Le Train Bleu

One doesn't approach Le Train Bleu as one might approach an average railway catering experience. It's not an 'eat n go' fill-up station, nor is it somewhere to idle away the last minutes before your train departs. Although an integral part of a point of departure - the main salon overlooks the concourse of the big, busy, bustling Gare de Lyon which serves the Midi - it's a destination in its own right.

Opened just after the Exposition Universelle of 1900, the large rooms represent possibly the most grandiose and well preserved examples of Belle Epoque design and decor in Paris. Gilded mouldings in profusion gleam in the radiance of lavishly ornate light fittings, huge arched windows give views of the platforms below, napery is thick and comforting, service is old-fashioned and assured.

What's on the menu and who's in the room matter less than the hugely imposing room itself. The scale and detail are overwhelming, particularly the series of over 40 wall paintings depicting fashionable Mediterranean destinations in their gloriously bourgeois heyday of a century ago. There's so much to hold your attention that it really doesn't matter if you dine alone here!

In general, the food is well executed and handsomely presented, if not cutting edge - although since eating at Le Train Bleu is something of a 'recherche de temps perdu', a theatrical experience akin to travelling on the Orient Express, there seem to be few complaints.

Starters include Noirmoutier oysters, escargots de bourgogne à la Chablisienne, and a simple but satisfying dish of warm saucisson de Lyon with ratte potatoes in a shallot vinaigrette. Traditional meat dishes include steak tartare, grilled rib of Normandy beef, ox cheek with a red wine and balsamic vinegar jus, and blanquette de veau (which adds a slightly vogue-ish twist with a bourbon vanilla flavouring). Fishy treats might encompass grilled cod steak, sole meuniere, grilled sea bass. Desserts don't surprise: tarte fine aux pommes, creme brulee, rum baba, profiteroles...

Prices are on the high side for what's on offer. Best value is the short 'menu Rejane' (44€ in Jan 2006); there are others at 84€ and 230€). Wines start at just 27€ for the house Gaillac, topping out at well over 1000€ for the finest premiers crus.

However, adding in the priceless ambience of this temple to 'la Belle Epoque', and considering that one is unlikely to make a habit of dining there, there are many less memorable ways of blowing upwards of a hundred euros a head than a leisurely supper 'au Train Bleu'.
Comment on this reader review

Nic Barfield
Monday, February 13, 2006