When I asked my driver en route from the airport to the hotel where to get veg food in Quebec City, he did not hesitate. Commensal, he said, which fortunately was a 10-minute walk from my hotel. As a very French place, Quebec City is not big on vegetarianism. This 22 year-old establishment seems to be the main veg destination in town.

Serve yourself from the hot and cold buffets at Commensal.

I figured I’d better go there right away, as I’d be meeting up with a group of non-vegetarians for other meals. As vegetarians know, going to a veg restaurant is relaxing, since you don’t have to ask if there’s chicken stock in this or fish paste in that. You don’t wonder if the server is telling you the truth, and you don’t have to worry about annoying or embarrassing your dining partners with incessant animal parts-related questions.

Commensal went one better. This serve-yourself spot clearly marks each dish as vegan, vegetarian and/or gluten-free. Many dishes also list the ingredients. They bill themselves as “flexitarian,” and apparently have some dishes with fish or chicken, but I didn’t see any. Of course, I had taken a red-eye from Portland, so maybe I missed a few things. There’s a hot buffet, a cold buffet and a fruit and dessert area. Customers pay by weight, which always makes me rethink my selections, since complicated dishes cost the same as rice. My plate of hot food weighed in at a little over $9. If I wasn’t paying by weight, I would definitely have eaten more.

My chosen dishes at Commensal

The dishes I chose were all good, and some even reflected a bit of the local cuisine. The Provençal stew was made with tomato, soy strips, black olives and thyme. Seitan bourguignon, also a stew, included seitan cubes, pearl onions, carrots, mushrooms, thyme and bay leaves. The coconut milk seitan was more Asian than Quebecois but also very good, with seitan strips, apples, spinach, raisins, ginger and curry.

Commensal surprised me by being quite large, with two floors of seating. I chose a nice spot in the window where I could watch the action on Saint Jean Street. The atmosphere was casual, as you’d expect at a place that weighs your food by the gram. I leafed through a New Age newspaper written in French while eating.

Here’s the view out Commensal’s front window.

If you’re a vegan visiting Quebec City, this is an excellent spot to tank up on fake meats. While all the restaurants I visited had some kind of vegetarian option on the menu, it’s more difficult to find cheese-free offerings. Quebecers love their cheese. Another vegetarian restaurant, Zen Garden, is listed on Happy Cow. But the cashier at Commensal claimed his establishment was the only veg place in town. I never did stumble upon Zen Garden, so can’t tell you if it’s still open and/or whether it’s any good. Commensal also has outlets in Montreal, Toronto, and several other Canadian cities.

Coming up next: Being the lone vegan at fine dining establishments in Quebec City