While Montreal is teeming with plant-based restaurants, veg food is much less common just 150 miles northeast in Quebec City. Here are five places you can get a good vegetarian or vegan meal after wandering the streets of this unforgettable town.
Walking the streets of Old Quebec works up an appetite.
Nina Pizza Napolitaine
Who goes out on a Monday night when it’s 39 degrees and pouring rain? Quebec City’s pizza lovers, and apparently they’re all headed for Nina Pizza Napolitaine. The joint was jumping when I visited. The menu is all in French but a bilingual staff helped me translate the words I couldn’t figure out. Tip: Just order the piena di verdure, an inventive vegan pie with “bacon de champignons” and “feta de tofu.” The mushroom bacon was delicious.
Nina’s vegan pizza
Nina’s uses the wood that powers the oven as a decorative element, with big piles stacked around the edges of the dining area. My server told me that about once a month the staff comes in early to load in a new batch.
Le Chic Shack
This kitschy burger place doesn’t overlook the veg folks. They even offer a vegan poutine made with vegan poutine gravy, sweet potato fries, tofu curds, herb pesto and pickled onions. I almost ordered this since it’s the Canadian dish. But then I realized I’d feel better with a salad and a side of sweet potato fries. I got the Tex Mex salad, which includes ancient grains and roasted sweet potatoes. The Tex Mex part refers to avocado and fried tortillas. Instead of salsa, it’s topped with maple chipotle dressing. Le Chic Shack also makes their own veggie patties.
Tex Mex salad at Le Chic Shack
Table at Hotel Pur
A short walk from old Quebec, the lively Saint Roch District boasts tons of restaurants and boutiques. The Hotel Pur’s chic modern look extends into Table, its timber-and-chrome restaurant. Vegetarians will appreciate a special veg section of the menu. The grilled, maple-marinated tofu with toasted fennel seeds, lemon cranberry and toasted almond couscous and gomasio is a delicious choice for vegetarians and slacker vegans who don’t mind a bit of honey. There’s also a lentil curry with roasted pita bread, yogurt, cilantro and lime that you could order without yogurt.
Delicious maple-marinated tofu
Monastére des Augustines
This 17th century monastery turned wellness center is the best place in town for vegans and vegetarians. At lunch, the monastery lays out ten different premade salads on its all-you-can-eat salad bar. The day I ate there, all were vegan. Plus they always offer a veg entrée.
Vegan salad bar!
They even had a chocolate vegan dessert. You can order a green juice or a ginger infusion. Breakfast—eaten in monastic silence–offers a variety of nut butters for toast and non-dairy milks to pair with cereals. They are very forward-thinking about minimizing food waste, supporting local organic farmers, and even developing new cultivation techniques for a winter greenhouse.
The monastery’s microgreen fridge
Here’s the best plan. Book yourself into a room at the Monastére des Augustines, enjoying the quiet atmosphere, taking every opportunity for yoga classes and massage, and eat several of your meals here.
La Carotte Joyeuse
This friendly health food store is a good place to stop for a premade sandwich or snack. If you’re staying somewhere with kitchen facilities, stock up at La Carotte Joyeuse to cook your own meals, or assemble a picnic lunch.
