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Montreal's decades-long Polynesian fantasy and volcano cocktail experiment

When Kon Tiki brought post-war escapism and Hollywood's idea of the South Pacific to Peel Street, it created an exotic escape unlike any other.

Phylida Tuff-West

Phylida Tuff-West

August 22, 2025- Read time: 6 min
Montreal's decades-long Polynesian fantasy and volcano cocktail experimentA vintage postcard of the Kon Tiki. | Photograph: Collection du Centre d’histoire de Montréal. 1349.

A restaurant’s ability to “transport” diners to far-off destinations has become somewhat of a recurring theme in food reviews over time. Today, Ville-Marie plays host to sleek omakase counters that promise a taste of Tokyo through precise knife work, imported fish, and lacquered wood interiors, but in the 1950s and 60s, downtown Montreal directed its culinary compass towards the South Pacific. Or, more accurately, Hollywood’s version of the South Pacific.

Kon Tiki stood as the exotic, luxurious, response to a post-war yearning for escapism.

Get me outta here!

Drawing inspiration from movies like South Pacific (1949) and Blue Hawaii (1961), inside the Sheraton Mount Royal Hotel (now Les Cours Mont-Royal), Kon Tiki stood as the exotic, luxurious, response to a post-war yearning for escapism. 

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