Duck Rules
I have had the opportunity to enjoy the duck on several occasions. It never varies -- always beyond excellent.    [27 Oct 2002 22:27:10]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: the duck!

     ­Karen   

The food and service exceeded our expectations and we will return and highly recommend to our friends.....    [17 Mar 2003 01:01:48]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: raspberry cream chicken and the scampi

     ­Anonymous   

Disappointing!
Last June 25th my wife and I were staying in Canmore and decided to visit Chez Francois. We were looking forward to our meal at Chez Francois after reading all the glowing reviews. When we arrived we were shown into a rather pleasant room by an affable young man. Our first indication that all was not as it should be was when we ordered an aperitif. We asked for a KIr each. There seemed to be some confusion, but, after repeating the order a couple of times the waiter seemed to understand. A few minutes later he came back to us holding a bottle of KirschWasser and asked if that was what we wanted. I said no we wanted a Kir and that it was made from white wine and Cassis. We were quite surprised that a supposedly French restaurant didn't know what a Kir was and should have left at that time. He came out with two chunky goblets containing a yellowish wine with a smidgin of Cassis clinging to the bottom. The wine purported to be a Chardonnay and was barely tinged by the Cassis. At $7.50 each it was probably the most expensive and the worst Kir we have ever had. The waiter brought our first course and the wine before we finished the Kir despite the fact that we had told him that we were not in a hurry. I resent being expected to taste the dinner wine while still sipping an aperitif.
My entree, the escargot with puff pastry, was quite decent with the snails being tender and delicate and the sauce being rich, but I had expected the snails to be baked in the puff pastry and was not expecting to have two hunks of pastry piled on the dish next to the snails. My wife ordered the Terrine which she called ho-hum.. Halfway through our appetizer the waiter, finally, brought out some bread
For the main course we both ordered the duck. My wife with rice pilaf and I with potato. When the plates were brought out both sported a purple potato. When it was brought to the waiter's attention he was suitably apologetic. My wife said the potato would be ok. He didn't notice that we had no knives. As he had disappeared and didn't seem to be returning we resorted to borrowing knives from a nearby table. Midway through the meal the waiter shows up with a small bowl of rice for my wife. Although all the information about the restaurant seems to make a point of mentioning that the meals are not pre-cooked the duck was dry and stringy. They tasted like they had been cooked the day before and then heated up, they had none of the succulent off the bone character that we are used to. The medley of vegetables were, other than appearance, lacking in character. The rice was dry as though it had been sitting around for a long time and certainly did not resemble a pilaf.
We thought of ordering the Crepe Suzette for dessert, just to see what kind of mess would be made of that, but, decided to just get out.
Needless to say we were disappointed with our experience at Chez Francois.    [20 Jul 2005 18:21:44]

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     ­Robert Wilson   

Well Worth The Trip From Calgary
All I can say is that we love Chez Francois. We live in Calgary, and are what some might call "middle-upper class people". We enjoy great service, and great food. We travel quite regularly to Canmore from Calgary to have dinner at Chez Francois. The first time we brought our 9 year old nephew, his comment in the car was "Why do we have to travel a hundred miles just to get supper?" He, with his family is now a regular at Chez Francois.

The best part for me is the duck liver pate with the bread. It's beyond amazing. As far as a main course, the duck is my favorite. It's always been consistently delicious. And for an appetizer, you have to try the artichoke and wild mushroom and hollandaise and bechamel sauce.

Anyway, go ahead. Try it. You'll be talking french for days.    [06 Jul 2006 16:30:29]

Food:    Service:    Ambiance:    Overall: 
Recommended Dishes: Artichoke & Mushroom appetizer, Duck or Lamb

     ­Anonymous