Chez Boulay - Bistro boréal

Denis

4.0

L'expérience aura pus être extraordinaire si ça n'avait été un attente de quarante cinq minutes avant de recevoir notre plats principal, qui a brisé la magie de l'expérience.Le serveur c'est bien occupé nous quand même vue que la cuisine avait beaucoup de retard.

Paul

4.0

Overall, a memorable dining experience but with some flaws. Beginning from the door & host desk: a very friendly greeting & all the more so as I bone-headedly mixed up my own reservation date of March 14 & we were a day early. Given it was a later seating time, they graciously accomodated us with a table for 3, for which I commend them! Service staff are young, energetic, fluently bilingual, & very knowledgeable about the varied menu - a bonus given that exotic boreal dishes benefit from some explanation & help. We ordered two cocktails & a bottle of white wine. An apple cider rum concoction that my 25 year old son loved. My martini was superbly mixed, but the olives were small, pitted, & under-ripe. Get better martini olives & it goes from a'3' to a'5'! The wine took almost 10 minutes to arrive after the cocktails because they were out of the chardonnay we ordered. The wine manager needs to communicate stock-outs to the staff else customers & table servers will be disappointed. We were. On to starters: we spilt two between us - the smoked whitefish & a medly of exotic mushrooms. Both dishes were exceptional. The bold & smoky fish was beautifully balanced by the accompanying puree. The mushrooms mixed textures - some crispy browned, others more gently seared & tender. Amazing! Mains: son planned to go conservative with flat iron steak but our server backed his decision to try braised beef cheek. It was spectacular & a nice experience to try a less-common cut of beef. I ordered the duck breast & was disappointed. The cook was a perfect medium rare but the meat itself was impossibly tough & chewy. I noted raw bits of blubbery, unrendered fat under the skin which tells me they seared the duck in a hot pan vs. starting cold & raising the heat to render the fat before crisping/colouring the skin. This will unavoidably tighten the meat, even more so if the resting period is rushed. Duck breast is wickedly technical to prepare, but I very much looked forward to a Michelin-level treatment & was sadly disappointed. Suggested wine pairings from our server (a different red for each of the mains) were spot-on! Son doesn't care for red wine generally but became a convert on this one. I actually forget the dessert we shared, because it was so delicious, I entered a dessert-dream-state & became foggy on the details! Overall, a very memorable experience, which we'd happily repeat - perhaps ordering differently from the duck.

André

5.0

Moment mémorable. Remarquable!

Pierre-Olivier

5.0

Excellent sur toute la ligne. À réessayer!!

Marc

5.0

Merci à toute l'équipe, …. Wow sur toute la ligne ainsi que notre serveur George 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟…… Merci pour l'expérience incroyable

Leanne

5.0

Loved the food. My daughter, friend, her niece & I enjoyed a wonderful dinner. Service was top notch. Will definitely be back my next trip to Quebec City!

Grace

5.0

Honestly the best dining experience I've had in Quebec City. Not only were the the atmosphere & service top notch, the food & especially the duck was at the same level as the one I've had in Paris. The taste, presentation, & how everything came together harmoniously really shows the mastery of their duck handling & gastronomy. My husband really liked the slow cooked & dry aged beef cheek. I think they deserve the Michelin Guide! You won't regret this one.

Caroline

5.0

Le bar était incroyable ! Excellents cocktails & belle carte des vins. On a bien pris soin de nous assigner une bonne place avec la compagnie de notre chien Mira. Merci !

Runping

5.0

We had a fabulous dinner at Chez Boulay in the depths of winter in early January. Very creative & inspiring dishes, all perfectly executed. There were many standouts: their French onion soup is one of their signature dishes (absolutely three thumbs up), seabuckthorn meringue pie (very'lemony-y' satisfying). I was enjoying dinner so much I forgot to take any photos of our main courses, one of which was beef neck (?...which was very tender & flavourful). The service was attentive with just the right amount of friendliness. All in all a memorable evening & we'd definitely return at the first opportunity!

Francoise

5.0

Délicieux! le cocktail, la soupe à l'oignon, la joue de boeuf, le carbonara, le parfait au miel, la mousse au fromage de chèvre.