What to eat in Montreal - Global Toronto Eats

Local specialties of the gastronomic capital of Canada

There are actually two gastronomic capitals of Canada: Montreal and Toronto. Montreal excels in focus while Toronto excels in variety. Both are accessible to the general public, catering to all budgets from fast food to fine dining. The difference is that Montreal had a few hundred years headstart in developing a culinary identity.

Today, it’s renowned for bagels, poutine, smoked meat, and more. You’ll notice that most of them are snacks and junk foods. Here’s a quick rundown of the iconic and lesser-known foods of Montreal.

Poutine

A Quebecois dish that has been co-opted as the national dish of Canada. It’s just three main ingredients: fries, cheese curds, and gravy from a chicken and/or beef base. The test of a true poutine is whether the cheese curds make a squeaking sound when chewed on. The cheese should not be completely melted. These days, poutine comes with all kinds of toppings and gravies.

Ask a Montrealer where the best poutine is and they will probably point you to somewhere else, like Quebec City. They’re not wrong but here are some options if you don’t want to leave the city.

La Banquise

Mentioned by nearly all tourist guidebooks/articles/videos and grudgingly accepted by locals, La Banquise is the undisputed place to try poutine. While it may not be the best, it’s still pretty good, open 24h, and has the largest variety.

You can find common variations like Galvaude (chicken and peas) and Duleton (ground beef and onions). I tried the Le Matty (bacon, green peppers, button mushrooms, and onions). The gravy was over-reduced and the bacon was overdone. Fortunately, the green peppers added some brightness. The cheese curds were exemplary. Fries were soft. 7.5/10.

Consistency can be a problem as I had better in prior visits.

Paul Patates

This is a classic casse-croûte: a cross between a diner and fast food restaurant. Their BBQ poutine has soft fries smothered with medium-thick gravy. It had umami from a mix of chicken and beef stock. Good proportion of ingredients. Unfortunately, the cheese curds were not squeaky. 7.5/10.

Their steamie was textbook: a soft hot dog bun with a regular sausage. 7/10.

Interior of Paul Patates — Steamie from Paul Patates

Patati Patata

This restaurant’s name is a play on the word for “potato”. There are a handful of locations but the one in Plateau is most convenient.

Their poutine is unusual for featuring olive. There was a whole olive embedded in it and the gravy tasted a bit like olive. It gave the illusion of healthiness. Other than that, it was a standard poutine. 8/10.

Other poutine options

Poutine is all over Montreal and you can readily find them at Quebecois fast food restaurants like La Belle Province, Lafleur, and St-Hubert. Some more options to try:

Au Pied de Cochon. Features a decadent foie gras poutine.
Poutineville. A Montreal chain and decent alternative to La Banquise.
Ma Poule Mouillée. Absolutely not traditional but absolutely delicious. They only have one type of poutine: topped with their signature rotisserie chicken. See below.
Chez Tousignant. Known more for steamies, the poutine isn’t bad either. See below.
Chez Ma Tante. Also more famous for its steamie, their poutine is serviceable. See below.

Bagels

Montreal-style bagels are smaller and sweeter than regular ones. They have gained a cult following and are easily the second-most famous thing to try in Montreal after poutine. The most famous bakeries are conveniently located in tourist areas but you can find them around the whole city.

Poppy seed bagel from St-Viateur Bagel — Poppy seed and sesame bagels from St-Viateur Bagel

For those who are short on time, stick to these three:

Those with a more leisurely schedule can peruse our analysis of bagels in Montreal.

Smoked meat

Along with bagels, smoked meat was brought by early Jewish immigrants to the city. Like how it played out in New York City, Montreal has become known for it. Essentially, it’s smoked and cured beef brisket. The sandwich form has laughably small slices of rye bread barely holding together a mound of meat.

Schwartz’s Deli

Just as La Banquise is the standard-bearer for Montreal poutine, Schwartz’s is the go-to for smoked meat. There’s usually a queue out of the door.

You can customize the cut to be lean, fatty or a mix of both. Either way, the spices come through and there’s the characteristic saltiness associated with preserved meats. Overall, good but not great. Best to get one to share because it gets heavy. 7.5/10.

Snowdon Deli

An alternative to Schwartz’s in the southern end of the city. This place is devoid of tourists and filled with regulars.

Prices aren’t that much cheaper considering the location. In any case, their smoked meat sandwich is textbook. Moist and seasoned. If they invested in quality bread and mustard, it would be even more memorable. 7/10. Overall edge still goes to Schwartz’s.

Steamies

These are petite hot dogs, also known as steamés or vapeurs. The sausage is steamed, hence the name. Toppings of choice are mustard, chopped cabbage, and raw white onion. The sausage isn’t gourmet, so don’t expect much.

Trio steamie x 2 and poutine from La Belle Province

As with poutine, it’s easy to find them at local fast food restaurants like La Belle Province, Lafleur, and St-Hubert. The difference between a fast food and artisanal steamie isn’t vast.

Chez Ma Tante

On the far northwestern edge of Montreal island is this pit stop of greasy food. It’s over a hundred years old and the menu hasn’t changed much.

They’re known for steamies. I got a fully loaded one with cabbage and onions. The lightly-pickled choux was refreshing and tart. However, there was an excessive amount and it overwhelmed the sausage. The bun was mis-shapened and the sausage was forgettable. It’s fine as cheap hangover food. 7/10.

Steamie with cabbage, onions, ketchup from Chez Ma Tante

They also had poutine but the steamie was better. The poutine gravy lacked oomph; it was just an indistinct salty taste. Fries were soft. I appreciated the large amount of chunky curds which gave a slight squeak. 6/10.

Taxes included in prices. Cash only.

Menu of Chez Ma Tante — Poutine from Chez Ma Tante

Chez Tousignant

Putting a gourmet spin to casse-croûte fare, Chez Tousignant offers a non-traditional hot dog with pickles and a processed dairy product.

The sausage was a step above the supermarket variety. It tasted like an artisanally-crafted hot dog. Though not exceptional, it was above-average at all fronts. 7.5/10.

Hot dog tousignant and poutine (petite) from Chez Tousignant

The same goes for the poutine: respectable and above-average. However, not unmissable. 7.5/10.

Interior of Chez Tousignant — Menu of Chez Tousignant

Flat sandwiches

Some famous foods are found only at a particular establishment. The following vertically-challenged sandwiches fit into that category.

Dic Ann’s Hamburgers

A chain with no downtown locations. The ardent foodie will have to trek to the suburbs for this fast food restaurant known for flat burgers.

The bread used here is akin to a pancake. The patty is thinner than normal too. All this made for a light snack that was easy to hold. The burger was surprisingly delicious. It’s amazing how ketchup and gooey fake cheese can combine for a satisfying bite. 7.5/10.

Cheeseburger from Dic Ann's Hamburgers — Cheeseburger from Dic Ann’s Hamburgers

Sliced cheeseburger from Dic Ann's Hamburgers — Cheeseburger from Dic Ann’s Hamburgers

Some order it with extra sauce so that a puddle of liquid gathers below the burger.

Menu at Dic Ann's Hamburgers — Menu of Dic Ann’s Hamburgers

Interior of Dic Ann's Hamburgers — Menu of Dic Ann’s Hamburgers

Wilensky’s Light Lunch

This is an institution in the Mile End neighbourhood. The interior looks like it hasn’t changed since it opened in the 1930s.

They’re known for the special Wilensky sandwich. It’s a bargain considering it comes with real cheese, beef salami, and beef bologna. The buns were flat and studded with corn meal. It was a superior deli sandwich. 7.5/10.

Special sandwich with swiss cheese from Wilensky's Light Lunch — Special sandwich with swiss cheese from Wilensky’s Light Lunch

Top view of special sandwich from Wilensky's Light Lunch — Special sandwich with swiss cheese from Wilensky’s Light Lunch

Their other menu items are highly affordable, about 40% cheaper than average.

Interior of Wilensky's Light Lunch — Interior

Menu of Wilensky's Light Lunch — Interior

Orange juice

Probably the best orange juice you’ll have in your life is found inside this quirky giant orange.

Gibeau Orange Julep

Unmissable from the stroad running alongside it, this orange ball is like an oddity one might find along a highway in the boondocks. Except it’s surprisingly close to a metro station. Even though it has fast food like burgers and poutine, the real reason to stop here is for its orange ~~juice~~ julep.

Think of it as a mix between orange juice and an orange milkshake. While not as creamy as a proper shake, it was still frothy. And it was light and refreshing like fresh juice. Neither cloyingly sweet nor sour. 8.5/10.

Orange julep (medium) from Gibeau Orange Julep

It’s so good that customers buy it by the gallon. They bring their own jugs to fill up on that stuff.

Tourtière

Tourtière is a meat pie. Like poutine, it’s Quebecois and not limited to Montreal. Recipes vary but the spice mix normally has cloves and cinnamon. As for protein, any red meat will do. Game meat is not uncommon.

La Binerie Mont-Royal

Few bakeries specialize in tourtière. Your best bet is a random market stall, supermarket frozen food aisle, or La Binerie Mont-Royal. La Binerie serves Quebecois cuisine of yesteryear like fèves au lard (baked beans), soupe aux pois (pea soup), and pâté chinois (shepherd’s pie).

The tourtière was classic. It could have been more fatty but the spices were on point. It was packed with ground meat and the crust was crispy. 7/10.

Portuguese grilled chicken

Brought by Portuguese immigrants, rotisserie chicken has become a celebrated dish in Montreal.

Ma Poule Mouillée

Ma Poule Mouillée is to roast chicken what La Banquise is to poutine. Coincidentally, it’s just across La Banquise but not as well-known amongst tourists.

Combine two famous Montreal foods in one: roast chicken and poutine. It’s not an authentic poutine because the cheese isn’t squeaky and it’s way too loaded. However, the gravy was packed with chicken drippings and the roast chicken pieces were tender. They made for a belly-busting and satisfying meal. 8/10.

Poutine (large) at Ma Poule Mouillée — Poutine (large) from Ma Poule Mouillée

Levantine

Montreal is a multicultural city. Certain cuisines have strong representation. Take Lebanese, for instance. There’s no shortage of restaurants, takeaways, and bakeries peddling Middle Eastern food.

Falafel Yoni

This falafel joint is more hipster than authentic. Still, there’s no denying that it has achieved the holy trinity of price, portion, and quality.

The falafel sandwich was packed with deep-fried balls of fava beans. It overflowed with other ingredients like pickled turnips and salad. The savoury and tangy sauce held everything together perfectly. 8/10.

Pâtisserie Mahrouse

An institution for Middle Eastern pastries. Its location is unfortunate, in an industrial area that’s barely accessible by public transport. However, it concocts some of the best Lebanese sweets in the city and can be worth a detour.

Mahrouse offers the whole gamut of Middle Eastern pastries, from baklava to ma’amoul to fatayer. The standout here is the crispy kunafa. The base is a warm and luscious custard and the crispy kadayif shatters on impact. 8/10.

Pastries from Pâtisserie Mahrouse. Right plate: kunafa ben naren and walnut sheabyat kashta.

Their baklava isn’t too sweet and is chock full of nuts. The same goes for their other sweets.

Interior of Pâtisserie Mahrouse — Interior

Baklava at Pâtisserie Mahrouse — Interior

Haitian

Haitian cuisine is worth trying in Montreal given its large community and relative rarity elsewhere in the world.

Casse-croûte Sissi et Paul

This homey restaurant does a brisk business in takeaway. Their menu isn’t large but it offers representative dishes like griot (fried pork cubes), cabrit (fried goat), and pikliz (spicy slaw).

I got a classic griot plate. It came with riz djon djon (rice with a type of Haitian mushroom), deep-fried plantains, pikliz, and a tangy sauce. The griot wasn’t overfried (as it tends to be) and was seasoned adequately. The rice could use a bit more seasoning but the pikliz had enough acid to offset it. Overall, a respectable plate of Haitian food. 7.5/10.

Griot (small) and riz djon djon from Casse-croûte Sissi et Paul

Paul Toussaint

For something more gourmet, head to Time Out Market at Eaton Centre. There’s a stall by celebrity chef Paul Toussaint, selling elevated Haitian plates.

Although the plating is fastidious, the food is traditional. The basic components were there: griot, rice, fried plantain, pikliz, and accra (croquette). The flavours were classic and above-average. 8/10.

L'haitien from Paul Toussaint — L’haitien from Paul Toussaint

Time Out Market has intriguing branches of famous Montreal restaurants. Handy if you don’t have time to travel around.

Wall of fame at Timeout Market Montreal — Wall of fame at Time Out Market Montreal

Modern French-Canadian

The best elevated cooking in Montreal isn’t a formal affair. Hit up the Mile End neighbourhood, where casual bistros and wine bars put up inventive dishes.

Modern French-Canadian cooking combines ancient French and Quebecois traditions with local ingredients and international influences. There are too many to list here but some of the top restaurants are:

Canneloni and shrimps from Montréal Plaza

For more inspiration, see our in-depth article about fine-dining in Montreal.

Where to get Montrealer foods in Toronto

There really is just one obvious choice for traditional poutine: Nom Nom Nom Poutine. Curds are squeaky.

For Montreal-style bagels, Bagels on Fire has the best because it’s baked in a wood-fired oven. While not truly Montreal-style, Gryfe’s has a similar product.

Sumilicious is celebrated for its Montreal-style smoked meat. Other options that are just as good or better include Dave’s Genuine Deli and Centre Street Deli.

Pennies has a steamie buried amongst dozens of sliders in its menu. Go on Monday for an incredible deal.

Tourtière is easily found in frozen form at Metro supermarkets, from St Hubert or their house brand. Fresh versions are found here and there, like at Sharman’s Proper Pies.

Monteiro Express is a Portuguese grilled chicken chain from Montreal. It opened up shop in Scarborough, offering lip-smacking fast food.

Verdict

Montreal excels in casual bites, especially snacks and junk foods. It had more than 100 years to refine its culinary identity, though most of these specialties arose only in the 20th century. Couple those with visits to Jean-Talon and Atwater markets for a fruitful trip into the gastronomic heart of Canada.

Practical information