9 Best Restaurants in Saint-Roch

Chef Mathieu Brisson understands meat, but it's the vegetables he compliments best. Always begin with a faisselle, it’s a Québec City favourite and one of the restaurant’s most renowned dishes. Or is it the blood sausage? Or brunch? The artisans whose products are always highlighted in the Café Le Clocher Penché's menu.

There is a line-up of hungry people in front of this Japanese izayaka-style pub every day at dinner, because it’s that good. Try lunch for a quick fix! The broths are hearty and filled with aromas that transport you to Japan or South Korea. The spicy homemade kimchi ramen is not to be missed and pairs beautifully with a Shôchû tonic.

The second you walk in Nina Pizza, you feel the buzz for Québec City’s Neapolitan love child. A prime spot for wood-fired pizza with vegan options made with both local ingredients and traditional Italian charcuteries and cheese. And don’t miss the fresh burrata! It’s the essential treat for l’apéro.

Its Italian-inspired cuisine gives way to simple and well-mastered interpretations where everything is homemade. Your most important move is to order pasta, but keep an eye out for those seasonal perfect tiny dishes. Cross your fingers you’re assigned a counter seat -you can no longer choose upon reservation- where you’ll dive right into the action and chit-chat with the utterly creative two men swaying kitchen orchestra. Make sur to book a few weeks ahead.

To have a gueule de bois is that related the feeling you have the morning after excessive drinking. Or is it here a play-on-words pointing to the menu’s freshly foraged and wild ingredients. Either way, it’s where you’ll embrace the conversations and the game meat of the moment. Unfussy service and, as one would expect given the name, splendid drinks.

jjacques is a cocktail and oyster bar with the feel of a swank speakeasy. Velvet booths and curtains create an intimate atmosphere perfect for imbibing sophisticated cocktails and fine natural wines. One of the best scallop dishes I’ve had in Québec City.

Hono Izakaya is a relative newcomer offering a Québec City spin on the Japanese izakaya…or is it an authentic gourmet trip in the heart of a true Japan izakaya? Textured dishes filled with bright colours bursting with flavour. Love their okonomiyaki, a sort of omelette with bacon or vegetables. Watch closely the dancing katsuobushi. The cocktails are indeed perfect, but the privately imported, carefully selected sakes are the stars of the bar.

Located right next door to sister restaurant Honō Izakaya, Honō Ramen is an ode to Japan’s most popular dish: ramen! Everything here is homemade—the noodles, broths, oils, and sauces—and sourced mainly from local farms. I love their premixed cocktails by mixologist Julien Vézina, one of the most talented in the province.

Kebec Club Privé is Québec City’s best-kept secret—a place where locally sourced terroir ingredients find their fullest expression, with amazing flavour combinations and refined presentations. The food is paired exclusively with natural Québec and Canadian wines and local spirits. The pair of young owners, chefs Cassandre Osterroth and Pierre-Olivier Pelletier, host, stage, cook, and serve an eight-service tasting menu at a single long table that accommodates 12 lucky guests per sitting. It’s divine!