- Restaurants |
- Nightlife |
- Shopping |
- Coffee & Tea |
- All
Le Commensal
Category: Restaurants Vegetarian Vegetarian [Edit]
860 Rue Saint-JeanQuebec, QC G1R 1R3
(418) 647-3733
- Hours:
Mon-Wed, Sun 11 am - 9 pm
Thu-Sat 11 am - 10 pm
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take Away:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- No
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
11 reviews for Le Commensal
11 reviews in English
-
Review from Joel K.
12/15/2011 1 Check-in Here
It can be really hard to find a place with decent variety of good vegetarian/vegan food when you're not familiar with a city. Le Commensal delivered. It's not fancy, but it did the trick while we were looking for restaurants that could accomodate my diet.
-
Review from Janna S.
I've been to every Le Commensal location in existence and this one has to be the least impressive. It wasn't awful, but I think there is far better Vegetarian food in this city. I arrived about 5 minutes after they opened and was asked to wait another 5 minutes so the staff could finish setting up. No big deal, but the food they had out had definitely seen better days - most of it was obviously leftover from the day before and so it wasn't very fresh. The salad was wilted and there was the distinctly re-heated quality to the foods at the hot buffet.
The Montreal and Toronto locations serve far fresher food and they seem busier too.
I can't believe how big and empty this space was - both times I visited. I'm not sure if it really fills up any more; maybe the business is on its last legs? It's a shame because the open concept is beautiful, but the decor is in dire need of an overhaul.
Prices are really not justified for the quality/quantity you get. Something about paying full price to top my plate with food that is clearly less than fresh leaves a bad taste in my mouth. -
Review from Dame V.
8/14/2011
To me, the only way buffets make sense is when the price is a bargain. If the food isn't going to be freshly prepared to order, several dollars should be shaved off the price. Here, this is not the case. We paid slightly more here, for buffet food, than we paid for equivalent amounts of freshly prepared vegan food elsewhere in Quebec City.
The food wasn't bad, and there were even a couple of vegan desserts (hard to find in QC), but it was still buffet food. I recommend going only if you are bored with other local vegan options. The atmosphere is reasonably pleasant, and it appears that you can bring your own wine, though we did not do so. -
Review from Zlatko U.
10/2/2010
I have been here on both of my visits to Quebec City. The place has not changed at all in the five year span. And that is a good thing.
The food is really great. There is a lot to choose from and the price is not that bad. The staff is really friendly and assists in English as much as they can. Also, the location is great as it is on the way to all of the touristy things :)
The only thing that I did not like about it is that it gets pretty crowded and then it is hard to maneuver around the people getting food and finding a table. Besides that no problems at all.
I hope to swing by here next time I go up to Quebec City. -
Review from Madhuri I.
5/26/2009
The last time I saw saw much food on a buffet was... wait, I've never seen so much food on a buffet before! And it's all vegetarian!
And they charge you by weight so if you're a light eater, nothing to complain about. But if you're like me, then BYOB, wear loose pajamas and settle down.
The food is nothing out of the ordinary - I liked the spinach & mushroom pot pie the best. Made with phyllo dough. Yummy! -
Review from jeremy c.
6/20/2009
I've been here a couple of times before, and both times this place knocked it out of the park.
I really like the fact that it's all vegetarian, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you can go gangbusters. There is plenty of stuff that is bad for you on the buffet, but it's sooo good. The mushroom and spinach pot pie is really good. They use filo dough for the crust, so you can't go wrong there. Basically any genre of vegetarian food that you would want you'll be able to find here,
The food isn't necessarily the greatest in the world, but it's definitely not bad. I'll continue to go here again and again.
It's cafeteria style, with a weigh-in at the end of the line so you only pay for what you get. Be careful not to let your eyes take over your stomach!
If you're in Quebec, or Montreal, I highly recommend Le Commensal. You won't be disappointed. -
Review from David K.
6/19/2010
I was excited to stumble upon Le Commensal while walking through Quebec looking for dinner. I had passed up two restaurants on the same street as they did not have enough vegetarian choice for me.
I filled one plate about 1/3 salad, 1/3 rice/curry, and 1/3 vegetables/olives. I didn't try out any of the pastas or desserts, and stayed mostly to the cooked vegetable and asian style dishes. My total, including drink was around $10.50 CDN. I am not an overly light eater, but left quite satiated.
I found the options just a little limited. I don't mind some curry or ginger spice, but almost all of the warm dishes contained spice. It would have been nice to just have some steamed mixed vegetables without the indian/asian spices which were always present.
The manager and staff were extremely pleasant and helpful, even finding other employees that were better at English to answer my questions.. -
Review from Dan C.
4/29/2010
2 - 2.5 stars...and that doesn't require a CDN:US conversion. Make no mistakes about this place, it's a regional chain and the food quality is pretty much on par with cafeteria-cuisine.
It was a balmy September back in 2008. My wife and I happened upon this location after a long day of sightseeing and walking on the beautiful cobbled stones of Quebec. We were haggard and hungry and we were both fairly strict vegetarians at the time. Le Commensal came to us through a beautiful ethereal glow with some nice quasi-paaahtio and indoor seating. It all seemed like a dream sequence - walking into the resto and seeing the expanse of buffet options.
The quality of the food was certainly not up to snuff for the price we paid here (FWIW, it's prolly better just going a few stores down and ordering veggie crepes. Plus you'll have some change to top that off with some lovely chocolate desserts from Erico!). There are 3 sections - a hot foods, a cold food and a dessert section. I recall the hot lasagna being overly cheesy and the pasta as a bit soggy. Nothing impressive nor did it look like it required much skill to create/recreate these dishes. Other items such as curries and asian inspired stir fries seemed as though they could easily be made with a nice insta-sauce mix with some veggies thrown in for good measure. I also found the veggies a bit overcooked as if they had been sitting out under the heat lamp for awhile. For cold items, this mainly consisted of fresh and prepared salads. Nothing stand out here beyond a normal salad bar. The desserts were a bit disappointing as well. Nothing spectacular and (again) it looked like it had been sitting out for awhile. But we proceeded anyways.
As a regional chain they seem to have a following and I commend them for offering the massive amount of choices they do - esp. in a vegetarian/vegan setting. However, I don't think their quality is worth the price they command. As a food bar, they charge per weight. So this adds up quickly if your eyes are WAY bigger than your stomachs as in our case. We went nuts and somehow spent almost $40CDN!??? Although it really didn't seem like we got that much.
Overall, 2 - 2.5 stars. The pros are massive choices for vegetarians (no fear of having to ask "is there meat in this?") and really fast service (you do everything yourself - pick the food, bus your table, etc). Cons? Really lackluster food quality for what you pay. Everything really just tastes the same - such that I don't crave anything from this restaurant. It's really cafeteria style food with fine dining prices. But if you're in a pinch and you're a vegetarian, Le Commensal will just do.
NOTE: Just for grins, we even tried another location in Montreal (early 2009)...and found the quality and price similar to this one. -
Review from Ingrid F.
7/3/2011
in a city where i have to speak french to do anything, a good by-the-pound fill-your-plate-with-stuff buffet with vegetarian and vegan options makes my life. (i may be lazy, but i am particular.)
i dropped by during lunchtime. their vegetarian chili is probably nothing special, but it rocks my world. also the greek tofu and sweet potato shepherd's pie were tasty. salad vegetables were nice and fresh. didn't try any of the desserts. pricey, though. i paid $10 for about half a pound of stuff. -
Review from n s.
7/2/2009
excellent vegetarian / végétarienne and vegan food. nice patio when the weather is warm. many hearty meals and salad options that would please a non-vegetarian. plus you can bring your own wine or beer to the quebec city location of this small buffet style vegetarian chain. DESSERTS are fantastic.
-
Review from Regina W.
2/19/2010
This place has amazing vegetarian food. I ate here twice in the span of two days while visiting from Boston. The only thing that could be better is the price!
