48 Hours in Quebec City - Part 2 - Visited 8/25-8/27/2017 2.5 - 3.5 Forks

Cassis Monna & Filles 721, Chemin Royal, Saint-Pierre-de-l'Île d'Orléans                           3.5 Forks

If you have the time, I would recommend that you rent a car while you are in Quebec City so that you can explore some of the other sites that are a short drive away.  One of the places that's talked about a lot is Ile de Orleans, which is their version of wine country.  But let me be clear, it is absolutely nothing like Sonoma or Nappa but if you set your expectations a bit lower, there are a few nice places to check out here.  It's fairly rural and much more spread out than Holly and I anticipated, so I recommend that you stop by Cassis Monna first to grab a bite to eat as well as to a map to plot out your way around the area.

While Ile de Orleans may not be on the same level of other vineyard towns, Cassis Monna and Filles is definitely unique in its own sense in that it's mainly focused on the black currant.  They have an adorable restaurant and ice cream shop on the first floor as well as a tasting room and small artisanal store down below where you can buy bottles of wine.  There are several picnic benches out back where you can relax and take in the lovely view of the river as well.  It's such a lush and relaxing setting to be surrounded by.

I never really thought of black currant very much but it's delicious.  The tasting we did was great and the store is something you would find in Brooklyn - lots of jams and other mason jar preservatives that I seriously contemplated buying.  As expected, the menu in the restaurant focuses on the black currant.   You can get salad with black currant, quiche with black currant, sandwiches with a black currant jam or a pulled pork sandwich with black current wine in it.  Holly and I opted for the popcorn chicken with black currant honey ($8 CAD).  It's essentially fried chicken bites and lots fries on the side - so it was a lot of fried action.  They were salty and addictive and I couldn't stop popping them in my mouth.  I felt like a kid again eating chicken fingers or nuggets for lunch.  It was served with salad that had black currant dressing but it was a bit too sticky and sweet for me.  I would have preferred a basic oil/vinegar dressing but I guess that's not what you go at a place like this.

Overall, the food was basically bar food with a cute twist to it.  The food isn't amazing by any stretch but the surrounding area is a lovely respite from the all the tourists (and yes, there are plenty of tourists here too) and it's worth trying out some of the sweet delicious wines. It's 3 forks for the food but 4 forks for the scenery and overall cuteness.  Total bill:  $20/pp with tax and tip

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Le Moine Echanson  585 Rue Saint-jean, Quebec City                                                             2.5 Forks

This review really breaks my heart because all the reviews online were so positive.  It's less of a full blown restaurant and more of a wine bar that serves tapas style food.  But the Yelp pictures and other blogs called it inventive and super creative.  Sadly when we went, it was a really suboptimal experience.  

As with most places in Quebec, the menu seemed to change daily based on what they have but for some reason the night we went they had practically nothing on the menu.  The menu looked a bit small to begin with but they only told us that they were out of 2 of the 4 entrees only after we sat down and ordered some wine.  When your menu only has 4 entrees and you're out of half of them, you should either say something before your guests sit down or go down to the market and figure something out asap.  It's not like we came at 11pm at night, we were there at 8pm on a Saturday when it should have been prime time but the place was barely full (should have been a sign) and the waiter had said that they had a unusually busy Friday so they were left with few options for Saturday.  That sounds like really poor planning to me.  

Similar to L'Affaire Est Ketchup, this place looks like its run by 3 guys in total but that's still not an excuse.  While it's mainly a wine bar, if you're going to have a food menu, you should ensure it's enough food to carry you through the night.  Since we had ordered wine we felt guilty getting up and leaving, so we ordered a few snacks to nibble on.  Unfortunately, we were so annoyed that nothing really sounded all that great.  I opted to get a half dozen oysters and then we also got the fried eggplant appetizer.  Holly asked if they had a meat and cheese plate since we saw it online and they said they could put something together (why not put that on the menu?!). 

I will say that the oysters were quite good and that's what carried this review.  I would have preferred them to have been chilled instead of at room temperature oysters but they were plump, briney and shucked well.  If I knew my night was going to consist of only oysters and wine, I probably would have had a much more favorable opinion of this place.  Next we got the fried eggplant which turned out to be steamed eggplant with no seasoning or flavor to it.  Even though I love eggplant, this was totally void of anything on it - a little soy sauce, sesame oil and scallion would have made a huge difference. What was even sadder was the meat and cheese plate - it only consisted of some sliced hard sausage and goat cheese with some soft bread.  It's hard to call it a plate when you only had 1 of each.  The waiter was really nice and kept asking us if we were ok but we felt really bad expressing any disappointment.  I wanted to give him some feedback but in the end, we just paid our bill and left.  

If expectations were set in the beginning that they didn't have much food, I probably would have had a much different opinion of our experience.  If you're looking for a funky organic wine bar, this is your place but if you're looking for a culinary wonderland, definitely ask before sitting down. Total bill:  $33/pp with tax, tip and wine

Photo Credit:  Yelp

Sapristi  1001 Rue Saint-Jean, Quebec City                                                                                 3 Forks

Since our flight back to NYC wasn't until 3pm, we were able to squeeze in one more meal before we left and honestly, I wasn't all that jazzed about it.  It's not that the food in Quebec City was terrible (it wasn't), it just wasn't as exciting or innovative as I thought.  At the end of our 48 hours there, we didn't want many more fried food or frankly disappointing experiences.  We wanted something simple and reliable. What's more reliable than Italian food?

We went back to the Petite Champlain area an if you go even further down the steps toward the river there are several outdoor cafes with a nice view.  We ended up randomly picking this place based on Yelp feedback.  It was honestly a fine meal and like the rest of our trip, nothing incredible but a very solid option.  Unlike our last dinner, the menu here was quite extensive.  They had a wide variety of pizzas, pastas, salads, flatbreads and other entrees.  Since I had essentially eaten my weight in fries on this trip, I went for the beef tartare ($20 CAD) and a french onion soup ($8.50 CAD).

The french onion soup was tasty but over salted a bit and could have used more cheese (but then again, you can never have enough cheese).  The beer tartare was a nice respite from all the fried food and it was served with chopped up fillet of beef, shallots, dijon mustard and pine nuts along with some thin toasted bread.  I was disappointed by the lack of egg but eating this felt much cleaner and healthier than any of the food I had consumed in the past 36 hours which was pretty much cheese and fries.

The pastas and pizzas looked great and I would say those are probably their stronger suits - but there are literally tons of other restaurants that look and feel exactly the same as this place on the same side street.  I'm bummed that our culinary adventures stalled a bit on this city but it's still a lovely place to visit and everyone there was very friendly and kind.  I would recommend it as a relaxing weekend getaway from the city and hopefully as time goes by, there will be more going on in the food scene. Total bill:  $ 30/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

48 Hours in Quebec City - Part 1 - Visited 8/25-8/27/2017 3.5-4 Forks

Le Lapin Saute  52 Rue du Petit-Champlain, Quebec City, QC G1K 4H4, Canada             4 Forks

When you think of Canada, Montreal and Vancouver are usually the darlings for the Great White North but Quebec City also has gotten some buzz with its quaint European charm and winter wonderland feel during Christmas time.  There's been no better time to visit Canada than in the last few years with the US dollar doing really well, so when my friend Holly expressed interest in checking out Quebec, I was on board with that even though it was in the summer time.

In term of Canada, I've only been to Montreal before and while I would still say that Montreal is more hip and happening, Quebec City has it's own appeal too.  It's only a 1.5 hour plane ride away from NYC but quite a world of difference.  It's predominantly a French speaking city but everyone also speak English.  But it's that French sensibility that makes it so adorable.  In the center of town is the touristy but super cute Petite Champlain area which is their Old Town section.  It's a small section of the city that's got cobblestone streets and adorable flower boxes outside each of the buildings - adorable.  It kind of make you feel like you're in Europe.  The city is a decent size that I think 48 hours is plenty of time to hit the highlights and then some.  The only big bummer is that I didn't think the food scene was all that.  Of course poutine is everywhere and because it's so far up North there is a lot of heavy meats like bison but it wasn't really a go-to food destination for me.  That's where it's neighbor Montreal has it beat.  It's possible that I didn't go to the right places but nothing during the whole weekend felt like a home run to me.  Our meal at Le Lapin Saute - while in the most touristy part of town was probably the most satisfying for me.

It's in the heart of the Petite Champlain and it surrounded by cute stores.  If it's nice outside, I'd recommend getting a table outside so that you can people watch.  If you know any French, you know that the star of the menu is le lapin, or rabbit.  While they have several non-rabbit dishes, it is the focus on the menu and rabbit comes in many forms here:  poutine, rillettes, confit, braised, or in a puff pastry.  It's kind of sad to think about but I tried to block it out of my mind.  We came for a light lunch since we had dinner reservations at 8pm, so we didn't go totally nuts.  We started with an appetizer of smoked duck breast ($8 CAD) and I got the half size portion of rabbit poutine ($9 CAD) and Holly got the grilled cheese ($17 CAD).  The smoked duck breast was served cold and sliced thinly, almost like a charcuterie plate.  It came on soft pieces of toast and sour but tasty cornichons.  It was a simple but solid way to start the meal.  Since I was in Canada, I had to get the poutine.  It felt wrong not to get it at least once on the trip.  For those of you who don't know what it is, it's basically fries covered in cheese curds and gravy.  It's the most perfect drunk food but it's not something I would necessarily endorse eating regularly.  But it's a Qubecois specialty and I figured why not get it with rabbit?  The rabbit was light and almost shredded in texture and was actually a nice touch. What I liked about this dish was that it wasn't drowning in gravy so it kept the fries a bit crispy.  I'm really glad I got a half size because that was the right amount of food.

Our waiter was this adorable French speaking guy who looked like he couldn't have been older than college age.  He was super sweet and recommended a delicious local rose where I could have had an entire bottle but settled for 2 delicious glasses instead.  The place was packed the whole time we were there and since it's right on the main strip of the busy street, it's a prime place to sit down for a snack and people watch.  I'd definitely recommend this place even if you don't like or want rabbit but don't knock it til you try it!  Total bill:  $33/pp with tax, tip and drinks

Photo Credit:  Yelp

L'Affaire Est Ketchup  46 Rue Saint-Joseph E, Quebec City, QC G1K 3A7, Canada              3.5 Forks

This was my eagerly awaited dinner reservation of the trip - mostly because it was on Anthony Bourdain's show and he really liked what was going on with it.  It's in the hipster part of town that's called Saint Roch - it's a bit away from the touristy center which is always a good sign in my book. Basically it's their version of Brooklyn.  The name of the restaurant translates into a local saying of essentially, "everything is ok!"  

When you walk in, I could tell this was a unique "restaurant".  I use restaurant in quotes because it's run by basically 4 guys and the kitchen is essentially like a kitchen you'd find in someone's home. It's by no means a full service facility that's got a host, waiter, bus boy, runner, sous chef, chef, etc.  It's 4 guys doing everything - so I admire them for that.  But with that comes a lot of operational challenges even though they did everything with a smile.  The decor is super dark and cozy.  The menu is on a chalkboard (that seems to be a bit theme with restaurants in Quebec City) and rotates everyday depending on what they have and want to cook.  Unfortunately since it was so dim, the poor waiter came around and read out loud the entire menu to each and every table - sometimes in both French and English.  Holly and I tried to listen to what he was telling other tables so that he didn't have to repeat himself but inevitably we needed him to review some of the dishes.  We settled for the scallop ceviche ($16 CAD) and mushroom with goat ($15 CAD) to start and we each got the bison steak for our entree ($28 CAD) - I mean when in Rome or in this case Quebec City.  

Their wine system is a bit unique - they have a giant bookcase stacked with different wine and you can review them and then point to the bottle you want.  It's a bit confusing and as someone who isn't an expert in wine, not helpful because you still end up having to ask for help.  

The scallop dish came out first and it was less of a ceviche and more of a carpaccio.  It was several thinly sliced pieces of raw scallops which were nice and refreshing.  The mushrooms on the other hand, were not as refreshing.  It was a bunch of sauteed mushrooms with diced goat meat in it and it was overly salted and the goat meat overcooked.  It tasted like something I could have made at home by throwing some mushrooms in a pain and heating them over a hot flame.  

After this we waited quite a while for our entree.   It'll give them a pass since it was 4 guys working the whole restaurant but it makes you realize how painfully slow it can be without a full service staff. At first glance, the bison steak was beautiful - it looked juicy and meaty. To be fair, the waiter warned us that there was a nerve that ran down the middle of the piece of bison, so we should cut with caution.  I really did try my best to cut around it but the nerve made it really hard to cut and maneuver around.  The meat around it was tender and cooked medium rare but the immediate area around the nerve was super chewy and very difficult to eat.  It came with your standard offering of roasted vegetables and potatoes, which I could take or leave but I guess you have to have something besides just a piece of meat on a plate.

We were pretty full by this point and should have stopped there but I'm a sucker for a good cheese plate (especially after my trip to France) and Quebec City supposedly has a good cheese scene too, so we ended the night with a cheese plate.   It was a pretty solid cheese plate with a stinky but yummy blue cheese, a triple cream cheese, mild goat cheese and another kind of mild hard cheese.

Overall, I liked the vibe of this place and I respect and appreciate any kind of small business trying to make it on their own.  The staff was super friendly and you could tell very crazed.  I can't say it was a meal that was worthy of 4 forks but you could tell they cooked with heart and for that I'm a fan, I just wished the food was a bit more solid.  Total bill:  $78/pp with tax, tip and wine