I bet you can envision the scene even if you’ve never been to Quebec: bearded men in black-and-red checkered shirts, snowy maple sugar bushes, tapered tin buckets filled with sweet sap. Maple syrup is as representative of the province as the fleur-de-lis. Historians believe 16th-century European explorers learned from the First Nations and Indigenous peoples how to use maple sap to survive Quebec’s harsh winter conditions. Indigenous communities had long made medicine with maple sap and bark and used maple sugar and sap to cook venison, cure meats, and, of course, make maple syrup.
Over 400 years later maple syrup is a billion-dollar global industry, and Quebec is home to the world’s first maple reserve, holding up to 218,000 barrels of maple syrup. It’s produced in spring, when the weather starts to warm up and the maple trees produce more sap. The maple syrup at the beginning of the season is light, golden, and delicate, best enjoyed with yogurt or drizzled on ice cream. Mid-season syrup is amber and rich and goes well with most everything. Late-season syrup is dark, with a concentrated flavor that works well in baking, sauces, and glazes. Quebec’s chefs make the most of this dazzling ingredient at every point in its season.
In the modern kitchens of Quebec City, chefs weave maple into dishes as a natural sweetener and use it to cure salmon, glaze ducks, and add body to vinaigrettes. Maple salt adds a sweet-savory punch to rubs and stews, and maple sugar is used to give cocktails a smooth and tantalizing finish. These eight restaurants celebrate the history, ingenuity, and thriftiness that maple represents in our city
Aux Anciens Canadiens
Jacquet is a small white house with a gabled apple red metal roof in the heart of Old Quebec. It dates back to 1675, making it one of the oldest surviving houses in the city. Aux Anciens Canadiens opened in 1966 and quickly established itself as an iconic staple for refined Quebecois cuisine. It’s a fine dining experience without pomp or circumstance, a stark contrast to the boisterous atmosphere of La Bûche down the street. The tarte au sirop d’érable et crème barattée is a favorite among locals and tourists alike. The silky-rich pie is made with maple syrup, butter, heavy cream, and eggs nestled in shortcrust pastry and served with a dollop of Chantilly cream. Lunch or midafternoon is the best time to dine, when most people are busy exploring the surrounding historic neighborhoods.
La Bûche
This urban sugar shack took Quebec City by storm when it opened on rue Saint-Louis in 2015. Its stone walls are decorated with mounted animal heads and fur pelts, and tables are laden with red-and-white gingham napkins and old maple syrup cans filled with condiment packets. Yanick Parent, Guillaume Cartigny, and Mychael Blouin are the masterminds behind the quaint restaurant, creating a boisterous menu of traditional Quebecois foods—usually with a gluttonous upgrade. The Tartare de Cerf is a velvety dish of deer tartare made with black garlic, bacon dressing, and caramelized walnuts; the peppery flavor of fresh savory, a popular herb in Quebec cuisine, balances the sweetness of the maple butter lightly coating each bite. Dining family-style is an ideal way to approach the menu at La Bûche, and a plat principal will be plenty for you and a friend.
Diner Saint-Sauveur
Nestled in a quiet corner of the Saint-Sô neighborhood, Diner Saint-Sauveur is a buzzy, eclectic restaurant with pink and mint green accents, a couple of ’50s-style diner booths complete with chrome-rimmed tables, bar seating for eight, and an open kitchen. This local hot spot is known for its hearty comfort food creations, a marriage between Quebecois and American classics. Think macaroni and cheese with fried brussels sprouts in Buffalo sauce, and juicy cheeseburgers with mushrooms and garlic aioli. The chicken and waffles are rightly adored. Chicken breasts are soaked in buttermilk for 48 hours before they’re breaded and fried until crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside. The chicken is served on a fluffy deep-fried waffle and drizzled with a heady mixture of maple syrup and sambal oelek.
Restaurant Sagamité (Old Quebec)
When Niva Sioui and Steeve Wadohandik Gros-Louis opened Restaurant Sagamité in Wendake in 1999, it quickly became a destination restaurant. The Indigenous-owned restaurant is dedicated to sharing the culture, art, and culinary heritage of the Huron-Wendat Nation. Its Old Quebec location opened in the summer of 2019, a small space with intricately carved totem poles just inside the entrance, a birch bark canoe light feature on the ceiling, and paintings and hand-carved wood panels decorating the walls. The menu is comprised of wild elk, bison, and venison, along with salmon and local seafood, all complemented with root vegetables and fresh greens. Plump seared scallops are topped with fresh strawberry and surrounded by swirls of luscious maple syrup and crumbles of wild boar bacon—a succulent, deceptively complex entrée.
Le Chic Shack
A decade ago the hit Canadian food and travel show You Gotta Eat Here! catapulted Le Chic Shack into the culinary spotlight; the lines to get in, particularly in summer, rarely die down. It’s a go-to spot for toothsome poutines made with crisp potatoes, deep-fried and slightly smashed before they’re topped with fresh squeaky cheese curds and a homemade gravy. Deliciously messy burgers like Le Robuste (venison patty, maple whisky deglazed mushrooms, Ciel de Charlevoix cheese, and black garlic mayonnaise) and Le Shack (beef patty, Cantonnier cheese, tender red-ale-braised beef, and a punchy hit of horseradish aioli) round out the menu, complementing the equally creative poutines. The Sugar Shack is one of the most popular, topped with a maple whisky gravy and handfuls of maple-glazed bacon. Share the poutine and you’ll have room for a boozy milkshake, which, of course, features maple caramel.
Chez Boulay
It was in 2010 on Les Chefs!, Quebec’s answer to MasterChef, that chef Arnaud Marchand met Quebec culinary icon, food competition judge, and owner of Restaurant Le Saint-Amour, Jean-Luc Boulay. Two years later they teamed up to open Chez Boulay, a restaurant where French techniques and boreal flavors collide, creating a Nordic experience unique to Quebec. Think arctic char, wild game, foraged mushrooms, Labrador tea (a plant found in Quebec, used in Indigenous and Nordic cooking), and maple syrup. Weekend brunch is a particularly popular affair, with a menu of rich, ancestral foods like seared trout, crusted with a thin slice of bread cooked in butter until golden brown, and La Récolte, a mushroom tartine with Père Canuel smoked tempeh, poached egg, and a shallot foam with a maple-scented milk cap. It’s a delicate balance between bougie and comforting.
Buffet de L’Antiquaire
A local institution since 1976, Buffet de l’Antiquaire is a diner serving traditional Quebecois comfort foods. Local characters arrive early in the morning for breakfast, filling the counter, then spilling into the booths and tables; by lunchtime the restaurant is filled with tourists. Maple syrup can be added to any dish for a small charge, but one of the best ways to enjoy it is in pouding chômeur. This rich, dense blue-collar dessert dates back to the Great Depression and is made by adding maple syrup to cake batter. Think of it as a Quebecois bread pudding smothered with maple syrup. While many restaurants give pouding chômeur a little zhuzh, Buffet de l’Antiquaire celebrates its simplicity.
Honō Izakaya
Honō Izakaya in Saint-Roch is a neutral-toned minimalist Japanese restaurant. It quickly became a neighborhood favorite when it opened in 2018, serving Japanese small plates perfect for sharing over drinks. No reservations were needed in the early days, but now it is almost impossible to dine here without one. The menu is centered around tataki, sashimi, yakitori, and artisanal cocktails created by barman and co-owner Julien Vézina, who masterfully blends Japanese and Quebec flavors and spirits. Sokky is a Manhattan-inspired cocktail made with Nikka Whisky From the Barrel (a blend of over 100 different malts and grain whiskies), Barolo Chinato vermouth, shochu, ponzu, and maple syrup. It’s garnished with confit shiitake. The full-bodied cocktail pairs well with the Nagano pork belly yakitori, dusted with a twinkling shichi-mi tōgarashi.