L'Épicurien — Restaurant in Quebec

Excellent buckwheat crepe. We tried two highly rated places for crepes and this was by far better. I would give them 5 stars but they have a terrible cancellation policy for reservations, so beware if you use their on-line reservation. They take a credit card to reserve and even if you call and cancel, if it's less than 24 hours before your reservation they will still charge you $10 per person- even if you call in advance and even if you made the reservation less than 24 hours before. I get the no-show fee policy but come on people- things come up and if someone calls to cancel you shouldn't charge them! I made a reservation just a few hours before the time and then called 10 minutes after reserving because I realized I had made a mistake and they wouldn't waive it. Shame on you, not even higher end restaurants in the area have that strict of a policy.

Updated with a response to owner: You mention that you only charge a no-show fee when there is no response and guests don’t arrive. My situation was a little different, which is why I felt it was important to clarify in my review. I made an online lunch reservation the morning of, then realized within 10 minutes that I had made a mistake with the timing. Because it was a same-day booking, the online system wouldn’t let me cancel. I called right away, and while the staff was able to cancel, I was told the $10 per person fee would still apply since it was within 24 hours.

I explained that the reservation had just been made minutes earlier and asked if an exception could be made, but was told no. In the end, I rearranged my schedule to keep the reservation so I wouldn’t be charged. While I did enjoy my meal on-site and was not charged the fee, it felt like I didn’t really have a choice in the matter.

I completely understand the need for a cancellation policy, but in this case it seemed like there wasn’t much flexibility for a genuine, honest mistake made only minutes after booking. A little leeway in situations like this would go a long way toward making guests feel valued...

When you first arrive at L’épicurien you are greeted by a colourful display of freshly baked delights, then you will notice the attention to detail when seated, their décor and cutlery is a match. For breakfast, we started with a delicious croissant which had crisp and flaky golden brown layers on the outside, and a moist, soft and buttery inside. Next was La Suzette which was prepared warm and moist from flambéed, with just the perfect amount of chewiness. One detail I would have preferred is to have the sliced almonds toasted to elevate this dish. The Honey and Lemon crepe was also prepared spot on, with strong honey flavours and contrasting tartness from the lemon juice. The freshness of all the ingredients is very apparent. Another item worth trying is the Paris-Quebec (their take on a Paris-Brest), like an eclair in the shape of a donut, was so light the pastry melts in your mouth, the hazelnut cream for aromatic, and crispy roasted pecan nuts. Apart from the coffee, breakfast was finished off with macarons filled with real fruit ganache and crispy meringue shell. We enjoyed breakfast so much, we had to return for lunch during our short stay in the city. For lunch, we had the fois-gras, a couple salads and a dessert treat and washed down with an affogato. Not to sound repetitive and boring for this review, lunch was prepared as well as the breakfast. It’s good they have a short menu so they can focus on their quality. I can see why the locals frequent this location, and...

Beautiful experience at L'Epicurien - both times, as we stayed in Quebec City for a week. We were recommended to go a little outside of the city to get the best pastries. We were not disappointed. The food was phenomenal! We had an almond croissant (the best!), a goat cheese salad (delicious), poached pear crepes (best crepes we've ever had and an amazing combo with the chocolate sauce), and upon our return had the vegetarian Galette (amazing!) and strawberry crepe (it was fantastic, but the poached pear was tough to beat!!), in addition to the Paris Brest to-go (the Paris Brest was again the best I've ever had!!!)! The staff were all so friendly and worked with us as we tried to figure out the all-French menu (actually kind of fun). We also had a delightful lady stop by our table and asked us a few questions (as she heard us speaking English). She found out that it was our honeymoon trip and brought us back a bouquet of flowers!! It was so precious and truly gave us a sense of what this community is like. I have photos but thought it best to preserve her privacy. I would recommend this place to anyone who enjoys yummy food and a kind, casual...