Top 10 Restaurants in Montreal

Le Serpent is a contemporary brasserie with Italian accents and one of the best restaurants in Montreal. This restaurant, which is on the industrial edge of old Montreal, has replaced Darling Foundry — and its interior design mirroring the setting of exposed brick, pipework and bare ducts, simple lighting, hard edges, and paned windows reminding you of old warehouses. Come lunchtime, and the place is bustling with people who are locally employed. Come nightfall, and the crowd is more stylish. This is not the typical bistro that you will find in Montreal — more Italian and less French. The daily à la Broche option runs from veal ribs to Cornish game hens. It also boasts of a chic list of Crudo, innovative composed salads complete with wonderful textures and flavors — roast beets along with pecans, mandarin segments, and parsnip chips. The kinds of pasta offered are solid, especially the mouth-watering winter risottos — as with shredded veal shank and mushroom. With the Le Club Chasse et Pêche team behind them, Le Serpent makes a strong point with their desserts.

LOV stood for Local, Organic and Vegetarian and was founded by Dominic Bujold, the same man behind the success of Pizzeria No. 900. At LOV, freshness and flavor take center stage and lead an impressive performance with plant-based dishes, plus an organic wine list and an array of cocktails. The popular Montreal restaurant offers vegan versions of classic faves like a tofu-take on a morning Benny. Located on McGill Street, this bright and airy spot is styling itself as an all-day vegetarian eating eatery. It offers three meals regularly each day, and the menu for all the three meals are planned by chef Stéphanie Audet, who was previously with Crudessence. The almost 90 percent vegan menu, that’s very unlike Crudessence, is certainly not all raw, and adds itself in the list of best restaurants in Montreal. The menu that is botanically inspiration is sure to appeal to vegetarians, but this exciting menu also offers something to those that look suspiciously anything that is termed vegan. LOV has always aimed at being upscale, and it’s very clear from the drinks they have to offer. Steve Beauséjour from the wine agency Rézin has put together an all-natural wine list. Romain Cavalier cocktails are a perfect fit for the theme. They offer light and herby liquor that is sourced from local small-batch producers.

This Little Burgundy mainstay, one of the best restaurants in Montreal, is the headquarters of Montreal chefs David McMillan and Frédéric Morin, and at Montreal's most famous restaurant, every ingredient, from the pea shoots to the oysters, is sourced from the best and prepared expertly.

Since it was opened, Joe Beef has constantly evolved and has always been unique: there are various antique pieces and eccentric objects that fill the cozy place. David and Fred designed the décor. They wanted something comfortable, but also something with a simple chalet feels. Joe Beef, which is one of the best Montreal restaurants, can seat around 50 people and brings you to a festive mood. Wood is abundant, with large pieces of different kinds of slate and artwork adorning the walls. Some of the paintings are by Peter Hoffer. In a nutshell, Joe Beef is an inviting and comfortable place.

The atmosphere at Joe Beef is always lively and festive, and hence there’s a chance you can get easily carried away with all the drinks. On offer are beer and classic cocktails, but what stands out is their wine list. The excellent wine list put together by Vanya Filipovic, well-respected sommelier, focuses on some of the classic French wines taken from the great vineyards in France. The personalized service offered by this restaurant makes it unique and makes it one of the best restaurants in Montreal.

Au Pied de Cochon is one of the popular restaurants in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 536 Duluth Street East in the borough of Le Plateau-Mont-Royal. It is owned and opened by chef Martin Picard in the year 2001.

Au Pied de Cochon is one of the best restaurants in Montreal, and it rightfully takes up a spot on our list of quintessential Montreal restaurants. This place is very enjoyable because the restaurant has wonderful décor, with one of the first open kitchens among all Montreal restaurants. The menu is ample, and the cuisine is simple and exquisite, though very rich and heavy. It is truly extraordinary. The size of the servings is often very large, but this excess brings with it an unforgettable experience, maybe because of the awesome food. On the menu of Montreal institution, there are few appetizers, some fish and some meats, with these meat dishes being linked through their style of cuisine to the animal in a special way. There is a lot of pork – from head to toe. You can expect plenty of foie gras. Foie gras Poutine and Tarte au foie gras cru a sel are two of the must-haves on the menu here.

L’Express is a Montreal classic! A community favorite and one of the best restaurants in Montreal, L’Express offers such consistency, it will never disappoint. The restaurant first opened on rue St-Denis in December 1980 (!) by François Tremblay, Colette Brossoit, Pierre Villeneuve, and two silent partners.

The must-tries in L’Express include bone marrow sprinkled with coarse salt, beef back steak, calf liver along with tarragon, chicken liver pâté, homemade ravioli, and veal kidney with mustard sauce. L’Express manages to keep its regulars happy by including some seasonal dishes based on the availability. Other than the bread, L’Express likes to make everything in-house. From their pickles that are made twice-a-day to the signature sauces that garnish every dish, L’Express does put its heart and soul into the food it serves. After chef Chapoulie retired in January 2016, the talented chef Jean-François Vachon took over the reins of the kitchen and has ever since ensured that this restaurant continues to maintain its high standards. This makes L’Express one of the best restaurants in Montreal.

Dinette Triple Crown is one of the best restaurants in Montreal and one of the favorites. Chef Colin Perry's Kentucky upbringing inspires the Southern-based cuisine here. His fried chicken, cornbread, brisket, braised greens, and side dish based on the seasonal produce available during your visit are simply the best here in Montreal Restaurants.

The brunch menu includes one main dish, one, and one small dish. Items like their delicious buttermilk biscuits with gravy or jam and a mouth-watering pecan sticky bun make up the small dish menu. The main dishes array a variety of items such as shrimp and grits, chilaquilesrojos (red), chicken and waffles, and a yummy sandwich that they make with their buttermilk biscuit. The entire menu is very inviting, and choosing what to order from that is not an easy task. Choose any one of them, and you will not be disappointed. Their fluffy waffles that come flavored with cheese and chives go superbly well with the warm maple syrup that they serve with Espelette chili. The chicken is ever so juicy, crispy, and so perfectly fried, you wouldn’t want to get out of there without trying it. Dinette fried chicken yet is one of the must-haves on your trip to Montreal.

Another thing you shouldn’t miss out on is their delightful buttermilk biscuit. So, don’t miss out on Dinette, one of the best restaurants in Montreal, for brunch as this may be on offer only during the winter months.

Park Restaurant, which started operations in 2012, has quickly become one of the leaders in the dining scene in Montreal. Urban Spoon has consistently ranked this restaurant as one of the best restaurants in Montreal, and Park is committed to excellence by offering organic, seasonal, and sustainable fare to enjoy for brunch, lunch, and dinner. Park Restaurant was Chef Antonio Park’s idea and hence the name. Park Restaurant specializes in Asian food while giving it a modern twist.

The menu also includes sashimi, japchae (which is Korean sweet-potato noodles), Korean ribs, and nigiri, although most diners like to opt for ‘omakase’ tasting menu that changes every day.

The restaurant has a strong focus on seasonal and organic produce, with Park one of only a few chefs in Canada to hold a private fish import license, ensuring he gets top-quality seafood from around the world.

During the day, Park Restaurant has a café feel to it with its dark-wood dining room as it serves bento boxes, baked goods, and salads. The dimmed lighting at night gives it a sophisticated look.

At Park, it’s all about the fish, its freshness, and the high quality of this product. Here they prepare fish in several ways.

Schwartz’s a Montreal landmark without any doubt, and a place where people come from world over come to savor the best smoked-meat sandwiches it offers. They’ve been serving these since 1928 – so there’s a centenary coming up!

Smoked meat, however, arrived in Montreal long before Schwartz opened 90 years ago. This is kosher-style meat with no preservatives, and the preparation is as follows: the beef must come from a specific part of the animal – brisket or lower breast meat. After curing it for between 10 and 12 days in their spice mixture (usually black pepper, garlic, salt, coriander, some sugar, etc.), the cured pieces are smoked for 8- 9 hours in Schwartz's brick smokehouse – with its own 90 years of aromas– then steamed for 3 hours. After this lengthy process, the meat is then sliced and ready to eat. The salivating result is beef so tender and fragile that it is sliced by hand with a knife. Newspaper clippings and signed photos hang all over the walls, testimony to Schwartz’s never-ending popularity making it one of the best restaurants in Montreal.

Toqué!

Toqué! is a landmark Montreal restaurant that has been open for nearly thirty years and has earned a reputation of being one of the best restaurants in Montreal for fine dining. This is a chic bistro providing ceviche & creative Peruvian entrees, and signature cocktails.

Jean-Pierre Viau is credited with creating it’s the décor that looks chic, very elegant, and distinguished. This new location of Toqué! Offering 105 seats, and adding a bar, has a serious and important element of the space around it. You can come here, have appetizers or a delicious main course along with a glass of wine and leave very satisfied. Toqué! has two semi-private rooms that host private parties - Salon Saint-Antoine that can accommodate about 30 guests and Salon Jean-Paul-Riopelle that can hold about 16 guests. If there’s a special occasion, you can even book the full restaurant.

Tiradito, which was opened just a few years ago, is a 60-seater restaurant which offers a fusion of Peruvian and Japanese cuisines. While Tiradito’s cuisine is an innovation for Montreal, there’s another key part of the restaurant that shakes things up: from the beginning, Tiradito has never used servers. Their chefs have doubled up as servers, taking on the additional responsibility of mixing drinks and serving food. This makes Tiradito not just one of the best restaurants in Montreal, but also unique.

Montreal is a food lover’s paradise. The best restaurants in Montreal owe their success to their culturally diverse city that is a melting pot of African, Greek, Jewish, Italian, and Middle-Eastern cultures. They have taken the best from all these cultures and dished out innovative dishes to the world on a platter. A trip to Montreal is not just a chance for trying some of the most fabulous culinary creations in Canada. It is an opportunity for sampling the finest cuisine from all over the world.