Beyond Poutine: Tasty Food Tour in Quebec City
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Follow along as we eat awesome Quebecois food during a tasty food tour in Quebec City.
We had to be strategic about where we ate during our second visit to Quebec City – our free time was limited and we arrived hungry. The easy option was to start our journey with poutine in Old Quebec. Instead, we kicked things off with a day-long food tour curated by Allison Van Rassel, an enthusiastic food journalist with deep connections to the province.
This unique food tour whisked us from the city’s fortified walls to the bucolic Île d’Orléans with stops at restaurants in some of the city’s coolest neighborhoods. We ate, we drank and then we ate and drank some more. We also met local producers who introduced us to Quebec City’s astounding gastronomy.
Van Rassel showed us Quebec City beyond poutine. And, while she maintains a love for Quebec’s iconic french fry creation, she also conveyed, with great success, that Quebec City is located in one of the great food regions of the world. Other great food destinations, like France, Italy, California and Spain, are tethered to wine. Since Quebecc’s wine business is relatively nascent, the region is more about great seasonal fruit and produce, seafood from the massive mouth of the St. Lawrence River and, of course, the sap from the maple trees that grow everywhere.
Stop 1 – Breakfast at Maude Épicerie (Maizeret)
We began our tour at Chez Maude. Open since 2020 in a former food dessert, it’s a local favorite that operates as both a hyper-local grocery store and a chef-driven cafe. Owner Maude Desroches is fully committed to creating great food using traceable products that provide a sense of place. Her shelves are filled with jams, honey and other locally sourced products.
She also serves great hearty brunch food like the gaufre grilled cheese that we ate during our visit. Simultaneously sweet and salty, the dish’s two waffles were stuffed with ashy Cendré des Grands-Jardins cheese, apple slices and candied onion. Maple syrup, candied pecans and a slab of bacon provide the finishing touches. We washed the decadent dish down with flat whites crafted with beans sourced from deTerroir, a local micro coffee roastery.
Maude Épicerie is located at 1501 Chemin de la Canardière, Québec, QC G1J 2C8, Canada.
Stop 2 – Cassis at Cassis Monna & Filles (Île d’Orléans)
We arrived at Cassis Monna & Filles after a scenic 15-minute drive over the Île d’Orléans Bridge. Currently operated by sisters Anne and Catherine, the blackcurrant farm has a wine cellar, a restaurant (Le Monnaguette) and an ice cream parlor. It also has a pink tractor, picnic tables and a striking view of the St. Lawrence River.
Having discovered an affinity for Crème de Cassis in Burgundy, we were happy to taste various blackcurrant drinks including blackcurrant Sangria, blackcurrant gin and blackcurrant wine. However, our favorite taste wasn’t a drink. Instead, it was a refreshing float that cleverly combined blackcurrant slush with both soft-serve ice cream and sorbet.
Cassis Monna & Filles is located at 1225 Chemin Royal, Saint-Pierre, QC G0A 4E0, Canada.
Stop 3 – Lobster Rolls and Poutine at Chez Mag (Île d’Orléans)
We loved Chez Mag. The popular casse-croûte (roadside snack bar) serves familiar foods like burgers, hot dogs and onion rings. But, more important, Chez Mag also serves poutine along with some of the best lobster rolls we’ve ever encountered – split, sesame seed dotted brioche rolls jampacked with big pieces of fresh New Brunswick lobster and tangy salad.
Sweet lobster rolls may seem an odd accompaniment for beefy, hearty poutine but the combo worked. Loaded with huge cheese curds and lots of gravy, the poutine provided a squeaky yin to our lobster roll’s buttery yang.
Chez Mag is located at 2460 Chemin Royal, Sainte-Famille, QC G0A 3P0, Canada.
Stop 4 – Strawberries at Ferme Jean-Pierre Plante (Île d’Orléans)
Our next stop, the OhBio kiosk located at Ferme Jean-Pierre Plante, was actually a pit stop. Or, we should say, a strawberry stop.
During the warm summer months, strawberries are the star at this fourth-generation operation currently managed by Jean-Julien and Judith Plante. The organic farm grows a dozen different strawberries including the delightfully sweet laurel variety that Van Rassel bought for us to try.
The OhBio kisosk is located at 7441 Chemin Royal, Saint-Laurent-de-l’Île-d’Orléans, QC G0A 3Z0, Canada.
Stop 5 – Pizza and Wine at Vignoble Sainte-Pétronille (Île d’Orléans)
Our next stop, Vignoble Sainte-Pétronille, was a double whammy. Owned by Louis Denault and Nathalie Lane since 2003, Vignoble Sainte-Pétronille operates as both an organic winery and a Neapolitan pizzeria.
As we learned during our wine tasting with Lane and the couple’s daughter Gabrielle Denault, viticulture is relatively new to the island. Thanks to the island’s cold weather micro-climate, American/Euro hybrid grapes like Vandal-Cliche, Frontenac and Marquette thrive here. The result is crisp white and dry red wines that pair well with pizza. We enjoyed both on the winery’s terrace along with views of the lush green vineyard.
Vignoble Ste-Pétronille is located at 8705 Chemin Royal, Sainte-Pétronille, QC G0A 4C0, Canada.
Stop 6 – Beer and Poutine at La Souche (Limoilou)
Our stop at La Souche provided us with a stellar introduction to Quebec City’s flourishing craft beer scene. Open since 2012, the creative microbrewery serves a rotating roster of beers that run the gamut from IPAs to sours to stouts. Locally sourced ingredients make La Souche’s beers unique.
We tried a few of those beers during our visit plus a bowl of poutine topped with cheese curds, red ale gravy and a lumberjack ball, i.e. a battered and fried cheese curd. While we appreciated the pine-flavored Gros Pin and the sour yet fruity Mignardise #5, our favorite brew was the creamy St. Michel crafted exclusively with Quebecois ingredients.
La Souche has two locations. We visited the original microbrewery located at 801 Chemin de la Canardière, Québec, QC G1J 2B8, Canada.
Stop 7 – Dandelion Mocktails at Vieux Carré (Old Quebec City)
As fans of the Vieux Carré cocktail, we were intrigued to check out our next stop solely based on its name. Opened by Groupe La Tanière in 2024, Vieux Carré is a speakeasy that’s located inside a former trade house. Its underground vaults date back to the 1700s.
Vieux Carré feels modern despite its historic building and vintage decor. Mixologists exclusively use local ingredients. (Citrus and chocolate are not two of those ingredients.) The dandelion mocktails that we sipped were fizzy, sweet and refreshing. And, since dandelions grow like weeds in Quebec, they tasted completely of place.
Vieux Carré is located at 36 1/2 Rue Saint-Pierre, Québec, QC G1K 3Z6, Canada.
Stop 8 – Michelin Dining at Restaurant Tanière³ (Old Quebec City)
We didn’t have to go far for our final stop of the tour – a one minute walk took us to Restaurant Tanière³, Quebec’s first and only two-star Michelin restaurant. Working in an open kitchen, Chef François-Emmanuel Nicol and his team create dishes that celebrate locally sourced Quebecois ingredients including boreal items foraged from the forest.
We didn’t experience a full meal during our visit. Instead, we toured the restaurant’s subterranean space and tasted two amuse-bouches. The first was an oyster chawanmushi served in an oyster shell with dashi foam and and dashi crunchies. The second was a tartelette filled with ricotta and mushroom praline. Both bites whetted our appetite for a future meal at the acclaimed eatery.
Restaurant Tanière³ is located at 7 Rue du Don-de-Dieu, Québec, QC G1K 3Z6, Canada.
🎥 Quebec City Food Tour Video
🇨🇦 Quebec City Travel Checklist
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Sponsorship
We thank the Alliance de l’industrie touristique du Québec, under the Bonjour Québec brand, for sponsoring our trip to Quebec City.
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