The streets of Old Quebec are lined with restaurants and cafes, the options for food are plentiful each providing their own French flavours with some other cuisines sprinkled in between. Quebec City’s food scene is best described as a blend of tradition with a modern twist.
Whilst visiting Quebec City for 48 hours, we tried some of the best rated restaurants suggested by locals and other visitors. Here is our list of the best restaurants and food in Quebec City.
L’Antiquaire Buffet
We arrived in Quebec City just in time for brunch, with that in mind our first stop was L’Antiquaire Buffet. This restaurant is rated very well on google reviews and their popularity was very evident with the constant line out the door. L’Antiquaire Buffet serves a range of Canadian diner classics with breakfast, lunch and dinner options. We were lucky to be seated at the bar after a 15 minute wait, but the seating across the summer is quite ample with outdoor seating and two floors inside. Their kitchen was small but it was so interesting watching all the chefs work. We started our meal with fresh orange juice before being served The Brunch Plate and L’Antiquaire’s Crepes. The Brunch Plate consisted of your classic big breakfast items from sausage, bacon, eggs, potato and includes baked beans and their meat pie. You can’t really go wrong here. The Crepes were a little disappointing as they were much thicker than we thought they would be and were more like rolled up pancakes.
Chez Muffy
Chez Muffy was one of the most special restaurants that we tried in Quebec City. As a restaurant set in a building from 1822, the food is quite the opposite – very modern and fresh bringing farm to table with a gastronomical twist. We opted for the Tasting Menu to try all the best things the restaurant has to offer. This menu changes seasonally to accommodate for what ingredients and produce are fresh at the time. Our menu was 5 courses and consisted of: ‘The Perfect Egg’, ‘Lobster’, ‘Tuna’, ‘Veal’ and ‘Raspberry’. To our surprise the meal actually started off with Hors D’oeuvres – radish with whipped garlic butter (a french classic), fermented carrots with ricotta tartlette, oyster mushrooms grilled with a sour cream dip. All of these were great bite sizes offering freshness and a delicious savouriness, we really enjoyed this and thought it was a strong start to the meal.
On to the 5 course menu from Chez Muffy, we were served ‘The Perfect Egg’ featuring eggs, guancale, mushrooms and a citrus shampoo and boy oh boy was this perfect. The eggs were creamy and mixed with the mushrooms and salty guancale, the bite was bursting with umami flavour. This was the highlight of our meal. Following this was the ‘lobster’ featuring lobster, carrots, garlic flower, peach and vanilla. This was a smaller dish and after the eggs actually provided some needed freshness and sweetness. The lobster was cooked well and carrots offered a great crunch. Overall nothing that wowed us but was still a great dish. Next up was the ‘Tuna’ that was tataki style, with little fruits and cucumber. This was the most interesting dish for us, coming out looking like a dessert, the cucumber sorbet provided a freshness but the combination of tuna with fresh berries was an interesting one. We cleared the dish but would think twice about ordering this one again. Finally the last of the main was the ‘Veal’ served with mussel tapenade, polenta and vegetables. This was the most savoury dish of the 4 with a lot more salty and meaty elements going on. This was a great way to end the mains.3
We can’t forget about dessert, the ‘Raspberry’ when we visited in July was a new dish to the menu, this included a raspberry ball, oat cake, milk rice, litchi and raspberry sorbet. All the little bits made for a very pretty plate and altogether there was a nice balance. Individually we did find some of the elements a bit sour and tart. Overall very enjoyable.
TLDR: At CAD$160 per person, this meal is the most expensive we had on this trip but it truly was an experience. The food was experimental yet surprisingly tasty- we were full from our meal. If you love a fine dining experience in Quebec City, this is a hard one to beat.
Restaurant La Buche
Situated in a funky space with quirky art and writing on the wall, Restaurant La Buche is a popular breakfast and brunch restaurant serving Quebecois style meals. This is a very popular spot with regular lines out the door. We arrived on a rainy morning and was lucky to be seated at a table for two. After perusing the menu, we ended up ordering Grandma’s Mushroom Omelette and the Pate Chinois (Shepherd’s Pie). Both meals were as you would have expected, flavourful and very filling. The mushrooms were plentiful in the omelette and the potatoes crunchy and flavourful. The Shepherd’s pie was interestingly served with a fruit ketchup which was an interesting twist. This was a solid meal but we would not wait in line. Once you complete your meal you can take the receipt next door for a discount on some maple syrup or other souvenirs.
Le Lapin Sauté
Whilst wondering through Quartier Petit Champlain, we came across Le Lapin Sauté. Drawing us in with the rabbits around their sign and their brick facade. We chose to sit outside under the shade and listen to the busker on his guitar. Le Lapin Saute specialises in rabbit but offers a range of other meat dishes. We ordered the French Onion Soup, the Rabbit Poutine and the Duck Cassoulet. The flavours overall were nothing special but it was a very solid feed, allowing us to try a twist on some French Canadian classics. The rabbit poutine stood out among the meal, with the rabbit not too dry and the poutine and gravy providing a nice saltiness. Overall, this was a great spot to take a break along Quartier Petit Champlain to enjoy dishes that are just that little bit different.
La Buchette
Finally, the last restaurant on our list is La Buchette. This had similar branding to La Buche but we tried this restaurant based on the 4.8 star review on google reviews. There is plenty of outdoor seating which is great for the sunny days, whilst that was fully occupied we were seated indoors. The menu was smaller than La Buche with options in breakfast, lunch and dinner. We ordered the Classic Buchette and the Brioche Toast and let me tell you – this breakfast meal was delicious! The Classic Buchette features maple thicker cut bacon, scrambled eggs, hash browns and toast. The salty sweet bacon balanced so well with the scramble eggs and made for a great bite with everything on the plate. Once we finished on the savoury we moved on to the sweet, the thickness of the Brioche toast was a perfect vessel for the salted caramel sauce and fresh berries with the right amount of sweetness. If you are looking for a delicious breakfast without the lines, La Buchette is a great bet!
We have been very lucky to try some of the best restaurants across Quebec City, many providing their take on some French Canadian classics. These restaurants use some fresh produces and provide meals that feel so homey and warm. Our highlights from this list was Chez Muffy and Le Buchette. If we missed some of your favourites, please let us know. We definitely want to be back to try more!