I don't at all mind eating in restaurants by myself....but I like to seek out informal bistro type places. I will be spending about a week in Quebec City...cross country skiing by day...dining at night. I will probably stay a few miles out of the city at Lac Beauport...but will drive into Quebec most nights. Any suggestions on good solo dining would be welcome. I like French...and other ethnic foods as well

{French cooking is not considered ethnic food in Quebec}

Of course..that is why is separated the French statement from "ethnic" with a series of.............

You picked the right place for cross-country skiing. Since you spend a whole week in the Quebec City area, if I were you I would try the Sentier des caps in Charlevoix for one day (http://www.sentierdescaps.com/). As for dining, in the Lac-Beauport area there is the Manoir Saint-Castin; in Quebec city, rue Cartier has a few fun restaurants (i.e. Jaune tomate). In Old Quebec we like the Rôtisserie Sainte-Angèle, very friendly atmosphere, and Les Frères de la côte. Le cochon dingue is also a fun parisian-type bistro, there are 2 or 3 in the city.
Have fun!

Thank you so much for your response. Although I had visited Quebec before....mostly with friends, I was completely unaware of the Charlevoix area and the Sentiers du Cap. I looked up their web site and was blown away by the stunning beauty of the place....I didn't realize that the St. Lawrence was so wide at that point and provides a fantastic visual backdrop. I plan to be in the area the first week of January unless the weather changes for the worse and brings in a rain or ice storm. If that happens I will have to pick another area of the North American continent. Thanks also for the restaurant recommendations.

The Mont Sainte-Anne (which offers 200+km of cross-country skiing in addition to the better-known downhill ski station), might offer similar vistas.

Another fun skiing-dining-touring combination would be to spend a day at the Duchesnay station. They have nice ski trails (125+ kms), a cafe'-bistro and you can take a guided tour of the ice hotel nextdoor (spectacular at night).

If there is a bad turn of the weather, and the ski conditions are not great in Duchesnay or Lac-Beauport, try Stoneham ("Camp Mercier&quot, just a bit further north, this is where people go very early and very late in the ski season, when the other stations are not opened (it is less affected with freezing rain and such.)

Duchesnay and Camp Mercier are part of the Quebec Parks Network, ski conditions are updated daily on http://www.sepaq.com/En/index.cfm#0

Enjoy the great outdoors!

Thanks again for the further recommendations. Since I might stay in Lac Beauport....I wonder if you know anything about Auberge du Quatre Temps? It looks fairly new and very nice. I think the rooms are about 80 Canadian Dollars/night. Several years ago I stayed in Lac Beauport....I thought the access to the ski trails was quite good, as there is in Lac Beauport an area called Sentiers du Moulin (I think). Also another one up in Stoneham......Le Refuge at St Adolphe. As I may have mentioned I would drive into Quebec at night for dining. You did mention Manoir Castin.....is it good? This coming week will be interesting weatherwise....as about mid week a storm will come in that could...produce the rain or ice event. Some forecasts are diminishing that possibility however. I also once skied the Duchesnay area....and found it very lovely. That was well before they put in the auberge.

Get away from the tourists and join the locals at le clocher penche on St. Joseph street - great french bistro. Or go up out of the old city on St Jean street to Chez Victor for a great burger and local beer. There are a few good restaurants on Maguire street in Ste Foy, including Montego for international fare. Cartier is fun too, as mentioned earlier - try the metropolitan for sushi and we prefer momento to the jaune tomate. For sure on Cartier go to the krieghoff for a bol of cafe au lait and their cheesecake. Around cartier are la rose des sables (bring your own wine couscous and more) and la scala old school italian. Lots more than that - but these might get you off of the tourist route a little.

also...if cross country skiing you will definetly want to check out station touristique duchesnay (where the ice hotel is) - it's about 1/2 an hour outside of quebec on the 40.
have a great trip!

oops I read more carefully and see you already got the duchesnay advice and that you have been there!

Thanks gdm for your restaurant suggestions....off the beaten track is just my style. I have heard of Victor's....I will have to try that. As well as the others you mention. It has been many years since I've been at Duchesnay.....I will go there again. The weather forecasts are calling for rain toward Thursday and Friday (just before Christmas). I hope not....just in case though, I do have back up plans....I might head to Haliburton in Ontario....they are predicted to escape the rain. If all else fails and the rains do come....I will set my sights on the Northwoods of Minnesota and Wisconsin. It will be a far cry from the ambience of Quebec though. Please no rain.
Back to food....any suggestions for Greek restaurants in Quebec...or North African (couscous etc.)?

In addition to Le Refuge (downhill skiing + cross-country) and Les sentiers du moulin (never been there), there is a station just a bit south, in Charlesbourg. Actually, you might find the following map useful, it lists all the x-country ski centres in the Quebec City area with good details : http://www.rssfrq.qc.ca/carte_fr.html#Anchor-51540 .

I don't know l'Auberge des Quatre-temps; as for Manoir Castin i just heard about it (positive comments)

Hopefully rain will stay away for Christmas. Have a good skiing holiday!

Hi Eastie
The local forecast is calling for snow on wed/thur/fri. There aren't a lot of great greek places here - Diana's for souvlaki sur pita/tzatziki/brochette on St Jean close to the old city is good, simple greek food, it's small, friendly - your best bet. Le Rameau d'olivier on Maguire and La Rose des Sables on Rene levesque/De Salaberry are both good Couscous/med places.

I've just returned from a wonderful trip to Quebec City--c'est beau! In parts of the old city, we were surprised that many of the restaurants closed rather early on a Monday night, but we found a charming cafe, Brulerie Tatum Cafe on Rue St. Jean. Although primarily a coffee house, they serve an assortment of burgers and pasta, other entrees. There were many solo diners there--students, people working on their computers. It was a warm, cozy place to enjoy a leisurely meal of good food.