L’Affaire Est Ketchup

Ketchup is an absolute must visit in Quebec City. It’s been featured on pretty much every food and travel show for good reason. The ambiance is something between Brooklyn pop up and your college apartment’s kitchen with the crew cooking on two small ranges right behind the tables. It’s almost dinner with a show. The staff is super friendly though, even to the less French inclined. On Valentine’s Day, they had a pre-​fix menu with super interesting choices. The normal menu is always intriguing as well with things that sound strange together, but taste amazing. The service is not at all pushy too, and since the menu included a glass of champagne, never came by to push a second glass or wine.
Service started with an amuse bouche, trout gravlax with caviar on a crusty bun. Compared to salmon caviar, the trout was way less fishy and salty and had a brighter lighter taste. It was quite amusing. Up next was a choice of appetizers. I opted for the land and sea dish, served on scallop shells with scallop, clams, and beef carpaccio. The foie gras dish was also excellent with a nice chunk of seared foie gras, a nice big slice of bread, and ample pâté spread. It’s a good thing they were equally generous with the bread at the table to spread out the spread.
The main courses had an amazing selections of various woodland animals including beef, venison, rabbit, and pork. I went for the goat three ways which included a take on shepherd’s pie, goat served like pork belly, and a nice thick steak of goat. Each had a unique flavor appropriate to the cut. Each dish was even better than the previous. The crispy skin and chewy meat of the belly was succulent. The steak was thick and juicy and the pie incredibly filling. The rabbit dish came out a Nickelodeon bright green with a leg sticking out. The meat was bright and crispy, very light for even the leg piece.
Dessert was interesting with a mix of fruit and chocolate dishes including a chocolate shelled strawberry square, white chocolate, and chocolate nibs. It was good, but a bit bitter for a chocolate dish, and after the heavy meaty meal, could have been a little lighter on the palate.
Service was relaxed, in fact it was almost an hour between appetizers and entrees were served, but in the atmosphere, it went quickly and was a nice chance to sit and enjoy a leisurely meal.
Make a reservation as we saw over a half dozen couples get turned away without reservations.

My experience here is probably one of the best restaurant experiences I’ve ever had! This place is out of this world and so much fun! The owners are so personable, the staff soooooo knowledgable and attentive, the food downright delicious. I am very sure my boyfriend and I stumbled out drunk on the food and vibes alone (but the Cava liberally poured for us from the moment we entered probably helped too). If you are in Quebec City, even for a night, make the effort to go here.

Outstanding dinner! It has been a while I haven’t been so excited about a restaurant! L’affaire est Ketchup is a tiny room, but has a sublime menu. I think I counted eight apps and eight mains. Doesn’t sound so much, but the diversity of the dishes that are offered is amazing. I could have ordered every one of them, unfortunately we had to chose…
We started with a glass of Italian sparkling as suggested by our host and it paired so well with the appetizers that we ended up ordering a second round. The razor clams tartar loved my sparkling and I loved the razor clams tartar, whatever was mixed with it was so minimal and balanced that you can actually taste the clams. The veal sweetbreads are to die for and the sauce was cleaned from the plate with bread, so good was it…
Second round: bison sirloin, baby goat sirloin on top of mashed black beans. Heavenly meals, meat cooked to perfection, potatoes and carrots are prepared in a simple magic way. The French Syrah from Rhone (the best of the three bottles recommended for the food) was perfect match.
Desserts! Home made carrot cake and brownies. The personnel had a little consilium on what digestive to suggest for our sweet treats and the result was another wave of perfection.
Our reservation was at 6pm and by the end of our dinner few of the dishes were gone from the menu. I would definitely recommend early reservation if you want to have full choice of dishes. We sat on a cozy table at the back of the restaurant, close to the action. It is true your cloths will smell to what was cooked for the entire clientele the next day, but you gonna get a glimpse of the funky, homey kitchen and the chefs work.
J’adore!!!

De l’entrée au dessert, tout était excellent ! Portion parfaite et rapport qualité/​prix juste. J’y retournerais n’importe quand.

Seriously one of the best experiences I’ve ever had at a restaurant. The food was fabulous! My husband and I split the pigs head, I don’t know what it was called in French, as a starter. It was fatty and delicious. For our main course I got the Cornish Hen and my husband got the Duck Breast and the flavors where just so explosive.
Not only was the food wonderful but the atmosphere was very intimate making getting to know the people you’re sitting next to very easy, there are only 7 tables in the place. We had an Australia couple on one side of us and a Canadian couple on the other side. We all talked shared some Champagne and before we knew it 2 hours had passed.
I say do whatever you can to get a table here while staying in the city. It’s an experience we’ll never forget.

octobre 2013
En vadrouille à Québec avec 2 excellents amis. L’un est fraîchement débarqué de France et hystéro. L’autre est complètement fanatique du resto (hystéro aussi), et réserve pour 4. S’ajoute donc une 4ème convive tout aussi bonne-​vivante (et hystéro) que nous autres, et c’est parti…
Au début, du côté français (mon ami et moi), on a un peu peur, on ose pas, on veut partager des entrées/​prendre juste un plat, pas trop boire, bref grosse stratégie de radins pour pas trop dépenser… De l’autre bord, les 2 québécois rient et commandent apéro pour tout le monde.
«-Ha euuuh oui bon ok.»
Et ainsi de suite… mes 2 tabarnak nous «forcent» à commander entrées, plats, desserts, trou normand, digestif et j’en passé… pour une facture finalement de 60 $, donc on s’en sort pas si mal, surtout qu’après avoir passé l’apéritif on né sait plus très bien ce qu’on fait et on accepte volontiers plus d’alcool et plus de bouffe (bonjour ami Depardieu si tu me lis)
D’ailleurs encore aujourdhui je né me souviens plus du tout de ce que j’y ai mangé, à part un osso bucco de cerf hallucinant.
Voici quelques souvenirs en vrac.
— la bouffe était incroyable
— les alcools de qualité (donc le gin de panais un incontournable, et une ptite grappa pour se finir)
— beaucoup de rire entre nous, avec les gens et les serveurs
— je roulais littérallement dans la rue en sortant de là
Une très belle expérience donc.
Né prévoyez pas de conduire après.

I think I oversold this place :(
First course of mushrooms in brown butter was perfect. Textures and flavors were a klydescope of sensory bliss.
We were talked into the venison which was a nice piece of meat but the potatoes were burnt… Giving the entire dish an acrid taste of cancer.
The scallops were well prepared but our mouths were poisoned by a burnt aftertaste that ruined our palates.
The waiter seemed unconcerned by the charred potatoes. And did little more than shrug when I let him know of the poor preparation.
A real let down.

Great food in a casual atmosphere. Everything you have heard about L’Affair Est Ketchup is true. The highlight was the sweet breads.

Cozy — yes (similar to NYC mom/​pop shop)
Quality — top
Executive — medium, but with 2 gas stoves I give it a benefit of the doubt
Service– top
This area of Quebec City L’affaire Est Ketchup lives is definitely not for tourist, I feel driving here is the best way to get here. Though there are plenty of parking.
We were one of the first to arrive, and it looks like the place was fully booked for 2 settings that night. *make a reservation in advance — they speak English if you ask kindly*
There’s 1 menu, all written on a giant chalkboard and the waiter will go over it line by line with you. Every ingredients were local — even some local booze (though I would stick with French wine)
Food was great, and the entire kitchen was operated by 2 guys and you get the full open show. If you want to take pictures of the kitchen, they are super nice about it. I have to duck 1 star because my proteins were overcooked. I am not going to cry about it, but I can only imagine the wonder of the local scallops I would have walked away from if it wasn’t rubbery.
Like other reviewers say, if its good enough for Bourdain its good enough for us.

Our concierge suggested this edgy restaurant. He apologized that he could only get us seats at the bar; there are seven tables in this restaurant and it was 6:30 on a Saturday evening.
Note: the seats at the bar overlook the folks working on all parts of preparing your meal.
We walked in and were warmly greeted and seated at two of the three seats at the bar. One of four workers offered us a selection of wines while we watched the other three workers cooking/​prepping/​making drinks.
The menu was kindly translated to English.
We had an amazing meal and sitting alongside the kitchen provided great entertainment. The crew enjoys what they do. The food is fresh. Entrees speak for themselves. Service was quick and extremely attentive. Attention to detail is their mantra.
Wished we lived near here.
Recommend getting a seat at the bar for the true experience.

The tiny restaurant (only 7 tables) is truly a rare gem. Quaint and friendly, the ambience is most welcoming.
Start with the wines. There is a wall of wine where you select a bottle. Most seems to be priced around $ 50ish. Neat concept. That way you take your time. See, reach, touch the bottles before you decide.
For the food, I would say that the portions are reasonably sized — so don’t hesitate to order an appetizer too. We tried the sweetbread as well as the wild mushrooms. Both were excellent. For the main course, the duck was the best «canard» so far on my Quebec trip.
For dessert, the brownie was yummy. Not too sweet, with the right bit of chocolate bitterness.
Overall an enjoyable meal throughout.

Restaurant deconstructed? Went with a group and we ordered everything on the menu and passed the dishes around. It was a surreal trip. Would do it again in a heartbeat.

Just go. Seriously, leave now if you have to.
I can honestly say I had one of the best meals of my life at L’Affaire Est Ketchup. Yes it’s a little smoky and you’ll still smell your dinner on your clothes in the morning but I’m not sure that’s a bad thing.
It may not feel like a fine dining experience when you walk in but the quality of the food leaving the kitchen is as good as you’ll find anywhere. Beautiful plates of locally sourced cuisine prepared by young, inventive chefs cooking what they like to eat.
Even with all that being said, the restaurant is about the best value going, particularly if you’re an American given the strong dollar. I have no idea where else you can get the same caliber of food for the money, we spent about C$ 70 pp with wine by the glass. Speaking of wine, it was paired beautifully, I just told them to bring whatever I should be drinking.
One caveat, if you have a vegetarian in your party, in addition to finding new dining companions, you should head elsewhere.

We came across L’Affaire Est Ketchup while researching restaurants for our Quebec City weekend. And if it’s good enough for Bourdain, it’s good enough for us. I managed to make last minute reservations via phone with my awful Grade 2 level French.
Arrived around 8:30pm to a small but cozy dining room. We were seated near the door and we got a nice breeze because I’m not sure if the place has AC.
Our server gave us an animated full English translation of the menu of 10 apps and 10 mains. For apps, we started with the Tete & Dumplings ($ 11) and Bone Marrow ($ 14). Mains were Petoncle ($ 27) (which I now know is scallops in French) and the duck ($ 20). We grabbed a couple glasses of house red ($ 9) and local bottled beer ($ 6).
The dumplings came 3 to a plate and were stuffed with meat bits and bone marrow, which I suppose it was redundant of us to also order bone marrow for our other app? «Too much bone marrow?» said no one ever!
Our mains came up quickly after the apps. I got about 7 – 8 good sized local scallops served with a side of baby bak choi. The duck was the star main though. I never thought I was much of a duck eater but this duck was amazing. I ended up trading off about 3 – 4 scallops just to get a sizeable piece of duck for self.
We were too full for dessert and stumbled out for an evening walk up the hilly streets of Quebec City to work off our dinner. This was definitely an Affaire to remember.

This dining experience was made possible by Anthony Bourdain. After seeing this place on the Quebec City episode, I knew it was a must during this trip.
L’Affaire Est Ketchup is an eclectic little place in a part of town with a diverse food and cultural scene. The restaurant is about the size of your grandmother’s kitchen and dining room and the lights are on the dim side. The menu items are written in chalk and they use one stove with electric burners to cook everyone’s meal. They only have 4 or 5 tables in the restaurant, so reservations are hard to come by.
To start I had the piglets with pork pâté, which was outstanding. The pâté was prepared perfectly and had me scraping my bread the across the plate trying to get every last drop. It also came with a coating of mustard which really topped things off.
I then had the leg of lamb was one of the best pieces of meat I’ve ever eaten. Literally falling off the bone and as juicy a piece of lamb as I’ve tasted. It was evidently slow cooked, which made all the difference in the world.
Worth noting, the food takes a bit of time to come out since they are only using one stove, so be prepared. But the fun & quirky atmosphere, good music, and awesome wine list, will keep you occupied and in good spirits while you wait. An all around awesome dining experience.

Made one reservation while we were in QC and were rewarded w/​an excellent meal at L’Affaire est Ketchup. The only complaint is the ventilation is not good and the smell of food cooking gets annoying after a while. Thankfully it didn’t stick on my clothes for days tho. Everything else was great to excellent — knowledgeable service, interesting menu, fun vibe. We split a couple apps, mushrooms w/​wild boar and rabbit w/​Brussels Sprouts. Our main was the most amazing lamb with a great glaze and artichoke purée. I was full but I wasn’t going to stop eating it. With 2 beers and one wine, it was $ 69 before tax and tip which is well worth it.

I did a double take when I located this restaurant on Rue Saint-​Joseph. «This can’t be the place» I thought. The outside of the building appeared really tired looking and whatever business was inside looked to have left many moons ago. Well to my surprise the door was unlocked and this was indeed the place.
Lucky for me there was a seat available at the bar. But the bar was unlike an ordinary restaurant bar. It was more like somebody’s kitchen counter overlooking a cluttered kitchen. From my chair I watched the chef «guy with the hat» perform his magic using two antique electric stoves that looked like they were built ions ago. His culinary equipment was far from the best but wow could that guy cook.
The two dishes I selected were superb; Abats de lapin and Jarret de porcelet (rabbit liver/​kidneys and pig knuckle). I appreciate good French food because it’s somewhat hard to come by back home where I live in the states. Or if I do find it the food will often cost a fortune. So relaxed and casual French restaurants like L’Affaire Est Ketchup are an absolute joy to find.
Like others have said this place isn’t pretentious at all. In fact my server was wearing a Back to the Future tee shirt. «Doc you build a time machine!?»
I walked away believing that what makes this restaurant special is not just one single component, but rather a bunch of little components all working together. I’m afraid that if this restaurant ever gets way too popular and moves into a newer larger building it just would not be the same. Or even worst, if the chef «guy with the hat» ever decides to leave that would be a very bad thing too.
So enjoy it while you can folks. Everything is apparently working successfully at this location as of right now. If you keep it on your «to do» list much longer you may find it impossible to obtain a reservation or you may find the front door locked because they moved on to some bigger and not necessarily better place.

Thank you again, Tony Bourdain. We had a double-​date at L’Affaire and it was delicious. I had the lamb shank which had surely been braised in a cocotte for like 5 days beforehand because it was wonderfully falling-​apart. For red wines, the waiter walks you over to a series of shelves to pick yours out.
All very homey and wonderful.

This is an amazing restaurant
Reservations are not required but you won’t get in on Saturday or Friday without one. There are two seatings one at six and one at 8:30. The menu was in French will be explained in English and it changes daily. We had sweetbreads shrimp and mushrooms for apps. Never had sweetbreads before they were amazing. entrée were scallops a local fish and duck breast. All were unique and exceptional. Desserts equal to the meal. Good wine– the owner stopped by every table. this is the first 5 star rating I have given. The food here is very different if we had really seen a menu before going we may not have gone. if you want to try something different and be amazed try this restaurant.

I landed in Quebec City at 20:15 this past week, ready to start a quick romp through French Canada over the Labor Day weekend. By 20:45, I was in my rental car with the GPS loaded, and by 21:25, I was sitting at a small table with one of my best college buddies at a little French eatery in the trendy Saint-​Roch district of Quebec City.
Now I’m not going to act like I just stumbled upon this culinary gem in Quebec by happenstance. I had the reservation a week in advance, and like any pop-​culture-​gobbling American citizen, the inspiration to visit came from Anthony Bourdain. As some of you may have also seen Bourdain’s episode of «Parts Unknown» featuring his hedonistic, food-​and-​wine-​filled tour of Quebec, Bourdain pays a visit to L’Affaire Est Ketchup with the owners of Montréal’s famous Joe Beef, while consistently (and admittedly, even mistakingly) commenting on the joint’s hipster ambiance. Whatever floats your boat, Tony…
Hipster or not, this place has a young, energetic vibe that you don’t typically associate with a French restaurant, and this was definitely one of the many elements that made for one of the best dining experiences I can remember. Since my storytelling has gone on long enough, I’ll break it down for you from here. These are my top 5 reasons that anyone in or around Quebec owes themselves a trip to L’Affaire Est Ketchup:
1.) Simplicity and Complexity All in One — L’Affaire Est Ketchup is small. I mean, really small! It’s essentially a skinny, shot-​gun restaurant crammed amidst the dense streets of Saint-​Roch. But they use their space well, shoehorning plenty of dining space, a small bar, and an electric stove (wait, what?) into this intimate place. That’s right, you read it correctly… all the food is prepared on the 4 burners of a single electric stove, and I’m pretty sure no electric stove has ever been graced with such fine, carefully-​prepared fare.
2.) Great Suggestions on Beer and Wine Pairings — You could also call this one ‘Great Service.’ We received excellent attention from our server throughout the entire meal, starting with some superb drink suggestions. Each of us kicked off with a hearty La Sang-d’encre, a dry Irish stout that was just light enough to work with my Moelle de Boeuf 1^st course.
3.) Evolving Menu — The night’s menu was listed out on a chalkboard, with about 10 starters and 10 main courses. With selections ranging from bison steak («Surlonge de Bison») to piglet loin («Longe de Porcelet»), my only issue was making a decision on what to eat.
4.) Magret de Canard — Best duck dish… ever. Period. Try to imagine slices of duck cooked medium rare over a bed of chopped Canadian bacon and coral lentils, with carrot and green beans beneath it. After that, drizzle a caramel-​orange sauce over everything, and pair that with a Syrah Cab Franc blend — with equally sweet caramel notes in the front — and you have awesomeness on a plate. Did I mention this was the best duck dish ever?
5.) Best Bang for Your Buck — While keeping on track with the «best» theme we’ve got going here, for 2 superb — maybe even life-​changing — dishes, and a couple of drinks along the way, the bill won’t knock you back in your chair either. For all that you can get in-​and-​out of L’Affaire Est Ketchup for around $ 60 Canadian a person… not bad for everything you just had!
If you are in Quebec and still forming dinner plans, move this place to the top of your list. If you are not in Quebec and still trying to figure out where to go for your next trip, this may be reason enough to start planning a visit to French Canada! Bön Appetit!

Dining in Quebec doesn’t get any better than L’Affaire Est Ketchup. It’s unpretentious, it’s local, it’s casual, it’s quirky — it’s everything you would not expect and much more.
When visiting Quebec, one learns quick enough that food establishments are overly thought out and branded so well that they happen to look like chain restaurants, but in reality, they’re really not. Ironically this place was a breath of fresh air. L’Affaire has a complete 180 degree approach. Its interior immediately reminds you of visiting a relative’s outdated-​country-​kitschy home, the most humorous part is the two kitchen range-​top stoves behind the counter. Their selection of full bottled wines are displayed in a cheap wood-​laminate shelf, a poor’s man china cabinet. In all seriousness though, this place pumps out the best dishes in the city. The «butter in the pan» smell throughout the restaurant is intoxicating yet mouthwatering. The menu changes daily and is recited to you once you settle in. BEWARE as everything is so rich and so amazing, it will only lead you to think about running a 5K the following morning. My other half had SWEETBREADS for his appetizer and HANGER STEAK for his main entrée. I on the other hand, had pan butter seared champignon mushrooms and GUINEA FOWL LIVER for my appetizer. For my main course: LAMB & POLENTA. I ended up not eating my entire course only to make room for dessert. We had three choices that night, but ended up with their BLACK & WHITE CHOCOLATE BROWNIE with pistachios topped with Baileys whipped cream. It wasn’t pretty looking, but boy was it freakin’ tasty! I had cleaned that dessert plate, and almost thought about licking it to bone.
With that said, L’Affaire is absolutely worth the trip, so definitely make reservations, the place is small. They seat exactly 26 including the 4 high top chairs at the bar. My boyfriend and I called for dinner seating approximately two day before the day we wanted to go, and in pinch we were confirmed for a Saturday at 6pm.

So fun, so homey, so unpretentious, so un-​touristy, so full of laughter and care, so so so good.
You eat in a room the size and feeling of a friend’s livingroom. You watch the funny, handsome, casual chefs/​owners/​servers laugh and singalong with the music and maneuver around the small household-​style kitchen behind the bar that seats 4. You take your time, enjoy the art, the music, the energy. Have a lovely glass of wine or cider or local beer. When the time comes to learn about the days menu you’ll get the chalkboard brought to you and enjoy a speedy and amazing monologue performance about each item, delicious descriptions that include which local farms each fresh ingredient item is from.
We ate the wild mushroom appetizer and were already laughingly giving out 5 stars. So good. I had the fish with tangy root vegetables and a kind of couscous and a sour cream and cucumber raita-​style sauce that made the rich flavours fresh and summery. My hot date Olivia C had the scallops and again the flavours were totally unexpected and we nearly licked the plate. The portions were big and generous just like the whole spirit of the place. We were full but she whispered to them that it was my birthday (true!) and they surprised me with a flaming chocolate moist peanut dream thing that we couldn’t help but eat all of.
Next time I’ll go back and hang out at the bar. I also love their other restaurant Patente et Machin just down the block, and I can’t wait to come back and check out the opening of their new bar in September. Totally food in the way that makes my heart happy.

Excellent petit resto du quartier St-​Roch. Service impeccable, particulièrement dynamique! Menu très varié, original et constamment mis à jour. Une expérience en soit! Réservation nécessaire.

Le restaurant se dit vouloir actualiser la cuisine maison, et il s’y prend à merveille! Aménagé dans ce que l’on pourrait croire une ancienne maison, L’Affaire est Ketchup est un endroit tout à fait accueillant où l’on se sent comme si des amis nous avaient invités à souper!
L’endroit est très petit, il faut impérativement réserver à l’avance, alors ce n’est pas ce qu’il y a de plus intime. Il faut quand même apprécier le genre (ce qui est mon cas), afin de bien profiter de l’expérience.
Le menu change assez souvent, alors on peut être surpris chaque fois que l’on y va. Lors de mon passage, le sandwich au pulled pork et le tataki de bison étaient sublimes! Je vous les recommande!
Le seul point négatif, c’est que la cuisine à aire ouverte imprégnera vos vêtements de l’odeur des mets préparés au fond de la salle à manger. Malheureusement pour moi, c’était soir de poisson quand j’y suis allée!

Petit resto où il est difficile d’avoir une table, réservation requise pas mal à l’avance. Côté bouffe, wow! Les ris de veau à la crème et tartufata en entrée sont incroyables! La carte des vins est toute aussi excellente avec des importations privées disponibles au verre à prix très abordable compte tenu de la qualité. Mon préféré à Québec!

J’ai été mangé à ce restaurant! Décor ecclectique, sevrvice attentionné mais surtout la nourriture est délicieuse ! J’y retournerais n’importe quand!

Un de mes restaurants préféré. Le menu est constamment renouvellé mais toujours excellent. Une nouvelle découverte à chaque fois. Le prix du vin est plus que raisonnable. Le service est des plus sympathique.
Endroit à éviter par contre lorsqu’il fait trop chaud.
Réservation obligatoire.