saving for me

OK, here's a follow-up from my great birthday weekend in Montreal and Quebec.

Dinner in Quebec at Le Clocher Pence: very slow service -- we waited nearly 40 minutes after sitting to get a drink, the waiter told us twice he'd be right back to take our order, but it was another 20 minutes. The place was quite warm also (no AC, and the open windows and slow moving fans didn't do much). But the food was great. We shared salmon tartare and a cocotte of seafood for two that had the most amazing sauce!

Dinner in Quebec at Le Lapin Saute, doing the rabbit and duck for two which was wonderful. Delightful server, nice corner table. The food was delicious. Super creme brulee for dessert.

Dinner in Montreal at Modavie, a delightful jazz/wine bar/restaurant in the Old Town after Cirque de Soleil. We sat upstairs with the music which was pleasant. Had super service, good food -- pastas and shared salad, nothing too exotic. But good enough to make us go back the next day for lunch where we sat outside and shared calamari and carpaccio plus some nice wine.

Birthday dinner at Aix au Cuisine du Terroirs. I had requested a "quiet and private table" and we were rewarded with the little almost private corner dining spot -- but we soon discovered a large group of businessmen right "outside" our space was so loud we couldn't hear ourselves think. Efficiently and quickly, the staff moved us to another nicer spot with their apology that normally that is the prime table, but they agreed it wasn't so great with the noisy party adjacent. The food was wonderful. The best fois gras I've ever had outside France. A very nice Bordeaux. I had great medallions of lamb (long tenderloins actually) topped with strips of polenta mixed with pesto and lots of veggies in a wonderful rich sauce. My partner had slow cooked pork belly which he loved.

No desserts those last two nights. On check in to the Regency Club level at the Montreal Hyatt, I was greated in our room by a huge birthday cake from the hotel -- chocholate cake with layers of both white and dark chocolate mousse and covered with chocolate ganache and beautiful carved chocolate flowers. There was a refrigerator in the room so we kept in and had more the second night, still leaving well over half the cake in the frig when we left. We won't discuss my (diabetic) glucose levels for the weekend!!!

Merci beaucoup!

A person has been posting raves about Que Sera Sera at the Courtyard on the TA Quebec City forums. Did you try it by any chance?

Really? That's where we stayed and did have the breakfast buffet there one morning. It was open till 10:30. We arrived about 9. The "pancakes/crepes" pan was empty when we arrived and still empty when we left. The waffle pan had one quarter of an overcooked waffle in it when we arrived, and that same one was still there with no new ones when we left. There were two containers for juice, one was empty, we tilted the other one to get a three quarters glass out of it. It was never refilled. The fruit platter had a couple pieces of pineapple, a few slices of melon, and apparently did have some strawberries which were gone. It was never replenished. No one ever asked if we wanted more coffee -- but since it tasted like weakly coffee flavored dishwasher we wouldn't have wanted any anyway. After breakfast we immediately headed out to find a cup of coffee. We had to ask for bowls for cereal, there were none, but after a few minutes someone found a stack of them in the kitchen and brought them out.

I realize that's only a breakfast buffet (at $15 per person) but there was nothing about the service, atmosphere, or food quality that would ever make me want to eat a REAL meal there!
Incidentally, we liked the hotel and its location -- although we were also a little turned off by returning at 3:30 PM after a full day out to find our room still not made up -- we called and they came to do it immediately, though, while we went down to the lobby to have a drink.

the poster on the Quebec City forum on TA is very enthusiastic and the regulars are very skeptical. Your remarks are enough for me to give it a pass. Thank you for the feedback and happy birthday.

Glad to hear you ate well in Montreal and Quebec City

My friend laverendrye, you are absolutely right.i totally agree with you..once i have also been in aux Anciens Canadien for my birthday party celebration..The ambience and the entire environment was so livelyyy...That was one of my best birthday party i have ever been celebrated.