Hotel Sacacomie, Quebec, Canada

Three weeks ago, the Hungry Boyfriend became the Hungry Husband. Yes I tied the knot with my beautiful wife! For blogging purposes though I'm sticking with the Hungry Boyfriend, primarily because of the effort involved in changing it all over! The next few posts are going to cover our honeymoon; we've just got back from an amazing trip to Canada followed by Antigua in the Caribbean so lots of food stories to share.

Anyone who has recently got married will testify that it takes a lot of organisation and hard work, particularly in the run up to the big day, so we decided that our first stop in Canada needed to be for some relaxation. Having flown into Montreal, we hired a car and headed to Hotel Sacacomie. Although it was blissfully relaxing when we got there, the journey there was anything but, as I managed to reverse our Chrysler 300 hire car into a ditch! We had to get pulled out by some friendly French-Canadians living nearby! The less said about it the better!

When we did finally arrive we were greeted by the most breathtaking view from our room. It was such a peaceful place, the rooms, all made out of wood were like log cabins and we had large jacuzzi bath and a log fire. I'd notified the hotel in advance that I was gluten free and they did a fantastic job throughout our two night stay. It's a French speaking place and although I speak French, many spoke perfect English/Canadian. Having admired the view, we headed downstairs for some lunch. It was a great lunch menu with lots of variety. I had the smoked trout salad, the trout was caught from the lakes nearby. It was absolutely huge (as were a lot of the portion sizes) but was beautiful. Lots of flaked trout and perfectly dressed salad. We shared some fries but it was more than enough for lunch. The next day I couldn't resist ordering the salad again as it had been so good, so we agreed to share a salad and some chicken wings. The wings were great too, succulent and flavourful. 

Smoked trout salad

Our breakfast and evening meals were included in the package we booked (which also came with Swedish massages - which were amazing!). Breakfast was a buffet and so there were plenty of gluten free options. The chefs also made omelettes to order which were great, especially with a side of crispy Canadian bacon. There was plenty of choice on the dinner menu too and I could have easily eaten here for a week without getting bored or having the same thing twice. We had booked Sacacomie without knowing too much about it but couldn't have picked a better place to relax and enjoy some delicious (gluten free) food! Each day they had a delicious homemade soup to begin the meal which was always gluten free. Some of the starters we enjoyed included more of the smoked trout, this time in a delicious rillettes, a type of coarse paté garnished with thin strips of the smoked trout and baby beetroot leaves. My wife (still not quite got used to saying it!) enjoyed a carpaccio of venison with pine nuts, parmesan and balsamic which was perfectly balanced. On the first night we both enjoyed some perfectly cooked blade of beef which was melt-in-the-mouth tender. For our final night at the lodge, I had the scallops and king prawns which came on a bed of pea purée with celeriac and crispy bacon. The scallops nicely caramelised on the outside and soft in the middle, the prawns meaty and flavoursome. My wife enjoyed the duck, which as with everything, was cooked perfectly, crispy skin and pink in the middle It was a struggle finding room for dessert but the creme brulée was heavenly! Crunchy top with a silky smooth vanilla custard. I had the crème brûlée both nights as there wasn't as many gluten free desert options but I was more than happy to have it again! We washed this all down with some great Canadian wines.

Trout rilletes

Venison Carpaccio

King Prawns and Scallops

Duck with sweet potato mash

It was a fantastic place to which we would happily return The spa was excellent with outdoor jacuzzis and saunas with stunning views and a cold plunge pool which I didn't stay in long enough to admire the view! We were slightly out of season but there's a huge array of activities you can do depending on the time of year or you can just go and relax and enjoy some great food!

Next stop Montreal!