettes, chandeliers and the paintings that cover the walls and ceilings.

Image Credits – Le Train Bleu

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Executive Chef Michel Rostang has taken over the menu at Le Train Bleu lifting the classic French dishes to new culinary heights. Rostang is famed for his Michelin starred restaurant Maison Rostang (as well as three other restaurants L’Absinthe, Dessirier and Rue Balzac).

The result is you are visiting a restaurant that is part experience, part museum, good service, and traditional French food with a modern twist.

The roast leg of local lamb was carved at the table and served with potato gratin dauphinois (42€), the Hare served “à la royale” with pepper sauce and taglierini pasta with cream (46€) was very rich in flavour. The veal head with ravigote sauce and autumn vegetables was delicious (33€).

We all enjoyed our meal but it was not quite as gourmet as perhaps we had imagined, the food was good, nice flavours and there was plenty of it (serves are generous), it is also quite expensive so keep that in mind. But there was nothing at our table that you would consider fine dining, it was good meal but you are there because of the room not the food.

And while we thought we were eating an enormous meal, at a table beside us there was a dinner who sat alone, he was eating the Roast Rack of Lamb (110€) which is designed to be shared between two people, finishing that he then went on to have the Crêpes Suzette flambéed with Grand Marnier (18€), which provided us with the wonderful caramel smells and the theatre with none of the calories.

Because it is a such large restaurant and the imagery is so iconic it is very likely that you will see people taking pictures and instagramming every minute which may be the only negative of an otherwise fascinating slice of history.

The wine list is substantial and the mark up on wines was generous so we found ourselves drinking a village burgundy that was adequate but definitely not memorable.