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  • Eating in Quebec is my favorite thing

  • That's right eating in Quebec is pretty epic.

  • Quebec City has to be one of the best foodie designations in North America

  • combing French gastronomical traditions

  • with the uniquely Canadian twist.

  • We've been to Quebec City twice now,

  • once in the winter and once in the summer,

  • and we've eaten at some incredible restaurants.

  • So without further ado, these are our 17 favorite restaurants

  • and the best foodie experiences in Quebec City.

  • First up: L'affaire Ketchup.

  • Basically in French it's a saying that means everything's cool, everything's gravy, and it's an

  • unpretentious bistro that cooks everything over two four- burner stoves.

  • It's situated in a former house.

  • The menu is written by hand on a chalkboard every day.

  • So the menu is always changing.

  • It's not a big place, so it can be difficult to get in,

  • but if you do get in, expect inventive cuisine,

  • plenty of booze, and a soundtrack of heavy metal.

  • Another favorite of ours is Biceps Barbecue,

  • which is a collaboration between a notorious bartender

  • who serves shots of bourbon with bacon and a chef who spent seven years traveling the United States in a van,

  • perfecting his barbecue skills.

  • The result is a beautiful baby of southern and Quebecois cuisine.

  • Brisket with a slab of foie gras on top.

  • Instead of chicken wings, frog legs and

  • obviously meat, meat, and more meat.

  • Come hungry, leave stuffed, and come back for more.

  • It's located a little bit outside of town, and the building is kind of a dive.

  • But when you walk in, you will be blown away,

  • welcomed and so well fed that you won't have to eat for another week.

  • The next morning you'll probably be looking for some brunch.

  • You should go to Clocher Penche.

  • And by the way, if we're mispronouncing any of these names,

  • "Nous sommes desoles." Sorry. We're trying our best.

  • Clocher Penche is one of the best brunch spots in Quebec.

  • It's named after this crooked tower that's right across the street.

  • It's like a church, and all the dishes have this religious theme,

  • but they're completely unorthodox.

  • There're waffles with a mushroom bechamel sauce, fried eggs over zucchini, salad with a hoisin sauce.

  • Everything is amazing. Everything's decadent, decadent, decadent.

  • Did we mention that you're probably not going to be losing weight on the trip? Yeah? That's guaranteed

  • Yeah

  • Definitely good though. It's a good sort of.... unless you walk everywhere

  • because Quebec City is built on a hill, and

  • there's plenty of staircases to burn these meals off.

  • Yeah, just plan breakfast lunch and dinner in three different parts the city and walk between them,

  • and you have an exercise plan done, built in.

  • For coffee head over to Maelstrom in the neighborhood of Saint Roch.

  • During the day it's an incredible place to grab a coffee.

  • Obviously, their baristas are on point, and all of their coffee is really, really good, especially their cold brew.

  • But the best part about it

  • is that when the sun goes down, it turns into a cocktail bar,

  • and they have some incredibly inventive cocktails using coffee.

  • Back in the Old Town check out Chez Boulay,

  • which was probably one of my favorite spots we went to.

  • It specializes in what they call boreal cuisine, which essentially is like a québécois

  • interpretation of new nordic cuisine.

  • If that sounds complicated,

  • basically nordic cuisine is focused on local sustainable organic food

  • with ingredients you can only find in the area

  • It's the same thing but in a québécois interpretation.

  • They reject a lot of traditional spices and other flavorings in favor of

  • local products that they can find in the forest or on local farms.

  • Better.. the lunchtime menu is extremely accessible.

  • It's like under 20 bucks for a big, big portion plus a starter.

  • It's hard to beat that in terms of value.

  • Speaking of produce..

  • most of the produce that's used in these

  • restaurants in Quebec City is grown on the nearby

  • Ile d'Orleans,

  • which is just a short drive outside of the city,

  • just past Montmorency Falls, but it's full of farms;

  • It's full of vineyards, and it's got some incredible restaurants.

  • We really recommend checking out

  • Cassis Monna et Filles.

  • This family owned and operated business is run by two lovely sisters

  • who have very inventive ways of using blackcurrant.

  • Blackcurrant is a berry from France that grows great on the Ile d'Orleans.

  • And their blackcurrant is used in all of the restaurants across the city.

  • Not to mention the fact that they have a beautiful

  • property, great terrace overlooking the St.. Lawrence River, and a creamery

  • where they have Incredible gelato, which honestly

  • you'd never think you'd be eating gelato in Quebec, but...

  • so good.

  • Alright, so while you're on the island, if you're there during the summertime,

  • you should definitely check out some of the wineries.

  • Huge island the size of Manhattan,

  • but it only has six thousand residents.

  • It's basically farm yard vineyards, farm yard vineyards.

  • We went to a vineyard called Vignoble, which means vineyard and then

  • Saint- Petronille. This is really pushing the limits of our French.

  • It's a hard word to pronounce,

  • but it is a great place to visit and get a sampling of the local wines.

  • Try to sample their riesling if you can.

  • It's in high demand at the moment and was really good.

  • Now if you're visiting the island in the wintertime, make sure you check out some of the sugar shacks.

  • Sugar shacks are where people harvest

  • maple syrup from the maple tree and fun fact:

  • Quebec actually produces

  • 80% of the world's maple syrup.

  • Sugar shacks are great little traditional restaurants where they serve

  • traditional food, most of which infused with maple syrup.

  • Now if you guys don't fancy the drive out to the island or you want a more modern version of a sugar shack,

  • go to Le Bush in the center of the Old Town.

  • It has to be one of our favorite dining experiences

  • we've ever had, and it's basically a crash course in everything Québécois:

  • An over the top amount of red meat drowned in maple syrup and bacon.

  • Very nice smothered in maple syrup.

  • You get shots of sortilege, a local liquor, also made from maple syrup, also made from maple syrup and a dessert

  • of maple syrup on ice.

  • Sounds great.

  • If you don't feel like binging on maple syrup,

  • head over to Battuto, an intimate Italian

  • restaurant that serves up some of the best pastas in the city.

  • It's got a clean minimalist aesthetic with a long bar right up against the open kitchen.

  • So you can watch the chefs cooking your meal,

  • and you will be blown away when those pastas hit your taste buds.

  • If you're planning on visiting Battuto,

  • do know that there aren't a lot of tables,

  • and it's booked weeks in advance.

  • So one of the first things you do after you get those plane tickets is make a reservation.

  • For something more indigenous to Quebec, try La Traite at the Hotel Musee Premieres Nations.

  • The First Nations Hotel Museum owned and operated by the Wendake-Huron Tribe,

  • the restaurant uses the boreal cuisine we talked about

  • earlier with traditional ingredients only accessible to First Nations People.

  • While you're there make sure you check out the museum and the longhouse where you can even stay overnight.

  • When it comes to craft beer, you are in luck.

  • Quebec has always been Canada's best beer province and that can be traced back to colonial times

  • when French colonists couldn't import or grow wine themselves.

  • So they decided to start making beer at home

  • There's a few dozen micro breweries in Quebec City,

  • and it's easy to do a

  • self-guided pub crawl using the " Je Bois Local,"

  • which is basically like a little passport,

  • and you get a stamp at each brewery.

  • if you make it to all ten, they give you this cool shirt.

  • Je bois local.

  • Each August they have a beer festival called Festibiere,

  • and if you're not in town for that

  • there is a pop-up bar on the waterfront every summer that serves 60 beers from

  • 21 micro breweries.

  • It's also called Festibiere, and it's a great way to sample

  • the best Quebec beers if you're not there during the festival.

  • It's a great place to cool off. You can literally take a chair, put it in the fountain, drink a couple of beers,

  • hear good tunes, plenty of craft beers to choose from, and you're right on the water front.

  • If you're more into cocktails,

  • make sure you head over to L' Atelier, which is cool a cocktail bar on the Grand Allee, which is a pedestrian

  • kind of walkway area full of great restaurants with terazzas.

  • Definitely a good spot to pick up on the vibe of Quebec City.

  • The specialties of the house are tartars.

  • They've got quite a few different kinds.

  • Grab it. Sit down on the terazza, have meal,

  • and after dark, the restaurant turns into a nightclub.

  • It's really a cool spot.

  • No list about Québécois food could be complete without a fundamental Canadian dish:

  • La Poutine. La Poutine is the classic Québécois food.

  • It is French fries with gravy, with curd,

  • and a bunch of different other ingredients that make each one individual.

  • It's typically serves between 1:00 and 4:00 in the morning.

  • But you can get it any time of day in practically any place.

  • There's a ton of places that serve Poutine,

  • but Snack Bar is pretty reliable.

  • It's open all the time and was highly recommend to us as a spot to serve your

  • late-night drunken munchies.

  • "Drunchies."

  • Sooner or later you're going to make your way to the Lower Town,

  • which is really beautiful.. great spots to get photos,

  • but the food there can be kind of hit or miss.

  • Something that is guaranteed to always be good is Chez Muffy.

  • Formerly known as Panache, this upscale restaurant has become a little bit more down to earth,

  • but the food has remained impeccable.

  • It's located in the

  • Auberge Saint Anton in the

  • neighborhood of the Petite Champ.

  • We should also mentioned that the two times we've been in Quebec City,

  • Justin Trudeau, the Prime Minister, was also there,

  • and he was spotted in this restaurant when we were there our first time.

  • So you know it's fit for the Prime Minister,

  • it should be good enough for you too.

  • Last but far from least is probably the best fine-dining restaurant in Quebec City:

  • Legende Parla Taniere. I'm not sure exactly what it means in French,

  • but it sounds legendary because it is definitely legendary.

  • It's a four diamond restaurant,

  • which is Canada's equivalent of basically a one Michelin star restaurant there abouts.

  • Sounds confusing, but what isn't confusing is that the menu and the food is incredible.

  • So the menu is strictly local.. no chocolate, no sugar.

  • Everything is from Quebec.

  • Courses are served either a la carte

  • or as part eight course tasting menu,

  • which comes out to 75 Canadian dollars.

  • You can also do a wine pairing for about the same amount.

  • 150 for just the best slap-up meal you can imagine.

  • It was our final meal in Quebec City and was the best way to end an

  • incredible week of fine dining.

  • Ladies and gentlemen, those are our recommendations for the best restaurants in Quebec City.

  • We know we couldn't cover all of them.

  • So if you're from Quebec City, if you've been there before,

  • please share your recommendations

  • down there in the comments section.

  • If you liked this video, make sure you check out the full vlog series

  • We just did a three part series on Quebec City in the summertime.

  • We've also done a six-part series in the whole region of Quebec,

  • including Montreal and Charlevoix from last winter.

  • So click on the card to watch that.

  • If you guys enjoyed this video, you know what to do:

  • please give a big thumbs- up, share it with your friends,

  • and subscribe and enable notifications if you have not already.

  • In the meantime stay curious, keep exploring,

  • and we'll see you guys on the road.

  • Bon voyage. Peace

Eating in Quebec is my favorite thing

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