--°C|Sunday, September 6, 2026
Bagatelle has been on rue Ontario Est, steps from Marché Maisonneuve, since 2005. The format is French brasserie: à la carte and table d'hôte at lunch and dinner, with a market-driven menu that shifts with the seasons. The dinner card runs from duck confit imperial rolls and smoked beef tartare to duck magret, braised veal flank, and a five-course tasting menu at $85. A five-course tasting menu is available for $85. Weekend brunch is a draw, with an extensive benedicts menu and house-smoked salmon on Saint-Viateur bagels. BYOB, with a terrace in season.
Brunch, snacks, drinks: that’s Loretta’s forté. The small bar-cantine in Villeray offers wines from independent winemakers, a small selection of beer and cocktails, and food in an unfussy, bright space. No item on the food menu is more than $22, no glass of wine over $16. Choose from reds, whites, or oranges, two kinds of beer, and five simple cocktails. To eat at night: popcorn, nuts, grilled cheese, and hot dogs. To eat at brunch: egg sandwiches, smoked salmon bagels, and a ham and goat cheese sandwich made with apple fritters.
A Persian café and brunch spot on Sherbrooke West that earns genuine loyalty from its regulars. The menu spans traditional Iranian breakfast sets (the Nashtaei platters, served until 4pm, are the draw) through to saffron rice dishes, ash reshteh, and a roster of Persian-spiced herbal teas with names like "Le parfum de la vie" and "La chanson de la vie." The coffee program holds its own too, with saffron lattes, pistachio Turkish coffee, and a house Mocha Toranj. Portions are generous, the room is cozy, and the staff have a reputation for going out of their way. Worth knowing: brunch runs until 4pm daily.
One of the Plateau's most enduring institutions, Café Cherrier has occupied the corner of Saint-Denis and Cherrier since 1983, drawing writers, politicians, journalists, and artists to its pink-lit dining room, cushy banquettes, and vine-covered wraparound terrasse. Owner Jacques Boisseau built the place into what he calls the home of Montreal's "faune créatrice," and the walls bear black-and-white portraits of regulars past: René Lévesque, Yvon Deschamps, and others. The menu is classic French brasserie: fish soup with rouille, escargots, duck confit, steak frites, crème brûlée, tarte Tatin. A rotating table d'hôte runs lunch and dinner through the week. The wine list leans on private imports.
Le Passé Composé is a two-location brunch spot founded by Chef Arnaud Glay, sourcing fresh, local produce and culinary goods for their menu of classics with a twist. Its Plateau restaurant is a collaborative effort between Glay and the Sandhu Family, behind India Rosa and Restaurant Sandhu, using Quebec farm-raised pork, eggs, and duck products. Each menu item is richer than the next, whether it’s an apple and white chocolate waffle or a poached egg on brioche, with foie grois two ways, caramelized onion compote, and crispy prosciutto.
Bowls, sandwiches, empanadas, and brunch are on the menu at Juanitos, the multihyphenate Saint-Henri Latin-American resto-café-épicerie. Their space embraces the hallmarks of a fast casual eatery, with a central counter where customers can order their food, grab a coffee, or pay for their grocery items (think frozen empanadas and imported dry goods). Beyond a delicious brunch featuring arepas, chilaquiles, huevos rancheros, and more, they have a party room for bigger gatherings and plenty of gluten free options.
On Notre-Dame Ouest in Saint-Henri, Sunny's Dinette runs a cheerful, all-day operation built around brunch classics with enough personality to stand apart. The room leans into the diner-with-attitude aesthetic: bold navy and yellow graphics, a menu that covers serious ground without taking itself too seriously.
Eggs Benedict come in five versions, including a pulled beef and avocado build and a smoked salmon with cream cheese. The egg section also covers shakshuka, a layered casserole of breakfast potatoes, cheese curds, and crispy bacon with hollandaise, and the Brunch Ultime: two eggs, chili beans, sausage, bacon, breakfast potatoes, and a mini stack of pancakes. Bagels, toasts, salads, and sandwiches (halloumi ciabatta, pulled beef wrap, steak and eggs) fill out the lunch side. On the drinks menu: a full coffee program, matcha lattes in several variations, affogatos, hot chocolates, and a short bar list with mimosas, an espresso martini, and seasonal cocktails.
Couple-run since 2017, Le P'tit Rustik is a thirty-seat café-bistro on rue Drolet where the owners built the furniture, sewed the cushions, and still run the floor and kitchen themselves. The name references bognettes, traditional Alpine potato fritters that co-owner Thomas Moenne Loccoz inherited from his grandparents' restaurant in the Alps and has been serving as a house specialty ever since.
The brunch menu rotates every few weeks around eggs Benedict, omelettes, and a breakfast croissant, with seasonal touches: tartiflette and Savoyard fondue in winter, salmon gravlax and avocado toast when it warms up. A fixed-price brunch table d'hôte includes soup or gazpacho and a homemade dessert. Coffee comes from Barista, teas from Camellia Sinensis; the liquor license covers wines, sangria, and mimosas.
A Plateau institution for over 30 years, Chez José Café has held down its corner of avenue Duluth with a straightforward proposition: honest, no-frills cooking sourced from local artisans and small producers, served in a colourful, convivial room with a patio out front. Everything is made in-house, nothing is fried.
The menu covers a lot of ground without losing focus. Portuguese-style breakfasts anchor the morning (fried eggs, chorizo, sautéed potatoes and peppers on toasted Portuguese bread), alongside vegan platters, omelettes, sweet and savoury crêpes, and a strong smoothie list. At lunch, the sandwiches on housemade Portuguese bread are the move: the Churrasco chicken and the house végé-pâté have their devotees. The seafood soup (mussels, squid, shrimp in a tomato-coriander base) is considered a signature. An evening tapas and cocktail menu rounds things out.
Down a few steps from Sherbrooke Street West, Café Aunja has been drawing regulars to its basement-level Persian tea house since 2013. The name means "there" in Farsi, and the space earns it: vintage collectibles, traditional Persian decorative elements, rotating art, and a curated book selection create an atmosphere closer to a personal living room than a commercial café. No laptops allowed.
The drinks menu is the real draw. The Persian Fog (saffron syrup, black tea, steamed milk, pistachio) is the signature order, alongside tisanes, the Majoun (milk, banana, walnut, date, pistachios, coconut powder), and a full cold drinks list. Saffron and rosewater cake, Sholeh Zard, and Ferni anchor the sweets side. Brunch covers Iranian breakfast plates, egg dishes, and sandwiches built around house-made kookus in Barbari bread. Reservations available on weekends.
Freddi is a bar and dining destination at Hotel William Gray, opened in 2026 as the property marked its 10th anniversary. Drawing on classic hotel bars as its reference point, the roughly 50-seat room flows into the hotel's existing Living Room beneath a glass roof, creating a single interconnected social space running from lunch through late evening. In the kitchen is Konstantin Chakhnov, who also helms Maggie Oakes next door, with prior time in Michelin-starred rooms including The Fat Duck.
The menu is Japanese-inspired: cold dishes like wagyu tartare with bone marrow and taro chips or hamachi and maguro sashimi with maple ponzu; hot plates including wagyu gyoza, miso-maple glazed black cod, and yakitori-style duck breast; and two signature temaki sets.
The cocktail program is built around Japanese concepts (wabi-sabi, kaizen, omotenashi) and works in ingredients like yuzu shōchū, Japanese gin, sake, and butter-washed Japanese whisky alongside Quebec spirits. The wine list leans natural and global, with a dedicated sake section.
Camilo Lapointe-Nascimento won Les Chefs! in 2020 at 23, the competition's youngest winner, and has since co-founded the pop-up dining experience Menu Extra. Cam's Déjeuner, at 433 de Bienville on the Plateau, is his first permanent address. The menu is tight: four breakfast sandwiches on fresh spelt and poppy seed bread, each built around egg, smoked cheese, and pickled jalapeños, with variations running bacon, smash sausage, or vegetable. Tater tots on the side, filter coffee or a can to wash it down. The full coffee menu covers espresso standards through chai latte and dirty chai.
Mirazu has been serving Anatolian cooking on the Mile End stretch of Saint-Laurent since around 2018, 42 seats and BYOB. The menu covers cold and hot mezzes (mouhammara, baba ghannouj, sigara böregi), charcoal grills including adana kebab and shish tavuk, and lamb-forward mains like tandir kebab and the braised shoulder. Weekend brunch runs Turkish-style with two serpme spreads served family-format, plus menemen, cilbir, and hand-rolled pafiks. Baklava and kunefe for dessert.
Salon Mogador has been on rue Beaubien Est in Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie since 2006, opened by chef-owner Nabil Soubhi as a tribute to Moroccan culinary tradition, named for the Atlantic port city of Essaouira. The dining room is dressed in cushioned banquettes, lanterns, and textile-heavy North African décor. The menu covers tajines in both savory and sweet-savory preparations (chicken with olives and preserved lemon, chicken with apricots and grilled almonds, lamb shank with prunes and grilled almonds, lamb shank with vegetables, kefta), couscous (vegetarian, chicken tfya with raisins and caramelized onions, merguez, lamb shank, royal), pastilla au poulet (chicken with almonds, egg, cinnamon, saffron, and honey), and a full tapas section including méchouia, zaalouk, loubia, laâdess, khlii, and crevettes pili-pili. Brunch runs Saturday and Sunday with Moroccan crêpes, msemen, tajine œufs, and omelettes. Friday and Saturday evenings feature a belly dance show with a set souper-spectacle menu. The wine list includes Moroccan bottles. Harissa maison.
Restaurant Le Cauris, on Avenue Beaumont near Marché Jean-Talon, is chef Edmond Diolo's Senegalese restaurant, operating under various names over the years (most recently rebranded from Diolo Traiteur). The kitchen is built around the Senegalese canon: thiebou dieune (red rice with fish and vegetables in spiced sauce), thiebou yapp (brown rice with meat), dibi (lamb or chicken grilled over wood fire with caramelized onion sauce), yassa poulet, jarret d'agneau with gratin dauphinois, mafé boeuf, and ndolé. Pastels de Dakar, the crispy Senegalese fish or meat pastries with tomato sauce, anchor the starters alongside fatayas and nems. Desserts include thiakry (millet couscous with yogurt and nutmeg) and ngualakh (millet with peanut and baobab cream). House drinks are bissap, ginger juice, and bouye (baobab juice). Catering and private events for groups of 30 or more.
Mohamed Ould Atigh arrived in Montreal from Mauritania in 1996 with three dollars and a student visa, cooked out of a dorm room, then out of a rented garage on Parc, before settling at 142 Fairmount in 2007.
La Khaïma, which takes its name from the communal desert tents of nomadic Mauritanian tribes, is widely considered the only Mauritanian restaurant outside Mauritania. There is no paper menu. The prix fixe format delivers m'berberli soup (lentils, ginger, caramelized onions, lime, cumin), mezze, and a large shared platter of couscous with three daily preparations: typically a chicken tenadi with candied lemon and olives, a beef marjen slow-cooked with dates, and a vegan option. Meals end with mint tea.
The dining room, with its low tables, cushioned benches, and quilted tapestries, is designed to evoke the khaima itself. Atigh makes his own bissap, a hibiscus juice available in original, mint, and ginger versions, sold at the restaurant and in stores across Montreal. BYOW.
Le Nil Bleu has been on rue Saint-Denis in the Plateau since 1993, making it one of Montreal's longest-running Ethiopian restaurants. The dining room, attached to the Kutuma Hotel, is dressed in white tablecloths and zebra-print upholstery, with a wine list weighted toward private imports from South Africa. The kitchen uses organic ingredients and no preservatives, with the injera swappable for rice or quinoa for gluten-sensitive diners. The signature format is the two-course tasting menu: a plateau of five starters (including kitfo, the filet mignon tartare with spiced butter and house cheese, alongside bouticha, aubergine purée, and caramelized vegetable salad), followed by five shared mains covering doro wat, zilzil tibbs, lamb, lentils, and a vegetable stew. À la carte options include sambusa, a vegan platter, and yebeg alicha (slow-braised lamb). Cocktails draw on African spirits and ingredients: bayab gin, agave, amarula, Ethiopian coffee.
An Irish tavern with genuine depth behind the bar, Le Trèfle occupies two floors on Wellington with a terrace out front and a second level that doubles as a private event space. The room leans into the theme without overdoing it: wood walls and floors, a copper-topped bar, antique detailing throughout. The whisky list is the serious business here, running to over 100 bottles across Irish, Scotch, Japanese, and North American expressions, with particular strength in Islay single malts and a solid Irish core anchored by multiple Jameson and Bushmills releases. Thirty-two taps cover everything from Guinness and Smithwick's to rotating Quebec microbrasserie selections. The kitchen goes further than most pub menus: duck tartare, wagyu burger, moules à la bière, oysters, a full Irish breakfast on brunch. Poutine with Guinness gravy is the crowd favourite.
A sibling to El Pacífico next door, Aurora Café brings a warm, unhurried energy to rue Ontario Est in Hochelaga. The brunch menu draws on Latino-Mexican influences: sweet corn pancakes with passionfruit jam and tonka bean cream, a brioche avocado toast with mole and grilled halloumi, a crispy chicken sandwich with spiced agave syrup. Pastries and pan mexicano come from Carlota Boulangerie. Specialty coffee runs all day; kitchen closes at 3 p.m.
On Bélanger Street, a few steps east of Saint-Laurent, Café Caron & Frères opened in September 2022 as a third-wave anchor for Little Italy. Simon-Pierre and Xavier-Bertrand Caron, veterans of other neighbourhood cafés, rotate a carefully curated selection of beans across their grinders, sourcing from five roasters in Montreal and beyond. The result is one of the city's more serious whole-bean programs. Beyond coffee, the kitchen produces house-made soups, salads, sandwiches, and a breakfast sandwich that has quietly earned a devoted following. The Ivy Studio-designed space runs to about fifteen seats spread across tables, a front counter, and sofas, with a courtyard and a bench out front when the season allows.
Honestly, it's the kind of neighbourhood café that makes a block feel complete.
Café Saint Louis occupies a sunny corner at Villeneuve and De Bullion, where it has served the neighbourhood since June 2019. The name carries a double meaning: a nod to the area's former designation as Saint-Louis, and a reflection of the name Louis appearing across each of the four founding partners' families. Anthony Blanc and Guillaume Lavoisier lead the kitchen, bringing training from Brioche à Tête and production work for Myriade, among others. The pastry program is the main draw: croissants, chocolatines, and the house specialty "gougounes," a croissant-dough pastry offered in raspberry-cream-almond or chocolate-pear-almond variations. Coffee comes from Union, which developed a custom Costa Rican and Indian blend for the café. With only 12 seats, colourful furnishings assembled by the partners and their friends, and a neighbourhood mural across the back wall, the space is intimate by design.
Every place here was visited by someone on our team.
Bagatelle has been on rue Ontario Est, steps from Marché Maisonneuve, since 2005. The format is French brasserie: à la carte and table d'hôte at lunch and dinner, with a market-driven menu that shifts with the seasons. The dinner card runs from duck confit imperial rolls and smoked beef tartare to duck magret, braised veal flank, and a five-course tasting menu at $85. A five-course tasting menu is available for $85. Weekend brunch is a draw, with an extensive benedicts menu and house-smoked salmon on Saint-Viateur bagels. BYOB, with a terrace in season.
Brunch, snacks, drinks: that’s Loretta’s forté. The small bar-cantine in Villeray offers wines from independent winemakers, a small selection of beer and cocktails, and food in an unfussy, bright space. No item on the food menu is more than $22, no glass of wine over $16. Choose from reds, whites, or oranges, two kinds of beer, and five simple cocktails. To eat at night: popcorn, nuts, grilled cheese, and hot dogs. To eat at brunch: egg sandwiches, smoked salmon bagels, and a ham and goat cheese sandwich made with apple fritters.
A Persian café and brunch spot on Sherbrooke West that earns genuine loyalty from its regulars. The menu spans traditional Iranian breakfast sets (the Nashtaei platters, served until 4pm, are the draw) through to saffron rice dishes, ash reshteh, and a roster of Persian-spiced herbal teas with names like "Le parfum de la vie" and "La chanson de la vie." The coffee program holds its own too, with saffron lattes, pistachio Turkish coffee, and a house Mocha Toranj. Portions are generous, the room is cozy, and the staff have a reputation for going out of their way. Worth knowing: brunch runs until 4pm daily.
One of the Plateau's most enduring institutions, Café Cherrier has occupied the corner of Saint-Denis and Cherrier since 1983, drawing writers, politicians, journalists, and artists to its pink-lit dining room, cushy banquettes, and vine-covered wraparound terrasse. Owner Jacques Boisseau built the place into what he calls the home of Montreal's "faune créatrice," and the walls bear black-and-white portraits of regulars past: René Lévesque, Yvon Deschamps, and others. The menu is classic French brasserie: fish soup with rouille, escargots, duck confit, steak frites, crème brûlée, tarte Tatin. A rotating table d'hôte runs lunch and dinner through the week. The wine list leans on private imports.
Le Passé Composé is a two-location brunch spot founded by Chef Arnaud Glay, sourcing fresh, local produce and culinary goods for their menu of classics with a twist. Its Plateau restaurant is a collaborative effort between Glay and the Sandhu Family, behind India Rosa and Restaurant Sandhu, using Quebec farm-raised pork, eggs, and duck products. Each menu item is richer than the next, whether it’s an apple and white chocolate waffle or a poached egg on brioche, with foie grois two ways, caramelized onion compote, and crispy prosciutto.
Bowls, sandwiches, empanadas, and brunch are on the menu at Juanitos, the multihyphenate Saint-Henri Latin-American resto-café-épicerie. Their space embraces the hallmarks of a fast casual eatery, with a central counter where customers can order their food, grab a coffee, or pay for their grocery items (think frozen empanadas and imported dry goods). Beyond a delicious brunch featuring arepas, chilaquiles, huevos rancheros, and more, they have a party room for bigger gatherings and plenty of gluten free options.
On Notre-Dame Ouest in Saint-Henri, Sunny's Dinette runs a cheerful, all-day operation built around brunch classics with enough personality to stand apart. The room leans into the diner-with-attitude aesthetic: bold navy and yellow graphics, a menu that covers serious ground without taking itself too seriously.
Eggs Benedict come in five versions, including a pulled beef and avocado build and a smoked salmon with cream cheese. The egg section also covers shakshuka, a layered casserole of breakfast potatoes, cheese curds, and crispy bacon with hollandaise, and the Brunch Ultime: two eggs, chili beans, sausage, bacon, breakfast potatoes, and a mini stack of pancakes. Bagels, toasts, salads, and sandwiches (halloumi ciabatta, pulled beef wrap, steak and eggs) fill out the lunch side. On the drinks menu: a full coffee program, matcha lattes in several variations, affogatos, hot chocolates, and a short bar list with mimosas, an espresso martini, and seasonal cocktails.
Couple-run since 2017, Le P'tit Rustik is a thirty-seat café-bistro on rue Drolet where the owners built the furniture, sewed the cushions, and still run the floor and kitchen themselves. The name references bognettes, traditional Alpine potato fritters that co-owner Thomas Moenne Loccoz inherited from his grandparents' restaurant in the Alps and has been serving as a house specialty ever since.
The brunch menu rotates every few weeks around eggs Benedict, omelettes, and a breakfast croissant, with seasonal touches: tartiflette and Savoyard fondue in winter, salmon gravlax and avocado toast when it warms up. A fixed-price brunch table d'hôte includes soup or gazpacho and a homemade dessert. Coffee comes from Barista, teas from Camellia Sinensis; the liquor license covers wines, sangria, and mimosas.
A Plateau institution for over 30 years, Chez José Café has held down its corner of avenue Duluth with a straightforward proposition: honest, no-frills cooking sourced from local artisans and small producers, served in a colourful, convivial room with a patio out front. Everything is made in-house, nothing is fried.
The menu covers a lot of ground without losing focus. Portuguese-style breakfasts anchor the morning (fried eggs, chorizo, sautéed potatoes and peppers on toasted Portuguese bread), alongside vegan platters, omelettes, sweet and savoury crêpes, and a strong smoothie list. At lunch, the sandwiches on housemade Portuguese bread are the move: the Churrasco chicken and the house végé-pâté have their devotees. The seafood soup (mussels, squid, shrimp in a tomato-coriander base) is considered a signature. An evening tapas and cocktail menu rounds things out.
Down a few steps from Sherbrooke Street West, Café Aunja has been drawing regulars to its basement-level Persian tea house since 2013. The name means "there" in Farsi, and the space earns it: vintage collectibles, traditional Persian decorative elements, rotating art, and a curated book selection create an atmosphere closer to a personal living room than a commercial café. No laptops allowed.
The drinks menu is the real draw. The Persian Fog (saffron syrup, black tea, steamed milk, pistachio) is the signature order, alongside tisanes, the Majoun (milk, banana, walnut, date, pistachios, coconut powder), and a full cold drinks list. Saffron and rosewater cake, Sholeh Zard, and Ferni anchor the sweets side. Brunch covers Iranian breakfast plates, egg dishes, and sandwiches built around house-made kookus in Barbari bread. Reservations available on weekends.
Freddi is a bar and dining destination at Hotel William Gray, opened in 2026 as the property marked its 10th anniversary. Drawing on classic hotel bars as its reference point, the roughly 50-seat room flows into the hotel's existing Living Room beneath a glass roof, creating a single interconnected social space running from lunch through late evening. In the kitchen is Konstantin Chakhnov, who also helms Maggie Oakes next door, with prior time in Michelin-starred rooms including The Fat Duck.
The menu is Japanese-inspired: cold dishes like wagyu tartare with bone marrow and taro chips or hamachi and maguro sashimi with maple ponzu; hot plates including wagyu gyoza, miso-maple glazed black cod, and yakitori-style duck breast; and two signature temaki sets.
The cocktail program is built around Japanese concepts (wabi-sabi, kaizen, omotenashi) and works in ingredients like yuzu shōchū, Japanese gin, sake, and butter-washed Japanese whisky alongside Quebec spirits. The wine list leans natural and global, with a dedicated sake section.
Camilo Lapointe-Nascimento won Les Chefs! in 2020 at 23, the competition's youngest winner, and has since co-founded the pop-up dining experience Menu Extra. Cam's Déjeuner, at 433 de Bienville on the Plateau, is his first permanent address. The menu is tight: four breakfast sandwiches on fresh spelt and poppy seed bread, each built around egg, smoked cheese, and pickled jalapeños, with variations running bacon, smash sausage, or vegetable. Tater tots on the side, filter coffee or a can to wash it down. The full coffee menu covers espresso standards through chai latte and dirty chai.
Mirazu has been serving Anatolian cooking on the Mile End stretch of Saint-Laurent since around 2018, 42 seats and BYOB. The menu covers cold and hot mezzes (mouhammara, baba ghannouj, sigara böregi), charcoal grills including adana kebab and shish tavuk, and lamb-forward mains like tandir kebab and the braised shoulder. Weekend brunch runs Turkish-style with two serpme spreads served family-format, plus menemen, cilbir, and hand-rolled pafiks. Baklava and kunefe for dessert.
Salon Mogador has been on rue Beaubien Est in Rosemont–La Petite-Patrie since 2006, opened by chef-owner Nabil Soubhi as a tribute to Moroccan culinary tradition, named for the Atlantic port city of Essaouira. The dining room is dressed in cushioned banquettes, lanterns, and textile-heavy North African décor. The menu covers tajines in both savory and sweet-savory preparations (chicken with olives and preserved lemon, chicken with apricots and grilled almonds, lamb shank with prunes and grilled almonds, lamb shank with vegetables, kefta), couscous (vegetarian, chicken tfya with raisins and caramelized onions, merguez, lamb shank, royal), pastilla au poulet (chicken with almonds, egg, cinnamon, saffron, and honey), and a full tapas section including méchouia, zaalouk, loubia, laâdess, khlii, and crevettes pili-pili. Brunch runs Saturday and Sunday with Moroccan crêpes, msemen, tajine œufs, and omelettes. Friday and Saturday evenings feature a belly dance show with a set souper-spectacle menu. The wine list includes Moroccan bottles. Harissa maison.
Restaurant Le Cauris, on Avenue Beaumont near Marché Jean-Talon, is chef Edmond Diolo's Senegalese restaurant, operating under various names over the years (most recently rebranded from Diolo Traiteur). The kitchen is built around the Senegalese canon: thiebou dieune (red rice with fish and vegetables in spiced sauce), thiebou yapp (brown rice with meat), dibi (lamb or chicken grilled over wood fire with caramelized onion sauce), yassa poulet, jarret d'agneau with gratin dauphinois, mafé boeuf, and ndolé. Pastels de Dakar, the crispy Senegalese fish or meat pastries with tomato sauce, anchor the starters alongside fatayas and nems. Desserts include thiakry (millet couscous with yogurt and nutmeg) and ngualakh (millet with peanut and baobab cream). House drinks are bissap, ginger juice, and bouye (baobab juice). Catering and private events for groups of 30 or more.
Mohamed Ould Atigh arrived in Montreal from Mauritania in 1996 with three dollars and a student visa, cooked out of a dorm room, then out of a rented garage on Parc, before settling at 142 Fairmount in 2007.
La Khaïma, which takes its name from the communal desert tents of nomadic Mauritanian tribes, is widely considered the only Mauritanian restaurant outside Mauritania. There is no paper menu. The prix fixe format delivers m'berberli soup (lentils, ginger, caramelized onions, lime, cumin), mezze, and a large shared platter of couscous with three daily preparations: typically a chicken tenadi with candied lemon and olives, a beef marjen slow-cooked with dates, and a vegan option. Meals end with mint tea.
The dining room, with its low tables, cushioned benches, and quilted tapestries, is designed to evoke the khaima itself. Atigh makes his own bissap, a hibiscus juice available in original, mint, and ginger versions, sold at the restaurant and in stores across Montreal. BYOW.
Le Nil Bleu has been on rue Saint-Denis in the Plateau since 1993, making it one of Montreal's longest-running Ethiopian restaurants. The dining room, attached to the Kutuma Hotel, is dressed in white tablecloths and zebra-print upholstery, with a wine list weighted toward private imports from South Africa. The kitchen uses organic ingredients and no preservatives, with the injera swappable for rice or quinoa for gluten-sensitive diners. The signature format is the two-course tasting menu: a plateau of five starters (including kitfo, the filet mignon tartare with spiced butter and house cheese, alongside bouticha, aubergine purée, and caramelized vegetable salad), followed by five shared mains covering doro wat, zilzil tibbs, lamb, lentils, and a vegetable stew. À la carte options include sambusa, a vegan platter, and yebeg alicha (slow-braised lamb). Cocktails draw on African spirits and ingredients: bayab gin, agave, amarula, Ethiopian coffee.
An Irish tavern with genuine depth behind the bar, Le Trèfle occupies two floors on Wellington with a terrace out front and a second level that doubles as a private event space. The room leans into the theme without overdoing it: wood walls and floors, a copper-topped bar, antique detailing throughout. The whisky list is the serious business here, running to over 100 bottles across Irish, Scotch, Japanese, and North American expressions, with particular strength in Islay single malts and a solid Irish core anchored by multiple Jameson and Bushmills releases. Thirty-two taps cover everything from Guinness and Smithwick's to rotating Quebec microbrasserie selections. The kitchen goes further than most pub menus: duck tartare, wagyu burger, moules à la bière, oysters, a full Irish breakfast on brunch. Poutine with Guinness gravy is the crowd favourite.
A sibling to El Pacífico next door, Aurora Café brings a warm, unhurried energy to rue Ontario Est in Hochelaga. The brunch menu draws on Latino-Mexican influences: sweet corn pancakes with passionfruit jam and tonka bean cream, a brioche avocado toast with mole and grilled halloumi, a crispy chicken sandwich with spiced agave syrup. Pastries and pan mexicano come from Carlota Boulangerie. Specialty coffee runs all day; kitchen closes at 3 p.m.
On Bélanger Street, a few steps east of Saint-Laurent, Café Caron & Frères opened in September 2022 as a third-wave anchor for Little Italy. Simon-Pierre and Xavier-Bertrand Caron, veterans of other neighbourhood cafés, rotate a carefully curated selection of beans across their grinders, sourcing from five roasters in Montreal and beyond. The result is one of the city's more serious whole-bean programs. Beyond coffee, the kitchen produces house-made soups, salads, sandwiches, and a breakfast sandwich that has quietly earned a devoted following. The Ivy Studio-designed space runs to about fifteen seats spread across tables, a front counter, and sofas, with a courtyard and a bench out front when the season allows.
Honestly, it's the kind of neighbourhood café that makes a block feel complete.
Café Saint Louis occupies a sunny corner at Villeneuve and De Bullion, where it has served the neighbourhood since June 2019. The name carries a double meaning: a nod to the area's former designation as Saint-Louis, and a reflection of the name Louis appearing across each of the four founding partners' families. Anthony Blanc and Guillaume Lavoisier lead the kitchen, bringing training from Brioche à Tête and production work for Myriade, among others. The pastry program is the main draw: croissants, chocolatines, and the house specialty "gougounes," a croissant-dough pastry offered in raspberry-cream-almond or chocolate-pear-almond variations. Coffee comes from Union, which developed a custom Costa Rican and Indian blend for the café. With only 12 seats, colourful furnishings assembled by the partners and their friends, and a neighbourhood mural across the back wall, the space is intimate by design.
Every place here was visited by someone on our team.
