Quebec City - A Quick Trip to Lévis, Dinner at Le Lapin Saute, and the Secret of the "Red Door" (A K-Drama Tie-in)

We took a short break after our wonderful lunch. Getting back up, the Missus was itching to "do something....anything". I asked the concierge about taking the Ferry across the St Lawrence to the city of Lévis. The very friendly concierge said that just the views of Quebec City was worth the $7.10 CAD (about $5.75) round trip. So off we went. The rather cloudy, rainy weather made for a rather dramatic view of Chateau Frontenac and Terasse Dufferin from the river.

When we arrived at dock, we just walked out and took a look around. The Missus saw these stairs and of course we ended up walking up.

We felt a bit odd when we reached the top; it was almost like we walked into someone's yard.

There were some nice looking homes on this side of the river.

And the views were wonderful.

This is Notre-Dame-de-la-Victoire de Lévis Church.

We took a loop, before heading back down to the dock via the not so picturesque street. And then headed back to QC. We took another break before heading off to dinner.

The place I selected for dinner was on busy Rue du Petit-Champlain. A place named Le Lapin Saute and yes, lapin means "rabbit" in French. The restaurant looks really colorful from the outside and was totally packed! Folks were eating out on the patio in spite of the drizzles.

Luckily we had reservations.

I had been wanting to try a beer and ordered the Anne Baillargeon from Microbrasserie de l'ile d'Orléans.

A very light, fizzy, blonde lager....nice and refreshing.

There was one item I really wanted to try here; the Rabbit Poutine.

You are given a choice of gravies; we chose the version with mustard and it did not disappoint as it added a nice touch of pungent-sweetness that cut the richness. We love the potatoes in Quebec; this version was crisp, but all the fried potatoes seemed to be quite dark, but very sweet. The braised rabbit was very moist and tender, very clean tasting, with a slight almost chicken flavor.

The Cassoulet however, was a mixed bag.

While the sausage was wonderful as were the lardons; the beans were tough and undercooked, the rabbit dry and tasteless, and the duck confit dry and very salty. There was a lack of thyme-garlic flavor and the dish, other than being salty was a disappointment. The Missus started requesting my cassoulet immediately after.

The service was very friendly, even though the place was slammed. You gotta love Canadians, they are always so polite!

I'm certain we'll return; if only for that poutine and perhaps one of the nice looking salads next time.

Le Lapin Saute
52 Du Petit-Champlain St
Quebec City, Canada

Before heading back to our room; I decided to take a photo of the Red Door.

What's up with the Red Door you might ask? Well, while walking on Rue du Petit-Champlain during our first afternoon in QC, we noticed a preponderance of Korean tour groups and everyone was taking a photo next to this door. So, when we returned to our room I Googled "red door quebec city" and oh my! Apparently, a K-Drama, known as Goblin, was partially filmed in Quebec City. The series was the second highest rated drama in Korean cable history. And it's made Quebec City a destination for Korean tourists! The Red Door is the portal from Korea to Quebec City and plays a rather large role in the K-Drama. Who'd have thunk? We'd actually run into another Quebec City Goblin filming location before we left the next morning. I texted the photo of the Red Door to our friend and K-Drama junky, "Xiāngjiāo" and got a really excited response "oh-my-god...how did you find the door"! Funny thing, we didn't find the door, the door found us.

I guess that's how Quebec City works!

Thanks for reading!

Comments

[caninecologne]

We stayed in Levis during our Canadian trip in '12; we enjoyed the ice cream at Glacerie a l'Europeene/Les Chocolats Favoris while TC and our friend's kid enjoyed playing on the tanks at the local Armory. The Ferry ride to Quebec was super short but it was really cool seeing the Chateau Frontenac as we approached. Very picturesque!

[kat]

what a fun adventure

[Kirk]

It was a nice little trip across the St Lawrence CC!

We had a great time Kat!

[Soo]

Thanks for the info about the Red Door. I had no idea...

[Junichi]

That's awesome about the red door. There's a train crossing in Kamakura that was used in an Anime that's super popular with Koreans too.

[Kirk]

We found it quite amusing Soo.

Hi Junichi - We thought it so odd that folks were taking photos with that Red Door.

[Lynn @ Oh-So Yummy]

i love the red stairs. one day we'll make it over the northern US border (i just barely crossed the south US border this summer).

the kdrama door is hilarious. i randomly found out about the series but havent watched yet... maybe time to start? if I finish my other ones first! =)

[Kirk]

Hi Lynn - You know; it's those little things that sometimes make a trip a whole lot of fun. Have fun with your KDramas!