Montreal chefs have been winning accolades internationally these days, with the 50 Best, MICHELIN, Canada's Best and Air Canada's Best New Restaurants lists layering on their recognitions. To get the full monty experience of the city's star chefs, let them woo you with their tasting menus, full of discoveries, mind-blowing pairings and only-here creativity.
900 Place Jean-Paul Riopelle, Montreal, H2Z 2B2
Chef Normand Laprise was honoured with an icon award for good reason: in addition to training up a whole generation of locavore chefs, he has honed his own gastronomic genius for decades at this restaurant on Place Riopelle. The seven-course chef's tasting menu will take you on an entire adventure through the Quebec terroir, from razor clams to chanterelles foam to lacquered duck to tomato water made from fruit lovingly grown and picked by the chef himself.
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1231 Avenue Lajoie, Montreal, H2V 1P2
Rediscover Mexican gastronomy through the eyes of chef Juan Lopez Luna at this quiet, moody restaurant on this quiet, pretty residential street in Outremont. You can only enjoy tasting menus here, in one of two formats: the small one, at five courses, or the full shebang at nine courses. The smaller selection already offers a filling abundance of deliciousness, from the most delicate tortillas made from house-fermented heirloom corn to the whole-fish ceviche bright with chili oil.
Photo: @twofoodphotographers
22 Rue St-Catherine E, Montreal, H2X 2W5
Whether you pick the five- or eight-course menu, plunge into chef François Nadon's world at Bouillon Bilk, the original concept in the growing restaurant family helmed by Nadon and co-owner Mélanie Blanchette. BB is the one that got us addicted to their signature interpretation of refinement, which includes a casual and sophisticatedly pared down environment and haute gastronomy dishes like rosé duck with cherries and radicchio or brown butter scallops with zucchini and shiitake. Note that the five-course experience is also available at lunch.
1025 Rue Ontario E, Montreal, H2L 1P8
Chef Antonin Mousseau-Rivard came onto the scene with his own restaurant in 2015, proposing local flavours enlivened with crazy creativity over extensive (read: 4 hours) tasting experiences. He sprinkles cinder dust over smoked trout and celery mousse, for example, for subtly smoky effect, or pairs indulgent foie gras with the natural sweetness of local chamomile oil and candy cap mushrooms (known by foragers for their unique aroma of maple syrup). One seating per night, tasting-menu only.
176 Rue St Viateur O, Montreal, H2T 2L3
Hip and happening Mile End got its first top-dollar dining proposition when chef Sean Murray Smith opened this restaurant on Saint-Viateur, offering a tasting-menu only concept. The delicatesse of the presentations makes this gastronomic experience picture-perfect, while flavours frame vegetables in the finest of lights, with stellar seafood and meats as supporting characters. Fun dishes like the Welch rarebit made with oat milk bread topped in a sinful cheddar and beer sauce plus a plenitude of bitter greens are exactly why we keep coming back.
378 Avenue Victoria, Montreal, H3Z 2N4
Super star chef Antonio Park knows how to set a party tone, whether it's in the room or on your palate. While there isn't a set tasting menu at his eponymous restaurant in Westmont, you can simply put your fate in the kitchen's hands and sit back. This resto has been a draw since 2012 partly for the screen, and partly for the incredible freshness and unique flavour combinations of chef Park's sushi, wagyu beef dishes and sashimi. If you're there on a night when there's fresh sea urchin, you are in luck.
6230 Rue St-Hubert, Montreal, H2S 2M2
Sit under the upside-down dolls' house that serves as a hanging lamp and get kooky with the homey delicacies offered by chefs Charles-Antoine Crête and Cheryl Johnson. The mix of nonchalance and erudition is at the heart of this quirky place, so give the kitchen free reign to serve you their fave plates of the moment and you'll be seduced by flavours like confit halibut with fine-shaved cukes and burnt-chili paste or smoked trout, crema and caviar over a light-as-air pastry puff… not to mention the jubilant energy that fills this vast space on Plaza Saint-Hubert.
1065 Rue de la Montagne, Montreal, H3G 0B9
Chef Jérome Ferrer has been presiding over the downtown fine dining scene with this now-MICHELIN-starred restaurant since 2002. It remains a bastion of Euro-style fine cuisine where French technique is applied to local ingredients, especially with the Grande Table experience, where you can choose from a couple of tasting menus on offer: a five-course one or a 12-course one featuring dishes like maple-kissed Quebec ham croquettes, Pastis-flambéed scallops with confit lemon cream and mixed berry pavlova.
1879 Rue Bélanger E, Montreal, H2G 1B6
For the balance, the precision, the complexity of his flavour layering inspired by classics of the Quebec culinary tradition, chef Simon Mathys has garnered accolades that include a Best Chef Award and a MICHELIN star. Mastard used to be one of the city's hidden gems, but despite the acclaim there's still a lack of pretension here that helps sweeten the experience. The protein-centric dishes in the five-course tasting menu are indulgent and pack a punch: think duck steak with miso and hazelnut emulsion, fresh slices of cherry tomatoes in beef broth or butter-seared scallops with corn tart and marjoram.
2194 Rue Centre, Montreal, H3K 1J4
Owned by Marie-Josée Beaudoin and Patrice Demers, the MICHELIN-starred Sabayon doles out chef Demers's vegetable-forward delicacies to 14 lucky diners per seating, three days a week only. If you're lucky enough to get a seat at the six-course tasting menu , you can expect seasonal treats like a recently adored ode to the carrot, featuring delicate slices of smoked eel, or the inventive savoury cheesecake made with goat ricotta, brightened with vinaigre and a mix of fresh and cooked tomatoes, the latter roasted with strawberries and chili peppers.
You can find a complete list of restaurants with tasting menus here.
