quebec old city

[maxthegreat]

My husband and i are planning a visit to the old city in May for 3 nights. We are staying at the fairmount. i've heard that there are many wonderful restaurants in the area. We will be eating breakfast in the hotel as it is included with our room. We would like to make the best of our trip and find the best restaurants. I would like to find restaurants that are within walking distance to our hotel. I've heard that the Fairmount has a good restaurant in it, anyone know if we should bother eating dinner there one night. I think its called La Champlain. I'm also wondering if Cochon Dingue is better to go for lunch or a dinner. My husband and I also speak no french. Any recommendations would be helpful.

For lunch anyone know of any places where we can grab a quick bite. Something light if we will be having a big meal.

For attractions i was looking at the Food tour from Tours Voir Québec. Is it worth it?

Thanks so much.

[Aabacus]

I agree that there are a ton of great restaurants in and around the city but don't discount Champlain. My wife and I had an incredibly wonderful and memorable dinner there. No, it's not crazy, whacky, neuveau, foodstuffs. It's classic and tasty. That said, I concur with the other commenter about the other restaurant...breakfast is acceptable but ONLY if it's included in the room price. Otherwise I believe it was $60 US per person. Ah...no thank you. We had dinner there our first night because we were late getting in and didn't get a chance to make a better plan. Aside from a nice atmosphere you should skip it. The bar, while also pricey, was very comfortable and enjoyable. We had a couple of drinks there on our last day just before we took the cab back to the airport.

[bronwen]

I just got back. Loved the bar at the Chateau Frontenac (Fairmont). We had good meals at 1640, Parmesan, Aux Anciens Canadiens, Le Lobby, D'Orly and a fantastic breakfast at Lomelette. All are very close to the Fairmont in the Haute Ville. We went to Basse Ville via the funiculaire but did not eat there but it is very beautiful.

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Aux Anciens Canadiens
34 Rue Saint-Louis, Quebec, QC G1R3Z1, CA

Le Lobby
48 Rue Saint-Louis, Quebec, QC G1R3Z3, CA

[smack]

Might I suggest that one morning, if not for breakfast but for mid-morning coffee, that you visit le Palet 'dOr, which makes the most spectacular croissant and especially delicious croissant au chocolat et amandes. It is a pastry I dream about often. And - one of the best meals I ever had was the tasting menu at Panache, at the Auberge St Antoine. The tasting menu is great, and each course has its own accompanying wine course. The regular menu is equally spectacular, and many of the dishes list the farm where the product has come from.

http://www.saint-antoine.com/en/dinin...

Oh and fyi - bring earplugs. The hotel is very old and the walls are very thin.

Cochon Dingue is fine - fantastic pudding chomeur for dessert, staple steak-frites, but for my money Panache is simply spectacular, cozy and comfortable too. We ended up joining the adjoining table for an aperitif.

[maxthegreat]

Thanks so much for everyone's feedback. We are driving into Quebec on a monday. I'm not syre what time we will get there, it depends on the traffic and roads, so I don't want to make a reservation for monday night. Is there anywhere we can go for monday that yo don't need a reservation. It also appears that a lot of places are closed on monday.

[AprilTwoCats]

We have lunch at Cochon Dingue and wasn't really impressed. The pork burger was nicely seasoned but is far from a gourmet place.
On the other hand Moine Echanson was unique experience. Each appetizer and main dish has wine recommendations, by the glass or the bottle. So you can try different wines with each course. It looks like the restaurant is expanding into the next storefront, but still that aren't a lot of seats. We were glad we reserved ahead. Our waitress had limited English and we have limited French, but somehow we didn't starve.
Also on Rue St-Jean is Cafe Hobbit, which was more of a restaurant than a cafe. Our waiter was a gas, spoken English very well, and made a nice wine recommendation after asking our price range (it wasn't the top). I had never had veal cheek in whisky sauce-superb.

[Peaches to Poutine]

I heartily recommend Le Moine Echanson on Rue Saint-Jean. We went last weekend for our Valentine's dinner and really loved it.

[OliverB]

Avoid the Frontenac restaurant... they do a good breakfast buffet but it's ridiculously overpriced. If that's not an option then it's really th eonly meal I'd recommend you bother. Otherwise, there's no need to eat in the hotel. Enjoy some cocktails in the Bar St-Laurent instead.

as for restaurants, there's a zillion threads already existing with many recommendations if you do a search. My favorites for upscale dining are Le Saint amour, Panache, Le Patriarche and Pain Beni. For brunch and lunch I'd recommend L'Echaude, Le Lapin Sautee & Le Petit Cochon Dingue. Everything int he old town in within walking distance of your hotel, including all of the above listed restaurants.

I strongly suggest you avoid wasting any meals at the Frontenac if you've only got 3 nights to spend int eh city. It's a typical hotel restaurant - overpriced for average fare, mostly uninteresting preparation, exclusively tourist dining and poor value. There's much mor eto offer in city. If you venture outside of the fortified walls (exploring the governor's promenade, battlefields park and plains of abraham, etc) you can also spend a morning exploring some of the artisinal foodie stops nearby. Au Palet d'Or is a great pâtisserie, Boulangerie Paillard is right up the street, J.A. Moison is a renowned epicerie that dates way back, le moine echanson is a nice spot to share some wine digestifs after exploring all of the previous sights for light brunch fare, and the artisinal chocolate shop choco-musee erico is the perfect way to top things off. You can walk all that off along the promenade back to yoru hotel.

Also, for late night city views the rotating glass rooftop Astral Bar at the Loews is unbeatable and worth a visit. I don't recommend ordering fromt he menu, but catch a cab or request the house car to drop you off for wine aperitifs before hailing a taxi back to panache or le patriacrhe for an amazing meal.

[Moncheri]

I have to agree concerning Le Saint Amour and The Loew's revolving dining room. I have had the pleasure of dining at both establishments and not only was the food to die for, it was such an enjoyable experience.

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Le Saint Amour
48 Rue Ste-Ursule, Quebec, QC G1R, CA

[uwsister]

Second Le Pain Beni. We go there on every trip.

[QcBoy]

I've only heard good things about Pain Béni.