Le Renard et la Chouette

Just realized that review was for their sister restaurant, Au Pied Bleu. THAT place is 11 stars. This is the place where the waiter took us from Pied Bleu and we did shots at. Yeah, we walked out the door, down the street, into Renard, and did shots. 5 stars.

This is just another unpretentious example of excellence in food and dining in Quebec. Away from the tourist zones surrounding the Château, Le Renard Et La Chouette (The Fox and Owl) is simple, friendly and casual with excellent food and service.

It’s a nice place for food and drink at night. Really local and delicious as well! The staff speaks English so it would be great for tourists.

On m’avait parlé en bien de ce restaurant, et laissez moi. Vous dire que je n’ai pas été déçu. Premièrement le personnel est fort sympathique et attentionné. J’adore le décor, les table en grosses planches, les lampes en tuyaux de cuivre et les murs qui en disent long sur sur l’historique de ce local qui abritait une ancienne pharmacie.
Le serveur nous a suggéré un drink au bourbon qui fut délicieux. J’ai commencé par un petit en cas, les piments farcis au chèvre. Excellent avec du bon pain frais dont vous pouvez vous servir à même le panier si vous en manqué. La patate farcis et maquereau fumé était fabuleux. Le plat de magret de canard, sublime. Je vous recommande fortement la salade de choux de bruxelles et noisettes pour commencer. À vrai dire, tout était parfait, tout les plats avaient le bon dosage de sucré et de salé, croquant et onctueux, de chaud et de froid, bref, wow! Je le recommande à tous. Cette endroit est parfait. Longue vie à cet entreprise.

Le Renard focuses on local and seasonal cooking. We had several small plates that were wonderful. There is a nice selection, but a limited menu for vegetarians. I loved the mussel stew. They have a nice wine list at a good value. Very cozy atmosphere.
The service was not good. I’m not sure if it was a bad night (there was a very large party) or if this is their normal approach. We had no table service – we ordered at the bar. This would have been fine had we been informed of how ordering works when we arrived. We originally seated at the bar and there was an accident when a person working at the bar has something slip out of his hand knocking a large bottle of beer all over my daughter. She was soaked and had to ask for paper towels to dry her pants. I know crud happens, but it would have been a nice gesture if the restaurant offered a complimentary glass of wine while we tried to dry her off. The fellow whose beer was knocked over offered to by my daughter a drink. He was not offered a new beer. Small things like a glass of wine could have gone a long way to improve a dining experience that did not get off to a good start.

Tonight is our last night in Quebec City. We wanted something special, healthy for dinner, and were referred to this restaurant. We just had the most amazing and innovative set of 3 salads. Our favorite was the Roasted brussel sprouts, toasted hazelnuts in a light citrus, feta, olive oil dressing with pieces of sweet marmalade. The delicious combination is crazy genius and veg friendly. The other salads had homemade ricotta and other surprising treats. My green tea was served with a timer for precise steeping. Frank and Alex are knowledgeable and staff were amazing too.

Great little gem of a place!
Very friendly and attentive service. I tried 3 dishes and they were all very creative and unique. Sure a bit small and pricey but that’s French food and well worth it.

À ma première visite à cet endroit, je vous dit que ce né sera pas ma dernière ! Dès votre entrée, l’expérience se démarque par l’attention qu’on porte au client. Vous aurez le choix de vous asseoir à une table intime ou si vous le préférez à une grande table ou d’autres clients s’ajouteront au fil de la soirée.
La nourriture est excellente, goûteuse et bien relevée. J’ai pris une salade de choux de Bruxelles et nous avons partagé une tartiflette. Chaque bouchée nous permettait de dire combien c’était bon! Pour le vin, vous vous présentez au comptoir, rencontrer la proprio pour goûter quelques sélections de bouteilles, avant de faire votre choix de vin. Elle prend le temps de vous décrire chaque importation privée de sa cave.
Je vous le recommande fortement !

This eating spot is sooo cool! Love the food and the ambiance, which is retro, friendly and down right groooveeyy! Louis, the owner, is super nice!

Fin comme le renard, agile comme la chouette…
Cette buvette sans prétention a tout pour plaire. Décors hétéroclites, plats savoureux, personnel avenant.
Pour cette nouvelle visite, nous nous étions arrêtés en quête d’un petit rafraîchissement. Slush à la rhubarbe et petit verre de vin (qu’on a pu goûter avant) ont été accompagnés d’une assiette d’arachide fumées maison et de légumes lacto-​fermentés avec une bonne vinaigrette.
Ce n’est pas la première fois que je mets les pieds ici, et j’en ressors toujours satisfait. Prenez le temps de jaser avec le personnel, ils sont courtois et connaissent bien leur cuisine et leurs vins!

First time in Quebec, after bouncing around in the neighborhood, I luckily stumbled upon this hidden gem opened only last summer :) I ordered the «petit tour» tasting menu and was served several servings of outstanding inventive courses, from PEI oysters to urchin or «oursins» in French, to Mackerel and escargot and fiddleheads. The young and hip chef Karine there make changes to her menu often based the the season as was able to procure off-​beat and delicious dishes. Far for the tourist city centre but definitely worth the 20min walk! I will definitely be back the next time I’m in town!

This is the little brother of Pied Bleu down the street and though it’s only been open since the summer I think I can safely say it’s one of my favourite and memorable dining experiences… in recent memory… possibly ever?
Thanks go to QC Unilocaler Anne-​Julie for messaging me to suggest le Pied Bleu, the description of this place with it’s giant family-​size dishes and atmosphere were so appealing and were what led me to discover La Renard et La Chouette. Both restaurants are run by a wild food-​passionate and community-​loving couple who, from the stories told to me by the awesome waiter who took care fo us last night (possibly a co-​owner? definitely prepared our food and gave us wine to taste and told us stories and showed us the ridiculously cool app he’d made and felt like a dear friend by the end) have launched new businesses driven by a desire to employ the staff they love, and to offer an unpretentious space for the people of their neighbourhood to come together.
The room is beautiful in a simple and not over-​decorated way. It’s all salvaged wood; simple white; and lovely individual bronze pipe lights peeping up over tables. There is a record player on the bar and since we were just a few people here on a rainy Monday in November we laughed together, poured over records, and played things that made us happy. We ate the spicy marinated cheese and lacto-​fermeted veggies and shared the duck and sausage dish and a delicious comforting dessert the likes of which I’d never had before: soft creamy pumpkin scoops burnt with a torch in front of us till it had a crispy caramel crust, with homemade sour cream, crumbles of chocolate with nuts and orange peel, and chocolate cookies. Throughout the meal we were encouraged to try a few special wines and apéritif’s imported and shared with obvious excitement. The owner came over with a Portuguese hot sauce and tales of trying to find and import flavours from Portugal via Ontario.
The overall impression was of a love of culture everywhere, an open minded excitement about ways of changing people’s dining experience and of throwing preconceived rules out the window. This beautiful restaurant is a café during the day with live music and meetings of groups like Creative Mornings. It wants people to sit together and talk and enjoy life and food and make friends. Above all it wants to be a place of joyful connection in St Vallier and it’s clear it will achieve all this, with added scoops of mad deliciousness on top.
St Roch, St Vallier, Limoilou — for a kid who is happiest in the Mile End and Brooklyn, these are the flavours of Quebec City that I have been looking for. Beyond the turrets and tourist traps of the old town there is a living exciting scene here with amazing food and live music and I’m so thankful to the people who have helped me discover it a bit!

On a poussé la porte de ce petit resto sur St-​Vallier, et… wouah. On a été chaudement accueilli par le proprio derrière le bar qui jasait avec deux clients, qui passaient en revue la collection de vinyles en en sélectionnant au hasard. En un souper, on est passé de polka, au folk, au rockabilly. Cool!
L’accueil était tellement énergique qu’on s’est également installées au bar. Sans regret, on a jasé presque tout le long avec François, notre super serveur. On a débuté avec une entrée de fromage mariné légèrement épicé, ainsi que des légumes lacto-​fermentés. J’ai adoré! C’était délicieux, et plutôt inusité. En plat principal, on a commandé un des plats à partager, le cassoulet au canard. Oh, miam. C’était vraiment savoureux, et très bourratif. On a quand même trouvé un petit trou dans notre estomac pour essayer le dessert à la citrouille, c’est-à-dire des petites quenelles de ganache à la citrouille caramélisée, avec des sablés au chocolat croquants et des morceaux de chocolat à l’orange. Le mélange des saveurs et des textures était divin.
Les produits sont sélectionnés avec soin, on sent la recherché dans le menu. La sélection de vin est très intéressante également, je conseille d’en goûter quelques-​uns afin de faire son choix!
Petit frère du Pied bleu, le Renard et la chouette se veut un lieu de vie convivial où les gens peuvent venir jaser et travailler le jour, et manger à la bonne franquette le soir. L’atmosphère est à tout casser, j’aimerais vraiment pouvoir revenir souvent!