The epitome of casual and chic
Fine dining in Montreal is rarely a formal affair. The best splurge restaurants are surprisingly casual, open only for dinner and late into the night.
The menu at these places changes often. So, you may not get the same items that others have raved about. Nevertheless, some signature items have become a mainstay and for good reason.
Of interest to the food tourist are the French-Canadian restaurants. Sure, Montreal has stellar fine dining establishments offering French, Italian, Syrian, Japanese, etc. cuisines. But those are also found elsewhere in the world. If you visit, go for those unique to the city or region. In Montreal, it’s modern French-Canadian.
What is modern French-Canadian?
For some, French-Canadian cuisine is the same as traditional Quebecois cuisine, including dishes like poutine, fèves au lard, tourtière, and such. I take a broader definition. There are sizeable populations of French-Canadians in New Brunswick, Ontario, and Manitoba with deep cultural roots. So, French-Canadian encompasses them too.
What’s common with French-Canadian cuisine across these regions is:
- local ingredients, with a preference for those that can be stored for long winters like carrots and cabbage
- preservation with lard, butter, vinegar, salt, drying
- unsophisticated technique; uncharitably termed as peasant food
- culinary lineage from Old France of the 17th century, blended with First Nations, British, and American influences
As you might expect, traditional French-Canadian food isn’t in hot demand, aside from some exceptions like poutine. Starting from the 1990s, a new wave of restaurants arose, presenting a more refined perspective. Toqué! is a prime example. These modern French-Canadian restaurants share one or more of these characteristics:
- Seasonal, regional ingredients
- Re-interpretation of classic French-Canadian dishes
- Foundation on contemporary French techniques but not overtly French
- Creative dishes with inspiration from the multicultural fabric of the host city
- Casual atmosphere but fine dining quality
- Shareable dishes
- Multiple dégustation options
Just because a restaurant uses local produce doesn’t make it Montrealer, Quebecois, or even Canadian. The following restaurants embody the spirit of modern French-Canadian gastronomy.
Au Pied de Cochon
If I could pick one restaurant to represent French-Canadian in Montreal, it would be Au Pied de Cochon. It’s definitely not French; there are no classics like onion soup. No fussing with tweezers. It’s the Quebecois spirit infused with the cosmopolitan influences of Montreal. That means you might find ingredients like Sichuan peppercorn creeping into a menu with an unhealthy obsession with foie gras.
The restaurant’s name literally means “at the pig’s foot”, so pork is featured. The signature dishes include stuffed pig trotters with foie gras, foie gras poutine, and canned duck with foie gras. I think you can see a trend here.
The canned duck is the most interesting of the lot. It came in a large, nondescript can. Opening it up yielded a umami and cholesterol bomb: confit duck, foie gras, and brown butter. All components were lusciously tender. 9/10.
They also run a seasonal sugar shack. Can’t get more Canadian than that. Reservations are snapped up for the whole season when they are released in early December.
Joe Beef
This is an institution for French-Canadian cuisine. Honestly, it’s been resting on its laurels and there are far better options today. Still, Joe Beef is included here for comparison purposes.
Simply put, it’s bistro food at fine dining prices. Here’s a sample of what I tried before.
- Egg in a jar: trout roe, celery and dulse brioche.
Pretty. Lots of ingredients were supposedly in the dish but it lacked flavour. The dominant flavour was egg. The dulse was not perceptible. 7/10. - Halibut from Gaspésie: sauce Véronique.
Simple and not punchy. A bit oversalted and acidic. The good: the fish was cooked well and flaked easily. 6.5/10. - Suckling pig confit: mostarda, bomba-jus.
Tender with a good assortment of condiments. Like the candied vegetables which balanced the hearty meat. It’s analogous to the Chinese dish of pork belly with preserved vegetables (梅菜扣肉). 8/10. - Lobster spaghetti.
This is their signature dish. Sadly, the sauce was too heavy. I felt bloated after a few bites. The lobster was on the verge of being overcooked. Flavour-wise, the lobster and sea flavours came through. 7.5/10. - Hangar steak: tarragon.
Good temperature and cooking on the steak. Chimichurri enhanced the dish but garlic scapes felt out of place. 7.5/10. - 24 layer marjolaine cake.
Well-balanced with just the right amount of sweetness and tartness. It was soaked in almond syrup. Still, it was missing another flavour component that could have put the finishing touch. 8/10.
Service is between fine dining and bistro. The decor is assuredly casual.
Restaurant Hélicoptère
Helicopter restaurant draws influences from around the world for its dishes, but it still feels like Montreal. There’s the challah that honours the city’s Jewish heritage. And desserts may have a splash of maple syrup.
Here’s what I had:
- Asparagus and lobster.
Great balance of vegetable and sea. Although there were many components, the delicate lobster still came through. 8.5/10. - Pork and steamer clams.
Outrageously umami. The flavours were greater than the sum of their parts. Meat and clams were tender. 9/10. - Tuna and cucumber.
Acid and peppers harmonized. The tuna was prepared in a textbook tataki style. The taste was not as complex or explosive as the other dishes. 8/10. - Challah with fresh cheese and sour cream.
The challah was freshly baked and soft. The fresh sour cream and dill spread invoked memories of a vegetable garden. 8.5/10. - Oyster mushroom and sourdough.
Sourdough bread was crispy. Its funkiness was enhanced by the sour cream. 8.5/10. - Conehead calamari.
Beautifully cooked calamari. It was a thick and flat slab, like a steak. The quinoa could be incorporated better. Sauce was multi-faceted. 8.5/10. - Lamb saddle and sausage.
Although the meat was cooked well, it was too gamey. The fermented berry jam didn’t integrate quite well with the lamb. 7.5/10.
Overall, the flavours were among the top 3 restaurants I’ve tried in Montreal. I experienced ingredient combinations I never had before. Helicopter proves that you don’t need premium ingredients for good cooking.
For solo diners, their tasting menu is a good deal at under $100. You can also have fewer courses for a cheaper price.
Mon Lapin
They call themselves a wine bar but Mon Lapin has been awarded the top restaurant in Canada by some in past years.
The menu is biased towards regional seafood but there are some land animals and local produce in there. On my most recent visit, I had:
- Sea urchin from Rimouski and green tomatoes.
Refreshing start to the meal. Creamy and briny, with a pop from the tomatoes. 8.5/10. - Scallops from Îles de la Madeleine and grapes.
An unexpected combination that actually worked. The sweet, almost alcoholic grapes complemented the delicate scallops. 9/10. - Sea lettuce from Gaspésie and corn.
A warm corn dish. Too bad the sea lettuce didn’t have much taste. 7/10. - White veal ragu and green pappardelle.
Pretty colour combinations. Pasta was al dente. It wasn’t bad but wasn’t a standout either. Points for the vegetable-infused noodle. 8/10. - Sourdough chicken and radicchio.
The sourdough part came from the breading on the chicken. It added some depth but wasn’t too different from a regular fried chicken. 8/10. - Buckwheat cake.
Abstract tower made up of shards. Fun to look at, messy to eat. Tasted like a regular buttercream cake. 8/10.
Like other restaurants on this list, the restaurant straddles casual and fine dining. It’s a raucous restaurant but with smart dishes.
Montréal Plaza
Montréal Plaza can be summed up in one word: playful. It runs from the little toys scattered throughout the restaurant, to the unexpected ingredient combinations.
The way dishes are described in the menu doesn’t do justice to how it turns out in reality. Be prepared to be surprised as a clinical list of ingredients are transformed into unique creations.
- Cannelloni and shrimps.
The “cannelloni” were thin daikon sheets rolled around a bundle of fresh vegetables and shrimp. It resembled a Vietnamese spring roll (gỏi cuốn) more than cannelloni. Beautiful but in terms of taste, it was like a regular salad. 7.5/10. - Chinatown razor clams.
I’m not sure how Chinatown fit into the dish. Lightly spicy and savoury. Razor clams were cooked well. 7.5/10. - Mushrooms and cheese: cantaloupe, corn, oil bread, confit egg yolk, honey, Hercule cheese.
This is what might happen when a fruit and cheese platter is cooked with a chef’s spin. Multiple flavours but the canatloupe dominates. 7.5/10. - Bourgots miso: miso butter, salpicon, espelette, lime.
Whelks were given the escargot treatment. The miso and espelette pepper were an intriguing combo but the dish felt rich more than anything. 7.5/10. - Vin jaune quail and matsutake: smoked quail, chicken mousseline, corn, zucchinis, fried artichokes, vin jaune sauce.
Tender quail pieces sat on top pan-fried mushrooms. It was topped with a quail sausage. Earthy. 8.5/10. - Blood pudding and bisque: white turnip, mushrooms, Haskap berries, smoked duck fat, crab bisque, mushrooms.
The incongruity between the menu description and actual appearance was the greatest with this dish. Again, in a good way. The bisque was foamy and light. The blood pudding was hidden under crisp leaves and a fritter. A joy to eat. 9/10.
It’s worth it to walk around the restaurant to admire the bric-a-brac. It’s the embodiment of fine dining in Montreal: not taking oneself seriously but still pulling out innovative dishes.
Other French-Canadian restaurants to try
Here are more French-Canadian restaurants to consider.
- Île Flottante. Creative tasting menu for 3, 5, or 7 courses to suit your budget.
- Mastard. 5-course tasting menu utilizing regional produce and French technique. Affordable for fine dining standards.
- Le Mousso. Expensive tasting menu. Elegantly plated and regionally-inspired.
- O-Thym. Quebecois classics reinterpreted.
- Salle Climatisée. Small menu of bistro dishes with some twists.
- Toqué!. Pioneer of modern French-Canadian cuisine.
Where to experience modern French-Canadian dining in Toronto
Dreyfus is run by a Montrealer and the menu and ambience is close to what you can get in Montreal.
Although not French-Canadian, there are quite a few modern Canadian restaurants to pick from. Lake Inez, Grey Gardens, and Ngogo are just a few examples that straddles the divide between casual and fine dining.
Verdict
Overall impressions and ranking:
- Restaurant Hélicoptère: 8.5/10
The sweet spot of flavour, creativity, and price. - Au Pied de Cochon: 8.5/10
A pioneer in fun French-Canadian dining and still going strong. - Mon Lapin: 8/10
Mix between fine dining and bistro. Not too modern and not too traditional. - Montréal Plaza: 8/10
The most risk-taking and playful of the lot. Some dishes are more successful than others but there isn’t a bad one. - Joe Beef: 7/10
Food isn’t bad but for the prices they charge, other restaurants are better value and more creative.
Montreal is at the forefront of modern Canadian cuisine with a French bent. If you wish to try any of these restaurants, reservations are strongly recommended.
Practical information
Au Pied de Cochon
- Rating
- 8.5/10
- Prices (including tax)
- Canard en conserve: $50.59
- Address
- 536 Avenue Duluth Est
- Hours
- Wednesday to Sunday 1700h – 2300h
- Date of visit
- February 2016
Joe Beef
- Rating
- 8.5/10
- Prices (including tax)
- Egg in a jar: $21.85
Halibut: $63.23
Suckling pig: $51.74
Lobster spaghetti: $81.63
Hanger Steak: $55.19
24-layer marjolaine cake: $18.40 - Address
- 2491 Rue Notre Dame Ouest
- Hours
- Tuesday to Saturday 1700h – 2230h
- Date of visit
- June 2024
Restaurant Hélicoptère
- Rating
- 8.5/10
- Prices (including tax)
- Asparagus and lobster: $27.60
Pork and steamer clams: $25.29
Tuna and cucumber: $24.14
Challah with fresh cheese and sour cream: $11.50
Oyster mushroom and sourdough: $19.55
Conehead calamari: $32.19
Lamb saddle and sausage: $40.24 - Address
- 4255 Rue Ontario Est
- Hours
- Wednesday to Friday 1130h – 1500h, 1730h – 2200h
Saturday to Sunday 1730h – 2200h - Date of visit
- June 2024
Mon Lapin
- Rating
- 8.5/10
- Prices (including tax)
- Sea urchin and green tomatoes: $9.20
Scallops and grapes: $25.30
Sea lettuce and corn: $17.25
White veal ragu and green pappardelle: $34.48
Sourdough chicken (quarter) and radicchio: $32.20
Buckwheat cake: $21.85 - Address
- 150 Rue Saint Zotique Est
- Hours
- Tuesday to Saturday 1700h – 2230h
- Date of visit
- September 2023
Montréal Plaza
- Rating
- 8/10
- Prices (including tax)
- Cannelloni and shrimps: $32.20
Chinatown razor clams: $32.20
Mushrooms and cheese: $32.20
Bourgots miso: $27.60
Vin jaune quail and matsutake: $56.36
Blood pudding and bisque: $46.00 - Address
- 6230 Rue St-Hubert
- Hours
- Tuesday to Saturday 1700h – 2300h
- Date of visit
- September 2023