Montreal: the best restaurants in Quebec’s metropolis

MONTREAL'S BEST RESTAURANTS

Brasserie Harricana

Located at the crossroads of Little Italy and Mile-Ex, Brasserie Harricana takes its name from the Harricana River, on the banks of which the current owner's mother founded the first brewery in Amos, Abitibi, in 1975. The original address closed its doors in the late 1980s, but Marie-Pier Veilleux and Cynthia Santamaria wanted to preserve its spirit while adding a modern touch. Nestled a stone's throw from the Jean-Talon market, the original chairs and old posters add warmth to the large, bright room, from which you can see the stainless steel tanks where a dozen beers are brewed. Alongside them, a family-style comfort-food menu: Caesar salad, tartar, mackerel salad, mussels with beer and fries, club sandwiches, and real family dishes like Spag sauce maman. And if you're visiting Montreal in winter, especially on sunny days, don't miss the terrace where you can enjoy a "17", a wheat beer brewed with coriander, orange, lemon, lime, clementine and grapefruit.

Brasserie Harricana
95 Rue Jean-Talon O, Montreal

The Snake

Why go there? Located on the edge of Griffintown, in the city's former industrial basin, Le Serpent is housed in a former foundry, whose winding pipes still run across the roof. Today, a contemporary exhibition space and artist residency (the Darling Foundry) has renovated the former factory and welcomes Le Serpent within its walls, decorated by Hubert Marsolais and Annie Lebel while preserving this industrial cachet.

Raw materials (concrete, steel, cast iron...), pipes running across the ceiling, a work by Quebec artist Pierre Dorion, hypnotize and pay tribute to the light of the setting day.Chef Michele Mercuri (XO, Cube) offers contemporary Italian cuisine based on inventive antipasti (grilled octopus, sweet potato, salsa verde, chickpeas, chorizo, lardo), small starters and plates of pasta and risotto (on this evening, paccheri, braised lamb, fresh peas, pistachios, ricotta as well as bucatini, confit ribs, black garlic, soy).

Spit-roasted meat is offered every evening (pork spare ribs, rabbit, Peking duck, etc.). It takes an iron will to save room for Masami Waki's desserts. As for wines, sommelier Philippe Boisvert offers over 300 privately imported appellations.

The Snake
257 Rue Prince, Montreal
Closed for lunch.

Ibéricos Taverne

Located on the popular rue Saint-Denis, between Petit Portugal and Plateau-Mont-Royal, Ibéricos takes you straight to Spain with its typical tapas tavern atmosphere, just like you'd find on the streets of Barcelona or Madrid. Venezuelan-born chef Haissam Souki Tamayo invites his guests to gather around a well-mastered paella (vegetarian or seafood), a tortilla loaded with potatoes and onions, planks of Iberian charcuterie (chorizo, salchichón...), and patatas bravas for a pleasant moment. On request, the staff concocts a selection of tapas and wines, with a special mention for the sangria. It's a pity that the portions, often too small, need to be reviewed.

Ibéricos Taverne
4475 Rue Saint-Denis, Montreal

Yokato Yokabai

Editor's pickWhy do we go? For its superior tonkatsu ramen prepared with a pork bone boil cooked for 12 hours. Chef Mineho Okunishi went in search of the best ramen in Japan and came back with this variant from Hakata, a region to the north of the island of Kyushu. Here, the ramen menu is straight to the point: choice of broth, protein (pork, chicken or vegetable), noodle size and accompaniments (seaweed, egg, spring onion, karaage...).

The izakaya has decided to concentrate on a single dish, and has succeeded in achieving the perfection of creamy, almost syrupy tonkotsu broth, which concentrates all the juices of the pork, unctuous meat laid in strips on the ramen and homemade noodles made in the basement. Small appetizers and side dishes share the spotlight to whet our appetites, if we weren't already: takoyaki (octopus areets), semi-spicy gobo roots, crispy chicken karaage wrapped in sesame-ginger sauce, a small salad and a chashu-don. Settled into the atmosphere of rural Japan, the gustatory journey begins.

Advice in? Notoriety and absence of reservations promise a space that never gets empty. Remember to come early, or late.

Yokato Yokabai
4185 Drolet, Montreal

Toqué!

Why go there? Toqué! is the historic benchmark for haute gastronomie in Quebec. Opened in 1993 by Normand Laprise, the Montreal restaurant on the border of Old Montreal became a member of Relais & Châteaux in 2006, Grandes Tables du Monde in 2014, and was ranked first Canadian restaurant in 2015 and 2016 by the annual Canada's 100 Best ranking. Normand Laprise grew up on his family's farm in Kamouraska, on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, and has a love affair with local produce, Quebec's terroir and its producers, which he has defended on his menu since his early days in the kitchen.

The result? A consistent and resilient table de qualité on Montreal's ultra-dynamic scene, where the colors of Quebec cuisine are flying high.

Toqué!
900, place Jean-Paul-Riopelle, Montreal

Junior Filipino

Junior is a young, vibrant restaurant with a colorful, bric-a-brac decor. It's the brainchild of a group of friends, the Flores brothers, wine importer David Pendon and Julian Somera, all four of Filipino origin and eager to showcase in a modern way their gastronomic culture overshadowed by other Southeast Asian countries. The atmosphere is very personal, and you feel as if you've been invited into the chefs' homes.

Each of them brings recipes from his or her family and region, reflecting the diversity of the archipelago, in a carinderia atmosphere, the typical Filipino street canteen. For the main course, don't miss theadobo (braised meat), which changes according to the moment: chicken, duck... on this day prepared with an adobo glaze with oysters, crispy potatoes and rice. We also love pancit palabok, rice noodles with calamari, shrimp, mussels, seafood sauce and chicharrón. On the tables, multicolored sauces invite you to customize your dish as you wish, although the queen of sauces remains Mang Tomas All Purpose Sauce, the equivalent of our Heinz ketchup.

Junior Filipino
 1964 Rue Notre-Dame Ouest, Montreal

Stem Bar

In the southwest of the city, this Montreal restaurant, wine and local beer bar and little brother of café September Surf, opened in 2020. In a subdued setting designed by Ravi Henda, wines from small independent producers in France, Hungary, Italy, Portugal and Quebec are served by the glass or bottle. To accompany the sips, the house offers a menu of pretty plates made with local produce: trout rillettes and crackers, smoked beet, grilled cauliflower, burrata, beef tartare... The wine and beer list regularly welcomes fine new releases and the space - laid out lengthways - can accommodate around sixty people.

Stem Bar
2475 Rue Notre Dame O, Montreal

Tiradito

Tiradito is a downtown Peruvian brasserie under the direction of talented chef Marcel Larrea. Vibrant and trendy, the atmosphere is marked by a joyful effervescence. All the tables are arranged around a central bar, offering a live view of the chefs preparing nikkei-influenced cuisine, a fusion of Japanese and Peruvian influences, presented in tapas form. The creative menu offers modern reinterpretations of Peruvian classics such as causa and ceviche: crab causa, octopus anticucho, spicy calamari, papa rellena. Creative cocktails featuring Pisco.

Good to know? Hidden away here is the Club Pelicano cocktail bar, with its neat, subdued decor inspired by public baths. In addition to inspired bites (mini lobster burger, yucca fries, breaded beef chicharron chips...), cocktails are the stars here, like theZicatela withmezcal, aperol, campari, orange, lime, blackberry and cinnamon, or theDel Carmon with Cazadores blanco, maraschino, elderberry and grapefruit.

Tiradito
2491 Rue Notre-Dame Ouest, Montreal

Joe Beef

Why go there? The Joe Beef suite consists of 3 unmissable restaurants that have become veritable institutions. The team of Frédéric Morin, David McMillan and Allison Cunningham embarked on this adventure in the then completely residential Little Burgundy district. Their first restaurant, Joe Beef, put Montreal's gastronomic scene on the map, and brought a new dynamic to the area, now filled with trendy bars and restaurants along the Lachine Canal. A table for bon vivants and wine lovers, with a warm room filled with antiques, wood panelling and large slates on the wall. The prime rib for two is a classic that never disappoints, while the rest of the menu changes with the seasons, presenting the finest cuts of beef, pork, duck and game in their simplest form.

Scallops and shellfish also feature on the menu, accompanied by wines, many of the great French names and small bottles of organic wine. A warm atmosphere and opulent cuisine, as evidenced by the restaurant's packed dining room.

Joe Beef
2491 Rue Notre-Dame Ouest, Montreal

Vin Papillon

Amore feminine restaurant than its two big brothers, in the words of the Joe Beef team, with small plates to share such as celeriac bagna cauda, smoked carrot éclair, fish of the day, Provençal-style zucchinis and sweetbread brochettes.

Market and seasonal vegetables are served comfort-food style, while the plates, from the most affordable to the most expensive, are always succulent. The dining room, with its magnificent terrace, opens at 3pm for an aperitif with a glassful of natural and organic wine and a different appetizer every day.

Vin Papillon
2519 Rue Notre-Dame Ouest, Montreal

Jaja

Why go there? Chef Martin Junea's Pastaga is no more, but two of his former employees, Francis Duval and his wife Geneviève Beaudoin, have taken over the helm of this friendly Little Italy spot. On the menu: a neighborhood restaurant where you can drink natural wine and enjoy a slash menu, fresh and simple. The menu often changes according to the availability of local produce, and today Francis sends us a courgette/sapin/feta, a calamari/cucumber/chili or a simple oyster mushroom/nuoc-mam. For dessert, Geneviève serves a peach/yogurt/ sesame or a blueberry/cheese/graham. Plain keels, of course.

Jaja
6389 Boulevard St-Laurent, Montreal

Le Filet

Docked on Mont Royal Avenue,Le Filet opened in 2011 with the same team behind it as Club Chasse et Pêche and Le Serpent. It welcomes diners in a chic decor with metallic components, by Annie Lebel of In Situ. Service is said to be impeccable and courteous, while chef Yasu Okazaki's cuisine is full of finesse and originality.

Influenced by his Japanese origins and French culinary training, the chef delivers a menu where fish and seafood play the leading role. Oysters garnished with jalapeno and maple syrup; kampachi (yellowtail), fried wonton, beet and soy; lobster, sweetbreads, peas, carrots and vanilla - the combinations are bold and bold, to our great delight.

Le Filet
219 Mont-Royal Avenue West, Montreal

Ratafia

In a subdued atmosphere, with music playing in the background, guests settle down around the large central bar or in the chic dining room, for a gastronomic experience centered on wine.The menu features exclusively local products: mushrooms grown in Maisonneuve, Arctic char and fish roe raised in Montreal.meticulous attention to detail is omnipresent, whether in the meticulous presentation of the dishes, especially the desserts which are veritable works of edible art, or in the leather-clad front page of the menu.

To begin with, we discover Arctic char with a sorrel and tarragon sauce of unique vegetal freshness, accompanied by rate potatoes and fish roe.For dessert, a bluffing "Monochrome", with a creamy sea buckthorn base, marmalade and brown rum persimmon brunoise, topped with sea buckthorn berries, carrot sorbet and earlgrey tea.The menu also offers an abundance of signature cocktails and an impressive selection of wines, including some forty dessert wines.

Ratafia
6778 Boulevard Saint-Laurent, Montreal

LOV McGill

Makingvegan cuisine accessible and attractive: that's the challenge Dominic Bujold (Crudessence, Pizzeria No. 900) set himself when he opened LOV in December 2016 with Stéphanie Audet, a young chef originally from Gaspésie, who has also worked in Hawaii, California and France. Today, it's Christian Manuel Ventura who has taken over the kitchens of this Montreal restaurant with its light, zen tones, which positions itself between high-end fast food and bistro.

In the kitchen, we want to prove that vegan rhymes with gourmet. Truffle burger, mushroom risotto, LOV tacos (breaded tofu, grilled vegetable brunoise, pickled peppers and onions, vegan sour cream, homemade avo-jalapeño sauce, micro cilantro)... the dishes are as good as they are graphic, because lechefsait that making vegetables sexy is also about the eye.

And the Montreal restaurant applies its principles before the kitchen, sourcing directly from local producers. Finally, on the wine side, biodynamics is the order of the day, with a menu and original cocktails based on herbs and spirits produced in small quantities.

LOV McGill
464 Rue McGill, Montreal

Satay Brothers

Why go here? At Satay Brothers, it's still a family affair. Two brothers, Mat in the kitchen and Alex, and a mother, a Singaporean, who has been educating them since childhood in the colorful cuisine of this city-state, a veritable cultural and gustatory mosaic of Asia. The Satay brothers' cuisine draws its inspiration from Malaysia and Thailand, Indonesia, China and India.

In the kitchen, the varied ingredients allow for an infinite palette of tastes and sensations. The specialty, of course, is satays, skewers of chicken, pork or shrimp, always tender and juicy, served with a peanut sauce. If you're in the mood for something spicy, the spicy green papaya salad contrasts with the freshness of the fruit, and the mee goring noodles are just right. Fried chicken buns bring sweetness to the mouth before the explosion of spice represented by the grilled pork sandwich served with cucumbers, mustard greens and five-spice mayonnaise - a combination of anise, cinnamon, Sichuan pepper, clove and fennel.

Satay Brothers
3721 Notre Dame Ouest, Montreal

Bar Furco

Why go there? Opened in 2012 in a former Fur & Company warehouse, Furco is the darling 5 à 7 bar for local executives, with an inventive and ever-changing menu for both small and large appetites. Chef Joëlle Trottier creates plates full of freshness and fine produce in this bar where you can eat well, which she reinvents according to new arrivals, ideally enjoyed with a glass from the import menu created by Philippe Chin of Satay Brothers.

In terms of ambience, designer Zébulon Perron drew his inspiration from the architecture and history of the place to create a space with ambitious volumes, where time and its marks have not been erased, but used to maintain a raw, yet warm and convivial feel.

Bar Furco
425 rue Mayor, Montreal

Café Parvis

Why go there? Encouraged by its success, the Furco team has opened Café Parvis, next door to its big brother. With Zébulon Perron still in charge of decor, the latter has chosen to soften the industrial look of peeling paint and holes in the walls with bay windows that occupy the entire front, green plants hanging from the ceiling and a warm wooden counter.

Le Parvis complements the more festive and nocturnal Furco, offering pastries, cakes and coffee from Montreal micro-torrefactor Kittel. Sharing is always the watchword at Le Parvis, where pizzas à la romaine and salads are made to be ordered and enjoyed in groups. The toppings focus on local products and originality, as in the scallop pizza with creamed corn, cauliflower, poblano, cheddar, cilantro and chipotle vinaigrette, or the roasted squash salad (black bean purée, feta, cilantro sour cream, salsa, pickled jalapeño).

Café Parvis
433 Rue Mayor, Montreal

Hoogan et Beaufort

Head east to the Rosemont la Petite Patrie neighborhood, in the former Angus industrial complex dedicated to railway construction. This is where Hoogan et Beaufort opened in December 2015. The brightly lit space boasts 70 seats under more than eight-meter ceilings, with counters facing the open central kitchen, where an imposing cooking fireplace takes pride of place. A blend of brick, wood and metal, young local firm Appareil Architecture has preserved the history of the walls, making the space less intimidating.

The kitchen is visible from every table, and chef Marc-André Jetté, formerly of Les 400 coups, can be seen at work on a menu that changes every week, with vegetables taking pride of place.

The wine list is extensive and, more exceptionally, so is the beer list, featuring local and artisanal beers as well as imported beers. With a tasting menu, six items or à la carte, gourmets can compose their meal according to the traditional starter-dish format or by ordering a host of plates.

Hoogan et Beaufort
4095 Rue Molson, Montreal

WHERE TO EAT MONTREAL'S BEST POUTINE?

Now it's time to tackle the million-dollar Canadian question: where to eat the best poutine in Montreal? An emblematic Quebec dish, a mixture of French fries and couic-couic cheese drizzled with brown gravy, it's hard to miss the recipe and eat a poutine that's not pantoute good.

However, in order to get past the war between La Banquise and Poutineville (each of which offers the simplest to the most exotic poutine), here are the three places where you can have a poutine without any faux-pas.

• Patati Patata (4177 Boulevard St-Laurent): in an unassuming ten square meters, open until 2 a.m. all week long, the onion-pepper-mushroom patatine is ideal after an evening at the beautiful Darling bar a stone's throw away.
• Ping Pong Club (5788 Boulevard St-Laurent): this Mile End bar with a summer biergarten feel offers a deluxe poutine that you can wash down with a game of table tennis with friends.
• Rotisserie Romados (115 Rue Rachel E): a Portuguese rotisserie where you can enjoy poutine with a juicy grilled quarter chicken.