Restaurants:
Satu Lagi
1361 Mont-Royal Avenue East | Website
Gluten-free Indonesian-Malaysian tapas paired with great cocktails and wines await you at Satu Lagi. Don’t miss out on excellent dishes such as the classic satay, whole fried red snapper and the gado gado salad. Add Satu Lagi to your list of places to visit soon.
© Alison Slattery
Kaviar
30 Sainte-Catherine Street West | Website
“Great wines and small plates” are on the menu at Kaviar, a new chic yet laid-back place that just opened in the Quartier des Spectacles. It’s a beautiful place for a bite before a show or an after-theater nightcap. Caviar is, of course, on the menu as are other delectable little dishes.
© Alison Slattery
Mange dans mon hood
1380 Jean-Talon East | Website
Mange dans mon hood is a new Montréal casse-croûte that is drawing comparisons to California’s In-N-Out Burger. This new neighbourhood joint from the team behind popular restaurant La Belle Tonki grinds its own beef and makes some of the best smash burgers in town. The menu also includes fries cooked in beef tallow, “Ol’ Dirty” fries with garnishes and poutine.
Edo Izakaya
75 Shamrock Avenue | Website
Located on the outskirts of the Jean-Talon Market, Edo Izakaya is a new contemporary Japanese restaurant offering an izakaya-style menu with gyoza, yakitori, sashimi, chirashi, oyakodon and other specialties.
Tula
5258 Saint-Laurent Boulevard | Website
Tula is a new, plant-based Indian restaurant located in the Mile End. The colourful restaurant offers vegan versions of popular Indian staples such as butter “chicken,” tikka masala and biryanis as well as some Pan-Asian dishes. Tula also offers what is probably the only vegan Indian brunch in Montréal every Saturday and Sunday. Reservations are recommended.
© Alison Slattery
Bonheur d'Occasion
4001 Notre-Dame Street West | Website
Bonheur d’Occasion has only been open a few weeks but is already a favourite among Montréal’s food lovers. Grab a coffee and an excellent pastry during the day or sit down for a soigné meal paired with a great bottle of wine for an evening you won’t soon forget.
Minos
65 Jarry East | Website
Villeray is now home to Minos, a new Greek restaurant specializing in the art of the gyro. The menu also counts souvlaki, Greek salad, loukaniko, poutines (with or without meat) and desserts, including a baklava cheesecake.
Golden Lotus
3637 Sainte-Catherine Street East | Website
Hochelaga’s dining scene has just gained a great new addition. Golden Lotus specializes in Vietnamese cuisine, from pho to vermicelli dishes, grilled meats and more. Classic cocktails have been reimagined with an Asian flair using ingredients such as pandan, litchi or Vietnamese coffee.
YAMA
1425 De La Montagne Street | Website
Chef Antonio Park’s much anticipated latest restaurant, YAMA, just opened in the newly re-opened Vogue Hotel in downtown Montréal. YAMA means “mountain” in Japanese and is a reference to its address on De La Montagne and its mountain-inspired ingredients. The menu is Pan-Asian refined food and the design is all about the natural materials and subdued colours as well as the 360º oblong bar.
Mekan & Beyond
5050 Chemin de la Côte des Neiges | Website
Located near Université de Montréal, Mekan & Beyond is a gourmet burger spot where everything is made in house, from the grinding of the meat to the brioche buns. On the menu you’ll find burgers inspired by international culinary cultures like the Hula Burger with grilled pineapples, the Beirut Burger with meksghanoush (roasted eggplant puree) and pickled turnips or the Milano Burger with homemade marinara and pesto.
© Alison Slattery
Billy, j’ai faim!
4269 Saint-Denis Street | Website
This small, 20-seat restaurant on Saint-Denis Street has garnered a loyal following in the short time it’s been open. Billy, j’ai faim! is open for weekday lunch and weekend brunch. The rotating menu is inspired by chef Billy Galindo’s southern French background and features local and sustainable ingredients.
Bars and Buvettes:
Bar Bisou Bisou
416 Saint-Vincent Street | Website
A self-described “cocktails & aperitif” bar, Bisou Bisou just opened in Old Montréal.
Bar Double’s
5171 Parc Avenue | Website
Open 7 days a week from 4pm to 3am, Bar Double’s is the latest addition to the Mile End’s late-night game by chef Danny Smiles. Great classic bar food (think burgers and shrimp cocktails), a dark and cozy bar décor complete with pool table and a jukebox are on the menu for this new spot that’s sure to become a classic.
© Alison Slattery
Motel Motel
1276 Sainte-Catherine Street East | Website
A gorgeous wine bar and buvette with a vegetable-forward menu in the front and a speakeasy in the back, Motel Motel is the newest, fun addition to the Village’s dining scene.
Le Plongeoir
5350 Saint Laurent Boulevard | Website
Take a classic neighbourhood dive bar complete with billiards table but make it serve natural and low intervention wines and some great snacks from local purveyors such as Aliments Viens and you’ve got Le Plongeoir, an unpretentious new Mile End drinking spot.
Bon Délire
4855 Notre-Dame Street West | Website
With a kitschy, colourful, loud and eclectic décor sprinkled with 2000s references, Bon Délire is instantaneously memorable. This informal Saint-Henri bar is the perfect place to relax, enjoy a fancy drink or a classic cocktail and a game of pool on the leopard print covered table. Italian-inspired sandwiches like a muffuletta, chicken cutlet or polpette are also available.
Cafés and pastry shops:
© Aube Boulangerie, Mayssam Samaha
Aube boulangerie
4715 Sainte-Catherine Street East | Website
Located in the heart of Hochelaga, Aube Boulangerie is the latest project by the team behind Hélico and Helicoptère. Breads, pastries, sandwiches, and excellent coffee are on offer in a minimalist space that includes the bakery and a café.
Mintar
3418 Parc Avenue | Website
Subs, coffee, smoothies (drinks and bowls), and more are served at Mintar, a new downtown café with a Middle-Eastern flair (the halloumi and egg sub is a must).
Crofre Montreal
4207 Notre-Dame Street West | Website
Hailing from Korea, the crofre is the latest dessert craze gone viral that combines a croissant with a waffle. Crofre Montreal serves a large variety of toppings for their crofle that include Nutella, tiramisu, and strawberries and cream.
© Automne, Mayssam Samaha
New locations and restaurant news:
Beloved neighbourhood bakery Automne has opened a second location at 1470 Bélanger Street.
Old Montréal’s go-to poke spot Venice MTL just opened a second location downtown at 1035 Beaver Hall.
Café Bazin is opening a second location at the newly re-opened Vogue Hôtel Montréal in the Golden Square Mile.
Moishes, a Montréal culinary institution, just reopened and relocated in Square Victoria.
© Sushi by Scratch
Coming soon:
Café Alphabet, a new coffeeshop located in the Mile End by Montréal coffee roasters Ambros.
Sushi by Scratch Restaurants, a 10-seat, 17-course high-end omakase restaurant is opening soon as a speakeasy inside Old Montréal bar Stillife.
Palomar is a new fish market located in the Jean-Talon Market that will offer dry-aged fish and fish-based charcuterie from Ikanos chef Constant Mentzas.
Mayssam Samaha
Mayssam Samaha is a food and travel writer and blogger and the founder behind the blog Will Travel for Food. She travels the world in search of the next culinary discovery. From Iceland to South Africa, she’s already visited over 30 countries and there’s nothing she enjoys more than wandering around a farmers’ market in a foreign city. She is also the founder of the SAISONS intimate dinner series highlighting Québec products and chefs.
