Restaurants in Québec City
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Le Hobbit
This popular and inviting bistro on Rue St-Jean has outdoor seating, a casual atmosphere and good-value lunch and dinner specials (check out the chalkboard). The classics are all nicely done, including French onion soup, juicy duck confit and steak frites – plus Québécois specialties like elk with sautéed apples and leeks. There’s a small but fairly priced wine list. Various fresh pasta dishes and salads round out the menu.
reviewed
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Paillard Café-Boulangerie
This bright and buzzy space has high ceilings, huge windows looking onto the street and a long wooden table down the middle where diners tuck into tasty gourmet sandwiches (ham with green apples and brie; hot roast beef sandwiches with blue cheese, caramelized onions and horseradish), satisfying soups and fresh salads. The attached bakery with its displays of sweet temptation is too hard to resist. It’s a bit of a madhouse at lunchtime.
reviewed
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L’Échaudé
This classic little bistro has a refreshingly relaxed and nonstuffy waitstaff. All the classics are on offer – including duck confit, steak frites (steak with French fries), fresh fish of the day and braised lamb shank –along with more daring options like Cornish hen with braised shrimp, and pan-fried foie gras with grilled mushrooms. All come beautifully plated to the table and bursting with flavor, which is why L’Échaudé is one of the rare places in the Old Town where locals regularly outnumber tourists. The terrific wine list favors bottles from France.
reviewed
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Le Café du Clocher Penché
This café serves classy, classic bistro fare and proudly shows off local products like Québécois fromages (cheeses). What sets it apart are the one-of-a-kind weekend brunches. Brioche comes with caramelized pears, homemade crème fraîche, caramel sauce and almonds. An English muffin is served with veggie pâté, poached eggs, cheddar cheese, pesto vinaigrette, roasted potatoes and vegetarian chili. Reservations recommended.
reviewed
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Le Café du Monde
This Paris-style bistro is the only restaurant in town directly on the St Lawrence River. Bright, airy and casually elegant, it has been a local favorite for years, swearing by bistro classics like steak frites and saucisse de Toulouse. The menu is authentic and there’s a great choice of other dishes like roasted pork rack with honey and lobster ravioli. The accent is on local Québec products.
reviewed
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Conti Caffe
Set on busy Rue St-Louis, the handsome Conti Caffe features an impressive selection of flavorful Italian classics. Start off with prosciutto and melon or the house antipasto, before moving on to penne with gorgonzola, apples and walnuts or the grilled halibut with mango salsa. The dining room is a warmly lit retreat, with exposed brick walls trimmed with art and big windows overlooking the street.
reviewed
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Chez Ashton
For a break from fine dining, head to Chez Ashton, a Québec City fast-food institution with dozens of restaurants across town. Some Québec City boosters swear it’s the best poutine in the province (Montrealers, of course, would quickly dismiss such an idea). Though poutine is the draw, Ashton also whips up burgers and roast beef sandwiches.
reviewed
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Buffet de L’Antiquaire
Tucked in among the bistros and the galleries is this convivial little diner with an old-school vibe. Locals and tourists alike crowd in for hearty breakfasts, steaming plates of poutine, savory meat pies and other tasty comfort fare. Grab a seat at the narrow counter or, if the weather is warm, slip into one of the sidewalk tables out front.
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Casse-Crêpe Breton
Tiny and unassuming, this perennial favorite specializes in hot, fresh crepes of every kind starting as low as $4. Some diners like to sit at the counter and watch the chef at work.
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Aux Anciens Canadiens
Housed in the historic Jacquet House, which dates from 1676, this place is all about robust country cooking and typical Québécois specialties. Here, waitstaff in historic garb serve dishes like caribou in blueberry wine sauce, duckling in maple-syrup sauce or Lac St-Jean meat pie served with pheasant and buffalo casserole. Lunch is served noon to 5:45pm and is by far the best deal (around $20 for three courses). The restaurant gets its name from the novel Les Anciens Canadiens by Philippe-Aubert de Gaspé, who lived in the house from 1815 to 1824. The original rooms have been left intact, resulting in several small, intimate dining areas.
reviewed
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Panache
One of Québec’s most celebrated restaurants, Panache generally receives high marks for its delectable, imaginatively prepared Québécois cuisine and top-notch service. The feast, which can easily last three or four hours, might feature the likes of maple-glazed halibut, Appalachian red deer with wild berry sauce, spit-roasted duck or caramelized giant scallops. It’s set in a 19th-century maritime warehouse, with rustic wood beams nicely complementing the elegant place settings. The price tag for all this, not surprisingly, is high. Some foodies say it’s a memorable, worthwhile experience; others say Panache is overhyped.
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Chez Victor
One of the best-loved little neighborhood eateries in the city, Chez Victor specializes in juicy burgers, served with more than a dash of creativity. Choose from ostrich, deer, elk, wild boar, straight-up beef or vegetarian, which you can then dress a number of ways (brie, smoked bacon, cream cheese etc). The sides are also nice, including fresh coleslaw and fries, which you can get with a variety of sauces (including the recommended curry sauce). There’s a tiny outdoor patio or dine in the cozy, exposed-brick dining room. Service is sometimes frustratingly slow.
reviewed
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L’Utopie
L’Utopie is one of several critically acclaimed restaurants to open its doors in the last few years. Stylish yet refined, L’Utopie serves imaginative, artfully presented dishes by chef-owner Stéphane Modat. The menu changes regularly and features dishes like truffle risotto, scallops with warm foie gras, and grilled almond-crusted veal. The food-and-wine pairings are simply phenomenal. Everything is served in a bright, open dining room with an exposed wine cellar. Bunches of slender birch trees separate the tables and reach toward the ceiling.
reviewed
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Café Krieghoff
This brilliant little resto is a city classic, with a varied bistro menu, extensive breakfast choices and some of the best coffee in town. If it’s warm, you can watch the comings and goings on Ave Cartier from a table on the massive front porch, or head to the laid-back terrace out back. Inside, the dining room is decorated with reproductions from the café’s namesake artist, Cornelius Krieghoff (1815–72), one of Québec’s master painters of the 20th century, who lived just down the street from here on Grande Allée.
reviewed
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Le Lapin Sauté
This cozy, rustically set restaurant brings a breath of the French countryside into the Old Town. Naturally lapin (rabbit) plays a starring role on the menu, in dishes like rabbit cassoulet and rabbit pie, though you can also opt for bouillabaisse, marinated salmon cooked on cedar, filet mignon, smoked pork chops, or lighter fare like the croque monsieur, French onion soup and grilled vegetables with a goat cheese salad. In good weather, you can sit on the flowery patio overlooking tiny Félix Leclerc park.
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Tutto Gelato
There’s a reason people line up halfway out the door at all hours for Tutto Gelato. The creamy, rich, homemade ice cream here is simply too good to pass up. Over two dozen varieties of the Italian-style gelato and nine different sorbets (plus four soy-based varieties for the vegan crowd) vie for attention behind the glass counters. Top picks include fraise des champs (wild strawberries), passion fruit, pistachio, Bacio (milk chocolate and hazelnut) and green tea. Young, efficient staff move things along quickly.
reviewed
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Largo Resto-Club
Rich wood tones and exposed brick create a warm ambience at this welcoming restaurant in the heart of St-Roch. The menu is small, featuring simple ingredients, but the preparation is excellent, making for a rewarding dining experience. Tartelette de canard (savory duck pie), seafood linguini and grilled squid with vegetables and polenta are popular selections. Catch live music here Thursday through Saturday nights. The Largo Resto-Club also does gallery duty, showing off the work of local painters and sculptors.
reviewed
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Enzo Sushi
One of Québec City’s best (and priciest) sushi restaurants, Enzo receives rave reviews for its mouthwateringly fresh sushi and sashimi. In addition to the classics, house specialties feature inventive sushi combinations like homard grillé (grilled lobster with fish roe, cucumber, lettuce and spicy mayonnaise). There are a few tempura and teriyaki dishes for nonsushi lovers. Start the meal off with a sake martini or a soho martini (vodka and lychee juice) or head straight for the wine list.
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Laurie Raphaël
This highly respected restaurant features a blend of produits du terroir (local Québec produce), along with international accents. Delectable favorites include giant scallops with coconut milk and exotic fruits, and lamb with mint and anise. Chef Daniel Vézina keeps menu descriptions to the minimum, saying he wants to ‘leave room for imagination and discovery.’ There’s also a spontaneous chef’s menu ($60) ‘for those that like to be surprised.’
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Toast!
Inside Le Priori Hotel, Toast! is another contender for best restaurant in the city. The trim, attractive dining room with fireplace is the setting for an eclectic array of dishes, including poached lobster risotto, foie gras appetizers (one of the house specialties), seared black cod in an almond crust, and scallops with crispy pork belly. You’ll find excellent wine selections, and generally good service. In the summer, you can dine alfresco in the vine-covered courtyard out back.
reviewed
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Le Commensal
An endless choice of strictly vegetarian food dishes, including vegan and organic options, lines the buffet counters in this huge and bright self-serve restaurant. The menu changes daily, but typically features lasagna, savory veggie pies, stews, curries, wraps, ratatouille, veggie pâté, soups, salads, fresh fruits and berries, plus a large dessert counter (the maple sugar pie is tops, as is the raspberry cheesecake). You can bring your own wine.
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Voodoo Grill
Attractive young servers, thumping electronica and wildly elcectic decor set the stage for this buzzing fusion restaurant. African and Asian statues peer down at the tables and the dining room is done up in dark, rich tones. Specialties here include filet mignon from the Charlevoix region, mixed seafood platters and huge savory Asian soups. After a big meal, diners can burn off the calories at the Chez Maurice nightclub upstairs.
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L'Ardoise
This place just keeps racking up the praise, and it's easy to see why. Not only does it have a mouth-watering bistro menu with beautifully turned out classics like confit de canard, along with tantalizing twists like caribou medallions, horse steak and duck with blueberry sausage. To top if off, the setting is stunning; tiffany style lamps hang from the ceiling, along with all manner of greenery. It's cluttered, cosy and bright.
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Downtown
Fun, relaxed and reasonable, this place is especially popular for lunch during the week. All the usual suspects are featured on the menu including salmon and beef tartare with fries and salads, along with pasta dishes and all-you-can-eat mussels (around C$16). Inside it's cozy with exposed brick walls, and there's none of the nervous energy of a lot of other bistro-type eateries in town. A children's menu is also available.
reviewed
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Le Patriarche
The nouvelle cuisine echoes the contemporary art hanging on the 180-year-old stone walls in this top-class restaurant. Imaginative culinary creations seem almost too lovely to eat, but the feeling soon passes when you read the restaurants’ roll call of local suppliers. Start off with coconut and lemongrass poached scallops before moving on to roasted rack of lamb, caribou steak or a garden-vegetable mushroom risotto.
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