With all the new spots that keep popping up, it gets tricky to find somewhere to eat that can shake things up and offer something different.
That’s why we’re taking stock of what’s new and worth eating and drinking in the city, whether it’s under the radar or over the top: Not to knock the classics and institutions, but you’ll want to keep tabs on these places that are bringing something new to the table.
Satu Lagi
1361 Mont-Royal Avenue East
Following their runaway hit Krapow (where pandemic-era takeout was flying out the door), Kevin Larken’s Indo-Malay restaurant Satu Lagi slows things down and refines it with this gluten-free, Indo-Malay concept. Launched with a cocktail menu by drink master Tao Zrafi and curated wines that pair well with the food from chef Jerome Villarasa—props to dishes like the fried chicken with kefir butter, satay sticks of beef and chicken, classic rendang, and a gnarly whole fried red snapper—this is a big arrival for the Plateau.
Le Molière par Mousso
1560 Saint-Denis Street
If there’s one style of dining that Montreal will never eschew, it’s the French brasserie. One would think that if famed Montreal chef Antonin Mousseau-Rivard takes up that kind of project with Le Molière par Mousso, even the name’s ‘by Mousso’ implies the cuisine will get its own conceptual and/or personal twists, but the chef isn’t trying to reinvent the classics of Escoffier and Bocuse here. Instead, you’ll have your Doré Meunière, chicken liver mousse, soupe à l'oignon en croûte—only it’ll be executed with absolute finesse. Suddenly the Latin Quarter looks like a good option for dinner again.
Mange Dans Mon Hood
1380 Jean-Talon Street East
If you know Mitch Nguyen and Michel Lim’s La Belle Tonki, you can imagine how good a restaurant making classic smash burgers, animal-style fries, and poutines might be: That’s all she wrote at the basement casse-croûte of Mange Dans Mon Hood, where the beef’s crushed and fried ‘til it’s crispy, greasy, and oh-so-good. Pair that up with some of the bottles and cans in the fridge, and this is a clear winner for when spring turns to summer.
Aube Boulangerie
4715 Sainte-Catherine Street East
Chef David Ollu of Hélicoptère and Hélico’s gone and done it again with Aube, a Hochelaga bakery run with pastry chef Stephanie Gagnon-Laberge and baker-chef Adrien Allard. Bright and beautiful, it’s a place where the best baked goods for Ollu’s operations can be made and amplified through a baking lab of sorts, serving seasonally-inspired viennoiseries, breads and pastries. Starting slow, the menu’s full of daytime-forward offerings like a croissandwich and muffaletta alongside fresh breads and Hélico classics like croissants and kouign-amann.
Bonheur d’Occasion
4001 Notre-Dame Street West
You’re probably thinking that Saint-Henri couldn’t possibly squeeze in another place to eat, but that just means that if you open in that neighbourhood, you need to be at the top of your game. Maybe it’s the cheap table d’hôtes that happen on Sundays between $35 and $45, the steady café noshes cakes and sandwiches during the day, or maybe it’s the “take my money!” dishes they create for dinner services, but chef Philippe Gauthier and pastry chef Victor Adnet are bringing their A-game and then some at Bonheur d’Occasion.
NDG Luncheonette
6800 Fielding Avenue
We’re loving that Montreal seems to be undergoing a casse-croûte revival right now, one where new restaurateurs are not only doing it justice, but amping it up: Sophia Khalil-Griffin and Dillon Griffin’s NDG Luncheonette is making us fall in love with tiled floors and Formica tabletops all over again with their juicy hot dogs, gooey grilled cheese, burgers, stacked smoked meat sandwiches, and more. It’s one thing to cook up egg platters, but it’s something else to do it exceedingly well.
Motel Motel
1276 Sainte-Catherine Street East
Walking into Motel Motel is a dose of wow, thanks to the bold choice of interior design and lighting that makes a superb first impression. As for the food and drink, expect no less from a team of people behind some of the Village’s best and brightest, from Marc-Antoine Coulombe from Tendresse and Renard and Marina Rose Mammoliti to Romain Jean-Baptiste: Steady, seasonally-informed menus of dishes like pastas and vegetable-forward plates by day will please palettes, and drinks flowing late into the night will have you sticking around.
La Florida
241 Boulevard du Curé-Labelle
Seems like there are 101 buvettes opening in Montreal these days, but only so many of them can rise above the rest—but who’d have thought we’d have to go all the way up to Laval to find one of them? Styled as the ‘after-hours’ spot to the popular wine bar Oregon, La Florida is where we’re goingfor some good cap-off-the-night bottles alongside a snacking menu that goes beyond the usual: think dishes like fried chicken sliders with Dic Ann’s sauce, burrata toast, caviar bumps, and other curios. Most of all, this place has outright swank in its design.
Annette
4051 Molson Street
The standalone wood-fired restaurant Hoogan & Beaufort has already made Angus Technopole a destination in Montreal, but with Anette, there’s a cherry on top when heading out east. It’s a plant-filled, wine-forward spot with live entertainment and a finessed menu where chef Marc-André Jetté can really shine, full of comparably smaller plates fed by the chef’s own butcher shop. That means you can expect dishes like boudin croquettes, beef tartare, sweetbreads, and lamb chops alongside lighter vegetarian dishes to round it all out.
Bon Délire
4855 Notre-Dame Street West
Call it Americana meets sludge culture/early 2000s internet: The design of Bon Délire is wild, and it makes for a great backdrop to the Saint-Henri bar’s creative work in cocktails thanks to connections to Atwater Cocktail Club and Milky Way. A bit more informal, they combine mixology with plain ol’ drinks like boilermakers, and they also have added a small fast food-style sandwich counter that’s making sandwiches like chicken parm, muffaletta, meatballs, and more.
Tula
5258 Saint Laurent Boulevard
Indian cuisine remains a solid option for those looking to eat vegetarian and vegan, but at Tula, they’re pushing that further with a completely plant-based menu. Owner Abhishek Arun says that while the restaurant makes familiar plates like butter ‘chicken’ and tikka masala, the menu will take a few diasporic and pan-Asian turns with dishes like poutine, Korean japchae, curry bento boxes for lunch, and Chinese fried rice. As if that ain’t enough, they’re doing brunch to boot.
Bếp Cuisine Viet
608 Jarry Street East
Combining the forces of the local Korean upstart Ganadara, the Japanese Sushi Sama, and just a dash of Poke MTL, the result is the Vietnamese restaurant Bếp Cuisine Viet: A Villeray location that’s already looking to bring its pho, vermicelli bowls, banh mi, bird’s nests, General Tao, and Tonkinese poutine to NDG and Repentigny. True to their owners’ salesmanship, it’s a place to eat well as they serve a slew of weekly specials like free iced cafe sua da (Vietnamese coffee) between 2pm and 5pm, main dish deals on Wednesdays, and free entrees with orders of mains on Mondays.
Amea
1188 Sherbrooke Street West
Walk past the multidisciplinary art space of Maison Alcan in the Golden Square Mile, and you’ll miss this lunch and weekend brunch. Coming from the team behind the Italian destination Beatrice, Chef Michael Coppa’s designed a crowdpleaser of a menu at Amea that is genuinely playful. Bombolone sandwiches with cream cheese and smoked salmon? Lafayette croissants? Stacked brioche French toast loaded with whipped pistachio cream and macerated strawberries and savory crostinis? It looks good, it tastes great—you couldn’t want much more than that after you fight some crowds to get in.
Le Plongeoir
5350 Saint Laurent Boulevard
Get that glou-glou at this dive-inspired wine bar in the Mile End: Le Plongeoir has already made a splash thanks to its long wine lists that leans natural French, and owners Antoine Denis, Frédéric Létourneau-Archambault, and John Hale have rounded it all out with a small snacking selection with tapas like charcuterie from Aliment Viens, cheese, and small cold plates like muhammara, baba ganoush, hummus, and others to line your stomach for a bottle (or three).
Mi Bao
1073 Saint-Denis Street
The sexily saucy sandwiches of Mi Bao have opened up across from the CHUM, where banh mi gets filled with anything from General Tao to char siu, grilled chicken, or tofu in addition to wonton noodle soups and loaded shrimp salads. Just as they’re playing around with the more traditional Vietnamese banh mi, they’re doing the same with Vietnamese coffee too on occasion by throwing matcha in the mix.
This article was written by J.P. Karwacki, the baddest MF you've ever met. Find him on Instagram: @johnnycrust
