I was SO excited to be able to experience a sugar shack with the meals of my childhood, but veganized. Unfortunately the experience did not quite cut it for me and the people I went with. This is the last day of the season so I am not sure if we got a worse experience for it, but we still paid the same so would expect the full experience… I’m writing this review as a long-term vegan and a foodie who frequently eats out and eats mostly local/organic foods, and loves supporting small businesses. PROS: -nice owners/staff -beautiful rustic cabin in the woods -organic, locally produced food with an emphasis on health -unlimited food portions, including maple syrup, but only bringing a little at a time to avoid food waste -the chaga tea, maple taffy on the snow, sausages and potatoes were quite good -great as a vegan since you can eat everything -the menu sounds interesting and gourmet with ingredients like amazake -the other people at our table were lovely -you can bring an “omnivore” friend for free, to try to convert them to eating vegan -the food is beautifully presented CONS -there was a hair in my food -the sausages are GUSTA brand, which you can buy at most grocery stores, not homemade -the pea soup was watery and tasteless, the millet pie did not taste like much - every dish needed so much maple syrup to add taste to it -the creton did not taste anything like creton… and did not taste good -the oreilles the bouddha did not taste good and were so hard they were barely edible -the poudding chômeur did not taste anything like pudding chômeur… and did not taste good, just tasted like grains -we did not get any compote or beets, they were out of them since it was the last day -we had to wait a while for the second run of maple taffy on the snow while the owner was selling their products, and when it finally came it was not boiled enough and watery -there was no live music, but also no music at all so the traditional Quebec vibe was missing -imo there is no way an omnivore would go there and decide to eat vegan after this experience :( Even when I adjusted my expectations of a traditional maple shack but with veganized meals to one of a gourmet maple shack experience with an Asian twist (eg. Kimchi was served), the food itself was simply not tasty for the most part, and I ate less than I could have simply because I did not enjoy it. It was fun to try, and while I still enjoyed the sugar shack experience, I wouldn’t go again since the food just wasn’t worth it. Reading previous reviews, it sounds like many people have had a similar experience over the years unfortunately.
