Le Cochon Dingue, Quebec

When I checked out of the bookstore with my travel guide of Quebec City, the cashier told me to make sure I went to the restaurant with the big pig on the sign. She couldn't remember the French name, but she definitely remembered the food!

Shortly after my arrival in Quebec City, I stumbled upon the restaurant with the pig sign: Le Cochon Dingue (Babelfish translates this as "the Nutcase Pig" but I have my doubts!).

For breakfast, we sat at the outdoor tables on Blvd Champlain with a nice view of the Old Port. We enjoyed great coffee, fresh bread, home made jam, along with a nice omelet.

The menu is full of original dishes like duck confit spring rolls, three duck salad, steak frites, grilled pork kebabs, maple smoked ribs, seafood pot pie, ribs and waffles, and much more. Meals range from about $15 to $30 Canadian dollars.

If you ask locals for a restaurant recommendation, chances are they'll send you to Le Cochon Dingue, and the reason is quite simple: it's one of the city's most popular restaurants, for visitors and locals alike! The concept is quite interesting: the restaurant looks like a French bistro, but the menu has been slightly "French Canadianized". They make it a point to use local products, and they mix it up with traditional French recipes - the result is simply delicious! If you can, make sure to save some room for dessert: "les desserts cochons" have come to be known as one of the restaurant's specialties. Le Cochon Dingue is also known as one of the top places to go for a good breakfast in Quebec City.

Favorite Dish: My two favorite dishes are the Croque-madame and the goat cheese salad :o)

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We were mid way between breakfast and lunch time and I saw the menu for Le Cochon Dingue (The Crazy Pig) included steak frites, one of my "must haves" on this trip so we decided to have lunch here.

The wait for an outside table was surprisingly shorter than one indoors, we had about a 10-15 minute wait for a table.

This was a convenient place to have a meal before we headed over to the Ferry Terminal to catch the ferry over to Levis, right across the street. We couldn't figure out why so many people were on bicycles at the restaurant until we saw that people were coming over from Levis on the ferry with their bikes.

Favorite Dish: Unfortunately it was Sunday and they only served breakfast items until noon, it was around 11:15 so my steak frites were not a possibility. Since we had already waited for a table and I didn't have any better idea, we decided to stay and order brunch, I had the La Crepe Farcie au Gratin, a breakfast crepe with ham and mushrooms smothered in a bechamel sauce and gruyuere cheese which was very good, David had L'assiette brunch (Brunch platter) with a little bit of everything, eggs, bacon, sausages, cranberry bread, crepe with maple syrup, potatoes with onions, pork & beans (feves au lard). Both of our meals came with a choice of coffee, tea or hot chocolate. I went for the hot chocolate, a nice rich blend with a coating of sugar on the rim.

What's funny is that there is an English menu on the website but the wait staff never offered us one, I now know for sure that the word I couldn't translate was spinach, I was pretty sure that was what the green flecks were in my crepe. No, I didn't break out into hives or go into convulsions from eating it and obviously not enough to kill me.

Great desserts... everything else looked good too. It's hidden off in a little corner with what looks like the world's smallest doorway. Nice place to stop for coffee and a bit around 5 p.m., as you KNOW you won't have dinner until around 9 p.m. anyway.

Favorite Dish: The baked stuff. (sigh) Yum.

City:Lower Old Quebec City
Food Types: Sandwiches, Steak, Grill, Quiche, Chicken, Salads
Average Price per Person: Lunch: $11-20; Dinner: $21-30
Credit Cards: American Express, Mastercard, Visa, Diners Club, Interac
Type of Dining: Casual
Open For: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Kids Menu: Yes
Liquor License: Yes
Dress Code: Casual
Outdoor Patio: Yes

This is probably one of the best know restaurants in Quebec. Personally, we went to the one in front of the ferry and we found the terrace noisy, but we we're just so pleased about being "the better couple" that we didn't care too much for ambiance..
;)

Favorite Dish: I loved my fagotilioni (or something like that). Thought their overly long description could have been cut to: pasta with rosée sauce.

Nickie disliked her stuff. And really..boiled chicken for this kind of place is not acceptable..

We went there the day after our camping trip. It was so nice to eat real food out of clean real plates sitting on a real chair and not so dirty ourselves! By the way it almost means 'crasy pig'...

Favorite Dish: Ham rolls, french fries and Boreal red beer. There is also great breakfasts.