Quebec City Eats: Aux Anciens Canadiens
Besides my breakfast on Porter Airlines, I had only had a croissant today and so by 4pm was rather hungry. Thankfully, I passed by a restaurant I had read about called Aux Anciens Canadiens, with dinner specials between 4pm and 5:45pm. It's housed in what is supposedly the oldest building Vieux Quebec Upper Town, built in 1675-1676.
I was the only one in the restaurant between during the time I ate! No fighting the crowds as Lonely Planet had predicted. Such are the joys of traveling in the low season.
The dinner special includes soup, dessert, and beer or wine; mine was $19.95, compared to $39 for just the main course a la carte. to start, you choose either the pea soup or the soup of the day (today was cream of mushroom). I learned later that pea soup is quite typical of Quebec. I also chose to have beer with dinner.
For my main course, I chose the "Tourtiere du Lac St-Jean aux gibiers et son mijote de bison et faisan" which I learned is also a traditional Quebec dish. It is a meat pie made up of buffalo, pheasant, and potentially other game, and some potatoes. It was served piping hot and very good. There was also an odd side dish of apples stewed with tomatoes, and shredded cabbage with snap peas on top.
For dessert you have a choice of sherbert, maple syrup pie, and dessert of the day which was some kind of an apple dessert with maple cream. I chose the maple syrup pie of course, served with fresh whipped cream. The pie was extremely sweet, so much so that the maple flavor was masked. But I liked the texture a lot; the crust was flaky and there was a light crunchy crust on top as well which must have developed in the baking process. I also learned that maple syrup pie is something that is considered "Quebec."
The service was friendly and professional, with each course cleared promptly and the next one brought out at the correct temperature (though the soup could have been a little hotter). The bread they served looked like sliced white bread, with some slices warmed up and the other slices toasted with butter and garlic. I sometimes couldn't tell if this was fine dining or home cooking. Regardless, if you come for the dinner special, it's a great value.
