Québec City has one of the best food scenes in Canada. The cuisine is rooted in French tradition but distinctly Québécois — rich, seasonal, and more generous with maple syrup, pork and cheese than anything you'd find in France. The city has a concentration of excellent restaurants in the Old City and the Saint-Jean-Baptiste neighbourhood.
Rue Saint-Jean (both inside and outside the old walls) is the best street for restaurants. Rue du Petit-Champlain in the Lower Town is touristy but has some genuinely good places alongside the tourist traps.
Local dishes to try: tourtière (a spiced meat pie traditionally made with pork or game), cretons (a spreadable pork pâté), tarte au sucre (a sweet maple-sugar tart), and poutine, which is taken very seriously here.
Restaurant Champlain at the Château Frontenac (418 692-3861; 1 rue des Carrières) is one of the most celebrated dining rooms in the city — formal, expensive, and excellent. Aux Anciens Canadiens on rue Saint-Louis serves traditional Québécois cooking in the oldest house in the Old City (built 1675). La Bûche takes the sugar shack tradition into a lively Old City setting. L'Ardoise in the Lower Town is the best place for mussels. For the best poutine in the city, Chez Ashton near the Parliament Building is the local standard. Outside the tourist orbit, Le Clocher Penché in Saint-Roch does excellent seasonal Québécois bistro food at honest prices.