Cafe Pot-Au-Feu

Wakefield, Quebec is Ottawa’s version of cottage country. Sitting along the banks of the Gatineau River, it’s a magical, beautiful little village with a reputation for cottages, a small artistic community and a series of wonderful little shops and cafes.
Several years ago I used to make regular trips up to Maniwaki, Quebec. The highlight of my drive either going or coming back, was to stop off in Wakefield and explore the shops, have lunch here and just take in the amazing scenery or river, hills, mountains and covered bridges.
I always ended up eating at Café Pot-​Au-​Feu and never once had a bad meal. Summer is by far the best time to come here. An old converted train-​station, the train tracks still go by the building. You can sit outside, in the back with only the train tracks between you and the river and the bushes of wildflowers growing everywhere.
Weekends are insanely packed here so reservations are recommended but if you come in the fall, when most of the tourists have disappeared, chances are pretty good, you can just walk in and get a table.
I do remember their chocolate mousse was kind of inspirational and while service can be spotty sometimes, (mostly college kids working their summers), the location, the food, the atmosphere more than makes up for it.

Absolutely delicious. I had the chili with Asiago. My parents had the tortiere and beet soup. All delicious. Caesars were also very tasty. Beautiful view! Highly recommend

This restaurant is so damn good it hurts my heart to not be eating there right now, and I’m not even really that hungry. I’m told theres a rentable apartment above it, I want to move in. Set in a sexy historic building that used to mess with trains, this is a «pot» of gold. I got the coconut milk shrimp curry thing and eating it reminded me of my childhood.

It’s always interesting to me how one person’s «comically bad dining experience» can be another person’s rave. I’ve been to Café Pot-​Au-​Feu twice and both times I had a excellent dining experience — perfectly cooked bistro food, friendly service, decent prices, and a beautiful location with exterior terrace overlooking the river. What more can you ask for on a warm summer night?

Had an almost comically bad dining experience here.
First of all, we were seated outside with 3 menus. Two menus didn’t have anything in them, just were blank. It took a long time for anyone to acknowledge us. Finally we were able to place an order and we decided on a few different appetizers.
My friend’s Caesar salad was very tiny, with wilted lettuce and way too much dressing. It was one of the saddest looking plates of anything I’ve ever seen. The cheese plate had plain bland supermarket cheese. We also had a Caprese salad, with not-​very-​fresh tomatoes and a ridiculously small amount of mozzarella cheese. The salmon tartare was o.k. and the mussels were good enough.
At some point the waitress just stopped showing up and we had to pay at the front. Another customer was complaining about the lamb and was explaining to the kitchen what was wrong with it.
To be fair – they seemed understaffed that night and the waitress we had seemed to have to field a few different complaints about the food.
The setting here is nice – in the summer you can sit outside by the river and watch the tourist train go by. Maybe it was just a (very) off night?