Bistro Le Sam

Came here for drinks and apps as the wine bar was packed with a hockey group staying at the Fairmont. We were seated right by the window, with a beautiful view of the St. Lawrence river.
The drinks off the menu were very tasty and the bartenders were also very good at crafting regular cocktails as well (my boyfriend ordered an old fashioned, he said it was one of the best he’s had).
We also had the charcuterie board which I found to be less impressive. The cheeses that came with it were not incredible mind blowing but pleasant. The meats were tasty as well.
I would say definitely stop by for drinks if your in the area or staying at the hotel. Drinks were no more than $ 15 each and beautifully crafted. Well worth the money.

Great food and service. Prices were a bit high but expected since part of the Hotel. You will be very pleased with quality of both food and drinks!

Bistro Le Sam in the Fairmont Frontenac is TO. DIE. FOR!!! Since it’s National Poutine Week, the menu had a feature poutine with pulled pork and a herb infused sour cream — it was killer! Then we had the charcuterie with 3 meats and 2 cheeses. This is where I almost died. The attention to detail and all the other little pairings like the goose berries, pistachios, candied pecans, pickled shallots, it goes on and on and on!!!
The other funny thing was that we sat by Calgary Mayor Nenshi and listened to him spin a few yarns with the Quebec mayor /​good times!
This meal was definitely the highlight of my Quebec trip so far!

Very disappointing.
The extent of the faults with our meal were almost comical. The food was acceptable (if forgettable) but the service was surprisingly poor.
It must be said, our table was in a gorgeous small glass windowed room. The table and chairs were pleasant too.
We began by ordering cocktails. However, those cocktails didn’t arrive until after our appetizers. The drinks themselves were very good. The soups (pea and French onion) however were barely lukewarm and we had to send them back. The vegetable salad was fine, if forgettable.
We were served bread with our appetizers though when we asked for oil and it took a while to arrive (and to have it refilled.)
Then it was time for our entrees. We ordered the veggie burger, the fish and chips, and the hot dog and we asked that the hot dog and burger both come with salads instead of fries. However both were served to us with fries. All the dishes were fine, if forgettable. But the entire meal seemed overpriced for such mediocre food and poor service.

Stopped in here for a bite to eat after a driving tour of Quebec City and the Island of Orleans. Started the night with a Bees Knees cocktail! I loved the respect of calling out the bees so I had to get something from the customized Bee menu! I could have drank the Bees Knees all night! I stopped myself as I don’t typically drink a lot of gin. Cheeseboard was deluxe and had I known how much was on it probably would not have ordered a main dish. We had the club sandwich with frites and a customized version of the salmon for myself as they could prepare it without allium. Salmon was delicious, and accompanied by a sweet potato purée. We sat at the bar as we like the buzz that goes along with, our bartender was fantastic, will certainly go back when in Quebec City!

The good; seated very quickly with a nice view
The bad ;
Service, we ordered a simple order 2 main dishes and an appetizer, 20 minutes later the main dishes arrive and oops they forgot the appetizer, French onion soup .
The waiter apologized many times over and over again, it was getting old.
The ugly;
They didn’t try to make the mess up on the order right… At a 5 star hotel, I would expect nothing less than that.
Reality, the hotel was sold out no rooms were available but the restaurant was 60% empty. That should have been the first warning sign.
The salmon ordered was very very good, the portions were however very very very small including the side dishes
The lamb chops, definitely frozen from New Zealand, cooked well but no flavour, it lacked any spices and the color was off. I’m not sure why any Canadian restaurant would not use fresh Ontario lamb bs frozen NZ lamb, agh yah it’s much cheaper in price.
I would not return or recommend this place, it’s over priced and I left hungry.

Came in here between the lunch and dinner rush (around 3:30), so we were seated immediately without a reservation. I dare say half of the price you pay for at Le Sam is the breathtaking view of the St. Laurent River. You can gaze out on the river or people-​watch the passersby on the promenade below.
Our waiter was attentive but not pushy. He recommended a local beer and one of their signature cocktails (pink peppercorns in a mixed drink? That’s a new one!) We went a la carte — check the prices carefully, sometimes a prix fixe lineup or table d’hôte offering was more expensive than getting the exact same items individually. Having said that, the food was delicious.
I got the soupe du jour, cabbage and barley which was so simple, brothy, and exactly what I wanted that afternoon. My wife got the fromage 1608 croustillant, which is their name for the fanciest frickin’ cheese sticks ever created — served with a beet-​infused ketchup, they are rich and creamy inside with a lovely exterior crunch.
Anyone who enjoys red meat: you MUST get the braised short rib. I devoured mine. The meat is so tender and rich, you can cut it with a fork. I wish it came with more spinach (hardly noticed it, to be honest), but other than that it was a great dish. My wife was pleasantly surprised how well a maple glaze worked on her salmon fillet. Served with creamy polenta and a salad of peppers and arugula, it’s a very balanced dish.
If only we had more room for dessert! Alas, those two courses were plenty to fill us up and leave us satisfied. Based on my experience and the other Unilocal reviews, it seems like a mid-​afternoon when the restaurant’s a bit more quiet is the best time to go. My only complaint would be that it’s a bit pricey for what it is (then again, you are in the Château Frontenac). Otherwise, it’s a great place to have an enjoyable meal in Québec City!

We had a very good dinner with my daughter and wife. Service was impeccable. Food was top quality. I ordered salmon on their recommendation, turned out to be very good. (Salmon with maple sugar). My wife ordered steak, turned out to be best dinner in our 4 nights in Quebec City. My daughter loved her fish and chips. This was our best dinner in 4 dinner in Quebec City. Highly recommended and views are amazing from the restaurant.

Very disappointed by the service. Had stopped in for a drink and quick bite to eat with friends. Took forever to have our drink order fulfilled and the server never returned to take a food order. When we had to leave, I had to hunt down our waiter in order to settle the bill and never received a receipt.

Words can not describe how disappointing our visit to Le Sam was. I made a reservation for 10 for dinner. The service was terrible. The waitress came by once to take drink orders, and then messed up my order. She never returned to correct it, bring another drink. We never received menus to order our food. I had to go to the bar to get a drink, and ordered the two for one drink special — which was apparently one regular-​sized drink divided into two glasses, for the price of two drinks.
We had made our reservation for 5:30 to enable us to eat before the parade passes by our hotel (Château Frontenac) but we never received menus or ever saw a wait person again. At 7:15 we gave up and left and went to eat elsewhere, as we were hungry. We entirely missed the parade.
I’ve never had such bad service anywhere. One would think in a lovely hotel like the Frontenac that they’d have better service. I’d rate it a zero if I could. I don’t know how it stays in business.

I am focusing this review specifically on the bar. Let’s start here, I am not a drinker. I don’t like the taste of alcohol (Although I doubt anyone else does). When I am drinking I generally will never have more than one drink and will likely spend time drinking the same drink the whole night. That was not the case here by any stretch of the imagination. The signature drinks at the bar are all incredible to a point where I was drinking 3 – 4 in a single night. Additionally, all of the bartenders, are willing to try things that are a little different and off the beaten path.
I would definitely make sure to go back there any time I’m in the city.

Top cocktails, nice design of the restaurant and beautiful view of the Promenade Dufferin and the St Laurent. Very attentive staff (young waiter named Louis-​Andre or… Was perfect: op Small kids (ours was 4) apparently eat for free ;o) and they get a beautiful and tasty plate. Ok, it’s a little pricey (well it’s the château Fontenac) but great experience!

Went for high tea on a Sunday recently and was disappointed. The room and views were great but the high tea itself for the price was disappointing. I e done high tea many times and this was one of the most expensive. The offerings were fancy but some missed the mark. Also the other guests were so casual that it took away from the experience. The servers were attentive though at least. I guess my expectations were set higher due to the setting and price tag.

Beautiful French Bistro in a very charming/​old world hotel. Beautiful river views. Pricey. Delicious. Portions are relatively generous. We tried the trout tartare, and it was simply beautiful to savor. French wine and the beef tartare for main course with their hefty and delicious caesar salad. We had a beautiful, beautiful business dinner. Our servers were a little on the «clumsy/​choppy» side, but it was adorably cute. Foodie — worthy meal!

My partner and I like afternoon tea and I thought it would be nice to propose to her during afternoon tea at Le Château Frontenac. Booking a reservation was not a problem — I had emailed in with a few questions about dietary accommodations and the responses were very prompt. When I made the actual reservation, I mentioned that I was planning to propose during the tea service and requested to see a wine list. They emailed back with a link to a wine list, but didn’t mention the proposal at all in the email (usually I will get «congrats» or something of that sort). I didn’t think much of it at the time…
I wanted to do a creative proposal and thought up of a cute idea that would involve the server bringing a tea cup, that says «marry me?» inside of it, to the table. I emailed back asking if this would be possible (I would supply the tea cup, they just had to bring it to the table) and offered to pay for this extra level of service. After a week, there was no response. I gave them the benefit of the doubt, and called and left a message for the manager. I waited a week and when I received no call back, I decided to cancel my reservation. I emailed my cancellation and said that I was very disappointed that they did not have the decency to even respond to my request — if my idea was not possible, then just say so instead of ignoring my email/​phone call. Within 24 hours I received an automatic cancellation and no written response to my email.
The fact that they ignored my requests regarding the proposal, and then were quick to cancel my reservation, leads me to believe their poor communication was a result of discrimination. Le Château Frontenac tries to be a romantic destination for couples, but they didn’t mention on the website that this only applies to heterosexual couples.
UPDATE: Within hours of writing this review I received an email and a phone call. The email basically said «Sorry for the late response. If you will want to come in, we can offer you champagne.» I didn’t respond and received a phone call a couple hours later. They said they didn’t understand my message… so it takes 2.5 weeks and a bad review for them to get back to me?

Managed to walk in and get a table on a Friday night. Looked to be around 75% full in the evening.
Food was good. For an addition of $ 20 to the price of the main course, you get to choose from almost all of the starters, plus dessert and coffee. Paid CAD70 including tips, but no alcohol. Not exactly cheap, but the food was good, and you can get tables with a view of the river.

Le Sam is a great addition to the Château Frontenac. Although it seems a but too sleek and modern for the Victorian hotel, Le Sam is a fun, high-​end bar and bistro.
The bartenders are extremely talented and professional. They make inspired cocktails without any showiness or spectacle. They explained the different liquors and mixers to us as they worked. Really great drinks.
They have a Gin that is distilled in the Charlevoix region of Quebec, and they make their own beer (outstanding) and tonic syrup (best I have ever had). Real juniper berries in their gin and tonics.
The terrace has some of the best views of the St. Lawrence River, Levis and Petit Champlain in the city.
I look forward to many return visits.

We dined at Le Sam while staying at the Château during our recent anniversary vacation, and it was the perfect locale for our celebratory dinner. We were able to get same-​day reservations (we were both guests of the hotel and visiting during off-​season, so worth considering), and they seated us right by the window to overlook the river while we dined. They were so polite and willing to accommodate my vegetarian diet, but I ended up ordering the vegetarian option off the menu (which was a chickpea cake), and I am so thankful that I trusted the chef’s dish, as it was perfect. My husband raved about his short ribs, and the bread served with oil was also very good. Lovely décor, friendly staff, and well priced for the locale. Would definitely recommend for a romantic dinner in Quebec City or special occasion (and great excuse to visit the Château).