Quebec City is a major Canadian tourist destination, and the main attractions are well-known. But lesser known St-Roch beckons and food lovers respond. You can pass a few hours ambling from one food and drink establishment to another, gathering tidbits of historical and cultural information relayed by charming guides of Quebec City Food Tours. Are you ready?
Meet our guide, Allan. He’s going to send me a duck recipe he learned from his mom.
Rookie guide Evelyne was flawless in her delivery and enthusiasm. How hard is it to infect people with a love of food and drink?
First stop was Chez Ashton, famous since 1969 for poutine.
Did you know that Anthony Bourdain visited this tiny, two table, always booked L’Affaire est Ketchup restaurant?
We compared two varieties of tea at Camilla Sinensis, where we learned the best ways to sip, slurp and swirl tea for maximum flavour.
Next stop was Jef Fish Shop for lobster cake — generous portions, crispy outside, 70 percent lobster, and spicy sweet sauce, not too hard to take. Good thing it was a walking tour because we accumulated a surplus of calories.
In case you haven’t noticed, fish stores are traditionally blue. But not Jef Fish Shop. When you visit, be sure to ask why this poissonnerie went red.
The tour was well paced. There was some time for chitting and chatting with the local gastronome.
The raw cheeses at Fromagerie Grondines were all so good that it was impossible to say which one was tops.
The guides also recommended Café du Clocher Penché, where a sculpture greets you.
Ôm Prana’s raw key lime pie, the favorite food of most people on the tour. (My favorites were the cheese, charcuterie and poutine.) Nancy, the owner, has thrown away her corporate life, and gone raw.
No outing would be complete without a toast. We tried Korrigane’s home-brewed Mary Morgan white Belgian style beer.
Proof that your beer is brewed right here.
Service with a smile.
End your tour with a dip in Jardin de St-Roch‘s rather luxurious waterfall fed wading style pool.
The reason for my voyage to Quebec City: chauffeuring my guys to-from the Contre le Cancer fundraising ride. Talk about a win-win-win situation. It’s a shame they couldn’t work off some of my calories, too.
And while you’re there, you might want to enjoy these suggestions from Allison of Foodie in Quebec City.
- best café at Dose Bar à Café and Nektar
- killer grilled cheese and local products at Fromagerie Grondines
- Macflys, very popular Barcade
- breakfast at the Buffet de l’Antiquaire — traditional Queb
ec foods with a dinner feel. Bourdain ate here, too. - Légende par la Tanière and Café du Clocher Penché, two of her favorite restaurants
And finally, the hotel staff at Hotel Le Vincent, recommended La Gueule de Bois for dinner. I seriously thought I had arrived in food heaven. I dined on duck magret with shallots, quince vinegar, wild boar bacon buckwheat bread, and ended with half-baked chocolate cake, caramel and fleur de sel.
Like your new focus.
Thanks Jovina.
The best part about a walking food tour is spreading out the meal, seeing and learning new information along the way.
Sometimes people do dinner parties with a different course at each person’s place. Never tried that, but it seems like it would be fun.