Chez Boulay - Bistro boréal

Brianna

5.0

Loved everything! The restaurant was able to accommodate us when we requested a seat ahead of our reservation time, the Goose Breast appetizer was AMAZING, we loved the wine recommendation, the Beef Cheek entree was incredible (it's obvious why it's been on the menu for 12 years), & the duck was delightful. We ended with the creme brûlée, which was delicious & not too sweet, & a shot of espresso. 10/10 would recommend, & hope to be back next time we're in Quebec City!

Bob

5.0

Outstanding food! Thoughtful service by Melanie. Highly recommended. Onion soup & beef cheeks were exceptional.

Eve

5.0

Excellent French (non bistro) food in a smart casual dress restaurant. Very rich meals, very lux sauces. Tax++ prices comparable to a decent restaurant in Melbourne Australia. Arnaud provided terrific customer service in a busy restaurant, & his plate descriptions & recommendations were all good. French onion soup was elevated from the usual fare - I would totally recommend trying as the soup consistency is thicker than the usual, & so a little different. Beef cheeks very'melty' with zero hint of stringiness. Seal meatloaf too strong for my jetlagged self (& probably also my non jetlagged self), but husband thought it was tasty & interesting. Mousse texture not quite what I was anticipating, but still a 7/10 dessert. Cappuccino was more like a double espresso + some froth on top, but I think that may just be the way cappuccinos are made here as I have received similar in other QC venues. It was busy on a Monday night, so I'd say bookings are recommended.

Silvia

5.0

Questo è uno di quei posti che va provato per capire. Sono venuta qui perché raccomandato dalla Lonely Planet ed è stata un'esperienza PERFETTA dall'inizio alla fine, un ristorante a cui manca la stella Michelin a mio avviso. Il cameriere, di cui ora non ricordo il nome purtroppo (ma se mi sovviene aggiornerò la recensione), è stato MERAVIGLIOSO: gentile, attento, simpatico, ha compreso tutte le nostre necessità e ci ha aiutato nella scelta del menù. VOTO 10 e lode. Le pietanze, impossibile da spiegare. Noi abbiamo preso le seguenti pietanze: - Bison tartare with red currants, caribou shallots, cattail hearts, hemp oil & maple lichen by m. pinette - Foie gras terrine with boreal anise & birch syrup galette, roasted île d'orléans strawberries with cicely condiment - Braised beef cheek, ratatouille of élisabeth's vegetables with sweet woodruff, choron sauce & crispy vegetables - Black pudding & cabbage pudding from marcel & robert, crispy potato layers, broccoli from beauce & poultry jus with apple & spikenard - Seabuckthorn meringue pie, spikenard english cream - Maple mousse, tenebrio cookie & maple wood smoked core Forse, tra tutte, la tartare è il piatto che cambierei con qualcos'altro. Noi, in Italia, siamo abituati alla tartare senza nulla, dove la carne da sola ha molto sapore. Qui la carne era prelibatissima e squisita, ma insaporita da salse (come è d'altronde consuetudine all'estero). Non mi metto a descrivere gli altri piatti: TUTTO da 10 e lode, TUTTO. Il piatto preferito? Il "Boudin noir" (sanguinaccio) e "boudin de chou" (una salsiccia di cavolo), il 4° della lista sopra. Servito con patate croccanti a strati, broccoli della Beauce, e una salsa di carne alla mela e nardo (una pianta aromatica). ASSOLUTAMENTE FANTASTICO. Ci tornerei SUBITO per provare tutto il menù! ESPERIENZA UNICA. Ah, prezzo: se vieni qui, non è per risparmiare ma per MANGIARE BENISSIMO e fare un'esperienza culinaria UNICA, senza lamentele sul prezzo (abbiamo speso più di $310CAD in due, compresa una bottiglia di vino).

Kris

5.0

Everything was perfect, the food, the service, the atmosphere. We enjoyed the redfish tempura, braised beef cheeks, & bison steak. Highly recommend this restaurant!

Yury

5.0

The onion soup was delicious. Fair warning, it has a LOT of flavors. They are great, but it might not be for everyone. The beef cheeks were AMAZING! They were juicy & tender. The buffalo meat steak was good, but in my opinion it had too much sauce. The meat itself is delicious, & the sauce covered the flavor of the meat a bit.

Pascal

5.0

Not the first time we go. Food is superbe, encouraging local products & distributors. Beef cheek was super well done. No need for a knife, as it should be. Fish was great too. dessert were maple mousse is delicate & not heavy on the sweet taste. Sorbets was also very nice.

Felix

5.0

We visited this restaurant on a weeknight. We arrived 30 minutes earlier than our reservation time & they were able to accommodate us. The dining room was quite busy. We ordered an onion soup, a beef cheek, butcher cut steak which was chuck steak & a pork belly. The bread was not warmed up so it wasn't good. The onion soup was excellent. No bread & cheese in the soup. It was served with a cracker & a piece of cheese. The soup was still excellent although there was no cheese in the soup. The beef cheek was good. The steak was very small. We got 3 pieces only. I guess it was less than 4 oz. That was probably why it came with a bowl of fries. The pork belly was excellent with the pumpkin puree. The ambiance was upscale. Service was not bad but our server was too busy & got no time to check on us.

Deepmala

2.0

A much hyped restaurant, this place fell short of the anticipation. Dishes are a hit & miss, I would recommend asking for & going with your server's recommendations only. Of all the dishes we ordered the ones they recommended were good & the others were passable while one was quite terrible. For starters we ordered the foie gras terrine - this was lovely & unique but it came with an unnecessary garnish of a crispy bread that was partially burnt so it took away more from the fabulous terrine than it added. Their permanent main of beef cheek also came with a crisp topping that was burnt, & the meat was just about alright. The daily special of pork belly that we ordered at the server's suggestion was quite good. The third main we ordered was lobster on a bed of cavatelli & corn sauce. This was perhaps the worst dish I have been served at a restaurant & it made no sense. The lobster was unseasoned & a tad overdone. The pasta had no seasoning & the corn sauce was bland. I love lobster so I just picked those out & sent the rest back & politely shared my feedback with our server. She was indeed very gracious about it & suggested they would cover dessert if we so wished. We were anyway going to order dessert, since it was a birthday dinner, & we ordered on serving of the seabuckthorn pie playing it safe by going with the server's suggestion & it was delightful. But at the time of payment nothing on the order had been comped off, as was initially indicated. We do not expect freebies & we were quite comfortable paying for everything we ordered & we tipped well. We were simply taken aback that they offered something without following through. Overall, some menu items did not make sense in their composition & seemed like hurriedly developed recipes, while some items were great. A hit & miss experience & stick with servers' suggestions.

Steve

5.0

Everything is amazing at Boreal. The beef cheeks were slowly cooked for 30 hours, it melts in your mouth like butter. & the flank steak & its wine sauce was equally delicious. No complaints about this venue.