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.