A great Michelin-starred lunch bargain with one extraordinary dish: Restaurant Le Passe Temps (11. June 2022)
It was incredibly hard to find any Michelin starred restaurants on short notice for this weekend, so, I was already super happy when I landed the Le Passe Temps for lunch on Saturday. And I must say, it was a good experience. For a very fair price, you get a “6-Course tasting menu” (EUR 89.00) and a “wine pairing” (EUR 50.00), which started with a “kohlrabi tartlet with seaweed salt and a foie gras sandwich”. The tartlet was good, and the foie gras sandwich was great. The start was a good one.
The first course was “tomatoes green plum and red plums and tomato water with dill oil” and I must say that this one was great too. The tomatoes were of an interesting consistency and all of it was of an intense flavour.
The “bread and butter” served were good – nothing mind-blowing though.
While the “red tuna tartar with low cooked beet root rose and sour cream” looked delicious, it turned out to be not that delicious. Still good, but somewhat more regular than expected, i.e., the flavour combination only worked out if you had a roll of each of the three elements which were part of the dish. And the very decorative flower construction on top looked great, but didn’t taste like anything, unfortunately.
The “blue lobster with butter, white garlic cream, bottarga powder and green beans” on the other hand was exquisite. Bottarga basically always improves the dish – and in this case it did so by quite a bit. I mean, the blue lobster was good by itself, but the rest was relatively regular.
Since this was sold as the signature dish of the chef, I decided to give it a try and went for the “foie gras, parsnip, oyster leaf, soy bouillon with seaweed powder, potato gnocchi” (EUR 15.00 extra). And I must say, I was disappointed. It wasn’t bad, don’t get me wrong, but for being a signature dish, it didn’t stand out as much as I would have expected it, i.e., the flavour profile was relatively boring.
The “monkfish with peas, pine tree jelly, yuzu zabaglione, apple pickles” on the other hand, blew my mind. The fish was perfect in terms of texture, and the yuzu zabaglione really made the dish an extraordinary experience. And even the raspberry added something to the dish, although I had expected it to be nothing but mere decoration. No, it actually improved the profile, making it quite an amazing and lovely experience. A big wow!
The actual main course, the “lamb, black garlic juice, potatoes, mashed onions and spinach, fermented fungus” was quite delicious too. Not as good as the dish before, but definitely enjoyable and great in terms of texture and flavour combinations.
The “18 months matured cheesecake with tonka bean and olive oil” was interesting. Not really something I was celebrating, but something which was looking pretty and was also tasting good.
The “strawberry variation, fresh and frozen, mascarpone cream, elderflower, with elderflower and strawberry cider” plus the “white chocolate and pepper foam with yuzu sorbet” were both fine. Nothing which blew my mind, but then again, I’m not big on desserts anyway, so I suppose that’s not really a surprise.
The “friandises” which were served to finalize the lunch were relatively regular.
All in all, I liked the experience at the “Le Passe Temps” – a good lunch with one extraordinary dish, for a very fair price.
The service is attentive, friendly, and making sure you have everything you want and need throughout the lunch. Booking well in advance is highly recommended though.
Rating:
| Atmosphere: |   |
| Service: | |
| Dishes: | |
| Price-Performance Ratio: | |
| Overall Rating: |  |
Contact Details:
Restaurant Le Passe Temps
Rue Tronchet 52
69006 Lyon (F)
Tel.: +33 4 72 82 90 14
E-Mail: lepassetemps.contact@gmail.com
Homepage: http://www.lepassetemps-restaurant.com
About the Author: Sven
I started the blog in October 2009, while living in Milan which I definitely consider to be one of the food capitals of the world. I was in touch with food since my early childhood (as my father is a former chef). Whenever I can, I travel the world to discover new places, to meet people but mostly to try local dishes and to find hidden gems! If you know a place worth going, please drop a line to: info@thediningexperience.org.
Currently, I am a member of the following food-related associations: Chevalier @Chaîne des Rôtisseurs Zurich-Ville; Membre Gourmet Dégustateur @Ordre Mondial des Gourmets Dégustateurs [OMGD]; Gesellschafter @Goldener Fisch and Member @Slowfood Convivium Zurich City. 
