At a glance
- Where
- 402 Main Street, Shediac, NB E4P 2G1. Twenty-six kilometres east of Moncton, about twenty minutes by car.
- Hours
- Every day, 11:30 am to 8 pm in winter, and 11:30 am to 9 pm from mid-June to Labour Day. Last orders an hour before closing.
- Closed
- New Year’s Day, Family Day, 30 September, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day, and Christmas Day.
- Book
- Online, every quarter-hour, or (506) 532-4911. Walk-ins are seated when there’s room.
- Children
- Les Petits, a menu for 12 and under.
- Patio
- May to September, with live acoustic music on summer evenings. Dogs are welcome there, on the ground.
What people come for
- Lobster, ten ways. From the Lobster Tempest, a warm dip of lobster, shrimp, and bay scallops, to the Lobster Quadrille, our seafood chowder served as a full meal. Any salad or pasta will take lobster on request. All ten ways.
- Oysters from Cocagne Cape. Seven Blue Pearls on the half-shell with the house mignonette, or baked Rockefeller-style with spinach, garlic, and Parmigiano. More on the oysters.
- Acadian classics. The Acadian meat pie, and a chicken fricot with a generous hand of summer savoury. The Acadian table.
- Fresh pasta. Seafood linguine du Pays de Cocagne in a rosée, or lobster linguine in a butter Alfredo.
- Something smoked. The Walrus and the Carpenter’s Smoked Board for two: brisket, pork shoulder, pulled chicken, and sausage, wood-smoked by our sister house, Morse et Marteaux.
- Dessert from upstairs. Lock & Key Lime Pie, Opera cake, and crème brûlée from the house pâtisserie on the second floor.
The bar pours La Jabberwock, the house Czech pilsner brewed with Les Brasseux d’la Côte, beside nine more Maritime drafts, a cocktail list, and a cellar that runs from Magnetic Hill to Chablis. See the menu.
And the games
Every table can borrow from one of Canada’s largest board game collections: more than 5,000 boxes and 2,300 titles, each in its own labelled cubby, sorted by kind. Play is $10 a table, and free when everyone at the table orders a main. Inside the collection.
The house
402 Main Street is a three-storey house from the late 1800s, built for a pharmacist, later a monastery and, for nearly fifty years, a family home. The clocks inside stopped at five past six, just after teatime, and nobody has wound them since. Most of what the kitchen cooks comes from within thirty kilometres: lobster from the Shediac Lobster Shop and Joe Caissie Seafood, herbs from La Ferme Spirale in Cocagne. Our story.
Groups and private rooms
Four rooms take groups from four to forty-five: the Dark Room, the Colour Block Room, the Tea Room, and the Main Dining Room. Coach groups of up to 56 come by reservation. Private dining and groups.
Something else tonight?
Shediac has plenty of good tables. Shediac Wonderland, the family of houses we belong to, keeps an honest guide to them: Where to eat in Shediac.
Questions people ask
- Is Le Moque-Tortue open in winter?
- Yes. Every day, 11:30 am to 8 pm, apart from six holidays: New Year’s Day, Family Day, 30 September, Thanksgiving, Remembrance Day, and Christmas Day.
- Do I need a reservation?
- It’s wise in summer and on weekends. Book online or call (506) 532-4911. Walk-ins are seated when there’s room.
- Is it a good restaurant for children?
- Yes. Les Petits is a menu for 12 and under, and the shelves hold plenty of games for younger players.
- Is there anything vegan or lighter?
- The Tulgey Woods maple-curry stir fry is made vegan on request, and the Lobster Quadrille chowder can be made without cream.
- Can we play board games?
- Yes. Play is $10 a table, and free when everyone at the table orders a main.
- How far is it from Moncton?
- Twenty-six kilometres east, about twenty minutes by car, and fifteen minutes from Dieppe.