During Chinese New Year, I flew through Paris on my way to Lyon. I arrived, but my luggage didn’t. Losing my suitcase turned out to be only the first unexpected experience of my Lyon trip. I spent the trip sightseeing while chasing the airline about my missing suitcase. Multi-tasking at its finest, I didn’t let either one get in the way.

In Lyon, besides Paul Bocuse, I tried two bistros. After one of them, I decided never to trust that recommendation again. The other was Le Jean Moulin. It only has a Michelin Bib Gourmand, but once a restaurant offers a set menu, I think it is fair to judge it by a standard somewhat higher than that of a casual bistro.

The three-course menu had some interesting ideas, although each course had its own flaws.

The crab with vanilla and bergamot was far too salty. Perhaps the problem was the choice of crab – I was hoping for something with a naturally sweet, delicate flavor, such as snow crab or even Chinese mitten crab. The mussels in a black curry cream sauce, on the other hand, were seasoned just right. I wiped the last bit of sauce completely clean with bread. The mustard whipped cream was a particularly nice touch, although there was far too little of it.

For the main course, I ordered sweetbreads which were supposedly the best in the city. Such claims always raise expectations that are difficult for any chef to meet.

The sweetbreads were coated and pan-fried until one side was deeply golden, while the other was only lightly colored. They came with morels cooked in a beef jus, mashed potatoes, and baby carrots. They were certainly not tough, but I wouldn’t call them particularly tender either. The texture was still far from what I wanted. What I was expecting was closer to the texture of an excellent Japanese tempura – the kind that is crisp on the outside yet delicate and tender inside.

And again, it was very, very lightly seasoned.

Surprisingly, the dessert was the strongest course. A small biscuit was served after the meal to refresh the palate, cold and mildly sweet, while the dessert itself was covered with a thin layer of crisp sugar.

The porcini mousse, however, was far too generous. It threw the whole dessert out of balance and made it unnecessarily heavy. A real misstep.

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At around €50 per person, the value for money was actually very good. You simply wouldn’t get this kind of ingredients and quality at the same price in Shanghai.

But being forced to spend two hours over a meal is exhausting.

I spent less than twenty minutes actually eating. The rest was waiting – waiting to order, waiting for the food, waiting for the bill. No wonder French restaurants can sometimes run the dining room with just one person: the real resource being consumed is the diner’s time.

Later, a friend and I were discussing those five-hour fine-dining experiences. At some point, I think it really should be considered a matter for the police.

Meanwhile, after waiting twenty minutes just to order, I had already given up on the restaurant and decided to go back to deal with my missing suitcase. I was already preparing myself for the next day’s trip to Lyon airport to collect it in person.

I returned to the hotel without much hope and went to check with the front desk one more time.

Then I opened the door.

My suitcase was already in my room.

After all that waiting, at least one thing had finally arrived – eventually, just as promised.