Quebec City’s Best Restaurants
Today, Quebec City boasts a superb array of gourmet establishments, from the prestigious to the more modest, but all equally interesting. There’s a lot of creativity, a lot of audacity, and a clear desire to give priority to local products and to encourage farmers, market gardeners, fishermen and other key players in our food industry.
Here are twenty or so good restaurants that we’ve visited, tested and enjoyed so that we can tell you all about them. The good news, of course, is that “if we talk about it, it’s because it’s good”.
For even more suggestions of great places to visit in Quebec City, consult our Le Petit Tastet – Gourmet guide to Quebec City and the surrounding area.
Happy discoveries and bon appetit!
(Cover photo: the excellent Melba, in the Saint-Sauveur district).
ARVI
Since 2018, in the heart of Limoilou, Arvi has been delighting its customers by redefining the conventions of the restaurant industry in a friendly atmosphere. At Arvi, the customer experience is a top priority. The service is friendly and highly professional, delivered by extremely talented people who take pleasure in explaining the concept and the products being prepared. The restaurant serves refined, thoughtful and original dishes that stay on the menu for up to a month and a half, and Arvi offers diners an excellent food and wine pairing for a reasonable price that reflects the price of the ingredients.
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Buvette Scott
Buvette Scott is an unpretentious establishment that offers surprises with its tempting menu, impeccable service and warm ambience. A favourite address in Quebec City! Behind the modest decor lies a friendly, almost familial atmosphere that charms and wins over all the foodies who visit. In the kitchen, the brigade prepares an inventive menu that is constantly renewed, offering a dozen small and medium-sized seasonal dishes. Buvette Scott has everything you need for a memorable evening, and afterwards you’ll go home satisfied and, above all, eager to go back! Also worth mentioning is Sardines, located a few streets away and which is a sort of little brother address to Buvette Scott.
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Kraken Cru
Kraken Cru is one of our favourite Quebec City restaurants and an absolute must! In a mini restaurant with a bar atmosphere, you can savour exceptional seafood dishes while sipping succulent wines. Kraken Cru opened in June 2013 and has been charming diners ever since. The name Kraken was chosen as a nod to the medieval legend of the Kraken, as the small, friendly and relaxed restaurant offers mainly delicacies from the depths of the sea. Kraken Cru is part of a group of restaurants called the pirate restaurants: L’affaire est ketchup, Patente et Machin, and Albacore, all of which could also have made the list.
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Thania et Louis du Pied bleu
Located on rue Saint-Vallier Ouest, the Pied Bleu is a charming and laid-back Lyonnaise-inspired bistro where you can enjoy, among other delicacies, delicious charcuterie accompanied by a good bottle of wine. Opened 10 years ago by the couple Thania Goyette and Louis Bouchard Trudeau, the Pied Bleu, as we knew it in the beginning, has changed a lot. From a simple take-out charcuterie bar, the little establishment has gradually been transformed into a genuine restaurant where you can chat for hours while savouring carefully prepared and generous dishes. Pied Bleu is one of our favourites in Quebec for its delicious local cuisine, its endless choice of charcuterie, and the warmth of its owners and staff! Also worth noting is the neighbouring Le Renard et la Chouette, an excellent neighbourhood snack bar owned by the same duo as Pied Bleu.
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Kebec club privé
Kebec Club Privé is a restaurant that offers an experience worthy of a reality show, a play behind closed doors or simply a dinner among bon vivants. Since 2019, co-owner-chef Pierre-Olivier Pelletier and his wife Cassandre Osterroth have been offering their guests an extraordinary experience with a truly original concept: a ten-course tasting menu at the restaurant’s one and only table.
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Verre Pickl’
Located on the charming Rue Maguire in Quebec City’s Sillery district, Verre Pickl’ offers an unusual but highly interesting formula: a table seating 12 to 18 people and a fixed 5- or 6-course menu. So, if you don’t book for at least 12 people, you’ll be sharing your meal with complete strangers – a great way to get out of your comfort zone! “You never know how the evening will go, but everyone always ends up laughing and having fun. We even have a little ‘social lubricant’ bell that customers can ring to buy the whole table a round!” says Alexandra Romero Bayardo, co-chef and co-owner of Le Verre Pickl’; and Jérôme Gilpin, her life partner, also co-chef and co-owner, backs up her words with a smile.
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Restaurant Alentours
At Restaurant Alentours, every ingredient on your plate comes from a producer within 150 kilometres of the establishment, and that includes the wine and spirits on the cocktail menu! This gives you a good idea of what the team at this restaurant have to offer: fresh, delicate cuisine with a certain penchant for asceticism. The emphasis is on the product, which is presented simply, without artifice and with great attention to detail. A gastronomic evening with a very conscious, tasty and very interesting approach.
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Le Clocher Penché
Opened in 1995, Le Clocher penché is a delightful, timeless bistro serving market-fresh cuisine on rue Saint Joseph. Over the years, the establishment has become a veritable institution in Quebec City, appealing to locals and tourists alike. Recently refurbished to bring the decor up to date, this charming establishment offers a menu that’s constantly changing, while retaining some of the classic dishes that are so popular with regulars. There’s something very real about this restaurant, with a focus on serving exquisite cuisine with no frills. We just love it!
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Honō Izakaya
At Honō Izakaya, chef Jean-Christophe Comtois prepares delicious small dishes, yakitoris, okonomiyakis, dumplings and other Japanese delicacies, all in a friendly atmosphere and beautiful decor. As for drinks, the house offers delicious bottles to match the dishes, as well as a fabulous list of sakes and sublime cocktails. Mixologist and co-owner Julien Vézina was named Mixologist of the Year at the Lauriers de la gastronomie du Québec in 2023. An excellent original address in Quebec City, with its little sister Honō Ramen, just next door!
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Laurie Raphaël
A few years ago, we wrote an article about this restaurant, entitled “Laurie Raphaël: Quebec gastronomy at its finest”. Today, the article is as relevant as ever, thanks to the impeccable work of the family of chef Daniel Vézina, his wife and their children – Laurie and Raphaël. Raphaël, who is in charge of the brigade, prepares the restaurant’s menu, paying particular attention to local ingredients. Laurie Raphaël has carved out a place for itself on the Quebec City culinary scene. Now a veritable institution, the place is a must for anyone looking for an haute cuisine menu. Its relationship with the best products and producers guarantees an original experience featuring local produce.
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Restaurant Le Clan
There are cooks and chefs who mark their establishments with a major stamp and position them at the very top of the local rankings. In Quebec City, chef Stéphane Modat is one of those people. You enter Le Clan via the kitchen, where you can see that the brigade works with remarkable intensity and dedication. Once you’ve sat down at the table, you’re sure to enjoy one delicious discovery after another. The upstairs dining rooms are warm and welcoming, and the décor is full of little details that add to the well-being and pleasure of sitting here. From the moment you are welcomed to throughout your meal, the staff are extremely friendly and genuinely proactive with all diners. Chef Modat’s cuisine is intelligently complemented by a wine list put together by Pier-Alexis Soulière, Master Sommelier and recently named ‘Canada’s Best Sommelier’, which gives a very good idea of the breathtaking pleasures you will experience at this address. One of our favourites, right at the top of the local rankings.
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Restaurant Tanière³
La Tanière3 offers a truly wondrous adventure that will win you over. Creativity is the very essence of the project, and it truly explores all our senses. Here you can savour wild Quebec products: sturgeon from Montmagny, wild rose and sweetgrass from Kamouraska, wild wasabi (a plant found in the marshes of Lac Saint-Jean), sweet gale, fir gum and much more. And all with a touch of history attached to the dishes presented. The food, the service, the decor – everything at La Tanière3 is a source of pleasure. Also worth a visit are two local jewels sculpted by the same team: L’Orygine and Restaurant Légende.
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Restaurant Battuto
Voted “Best New Restaurant in Canada” by Air Canada’s EnRoute magazine in 2017, Battuto is a charming, intimate restaurant with just 24 seats located in Quebec City’s Saint-Roch district. Battuto is also one of Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants, proving that it has retained all its qualities. The restaurant’s cuisine is inspired by Italian traditions, with simple, hand-crafted dishes using seasonal ingredients that are always rich in flavour. There are only a handful of dishes on the menu, but they are all so well prepared that you’ll love them and recommend them. What’s more, they have a very fine wine list, featuring unusual and even rare wines. The waiters and sommeliers will be delighted to help you choose the perfect wine and food pairing.
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Restaurant Melba
The Saint Sauveur district of Quebec City’s Lower Town welcomed a new, exciting restaurant, Melba, at the end of 2022. In the kitchen, under the guidance and with the support of chef St-Pierre (Battuto), whose many talents are well known when it comes to fine dining, Alexandra Roy and Charles Provencher Proulx (Auberge Saint-Antoine, popup La Bonne Étoile) are in charge of the savoury and sweet menu, accompanied by two other equally dynamic chefs. The work of these fine people is a testament to their good taste in gastronomy, with Melba’s dishes being exquisitely delicate and remarkably elegant at every stage of the meal.
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Kundah Hôtel
In the fall of 2023, we wrote an article about this address entitled “Kundah Hotel: Local cuisine, Indian flavours”. And that’s exactly what’s on offer here. Palaak Bergeron, kooloo whelks, ribs vindaloo – the dishes on the menu at Kundah Hôtel, in Quebec City’s Saint-Roch district, are intriguing. Let your curiosity be your guide, and it will be well rewarded at the table of chef Raphaël G. Théberge, whose cuisine skilfully blends the flavours of India with the freshness of local ingredients.
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jjacques
Is Jjacques a restaurant, an oyster bar or a cocktail bar? We’d like to say all of the above, or rather that it’s up to you to decide what you’d like to do when you get there. The menu at Jjacques is all about sharing. With a focus on seafood, you’ll be able to sample a wide range of fresh, delicate dishes. More adventurous souls (and wallets) can try their famous three-tiered seafood tower, which is the stuff of shellfish lovers’ dreams! An evening at Jjaques is an extraordinary experience. Let yourself be pampered by their team of professionals and enthusiasts, and you won’t regret it. Incidentally, the address has no sign and is very well hidden.
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Champlain
Restaurant Champlain has always been a must in Quebec City! The arrival of chef Gabriel Molleur Langevin has made this prestigious establishment even more exciting. You’ll enjoy a haute gastronomie experience that highlights the excellence of local products, in a unique setting. A visit here is a must.
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Nina Pizza Napolitaine St-Roch
Since it opened in 2014, Nina Pizza has been serving the best Neapolitan pizza in Quebec City! In a sleek décor, where white prevails while being enriched by the light wood that frames the space, the pizzas seem to emerge indefinitely from the beautiful wood-fired oven at the entrance to the house. The space is open, which adds to Nina Pizza’s lightness. There are a few seats in front of the oven and in the open kitchen. The fifty or so seats are almost always full – which seems to indicate the keen interest and pleasure of the customer base. The atmosphere in the restaurant is relaxed but lively, and you really feel at home here. Since 2019, you can also enjoy their delicious pizzas at a second address on rue Saint-Jean, in the Saint-Jean-Baptiste district.
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Les Botanistes
Les Botanistes is a continuation of the Floralies Jouvence garden. The project was conceived by the wife of Paul Daoust, owner of the garden centre, with the help of the Chez Boulay team. Restaurant and nursery, just a few steps from each other, the two entities complement each other perfectly and live in a kind of symbiosis! There’s so much greenery, plants and flowers that it’s almost like being in a botanical garden! Contrary to what its name might suggest, Les Botanistes is not a vegetarian or vegan restaurant. You’ll find several options on the menu featuring animal proteins. To quench your thirst and accompany your dishes in style, Les Botanistes has put together a wine and cocktail list that is also geared towards freshness.
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Restaurant Ouroboros
Ouroboros opened in May 2023 on rue Saint-Joseph — the main thoroughfare in the Saint-Roch district — and offers lively, creative market cuisine and wines to match. The menu changes constantly, depending on the season and the mood of chef Emmanuel Muñoz D’Avila (formerly of Le Voisin and Le Moine Échanson). Naturally, the beautiful vegetables from the Jardins du Nique have pride of place (in fact, during harvest time, the restaurant hosts a small market every week where you can buy them). As is often the case these days, the chef offers small dishes that can be shared between several diners. We were delighted to do just that, so that we could try a bit of everything!
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Ambre Buvette
Chef Étienne Nadeau and his crew left Vieux-Cap-Rouge for a more central location, steps away from District Gourmet and Sainte-Foy’s public market. If some vestiges of the previous tenant (a Valentine’s snack bar) remain in the long, stainless steel kitchen, and the illuminated menu boards which now displays hip hop album covers instead of a choice of trios, the food is far from hot dogs and poutines. Chef Nadeau evokes the idea of “fun dining”: refined food in a laid-back, festive setting. That’s exactly what you can expect from Ambre Buvette. For lunch, the eatery offers a rather original formula: a “blind menu” that is bound to please those who seek the new and unexpected.
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lueur
Lueur is Laurie Raphaël’s younger, more hip and accessible sibling – though it shares the same focus on serving impeccable local products. Inspired by Japanese omakase experiences, the tiny restaurant seats only 14 at a time, all at the bar, where the chefs work right in front of you and hand you the dishes. All of this happens under colourful neon lights, adding an ecclectic touch to the experience.
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