Picardie

Le picardie est un petit café sympathique mais sans grand charme selon moi. On y trouve quelques pâtisseries, du thé et évidemment du café. Mais on y trouve également de quoi manger salé (dont quelques produits de boucheries ce qui est un peu étrange dans un café mais pourquoi pas).
Si le café était bon et à un prix correct, je n’ai pas été pour autant séduite par l’endroit.

Really cute and tasty bakery/​café. They don’t have English menu, when I asked a guy waiter about the English menu he wasn’t very friendly. But the girl next to him overheard us and offered to help. She is very nice and friendly. We ordered a croissant, quiche, grilled cheese and chocolate fondant, all really good!

Loved stumbling across this little bakery.
We picked up some cheese, cold cuts, croissants and a delicious Oreo and had a wonderful picnic in the park (Plains of Abraham).

I had a simple breakfast of toast with jam and coffee but even that was divine. Jam was home-​style, spooned over beautiful slices of buttered, toasted bread. Coffee was strong but lovely. I didn’t want more than a bite, but I was impressed by the selection of cheese, charcuterie, take-​away meals and pastries. I sat on the patio. It was lovely.

First, to be fair, the reviews about the quality of the food and the unique variety of the pastries, quiches, tartes, sandwiches, salads, etc. are all correct — great tasting food with fresh, high quality ingredients in a rather charming setting.
However, our disappointment as travelers has been the lack of transparency in their pricing structure and a very quirky system that will give you a final price much higher than that which is listed inside the refrigerated deli cases or written on the blackboards on the walls. For instance, today we ordered a mediteranniene tarte and a Camembert tarte, which were marked in the deli case with the prices of $ 6.95 and $ 7.95, respectively. When I paid for our order, the tarte prices on our receipt magically increased by $ 2 for each tarte to $ 8.95 and $ 9.95 respectively. I recall some similar confusion with discrepancy between marked price and price paid when we visited our first time about 6 days ago. This seemed highly unusual to us, and my wife questioned the cashier, who replied that this was to cover the costs of heating our purchased items, but it certainly is not indicated as such on our bill. This is not a restaurant with waiter/​waitress service, it is a «point and choose» deli, so this charge clearly has no relevance to a gratuity or tip for servers, and this is definitely not tax (which is clearly indicated on the bill). If Picardie is going to charge $ 2 extra per item, they should explicitly indicate this to their customers. When we ate at other restaurants of similar type in Quebec, such as Paillard, we were not charged any hidden costs. We began to wonder if this perhaps is an added charge to tourists who are not Francophones — I can’t fathom that the locals who eat there would readily accept a charge of an extra $ 2 per item just to sit down and eat something hot. I hope the management will address this. So, if you are a tourist, be aware that your bill at Picardie could easily be $ 2, $ 4, $ 6, $ 8, $ 10 more than what you had expected for your family’s meal because of the discrepancy between Picardie’s listed prices and what you will pay at the cash register. Caveat emptor.

BEST pastries ever!!! My husband & I visited this place on our last day in Quebec City. Luckily, the concierge sent us to Picardie & not Paillard as she had originally wrote on the map. We had coffee/​tea & went home with the most amazing French baguette, croissants & a mixed bag (literally) of sweet pastries. My hubby-​the pastry connoisseur-​was AMAZED & delighted & my daughter & I truly adored the croissants. If you find yourself in Quebec City make sure to visit this ‘jewel’ before you leave-​you won’t regret it.

We got pastries here one afternoon and stopped here for breakfast on our last day in Quebec City. Everything was delicious and beautiful. We had the chocolate and pear tart and raspberry rolle the first day. When we came for breakfast, we had chocolate croissant, quiche, and coffee. We also bought some loose tea from here to give as gifts and they were also wonderful.

Wonderful spot to stop in for brunch. We shared a veggie tarte, which they heated up for us. Hope to go back to QC and Picardie!

La quiche du chef, la fondue parmesan font partie de mes achats hebdomadaires. Les pâtisserie… excellentes. Staffs très sympas.

Et bien et bien … En voilà une agréable surprise ! Moi qui me contentais de Paillard, lors de ma visite sur l’Avenue Cartier et une envie de sucré se faisant sentir je n’ai pas eu d’autre choix que de faire des infidélités à la boulangerie/​pâtisserie que je trouvais la meilleure jusqu’à présent ! Picardie se place pas très loin derrière. L’endroit est très mignon, même si je l’extérieur je n’avais jamais deviné qu’il s’agissait d’une boulangerie-​pâtisserie ! C’est grand, spacieux, il y a des tables pour se poser afin de déguster leurs produits. Je n’ai goûté que le cupcake choco-​fraise et je l’ai trouvé délicieux. Toutes les autres pâtisseries semblaient également succulentes. Le service au comptoir est rapide, les serveurs sont sympathiques. Et en plus, on vient vous servir une fois installé à une table. Déjà fan de cette partie là de Québec, je né le répèterais jamais assez, Picardie ajoute encore une bonne raison pour moi d’aller me balader sur l’Avenue Cartier.

Holy SCHMOKES — this place is AHmazing !!!
The selection of food is just beyond words, all amazingly fresh — we could have camped out here for days; delectable desserts, ever so fresh baked goods, vast selection of yummy cheeses, pies, great coffees … all with a staff full of fun, great energy and efficiency to boot. I had the best dessert there of my life — «Le Vendome». I went back for seconds. The atmosphere is creatively decorated w/​art work from one of the employees, w/​small gift offerings you can’t resist.
We even stocked up for the trip home…
Had we discovered this little place before out last day visiting the city, we would have at some point made our way to this place every day. I would not return to Quebec w/​out going here.
We found it difficult to find good food in the heart of the Old City — venture forth and find these kinds of utter delights!

Wonderful bakery. Croissants, beautiful breads, pastries, cakes. Large selection. Sandwiches, panini, muffins, cheese. Everything looked lovely, and the items that we ordered — quiche, meat pie, salads — were very tasty and very good. Would definitey love to go back to try more items. Friendly service.

I got a smoked salmon sandwich to go that I quite enjoyed. It seemed to have about twice as much salmon as the one that I had got at Paillard the day prior; I certainly enjoyed it more than I did the one at Paillard.
Everything in their display case as far as salads and other sandwiches looked really good as well.

Wish I had taken some pictures, but could not wait to eat the beautiful food. Tasted even better. Four of us had different pastries and coffee. Best we have had in Canada! Very helpful staff for those of us that could not speak French. Quiche and sandwich where fresh and delicious.
I hope we can go again before we leave.

Sympathique. boulangerie, pâtisserie, plats prépares, salades, galerie d’art.pas de licence me semble-t-il.le choix est vaste, tout est frais et bon. personnel empressé.prix en accord avec le quartier. musee et les pleines né sont pas loin.

Située au cœur de l’Espace Cartier, la Picardie est un petit lopin de France, un repaire de délices très convoité par les fins gourmets y cherchant désespérément une table pour déguster sur place (s’il en reste) des produits maison d’une incroyable variété, allant des pâtisseries aux plats cuisinés, tout en écoutant des classiques typiques de la chanson française. Autrement, on se résigne et prend notre commande pour emporter. C’est probablement le meilleur endroit de l’Espace Cartier pour accompagner son croissant au beurre (très prisé) d’un bon double allongé. Bien qu’on y serve de la bonne chère, hormis la musique, l’on est très loin de la rusticité; la boulangerie prenant davantage la voie de la modernité avec son mobilier épuré «classy «et son alternance entre le blanc virignal et le rouge vif.

I am surprised this place is not on Unilocal yet…
I stopped here after visiting Musée National des Beaux-​Arts du Québec, which is right around the corner. It is an inviting café/​bistro with seating both inside and out on a street with other shops and restaurants. It was not at all touristy like many placed in the old city. The staff was very helpful in explaining and translating the menu for us. The prices were very reasonable — I got a drink, a good-​sized sandwich and two small salad portions for $ 12, and my fiancé got 3 different types of salad for $ 10. We even had some left over for a snack later.
The food itself was fresh and tasted great. They had a selection of salads, quiches, sandwiches, cheeses, baked goods and meats. I would definitely go back.