Breaking the monotony of Griffintown's dining scene, Nolan offers a familiar yet refreshing ambiance, reminiscent of cherished gatherings with friends. Under the expert guidance of Chef Tyler Flamand, formerly of Knuckles, the menu sings with seasonal local produce. Communal small plates pave the way for a traditional spread of vegetables, pasta, meats, and fish.
While every dish at Nolan is a delight, the Nolan Roll stands out. A gourmet twist on the cheese stick, it melds Montreal smoked meat, Emmental cheese, and sauerkraut, perfectly complemented by a red bell pepper sauce. It's an unmissable treat that keeps patrons coming back for more.
Set inside the Sheraton Hotel downtown, the long lounge of Stanley is set below its towering three floors of windows looking out onto René-Lévesque Boulevard Ouest. Operating at just about all hours of the day, it ain’t just for people staying at the hotel, and that’s a good thing: Their menu is uniquely set up with different single-person and sharing portion options with only slight bumps in price. Want that steak or tartare platter for three or four people? No problem. Wolf it down for yourself? That’s an option, too. Thanks to its chef Alexandre Martin, all of it is cooked with an absolute precision you love to see in a hotel setting.
Following their runaway hit Krapow (where pandemic-era takeout was flying out the door), Kevin Larken’s Indo-Malay restaurant Sat Lagi slows things down and refines it with this gluten-free, Indo-Malay concept. Launched with a cocktail menu by drinkf 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.
Picking up the baton dropped by departed dive bars like PrimeTime, Snack N’ Blues, and La Petite Idée Fixe, Double's Late Night takes a slightly more chic approach to reviving the cheap beer ‘n’ eats-type of establishment. While you still can grab a cold bottle of Labatt Bleu, being run by Victor Petrenko of Pasta Pooks and Danny Smiles with A5 Hospitality backing means you’ll get well-executed takes on comfort food like hot chicken, burgers, blooming onions, and fried pork chops served up with a bottle of HP sauce. Believe it or not, you can reserve a table here.
An Choi Plaza brings an upscale Vietnamese to the city’s wine bar scene. Run by Michelle Vo of the Pasthyme ghost kitchen, Vien Man Cao-Tran (Bar Otto and Otto Ramen), and Douglas Tan (La Bêtise) on the Saint-Hubert Plaza stretch, the restaurant does good by Montrealers both day and night. During lunch service, you’ll find daily soups filled with dumplings and noodles, while the gloves come off at night: Sharing plates of dishes like lemongrass chicken skewers, carpaccio-style beef salads, and fried rice with soft shell crab hits tables with a lot of natural wines and cocktails.
A multi-tiered hospitality concept taking over the upper floors of Place VIlle-Marie, Hiatus has truly set itself up to do it all: An outdoor terrasse with Mediterranean raw bar dining on the 44th floor, a bar with snacks on the 45th, and a full-fledged restaurant on the floor above that (the 46th and highest in the building) cooks up Japanese and French plates with technique interplay between the two cuisines. That translates to things like ramen or nori tacos as well as foie gras tartelettes and arctic char. With ambitious interior redesigns by Sid Lee Architecture, Hiatus has among the highest and most highly-prized tables in the city when it comes to lavish dining.
