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Le Cochon Dingue Vieux Quebec

Ahhh…Le Cochon Dingue….a VERY popular place in old Quebec.  I would strongly recommend if you wish to eat here, you make a reservation. 

This day us ladies took the morning to enjoy the shops on the lower section of old Quebec.  By mid morning we were getting pretty hungry and came across this delightful looking place…just look at it…..how could you not want to see what delights are inside….

In we went…and it did not disappoint.   What a beautiful building, old stone walls, thick window sills, quirky little nooks…just delightful.  I will say that they pack people in here, your tables are literally one on top of the other, it’s not easy to move around they have everyone so close but even so they are angled in such a way you don’t feel like you are on top of each other.

It was Sunday so they were still serving the breakfast/lunch menu.  The selection was huge, and interesting.  I choose the panini breakfast.  It was one egg, cheddar Perron, ham, and basil mayo on pressed country bread.  It came with home fries, a small mango smoothy and a cup of hot chocolate….a refreshing change from the standard offer of coffee.  I dug in and I was not disappointed.  The panini was Heavenly!!!  Creamy cheese mixing with the smokey taste of the ham…..mmmmMMMMM…perfect morning meal….all I can say is my oh my….you must give it a try.

One of the lovely ladies with me that morning had the Duo campagnard which looked absolutely delicious…and she did agree it was.  Scrambled eggs tartine, mushrooms, bacon, hollandaise sauce, crepe stuffed with caramelized cinnamon apples, maple cream sauce, swiss cheese and home fries!! sounds amazing!

I enjoyed Le Cochon Dingue, service is very fast…..you may even say you feel the staff is rushing you through to make space for the next person, which one would forgive you for thinking as when you leave, there is a line out the door of people waiting for a table.  It’s a very busy restaurant, no real private intimate tables, constant motion all around you but the food is delicious.  Our meals weren’t cheap I paid $13 for mine sandwich and the crepe was $17.  It’s certainly a place to give a try.

Enjoy…Bubblicious.

 

Pain Beni Vieux Quebec

  

Early one morning heading down another beautiful old street of Quebec City we found this little restaurant.  We were searching for a good place to have breakfast, somewhere nice yet, quite honestly cheap.  Arriving at Pain Beni,we viewed the menu and it had a good choice of hot and cold breakfasts ranging from $5-9, so in we went.

It was in a little boutique hotel.  What I love about these little hotels with restaurants is they always have outdoor patios and even though it’s fall they heat these patios so you can sit and enjoy the outdoors well into the fall and still be warm.  Now this morning they had not set up the patio for the breakfast serving so inside we went.  It was a lovely place with all the old charms of Vieux Quebec, big stone walls, high ceilings, lots of wood.  The restaurant was very modern and clean in its style with lots of great art up on its walls. 

We took a seat by the windows and had a look at the menu.  There was a good choice for a breakfast menu, everything from full breakfasts to muesli, berries and yogurt.  In the end I choose a breakfast pizza.

Now I had never had a breakfast pizza before and to tell the truth I’m not even a pizza liker so I’m not sure what inspired me to try it…but I did.  It was tortilla with a bechamel sauce with ham, hash browns, and cheese…very odd combination but what the heck let’s give it a try.

All the meals came with a juice, tea or coffee.  My breakfast pizza arrived and I dug in.  It was very different but tasty.  The ham added a very nice smoky flavor to the pizza that I very much enjoyed.  It was very filling and although I didn’t finish it, it was quite yummy.

I enjoyed Pain Beni, breakfast was good…our waitress was nice and the atmosphere very romantic.  I would go back for breakfast again.

Bubblicious

 

Les Freres de la Cote Quebec City

 It’s that time of the year again, I’m getting the itch to travel once more to Quebec City.  I LOVE Quebec City and each time I go it does not disappoint.  You cannot help but to fall in love with this beautiful place, mountains on one side and the river on the other….it is spectacular.

On this trip to Quebec I stayed in an old mansion in the old Quebec section of the city and it was beautiful.  I had a view of the old street right down to the water.  The room was lovely, high ceilings, fireplace, comfy bed….the perfect romantic spot.  One of the fun parts of travel is getting to try new restaurants.  This trip we ate in a different place each meal. 

Our first restaurant was Les Freres de la Cote, right in the heart of Old Quebec in the L’Hotel de Vieux Quebec.  We were directed here by a local who said it was the “place” to eat, good food and affordable….so we thought why not give it a try.  We arrived to delightful older building with the menu on display outside…this is one part of Quebec life I very much enjoy, everyone places their menu outside for all to view….makes it much easier to decide where to eat…or harder depending….lol.

They had a delightful menu full of very Quebequois fair, duck, lamb, pate, veal, were all in many of the dishes.  It sounded good and prices were fair so in we went.  When in Quebec I have a tradition of trying out the onion soup, this started several years ago and continued on this trip.  Such a simple delicious dish but so many different tastes to it, it is always on every menu in Quebec and I can’t resist trying it.

I ordered up the calamari, which was on special that day and the onion soup.  The calamari arrived first, large pieces of calamari with a dipping sauce which I couldn’t quite determine the spices in but was delicious.  Along with the calamari was a nice salad.  The calamari itself had a nice crunchy coating but on the inside was soft, moist and delicious!  I think it was the best I’ve had to date….yummy!

Once I finished the calamari my piping hot onion soup arrived….it was drenched in cheese and bubbling hot.  I dipped my spoon in and tasted…..ahhh…fabulous. 

I enjoyed Les Freres de la Cote, the atmosphere was fun, very European with a touch of old Quebec.  It had a charming warm feel to it.  It was not high-end or pretentious just a nice comfy place to have a good meal.  Would I go back…hummm…with so many restaurants in old Quebec I would go back, but only after I had the chance to try them all out.  🙂

Bubblicious

Green House on Main in Shediac

 It was a very rainy wet Saturday when we took off from Moncton on a little adventure meandering the back roads in search of pumpkins….which we found.  As we took our time enjoying the ride and the changing of the seasons, time slipped on by and we found ourselves getting hungry.

Shediac being our closest town we headed towards it…..we took a trip down the main street and found this little gem.  It was my first time to the Green House on Main but Gargantua had been there before.  I was rather excited as we drew up to the restaurant…it is the cutest little place with a beautiful little side garden that just beckoned one to sit and stay awhile.  As it was still raining we decided to head inside.  We passed under a beautiful arbor and up some steps into the restaurant.   By now the anticipation of what I would meet when we got inside  was building and I was not disappointed.  On entering the older home turned into a restaurant I was greeted by the charming site of old wooden floors, fireplaces, big bay windows, and lovely ceilings…how charming it was….I couldn’t wait to order and enjoy a meal in this quaint place.

We were greeted by a lovely young lady who was more than accommodating and showed us to a nice room upstairs where we seated ourselves to look over the menu.  The menu was perfect…not an endless list of choices, just a page or two of a good selection of good food.  I ended up choosing that days special…scollop carbonara.

I was not disappointed!  This plate of pasta heaven arrived loaded with scallops….I mean loaded.  The pasta itself was cooked perfectly, coated with a delicious alfredo sauce with mushrooms and tons of those scallops I’ve mentioned earlier.  I happily ate every scallop on the plate and was even able to get all the pasta down…..it was a large delicious serving.

What I really loved about this place, it wasn’t pretentious but yet offered higher end food options in a lovely atmosphere at a good price.  I just wish it was a bit closer to home to visit more often.

I would certainly recommend The Green House on Main….go and enjoy

Gargantua and Bubblicious