Best Restaurants in Montreal: My Top Picks After 200+ Visits

I lived in Montreal for 5 years and visited over 200 restaurants during my undergraduate studies. This was an incredible period of time for me, largely because Montreal is such an incredible city. There is always something going on, especially in the summer, the city is lively, there are beautiful green spaces and parks, and most importantly for me there is some incredible food! For those familiar with my TikTok, you know that I focus on highlighting smaller local restaurants, so this list will naturally omit some incredibly popular Montreal restaurants, especially those on the higher end. The objective of this list is to highlight a diverse set of restaurants serving up some incredible food, that I think everyone living in or visiting Montreal should try at least once if they can!

Honorable Mentions: Sana, Appayon, Palais d’Ajit, Khyber Pass, Pizza Desi, Restaurant Singh’s, Maison Indian Curry

Cuisine - South Asian & Afghan

I am South Asian, Pakistani to be specific, so South Asian food is my area of expertise. Sadly, Montreal isn’t exactly a hot spot for South Asians like certain areas of Greater Toronto and Vancouver are, so I wouldn’t necessarily say that any of the South Asian restaurants I tried in Montreal are the best I’ve ever had. Nonetheless, there are a lot of solid spots that I still enjoyed visiting VERY MUCH! By far my favorite restaurant of those listed above is Sana, which is a Pakistani restaurant with two locations in the city. They have some South Asian classics that you don’t often find at other Pakistani/Indian restaurants like haleem, and I feel like everything is generally executed quite well, so this restaurant could sneak into my top ten if I was writing this on a day where I am craving some halwa puri and nihari.

Otherwise:

• Appayon is a nice spot for Bengali food
• Palais d’Ajit and Maison Indian Curry are solid no-frills Indian spots
• Restaurant Singh’s is slightly more modern but still serves up solid food so I think it caters well to a wide range of people
• Khyber Pass is a nice, elevated, Afghan restaurant that has some really tasty dishes
• Pizza Desi is a desi-style pizza spot that I quite enjoyed and I generally recommend everyone to try desi-style pizza because it is delicious

Bossa

Cuisine – Italian

If you are looking for a tasty Italian sandwich, then Bossa is your spot. I have talked about Bossa extensively on social media and despite them having some issues with finding a new bread source once they exploded in popularity and tried some shaky options, I still love this place. Perhaps there is a bit of a nostalgia element considering this is one of the earlier restaurants I visited after moving to Montreal, and it is also probably the restaurant I have been to the most in the city, but the sandwiches hit every time for me. I usually get a vegetarian sandwich and add grilled chicken, but the chicken cutlet sandwiches are excellent as well. The vibes are also terrific and the staff are always very sweet which I really appreciate. If Bossa gets you on the Italian sandwich wave and you are looking for another spot then definitely check out Boucherie Marchigiani as well!

Antep Kabab

Cuisine – Turkish

I know I said that Bossa is probably the restaurant I went to the most in Montreal, but I specifically said “probably” because of Antep Kabab. This Turkish sandwich shop, conveniently located right across from my university, was by far my favorite spot to grab lunch between classes. In fact, after a while, I rarely went elsewhere for lunch because nothing hit as hard as an Antep Kabab chicken sandwich. While the sandwiches here seem relatively simple, the charcoal grilled chicken has an incredible flavor that is perfectly complimented by the thin layer of sauce and greens. This isn’t even mentioning their incredible bread which is pillowy and flavorful. Antep Kabab simply executes on their sandwiches perfectly. Just remember to bring cash with you, as they do not accept any other forms of payment. They also have an ATM machine inside the restaurant in case you forget.

Mexico Restaurant

Cuisine – Mexican

Another underrepresented cuisine in Montreal compared to other major Canadian cities is Mexican cuisine. In spite of this, when I first moved to Montreal I made the trek to a far away Mexican restaurant that was just a hole in the wall with a tiny seating area, exactly the kind of place that usually serves up the best food. My foodie senses were tingling as I placed my order and the tacos turned out to be amazing. When I eat tacos, I am usually most critical about the flavor and texture of the meat, as well as the portion of filling. Mexico Restaurant nailed both of these criteria and offers these incredible tacos at a relatively reasonable price. I tried some other taco spots later, particularly in Montreal’s Little Latin America community, but for me nothing came close to Mexico Restaurant. A couple of years later I found out that they expanded into a large restaurant space which really warmed my heart, there is no better feeling than seeing such an exceptional spot become so successful! Although they have a huge menu with lots of options, nothing compares to their birria tacos in my opinion. So get those!!!

Pile Ou Glace Gelateria

Cuisine – Italian

I absolutely love ice cream, but after visiting Italy, and Europe in general, I have gotten a bit spoiled. I generally find that the ice cream shops in Canada just don’t cut it anymore, at least for that classic creamy gelato. Montreal has many ice cream shops, but most of them serve ice cream that is produced by the major local creameries. These shops are decent, but they don’t compare to this one ice cream shop in Little Italy called Pile Ou Glace Gelateria. This ice cream shop serves up classic Italian gelato with some of my favorite flavors like pistachio and hazelnut. In the summer’s if you are strolling around Little Italy you are definitely going to want to pop into this shop for a sweet treat.

Behesht

Cuisine - Iranian / Persian

Persian cuisine is becoming increasingly mainstream but I still feel as though it is underrated, especially the mouth-watering Persian stews like fesenjoon and ghormeh sabzi. In Montreal, one place stands out to me in terms of Persian food and that is Behesht. This restaurant is tucked into a more industrial area in NDG but once you enter, the atmosphere is warm and welcoming, and the smell is incredible. What I love about this spot is that they excel with both their kebabs / barbecue and stewed dishes. This is a must-try spot in NDG for me, especially if you’ve never tried Persian food before!

Restaurant Nakfa

Cuisine – Eritrean

Speaking of both NDG and underrated cuisines, right down the road from Behesht you can find my favorite restaurant in Montreal! Restaurant Nakfa serves up Eritrean cuisine which is very similar to Ethiopian cuisine, both of which I think are very underrated. I personally have Ethiopian/Eritrean cuisines in my top 10 cuisines in the world, and it always surprised me how few people have tried it. At this point I have been to a dozen Ethiopian/Eritrean restaurants across North America, but Restaurant Nakfa remains my favorite by far. Something I really appreciate about this cuisine is that there are many vegetarian dishes and they are done exceptionally well. I highly recommend going with a small group of people and simply getting the meat and vegetarian platters, but my favorite dishes are definitely the zigni, ades, and shiro. This restaurant still has a relatively low number of reviews on Google (when I first visited years ago it was around 50 and it is still under 200) so please go out and support this incredible spot!

Cuisine AuntDai and Chez Chili

Cuisine – Chinese

Montreal has a relatively small Chinese population and a quaint Chinatown to match, but where Montreal lacks in quantity it makes up in quality when it comes to Chinese establishments. Chinatown has some great Chinese goods shops, a tea shop where I would always stock up jasmine pearl tea, and a great mix of different types of Chinese restaurants. My favorite of these restaurants is undoubtedly Chez Chili, which specializes in Sichuan and Hunan cuisine. This was the first time I tried authentic Chinese dishes like Shuizhu Niurou (boiled beef in hot chili sauce) and Ziran Niurou (cumin beef). Ever since visiting this restaurant I have fallen in love with Chinese cuisine and have tried dishes from across China. I have also had the incredible privilege to visit Taiwan and Hong Kong where I got to try traditional local dishes as well as mainland Chinese cuisine closer to the source.

Similarly, Cuisine AuntDai serves up some interesting Chinese dishes like Tudou Niurou (beef and potato stew), Lao Hu Cai (“tiger” salad), and Mala Xiang Guo (Sichuan spicy hot pot). The dishes are just as good as those served up at Chez Chili and I like how these restaurants serve up a different variety of dishes so you get a similar cuisine but with different dishes. Also, Cuisine AuntDai became popular due to their candid honesty about their dishes, with the owner providing harsh reviews of the food and pointing out dishes that may cater more or less to Western versus Chinese patrons. He actually spoke to me about it when I visited one time and was incredibly friendly, explaining the menu in depth and the differences in taste between different people that visit. This restaurant is located near Concordia University, somewhat adjacent to a newer Chinatown-esque area of Montreal that extends from this restaurant down St. Catherine’s Street where you can find many Chinese and other East Asia restaurants and shops. Aside from these two spots, check out Beijing Restaurant in Chinatown or some good Canadianized Chinese food and Plats de Pates Hong Mere for their incredible fish in spicy fermented cabbage broth!

Hansang

Cuisine – Korean

In Canada, more often than not, a Korean restaurant is either going to be a KBBQ spot or a fried chicken spot. There is nothing wrong with this, both are incredible, but when it comes to Korean food I usually find myself craving nice, hearty, Korean meals. Hansang satisfies this craving perfectly. This restaurant features tteokbokki, seafood pancakes, samgyetang, japchae, bulgogi, dak galbi, and so many more Korean classics. This pretty much covers all of my favorite Korean meals and all of the ones that I have tried were executed really well.

Ma Poule Mouille

Cuisine – Portuguese/Canadian

It feels only right to include a poutine spot on this list and while this isn’t your typical poutine spot it is undoubtedly my favorite in the city. The first two things you notice when you visit Ma Poule Mouille is that there is a line out the door and you can smell the food from around the block. Inside, the chefs are continuously flipping Portuguese-Canadian style chicken over a grill, which is then used for their sandwiches and their famous poutine. Not only is the chicken incredible, but the fries, cheese curds, and gravy are also excellent. The portions are also pretty generous, with a single poutine easily being enough for a couple of people. While I generally try to promote smaller family-owned and operated businesses on my page, this spot is one of the most famous restaurants in Montreal, but it is incredibly well earned in my opinion.

Best Restaurants Montreal

That is all for this post! I hope you guys enjoy these restaurants if you haven’t tried them already and I want to emphasize that none of these are sponsored in any way, just my personal favorites. I know there are so many more amazing local spots in Montreal so if you have any suggestions for me leave a comment on my TikTok or DM me! Checkout my other blog posts for more Montreal foodie content like the best sandwiches in Montreal, the best AYCE sushi in Montreal, and the best Chinese food in Montreal! Also checkout my social media to follow me on my foodie adventures!