Quebec City Restaurant: le Saint-Amour

Restaurant le Saint-Amour is a pretty fancy restaurant by night (Sir Paul McCartney dined there!), but for lunch simpletons like me and the husband can dine for about $20 each. The focus is on creative, innovative cuisine using fresh, local ingredients. Lucky for them (an those who dine there) Quebec is full of wonderful vegetable farms, animal farms, dairy farms and other local terroir. I would love to try the inspiration menu or the discovery menu sometime!

The lunch menu is a 3-course meal, with coffee or tea. I can't remember what the husband started with, but it was red quinoa, with some chopped vegetables. I remember it was a clean tasting dish, perfect to whet the appetite for the richness of the main course!


I started with the aspargus and cheese melt, with candied tomato, and parma ham. This starter was quite rich because of the cheese, but if you love cheese then this would be perfect for you! Even though it was cheesy richness, it felt good to be getting some veggies!


The husband's main meal was veal with a port wine sauce. I can't remember if it came with rice or potatoes... one or the other... The husband made sure to save some bread to mop up some of that beautiful port wine sauce!


For my main, I chose the omelette. It, like the aspargus, came with a layer of melted cheese on it (but it was a different cheese). The eggs were fluffy and light (not dense and overcooked like the ones I make), and had a creaminess to them. It balanced very nicely with the melted cheese.


Now for dessert! I ordered a chocolate cake (with raspberry and mango sauce), and the husband ordered a blueberry creme brulee. I don't think I need to tell you how these tasted. Just look at them!

Quebec City Restaurant: Le Lapin Saute

This review comes over a month late, but I remember this meal as if it were yesterday! We read about this place in our guidebook, and it sounded delicious. I had never really had a piece of rabbit meat before, so I didn't really know what to expect. For those of you who can't bring yourselves to eat cute fluffy animals, there are other items on the menu like burgers and such.

The restaurant itself is very charming. The lovely summer weather allowed us to sit outside where little birds flitted around from tree to tree, and curious squirrels would scurry up and down tree trunks. Even though it's in the middle of a major pedestrian street, with people staring at you while you eat, it does have a "country" feel.
The husband (savoury pie lover that he is) ordered the rabbit pie. It came with a fruit ketchup that he devoured! He doesn't usually like fruit with his meals (like chutneys, etc) but something about that fruit ketchup made the rabbit pie even better!


I ordered the cassoulet. It came with rabbit leg (confit), bacon, and rabbit sausage. The rabbit leg was tender and the meat came away from the bone with a gentle tug of the fork. It kind of tastes like chicken, but is much more flavourful (like dark meat). I could taste more of a gamey-ness in the sausage, but the seasonings made it so hard for me to stop eating it!


We had a pretty boring breakfast that day of fake croissants and costco muffins, so this rich, satisfying lunch was just what we needed! If we are ever lucky enough to return to Quebec City, this restaurant will definitely be our first stop.

Montreal Restaurant: Joe Beef

This famous restaurant was a suggestion from my sister-in-law. She and her new husband (woohoo! Congrats, guys!!) were meeting up with us for a few days in Montreal so we decided to meet for dinner on 2 of the nights. Joe Beef was on night numero un.

As the name states, steaks are the specialty here, but there were several other surf or turf items like lamb, duck, pork, scallops, trout, and lobster just to name a few. Their entire menu is actually written on one of the walls, so if the place is packed, you might feel a bit awkward standing at the board (where several tables are lined up) reading off of the wall. Alternatively, if you are seated at the wall, you might have a bunch of open-mouthed diners staring over your head. Oh, and the menu is in French, but our server didn't seem to mind translating each item to us.

Our table had crispy pig's ear salad, beer cheese dip, and stuffed squid to start. Mains were, trout topped with crab cake mixture, seared scallops topped with pulled pork, gnocci, ribs, and a raw choux pastry, baked with lobster meat. I had the baked choux pastry. It was really, really salty. Tasty, but I could barely finish half of it because of the saltiness.

My favourite part of the meal was this drink! It's a just Caesar but look at all the goodies it comes with! It's pretty much an appetizer in itself!


I don't think I'd go to Joe Beef again. I loved the Caesar and some of the appetizers were delicious, but the mains all seemed too salty. The ribs were apparently delicious but since we don't eat beef, that's doesn't help us much. If you are a steak lover though, I think this could be the place for you!

Also, I don't want to ruin the experience so I won't post a picture of "it" but promise me if you go here, that you'll visit the bathroom?

Affordable Accomodation in Montreal

It sure didn't surprise me to see a 2-star hotel on Hotwire to be priced at over $100 a night, in high season as Montreal is one of the most exciting places to visit in Canada. Whether you're a fashionista, history buff, foodie, or whatever else piques your interest, this is a city that has something for everyone. The only thing that might turn you away, might be the extreme cold in wintertime.

What did surprise me, was seeing these apartments for rent! We stayed here twice during our trip (we went to Quebec City in between). We stayed here and here. We stayed on the 16th floor the first time, and on the 3rd floor the second time. The studio on the 16th floor obviously had a better view, but also had a kettle, and a lot of random cooking supplies and stuff like spices, S&P, etc. On the 3rd floor, our window looked onto the back of another apartment, so if you had to close the blinds or the curtains any time you wanted to change. Both units were equipped with (noisy) AC and a fan.

We also chose to rent an apartment rather than stay at a hotel, so that we could cook some of our own meals. We decided to try and have at least 1 or 2 meals a day at the apartment both to save money and to be healthy. Breakfast was usually the meal we chose to have at the apartment. We usually had oatmeal and fruit to start the day. We were planning to have some very rich meals during our stay, so we planned out a few "clean" meals of fresh veggies. Marché Jean-Talon was a great place to buy all kinds of produce and cheeses. It's worth it to do a bit of research beforehand to see which shops carry things like locally made cheeses, meats, etc.

The location of the Ste. Famille Street apartments were great, as they were just minutes from Boulevard Saint Laurent, Saint Catherine and Saint Denis. It's a bit of hike to the Old Port and the Old Town of Montreal, but unless it's the dead of winter or during a thunderstorm, it makes for a pleasant walk through Chinatown. Some areas seem a bit rough on they way, but with all the tourists you see walking with you to the Old Port, it's not scary at all.

I wouldn't hesitate to stay here, or at one of the other apartments for any future trips to Montreal. I wouldn't recommend it if you are looking for a romantic trip, like, say a honeymoon.

They also do a B&B. We did not see the B&B but the breakfast smelled pretty good!