Asian restaurant in Quebec city: Chanhda

I’m back to talk about a great restaurant with gluten-free options that I had the chance to try in Ste-Foy:  “Chanhda: Asian cuisine”. Chandha is the surname of the owner’s grandfather. They are of Thai origin and arrived here in the 80s as a family. Restauration is a family talent and this restaurant shows it well. The menu focuses on Thai classics, with a little stop in Vietnam (with my confessed love of Pho soup and spring rolls, yeah!) adding even a General Tao Chicken dish (a dish invented in America by a Chinese chef).

We were 3 guests to taste the dishes and we all liked our choices. We took spring rolls as a starter. The roll was filled with marvelous scents, shrimps, herbs: wow. Both side sauces were delicious: one made with fish sauce (clear) and another with peanut butter, topped with homemade roasted peanuts. A very good start (or, for a light lunch, two rolls would even be an option).

I chose a Thai soup as the main course (it is naturally gluten free). I took the “meal” version (soupe-repas), but only the half portion. The soup was visually very pleasing, with its contrasts of colour and textures. The fried onions, raw red onion, fresh coriander and bean sprouts were perfect in quantity and texture. I took the shrimp version but you have the choice to garnish it with chicken or tofu. It was not very spicy by Thai standards, but quite enough for the average Quebecers’ tolerance levels. If you are used to Thai food, you can indulge by asking for more “fire” when ordering. For lunchtime, the half portion was more than enough.

My favorite companion had set his sights on a Pad Thai (available in gluten-free version by asking, for a small fee) and he was not disappointed. Many flavours were present in this dish, thanks to the herb toppings and the perfectly fired tofu. His portion was so huge that he brought almost half of the dish home. Actually, it is possible to order a single dish and share it for an additional 4$.

The restaurant has just moved to a larger space with big windows and I was happy to see that it is very popular. The customers came in and out throughout our meal on Saturday at lunch time. Many came for the take-out, as you can order dishes to bring home (or eat in a park…). There is also a counter filled with food you can bring home to reheat and desserts (including coconut milk tapioca that I cannot wait to taste). A counter filled with candies and Asian treats made our teenage Pocky fan very happy. You can come with your family without any problem (a General Tao chicken plate could easily fill the stomach of two children). There is a wine list and they even have gluten-free Glutenberg beer on the menu! We must try a romantic evening dinner next time!

Chanhda is also an Asian grocery store with a nice selection of dry goods. I am very happy to have this beautiful Asian restaurant in our corner of Quebec City.

Chanhda: cuisine asiatique

2900 Chemin St-Louis

In the mini-mall “Place St-Louis-de-France” at the corner of rue de l’Église and Chemin St-Louis in the Ste-Foy neighbourhood (which is close to the two bridges and many hotels).

http://www.chanhda.ca/

*They are closed on Sunday and monday

Gluten-free beer in Québec City

One of the things I’ve missed most since I’m on a gluten-free diet is to open the menu at a restaurant and try a new Quebec beer. I was a beer fan “before”, but of course beer is out of bounds for celiac people … but is that true? What if it was possible to drink beer without GLUTEN? Beer that tastes like beer?

 

After switching to a gluten-free diet following my gastroenterologist’s recommendation, I discovered La Messagère gluten-free beer, brewed by “Les bières de la Nouvelle France” in Quebec. At the time there was a blonde, then a red was put on the market. A light beer was added some time later. It was revolutionary to offer a completely gluten-free product (none of the ingredients contained gluten). To succeed, barley malt must be switched for a malt from a gluten-free ingredient. They use rice, buckwheat and millet. According to the website of these brewers, they were the first in North America to offer a gluten-free beer and they are also producers of their own malt! They offer a very subdued lager beer that most people who can drink a real beer will not drink (!). On the other hand, if “real” beer is forbidden to you, and you are offered a cold La Messagère while chilling out on the patio, go ahead (thanks to my Father-in-law for always having a gluten-free beer ready for me in his fridge! You just have to be ready for a different taste (or make a shandy with a wise addition of Ginger Ale and Lemonade!). I tasted their light beer only once but I remember being pleasantly surprised. It is therefore a matter of taste and I’m sure many people love this beer, since it has been here for at least 10 years and is a great success in Quebec! It’s like for “regular” beers, there’s something for everyone.

 

In 2012, a huge change happened in my life of “Mrs-without-Gluten-who-loved-beer-before”: Glutenberg beer, brewed by BSG. A beer made only with gluten-free ingredients, but that tastes like “beer”. Wow. I knew the blonde, then the red, the American Pale ale, the IPA (I was almost crying !!!), the White (a gluten-free witbier … Yes) … All quality beers. But it is not only me who says so! In 2012, Glutenberg won the 3 medals given during the World Beer Cup for gluten-free beers (for the red, the pale ale and the blonde). Once you know that 54 countries were represented and a total of 799 breweries, we can see the importance of these prizes. They also received gold in 2016 for their IPA. In short, a quality beer that can be served to everyone … but why share 😉

 

 

They also offer specialty beers, gastronomic forays made in collaboration with François Chartier, the sommelier and master of the tasting accord. These are beers with surprising tastes, to try with people who love beers that are out of the ordinary. They also have “seasonal” beers that are found at specific times of the year. For example, they recently released a “Gose” beer, which is not easy to do without gluten (usually Gose is brewed in Germany with wheat, a distant cousin to the Belgian gueuze), a sour beer with a salty grapefruit taste (you can imagine that salty beer is not for everyone, it is far from a nice blonde). They also have a “Belge de saison” (Seasonal Belgian) that is available for a limited time, if you see it, jump on it, it is fantastic.

 

Glutenberg beers are sold throughout Quebec and sometimes even in restaurants or bars. They also sell in several locations in Canada and the United States.

 

If you are in the capital, you can find it in several places, including these (non exhaustive list):

 

La boite à Bières, on rue de l’église, at the corner of Boulevard Laurier in Ste-Foy

 

Rachèle Bery grocery store in the Place Laurier shopping center

 

L’épicerie Métro on Cartier Street in Montcalm

 

The Duchess of Aiguillon, on St-Jean Street

 

L’axe du Malt on the street Aiguillon in the district St-Jean Baptiste

 

 

There are also restaurants serving Glutenberg. I cannot guarantee they will have it but you can check at:

 

The Chez Victor restaurants, of which I have already discussed

 

The Griendel on St-Vallier

 

La Korrigane Brewery in St-Roch

 

The Cochon Dingue restaurants

 

To conclude, I must tell you that all beers that claim to be “gluten-free” are not made in the same way. There is a process used that removes gluten from beer, which can then be sold as “gluten-free”. Personally, I cannot drink these “deglutenized” beers (invented word! They used “crafted to remove gluten” ). I am very sick if I do. Unfortunately I tried several of them before convincing myself. The Czech Celia and the American O-Mission are examples of deglutenized beers that I do not recommend to someone sensitive to gluten. YMMV.

 

Have you ever had a gluten-free beer? Which one? Where? What is your favourite? Was it a beer made originally gluten-free or of “deglutenized” ingredients? If you have a similar or different experience than mine with this second type of beer, leave us a comment!

Grilled Chicken in Québec City

Want a simple and good diner? I recommend the restaurant “Poulet Portugais” in St-Jean Baptiste, directly on St-Jean street. The concept of this restaurant is simple. You find a table, put down your coat and go order at the counter. You receive a small electronic disk that sounds when your order is ready, which allows you to chat at your table and come back for your meal at the counter.

 

Why go there? First, the charcoal-grilled chicken is delicious and gluten-free. It is made in the spirit of the Portuguese grilled chicken, with a piri-piri sauce (one can choose hot or not. Warning! for an average Québécois, the « hot » version is really spicy!). The charcoal pit comes directly from Portugal, where the owner and chef has lived for several years. You can even eat the fries, which are also gluten-free! There are a multitude of other dishes but I confess, I always order the chicken. I cheated once with the octopus starter (gluten-free of course) which was delicious, but then I ran out of “space” for my tasty chicken ! You can even order a whole chicken to take away.

 

My photo does not do justice to the chicken!

 

 

Second good reason to go: we can bring our own wine. This is a way to get a not-too-expensive dinner with friends, or even as a family with children (which are welcome, it’s really a family friendly place). You can buy different non-alcoholic drinks directly at the restaurant of course. It is a real neighborhood restaurant : very friendly and not complicated at all.

 

Bonus: the owner, who is Bulgarian, also makes « charcuteries » and he understands the concept of gluten-free very well. He can tell you what is gluten-free among the many choices (the gluten-free list is also hung on the wall). The counter is directly in the restaurant!

 

Poulet portugais

203 rue St-Jean

Frites alors! Restaurant review

I love my city, I like to walk around it and discover new places playing tourists. Of course with a city as magnificent as Quebec City, it’s easy! A bike ride took us to the Montcalm area. It is a neighborhood with a good density of dwellings, numerous restaurants and service, and beautiful attractions. There you can find the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec (National Museum of Fine Arts of Quebec), the Grand Théâtre, the Théâtre Périscope and Cartier street. The “west end” of the Plains of Abraham takes us straight into this neighborhood.

The terrasses on Cartier street

 

 

 

I want to talk about the restaurant “Frites Alors!”, located on Crémazie Street at the corner of the famous Cartier street. There you can eat gluten-free poutine! Oui, oui! Ten years ago, I would have explained to you what a poutine is in case you were a visitor to Quebec. But this typical Québécois dish has been around the world in the last decade. The savory mixture of French fries, sauce (brown or BBQ, depending on location) and cheese (usually “fromage en grain”, although there is apparently a version using grated cheese in the Saguenay region, but that may be a legend) has been reinvented a thousand times and is served In New York, Hong Kong and Paris. It is a dish taken straight from “folk” cooking and the equivalent would be to try Haggis in Scotland or Fish and Chips in England. We are not close to haute cuisine or something you would serve on a special occasion, but rather its a simple meal that the average Québécois enjoys from time to time (often past midnight). We find several variations of Poutine at Frites Alors !, and here I present the original version, the “Vladimir” (!). The fries are delicious, the sauce (from the company Berthelet) is gluten-free and in the “a bit spicy” BBQ style, and the cheese is perfect (i.e. not grated).

I also tasted the hamburger because you can order a gluten-free bread for a supplement. With a nice Fries cornet as a side. A cornet is a Belgian way of serving fries (in a paper wrapper molded as a cone), in Québec you would usually get them in a “casseau” (a box) or in a brown bag (in my youth, we paid 1$ and ended up with too much fries to eat in that brown bag). There is a menu of mayonnaise (make a choice before the arrival of the waitress … it’s serious) and they are all delicious.

If you are visiting the beautiful city of Quebec, take a detour to see the Montcalm neighborhood, visit the magnificent Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, take a stroll along Cartier Street and go to Frites Alors! If it’s full (the restaurant has about twenty seats), do not worry, they even make Fries cornet to take away!

 

Frites Alors!

122 Rue Crémazie Ouest

Québec

http://fritealors.com/quebec/

Restaurant review: Gluten free Crêpes at Crêperie du Marché Jean-Talon in Montreal

The best crêpes (gluten free!) in Montreal

Crêpes, real crêpes… Miam…

At the Marché Jean-Talon public market in Montreal (a place you must visit if you are in that city), you can eat sweet and savory crêpes and buckwheat “galettes” in the Bretagne tradition (a region in Northern France). The owner and chef, Jérôme, focuses on local ingredients. All crêpes are gluten free. Even the ham-cheese-asparagus crêpe with bechamel is gluten free. Just make sure you tell them you need a gluten free meal, just in case. 

In the summer, the stall is located right in the middle of the Market. You can’t miss it with it’s great yellow marquee

I try to visit each time I am in Montreal

If you are in Paris, you should try la crêperie du Vieux Journal!

Gluten Free Pizza – Boston Pizza and La Piazetta

Gluten free pizza? Seriously?

Yes, pizza is still part of my vocabulary. It can do it myself, for example by using a socca recipe by Christelle Tanielian as an inspiration

http://www.christelleisflabbergasting.com/2013/09/socca-aux-prunes-jaunes-et-zucchinis-et-the-french-market-cookbook-a-gagner.html

My version of a gluten free pizza. For beautiful socca pictures, head to the Blog Christelle is flabbergasting

You can also go to a restaurant to get your pizza fix. I tried the gluten free pizza at the chain restaurant Boston Pizza. It tastes like classical Quebec pizza, which uses a thick crust and puts cheese on top. This thick crust is always good with a little butter. If you are from Eastern Quebec like me, you know what I mean, if not, I can hear you say “butter with pizza ??” Oui oui!

Our first try at Boston pizza, with my dear Maman who must also eat gluten free

Boston Pizza restaurants are of the “family restaurant with booths / sports bar with giant TVs” variety. It is a chain and they are found in several cities in the province of Quebec. It is best to call to make sure they have gluten-free pizza (recommended by a manager I talked to) but until now there were available in all branches I visited.

I recently tasted the gluten free pizza from La Piazzetta, another chain. It’s a thin crust pizza with several fancy topping choices available. It was so good (I had the Prosciutto one) that I feared I was being glutenized. But no, it was just very good. Try it!

The best gluten-free baguette bread in the world

If you live in Quebec City (or if you are visiting) and you need to eat gluten free, you are in luck! You are just minutes from the Happiness-filling moment of eating a real baguette. If you are not here with us, hop on a bike / train / car / bus / plane / scooter and come to Quebec City! A soft and light center surrounded by a crust that tastes like real baguette, crispy, but not too much. It is so good that even those who can eat gluten in my family share it with me. Anecdote: the first time I tasted it, I did not dare to eat more than a bite because it tasted so good that I thought it was a packaging error! It is made of simple ingredients, based on corn flour (which gives it a yellow colour) and surely one or two strikes of magic wand.

We owe this happiness (after 5 years without having baguette, I almost had tears in my eyes!) to the artisanal bakery Le Petit Pré. Located on the Chemin St- Louis , close to the Parc du Bois-de-Coulonge and the commercial sector of Maguire Street. They make excellent sourdough bread (according to my non celiac tasters ), pastries (including some gluten free) and a range of gluten-free products such as pita bread ( yes! ) and English muffins that are closer to good white flour buns. You can drink coffee and enjoy a pastry (like a gluten-free white chocolate mousse) on site (the store front says “La belle excuse”, the name of the coffee shop).

 

I had the chance to eat in a great gluten free bakery in Paris, Helmut NewCake(GF choux à la crème and éclairs !) …

But … there was no good baguette like the one from Boulangerie Le Petit-Pré!

http://www.boulangeriepetitpre.com/

*Update July 2014: A reader commented that the boulangerie does not consider its baguette as gluten free because of potential cross-contamination risks. I did not have any problems but please take this information into consideration.

Update May 2017: This bakery does not sell gluten-free bread anymore. However, I have fantastic alternatives for you, just read my most recent posts!

Shopping for Gluten free food in Quebec City

Are you looking for Gluten free food in Quebec City?

I made this map to point out some of my favorite spots to get Gluten free food in Quebec City (and drinks!).

I have to travel a lot for my job and when I arrive in a new city, in a new country, often jet-lagged, it really helps to know that I can fetch some GF staples like cereals or fresh bread and WHERE I can get them. I have found excellent information from fellow gluten-free eating people around the world on the web, so let me return the favour for our GF visitors enjoying Beautiful Quebec City!

If you click on an item in the list, you will get it’s location on the map and a short description will pop-up to help you see what you can get to eat there.

Of course there are many, many other great places where you can get gluten free food in Quebec city, but this is a start!

To get to the clickable map directly in Google maps:
https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=z89heSEA8k4Q.kB3bQWDA6SJU

Restaurant review: La gueule de bois

Restaurant: La gueule de bois

I started 2013 with a visit to a fantastic restaurant: La gueule de bois. It loosely literally translates to “having a wooden face”, although it’s actually an expression meaning to “have a hangover”. However, there was no hangover involved and I had a really pleasant surprise: almost all the menu was gluten-free AND the waiter definitely knew a lot about celiac disease. He wasn’t phased for one second when I told him about my special needs and he knew right away what I could and could not order. Once I made a decision, he still went to see the Chef and make sure that my choice was ok, which I really appreciated. I felt safe and I did not feel like I was bothering them or making their life difficult. We had vegetarian company and they were treated the same way, with respect and helpfulness.

The menu
And what a menu! They present a Quebec / local food version of a bistro. The choices were so many, with classics and more surprising offerings. For appetizers (“entrées”, as we call them), I could choose between carpaccio and gravlax, a small portion of their famed boudin noir (blood sausage), rillettes, etc… For the main dish: duck magret, blood sausage, cassoulet (a delightfully simple meal from the south of France based on white beans, cooked slowly in a special dish) revisited with some wapiti sausage along with rabbit and pork or ris de veau (veal sweetbread) were on offer as gluten feee options. I went with the later, with an intriguing and delicious mix of blood sausage and scallop (try it!) to start the meal, and was treated to an awesome dinner. Others had the gravlax, the carpaccio and the cassoulet (and a lamb chop that is not presently on the menu) and were very impressed with their meal.

The drinks
A great wine list, with some private importations, gave us lots of choices.

The place
The atmosphere was very simple and the crowd extremely varied, with a lot of thirty something having a meal as a group, some couples having a romantic dinner and a few older people enjoying a dinner with friends. We had a seven-year-old at our table and he enjoyed himself and was treated very nicely.The staff was very nice, relaxed and knowledgeable. The decor was very simple, neo-rustic and in sync with the menu (in a good way).

It is a tiny place and I strongly suggest that you make a reservation.

Web link:
http://www.lagueuledebois.ca/

Restaurant review: Chez Victor

Restaurant: Chez Victor

For this first blog post on gluten-free restaurants in Quebec City, I felt like presenting a simple place that can only be found in this city. I chose a classic, the restaurant Chez Victor. This restaurant offers the best hamburger in the city and maybe even in the province (or the world?). A hamburger?? in a blog about gluten free living? Yes, because these are special hamburgers, based on original recipes that include local produces and because said hamburgers are served with the best french fries in town. Chez Victor started with a restaurant on St-Jean Street. This is the one with the most charm and character. If you can, visit this one. It’s also the tiniest. There are now several Chez Victor restaurants in modern settings, sprinkled around town. 

A typical and a gluten free hamburger

The Burger

Yes, I eat a bun-less hamburger when I go to Chez Victor, but it’s one special hamburger. My favourite? The Mergez and goat cheese burger. I have not yet tasted any of the vegetarian burgers, but 3 of the ones offered seem gluten free, including the ‘magrebhin” with lentils, cheddar, dates and charmoula sauce. I am definitely trying this one next time! Of course, I always warn the waiter of my particular needs. Up to now, all the ones I have talked to knew about gluten intolerance, as did the cooks in the kitchen.

The “frites”

Did you know that in most restaurants, french fries are frozen and coated in a mixture that prevents them from sticking to one another while frozen, but that contains gluten? This is important and gluten intolerant people should only eat fresh french fries prepared on site. Furthermore, for people that react to the slightest quantity of gluten, if french fries are cooked in the same oil as other food items such as breaded fish, chicken nuggets or (yikes!) pogo, there is a risk of contamination. One needs to act as a detective and grill the waiter to be able to eat French fries in a restaurant. At the restaurant Chez Victor, french fries are home made and in all the Chez Victor franchises that I visited, I was assured that that there would be no trace of gluten in my deliciously crispy fries.

 

For the wise and for the rest of us

It is possible to trade french fries for a salad if you are wise and reasonable. Salad dressing served in restaurants can be the enemy of gluten intolerant people, when commercial and suspicious dressing is served, but this is not a problem at Chez Victor, as all their dressings are home made. Both choices of dressing are delicious. You could try a poutine by trading it for you fries, but then the sauce is not gluten free and this should be reserved for your “glutenivore” friends.

Drinks

The homemade limonade is delicious. There is a great choice of beer, but none are gluten free.

Web links

You will find these different addresses, maps to find your way and the menu of this web site:

http://www.chezvictorburger.com/

You can also check reviews on Urbanspoon