Slept in and got a slow start Wednesday -- because I'm on vacation, y'all. But once I hopped the bus downtown and walked through the St. Jean gate, it was straight to Café-Boulangerie Paillard, recommended by several as an important stop for baked goodies.
Café-Boulangerie Paillard
I managed to navigate the entire ordering transaction avec my limited Francais, including asking for a bag for one of the items when I saw it was plus grand, so that was cool for me. I've found most Quebecrs tolerant/patiently amused by my attempts.
The croissant was my focus going in, but perusing the display case the torsade de chocolat also caught my eye. I recently read an article about how Parisians say "pain au chocolat" and the rest of France says chocolatine, so I've been hungry for something similar ever since.
Once I saw the torsade was like a foot long is when I asked for the sac. I had a few nibbles (delish, choclaty, buttery goodness) and into the sac it went for noshing throughout the day. And on to the croissant I went; buttery, flaky goodness. Fortified, I went out to face the day.
Ice cream break y'all
I'm writing a food blog, not a travel blog, so long story short I had no idea the Governor's Promendade hadso many damned upsteps...
... so for surviving, I treated myself to some soft serve (sugar cone upgrade ftw!) from the little shack at the top, behind la Citadelle. It was overcast this day but humid and warm, and it did not maintain structural integrity for long.
Dinner at Les Trois Garçons
Between the late breakfast, the soft serve and the humidity, I wasn't hungry during the usual lunching hours. I debated a late poutine lunch at Chez Ashton before a late dinner, but instead decided to go straight to an early dinner and do Chez Ashton for lunch tomorrow.
And so, having done a fancier dinner last night, I opted for one of the informal dinner options from my crowd-sourced list and grabbed a seat on the patio at Les Trois Garçons, just as they closed St. Jean to traffic and began towing quite a few vehicles.
With poutine on deck for tomorrow, I decided to go for a burger, and keep it local with Le Charlevoix, which the menu describes as "AAA ground beef, double patty (3oz.), 1608 and Hercule cheese from Charlevoix, fried and caramelized onions, artisanal bacon, bourbon BBQ sauce." All sounds like good stuff.
My meal came suspiciously fast, which could speak to their efficiency but is also suspect -- I doubt it was scratch made and cooked so fast. And if I'm paying $17.50 for a burger and fries, I want it cooked fresh from raw beef.
First, the fries. I'm often skeptical of the fries, but I believe these were twice-fried and they were very good, crispy and tasty. There was a choice of four mayos -- I went with the traditional.
Now, the burger. Bun was fresh, seedy and excellent with the right amount of chew -- according to the menu sourced from the La Fabrique bacon. To many burger places overlook the bun. I liked the cheese and bacon, but I thought the beef could have used some seasoning.
Or maybe it was seasoned, but it, along with the bacon and cheese, was overloaded by the heavy application of the bourbon bbq sauce. Too much sauce overpowering the other tastes, rendering them mute. Should have passed on the sauce.
Still, a lovely meal on the patio overlooking the tourist throng on St. Jean.
No desert tonight. Recommend this Post on Progressive Bloggers
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