Le Lapin Sauté

Le Lapin Sauté Menu

My friend convinced me to try rabbit meat while we were in Quebec City. I'm not too courageous when it comes to trying new animals but my friend was a good persuader. We decided to go to Le Lapin Sauté (literally, "The Hopping/Jumping Rabbit") right in Old Quebec.

C'est bon la vie!

Le Lapin Sauté Rabbit Menu

I've passed by this place before and I've seen line ups right outside their restaurant. This place is has a lot of tourists as it is probably one of the most famous restaurants in Quebec City. As we went in the late afternoon, we dodged the line ups. We decided to sit outside as it was a bright and sunny day in Quebec City! They have both English and French versions of the menu so no worries! They have a special rabbit menu as shown in the picture above. Aside from rabbit, they also have other choices such as chicken, salmon, burgers, etc. (I almost chickened out and got chicken instead). 

Fresh bread

Bread

After ordering, we had to ask for bread as they don't serve bread unless you ask to prevent waste. I believe it's a different type of bread each day and we got ciabatta that day. It was so fresh and warm - amazingly good with the soft butter. (Bread always tastes better at restaurants...) I thought they could have been more generous as they only gave us 2.

Rabbit pie

I got the rabbit pie and loved every bite of it. It was served with some fresh greens and chutney on the side.

Les Chocolats Favoris

As I've heard a lot about a very good chocolate-dipped soft ice-cream in Lévis, I decided to go with a group. We took the ferry across St. Lawrence River and then walked up a hill to get to our destination, Les Chocolats Favoris. It was a sunny, hot afternoon, and there was a line-up all the way out of the shop but the line actually went pretty fast. As I was in line, I was thinking to myself, how good can ice-cream get? 

The chocolate dipped ice-creams come in either milk chocolate or dark chocolate and in 5 different sizes: bébé, mini, petit, moyen, and gros. Aside from this, there's also a lot of other flavours of ice-cream on their menu as well as sundaes. I got the petit dark chocolate ice-cream, and man, it was huge for petit. They dip it in warm liquid chocolate right in front of you and because ice-cream is cold, the chocolate hardened right away.  After I took a bite, wow, I was completely blown away. It was absolutely the best ice-cream I remember having. 

Dark chocolate dipped ice-cream

Old Quebec: Chez Ashton

Only having spent a few days in Quebec City, I have already heard of Chez Ashton and their poutines. Since poutine originated from Quebec, I had already been looking forward to trying some authentic poutine in Quebec. So far, I've heard that Chez Ashton has the best poutine that Quebec has to offer (although I do know some locals who may not agree). Like McDonalds, this fast food restaurant has many locations and I visited the one in Old Quebec (54 Côte du Palais). 

Chez Ashton (54 Côte du Palais)

Poutine at Chez Ashton is available in a range of sizes from their smallest, bébé, to their largest, regulaire. There are also different types of poutines such as ones with sausages and/or peas. As well, burgers, hotdogs, salads, etc. are also available. 

Original poutine from Chez Ashton

Hello Beijing! (Jingshan Park 景山公园, Beijing Capital Museum 首都博物馆)

Our first hotel that we stayed at was in Chaoyang district (朝阳区) at Traders Hotel by Shangri-la Hotels and resorts. This hotel is walking distance to the China World Shopping Mall which is filled with all the top brands like Louis Vuitton and Tiffany & Co.

Hotel means breakfast buffet! Yay!!

Traders Hotel Beijing

Bread and pastries

Waffle/Pancake station! 

油炸粿 (Chinese donuts)

My first breakfast in Beijing

Flight: Vancouver to Guangzhou to Beijing with China Southern 中国南方航空

I'm going to Beijing for the first time. My sister has been there for the past two months for summer work so my family and I are going to visit her while exploring the capital city. It's so exciting because I've heard a lot about Beijing how that's where a lot of the palaces are. I'm looking forward to that because I'm really interested in the ancient times 古代 and palaces as well, I'm hoping to learn more Chinese history! And of course, definitely looking forward to the food! Let the trip begin!!!... with a 12-hour flight.

dutyfree at YVR 

YVR after customs

Of course you should always get to the airport early...so that you have some time to shop at the duty free shops!

China Southern - my plane

Airplane pack from China Southern

This was my first time flying with China Southern. Our flight was at 12:30pm, so we'd be flying through the night. We are first making a stop at Guangzhou and then we'll transfer to Beijing. I'm always afraid of being cold on the plane so I was relieved to see that they provided each of us with a blanket already. As my flight to Quebec did not have earphones, I couldn't watch anything. China Southern did provide us with  earphones as well as a pack containing toothbrush, toothpaste, ear plugs, and a sleeping mask. Shortly after the plane was flying steadily and everyone was settled in, we were served drinks and our first meal.

Before this trip, I was talking to a friend and I was saying how I actually like plane meals and I don't find them so bad. Each meal was served with a warm bun which I really liked. For the first meal, I had beef with some farfalle and vegetables. For my second meal, I got beef with rice and some vegetables. I preferred the second meal as I find that this kind of beef is much better served with rice. Also, this was the time that I first tried their milk. Wow, it tasted so different from the milk that I'm used to. I don't think they have milk that have different % of milk fat, but I think the brand was 蒙牛. Just about an hour before we landed, we each got a Saint Germain bun. It the picture it probably looks like a BBQ pork bun, but there were 2 different ones as there are vegetarians on the plane. The other option was a 奶油包 (cream bun).

First meal on the plane

Second meal on the plane

Saint Germain bun