Le Hibou - La Pêche

On a word-of-mouth whim, we decided to take a kiwi friend to Le Hibou, Wakefield for lunch after touring the excellent Mosaica exhibition in Gatineau. We were cordially received and ultimately seated at a patio table overlooking the river. Our drinks orders were promptly executed but our food order, comprising a vegetarian burger and a beef burger, were somewhat delayed. When received, they proved to be excellent, with the owner/manager more than compensating us for the delay. We highly recommend this establishment for their professionalism and quality of food, and will certainly make a return visit in the not-too-distant future.

We arrived at a fairly busy time but were seated at the bar where we could order drinks and our meals. Our turn in the queue came up and we were ushered to a nice table with a view of the river but the view from the barstools was just as good. We had typical pub food which was well served and tasty. We left happy to have stopped there.

Breakfast on a sunday morning at 11 am, although the patio was empty, the waitress told us to move to a smaller table right as we sat down, she then took a while to bring us coffee. normally when a place is not busy and its breakfast time, coffee is the first thing that is offered. We both ordered Eggs Benny, the food came extremely fast although it was cold when we got it. the potatoes were filled with oil and hard. Because the food came fast I assumed that it was all premade and perhaps microwaved? The English muffin was hard as a rock and very thin, it was dried out. There was a tiny, tiny piece of meat under the egg. The benedict sauce tasted like margarine, I think it must have come out of a jar. The Lattes were also cold and came in a large bowl you had to use two hands to hold it. Over all service was terrible, non-accommodating and sarcastic. We had asked for a little bit of salmon on our eggs benedict and they weren't able to provide it because they said they were saving their ration for another dish, we were willing to pay extra. at least three other tables that came in, were told to move tables on the patio, again it was still empty. There were a table of cyclists, that obviously had a long ride to get to Wakefield and were denied to bring some pastries from the bakery that is attached to the restaurant, so they left. I overheard the man say that he has been coming here for 15 years and wont come back. Over priced for something that tastes like it came from a fast food restaurant, comparable to McDonalds breakfast. Hibou used to be good and had vegetarian options, but now we find the staff snobby rude and food mediocre at best. Dont ask for anything thats not on the menu, you wont be accommodated. The view of the lake was the most memorable part. Now I know why my boyfriend would rather cook at home, so much better and half the price! Perhaps they are mass producing for tourists, overpriced and lacking quality. Also, the waitress grabbed my plate and never came back after I told her the food was cold.

Our first visit was with friends from out of town and the food and service were pretty good. Five of us visited the first time and we all had Asian (inspired) food and enjoyed it (4 stars). Our second visit was on Canada Day and was a contrast to our first visit (not good). The fish (fish &chips) looked like it came from a frozen package and the chips (everyone had chips with their orders) were lukewarm and a little greasy. We had to ask twice for an extra plate (it was busy that day, but not overly busy) and were given a dirty plate and had to ask for another. It looks as if it can be hit or miss here.

We were there for lunch, on the patio overlooking the Gatineau River : lovely. We had the nachos and the burger and both dishes were impeccable. Godd salsa, good guacamole, good fries, good aioli. What more do you want? Attentive and friendly service and we got that Too.It makes it a place that we want to go back to regularly because the experience is always good.