Chelsea and Wakefield Restaurants: A Gatineau Hills Guide

Chelsea and Wakefield restaurants make a good day out of Gatineau: two long-established kitchens in Chelsea cook with local produce, and an upscale comfort-food room and a mill dining room sit in Wakefield on the Gatineau River. Choose one village per day and plan the meal as the main event of the trip.

Tourisme Outaouais, the regional tourism organization, describes this kind of place, and 613today, an Ottawa listings site, updated its guide in 2026. The restaurants are described, not named, because each still needs a current check. Menus and hours change, so check first.

Which Chelsea and Wakefield restaurants are worth the drive?

Chelsea has two long-established kitchens, one a farm-to-table tasting restaurant and one a rustic Quebec dinner house in a former farmhouse. In Wakefield, a small, upscale comfort-food restaurant sits near the river and a hotel dining room occupies the old mill. All four are described in terms of local ingredients, so the drive is as much about the produce as the plate.

If you only have time for one, pick by mood: a tasting meal in Chelsea, a rustic Quebec dinner, a small riverside table in Wakefield or a view at the mill.

What is farm-to-table dining in Chelsea like?

Tourisme Outaouais describes a restaurant on Route 105 that showcases the region's local produce and terroir through refined dishes. The same page mentions a boutique selling pre-prepared foods to take home and a terrace where leashed dogs are allowed. 613today describes seasonal tasting menus and a gourmet shop with house-made preserves.

A second Chelsea restaurant, on Chemin Kingsmere, is set in the countryside. Tourisme Outaouais says it serves classic French-style meals with wines from an extensive cellar and highlights its smokehouse cooking and rustic decor. Tastet called it a regional institution in a former farmhouse, with beef carpaccio and a pork duo singled out in 2024.

A motel restaurant and a cafe on Scott Road offer lighter meals, and the brunch guide linked below covers both kinds of morning. Chelsea is also the gateway to Gatineau Park, so a meal here fits easily around a walk or a bike ride, and the drive from the city is short compared with the one to Wakefield.

What is the best Wakefield riverside restaurant?

Avoid a ranking: the sources describe different kinds of meal. Tourisme Outaouais describes upscale comfort food in a 25-seat dining room on Chemin Riverside, with river views from its patio and bar seats facing the open kitchen. 613today adds Canadian wines and local craft beer.

The dining room at the Wakefield Mill is a French-Canadian fine-dining room in a glass solarium overlooking waterfalls, according to 613today, and Tourisme Outaouais lists a morning brunch there.

What else is in Wakefield and Chelsea?

Chelsea has more small rooms than this page names. When one wins you over, rate it on Mosey and add it to a Gatineau Hills list you share with the friends you ate with.

How do you plan a day in the Gatineau Hills?

Pick one village and one meal. Wakefield is a small artsy village on the Gatineau River; Chelsea is closer to the city. Driving times differ between sources, so leave generous time on a weekend.

Phone ahead for dinner at the fine-dining rooms, since small kitchens fill, and check winter hours, as some places reduce them. Ask whether the kitchen has a set menu, because a tasting meal takes longer than an ordinary dinner. A walk in the park after a long lunch helps the afternoon. Bring a layer even in summer, because the hills can be cooler than the city. If you are travelling with a dog, Tourisme Outaouais says one Chelsea terrace allows leashed dogs; ask any other place before you bring one. For a vegetarian or a guest with allergies, say so when you phone, since small kitchens that cook from local produce can often adjust a dish if they know in advance. Keep the drive home in mind too: plan who is driving before the wine list arrives.

How do you track Gatineau Hills food with Mosey?

Rate the dish as well as the room. In the Mosey app you can name the tasting course or the comfort dish, add tags such as Date Night, Great Value or Group Dining, and attach a photo. A line like "carpaccio, rustic room, worth the drive" helps the next person decide.

Start a list called Gatineau Hills for the villages you want to try, and share the invite link with friends so they can add their own. Follow friends to see what they rated and saved, and use Friends' picks on the map to see where they have eaten. The lists page explains sharing.

Using Mosey also supports the local place: it is free to list, with no hidden fees.

What else should you read?

The Vieux-Hull guide covers dinner in the city, the Gatineau and Old Hull food guide covers the wider area and the brunch guide on weekend mornings. See the Canadian food guides.

Before your next drive, open the Mosey app, rate each course by name and save your favourite villages to a list.