Le Moine Échanson

Quebec city has in the old city lots of charm and naturally the establishments in that area work hard to offer different decors and cachet to their visitors. Friends took me to that nice little restaurant/wine bar on St-Jean street.

The decor is rustic but it fits really well with the thematic and menu they offer. The menu is based on seasonal cuisine that can be paired with one of their choices of private import natural wine.

They offer the wine by the glass in several choices of ounces so you can try many different grape variety. I got to try a few different wines and the recommendations always fitted well with the food that it accompanied.

As for the menu I was there in the afternoon before catching the train back home so I only got to sample some of their different platters. For starters we had some oysters, at a dollar a piece what could go wrong followed by a classic onion soup that was also pretty good. We then shared a platter of smoked pork loin, thinly sliced with dill and caramelized mustard that was just excellent. Their cod fritters were also good, you could tell they were freshly made without too much batter. We finished our afternoon snack with a platter of mixed cheese and again it paired marvelously with the wine.