Mon dieu! If music be the food of love, then it is the sound of a French accordion playing La Vie en Rose emanating from the kitchen of Le Mouton Noir. When Jurgen D suggested French food as August's cuisine for our monthly yelp get-together dinner I was over-joyed. French cuisine is my absolute favourite, and I'm not just saying this. I have visited France more than I have England, at least twice a year as a kid, and grew up adoring foie gras, steak tartar, red meat as blue as can be, haricot vert, goutier, creamy patisserie pastries, cheese and wine. Le Mouton Noir is as close to a meal in Lyon as you'll find in Edinburgh. Whilst the word 'authentic' gets banded around a bit too much, I can't really think of any other way to describe it. French waiters, a French chef, and with real French passion for good food. The menu changes daily so you can't find it on the website. I did laugh at the fact that it deatils every option such as "lamb shank in spices with sweet potato", "duck gizzard salad with walnuts and lardons" through every meat dish and then at the very bottom there was only one veggie option, described simply as "Veggie Option". If you know French cuisine you will know they are unsympathetic to those who go sans viande. Luckily I am not of that ilk. So it was duck gizzards to start and feather steak for a main - rare. I'd never had duck gizzards before and only when going home later and googling it did I discover that they are in fact one of the few stomachs that a duck has. I was surprised. The gizzards were really delicious, and I think I had around 8 of them (that's 8 whole little duck stomachs, oops.) The steak. Oh my god. The steak. Give me a moment. When you order 'rare' in the UK it can sometimes arrive slightly pink, if you're lucky the potatoes may get stained a little red, but once or twice a 'rare' steak has been presented 'well done'. Le Mouton Noir's steak was still blue. And just... je nais ce qoui. Out of this world. It was a huge portion, and for only 12 I couldn't get over the value for both the quality and quantity. As Jurgen D has said, the chips were probably the best we've had too. It really was my best meal in a long time. I have previously given another restaurant in Edinburgh the accolade of 'Best Steak in the City'. So that I don't appear to be giving that prized title right, left and centre I hear by reclaim it and hand it over to Le Mouton Noir. I would seriously eat out here every week for a steak and glass of red. Just perfect. The ambience is wonderful too. Dark wood, fairly small inside with limited seating, candles, and of course... it's French. Perfect for a date night, but also for the table of 8 yelpers that we were. Oh and my dessert of rum prunes was killer!! I'd never eaten prunes before - turns out I like them. And also turns out that there was probably at least three shots of rum in total. I left a little merrier and tipsy after those. I have definitely found my new favourite neighbourhood eaterie. It's actually affordable for a weekly meal, but the quality is some of the best I've had.
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positive