Ferreira Café

Few restaurants in Montreal have managed longevity without softening their edges, but Ferreira Café has done exactly that. Opened in the mid-1990s by Carlos Ferreira and now guided alongside his daughters Sandra and Claudia, the restaurant remains a reference point for Portuguese cooking in the city—especially when it comes to seafood. Fish is treated with confidence and restraint, often simply grilled, while signature dishes like carabinero shrimp and seafood rice speak to a kitchen that values clarity over reinvention. The room mirrors that philosophy: azulejo-lined bar, warm wood, and a downtown polish that still feels lived-in. In the kitchen, chef Natalia Machado Villaverde keeps the focus squarely on execution.