Despite its small size, Chinatown, Montreal is bursting with restaurants that make up some of the best dining options in the city. From weekend brunch services brimming with dim sum to daytime bakeries and Chinese restaurants dishing out plates after plates to hungry late-night diners, the best eateries of this area are as reliable as they are delicious. What’s perhaps most interesting about Montreal’s Chinatown is that it also offers cuisines other than Chinese food, including Vietnamese, Japanese, a well-established Mexican offering, and—if you know where to look—you might even find yourself in a basement tiki cocktail bar.
RECOMMENDED:
Full guide to the best restaurants in Montreal
Best Chinese restaurants in Montreal
This dumpling house prides itself on hand-rolling each dumpling with an incomparable level of care and devotion. With another location in Downtown Montreal, the original Chinatown location is often overlooked due to the plethora of nearby options, but has remained consistent in its friendly customer service and attention to detail. You can look at other menu options if you want, but really, you come here for those scrumptious pillowy goods.
Lush jungle vegetation. A terrasse inspired by Vietnam’s French colonial architecture, and decor that channels Saigon of the 1950’s. Plus a menu where classic French fare mingles with Vietnamese influences. Yes, please.
This small space on Saint-Urbain is a great option for handmade dumplings, soups and noodle dishes. Specializing in Szechuan, Shanghai and Cantonese cuisine, this tiny family-run outpost continues to be a strong contender in the Chinatown scene. Cash only.
This pastry shop not only features a ton of delicious (and terribly cute) sweets, but also doubles-up as a great location to pick up a bao. There are a dozen flavours to choose from including one vegetarian option, but it’s the classics like minced pork and Chinese cabbage or BBQ-style pork where their menu shines the brightest.
Hidden inside a retro florist facade, this snug Japanese spot on Clark turns every bite into a flavour adventure. Think handârolled temaki and chirashi piled with sashimi, spicy tantan udon, misoâaged duck, sweetâsoy nanban fried chicken, sea urchin cream with airy shrimp chips and charred miso-aged duck. End on a red miso salted caramel brownie with berry whipped cream, all washed down with natural sake or a craft cocktail.
Ah, dim sum. There’s something special about sitting at a large round table as servers roll their carts past. Kim Fung’s execution of this Cantonese fare served hot from trollies in a large dining space is particularly good; the goal, however, is always to find the freshest platters before someone else does. It’s next to impossible to leave hungry from this place, and it doubles down as a piece of neighbourhood history as it’s been around for years as a staple in the area.
Dining at Lan Zhao on Boulevard Saint-Laurent is more than just a culinary experience. The chefs here are experts at a noodle technique famous in the Lanzhou region of China, and the restaurant offers diners and curious onlookers alike the chance to watch as noodles are twisted, stretched, pounded and hand-rolled for pan-fried noodle dishes and soups alike. The soups, by the way, are the real drawcard here. It’s hands-down one of the best cheap eats in the city.
Widely known for its flavourful soups, Pho Bang New York is the kind of no-frills Vietnamese restaurant that quite simply belongs in Chinatown—and stands out for good reason. Everything from the Tonkinese soup and beef vermicelli to the Imperial rolls and shrimp stir-fried rice are worth a try; come hungry and be prepared to wait a little at peak hours. This one’s popular with both locals and tourists alike.
Focusing on all kinds of ramen—from the classic pork ramen to grilled chicken, beef stew, kimchi and even chicken karaage ramen—the choices are plentiful for Japanese soup lovers. There are a few vegetable options as well, and diners can add extras into their ramen if desired.
This Chinatown location—the other is located near Concordia University—is a fan favourite for its large selection of steamed, boiled or fried (for an extra 50 cents) dumplings. With several dozen combinations available, one of the best ways to try two flavours is to make a half order. As the food is prepared by the order, an appetizer or two might be a good way to save you from serious order envy of the next table over.
This classic Cantonese-style restaurant facing the east gate of Chinatown is an excellent option for late-night partygoers on the order-one-of-everything type of diet. Mon Nan stays open late and offers everything from your classic beef and broccoli and fried rice dishes to Chow Mein platters that are full of flavour and consistently delicious. If you happen to go with a few friends, dishes can be upsized (including a massive won ton soup) for sharing purposes.
Located at the top of a dingy stairwell on Saint-Laurent Boulevard is Amigo, well known for its salt and pepper pork chops, and it’s downright delicious and affordable if you can look past some of the restaurant’s untidiness. Read up on the chef’s accomplishments back in mainland China as you wait for your order to come to the table if you can; they dole out those chops with amazing speed. If you still have space leftover, order the fried banana for dessert.
This Mexican taco joint privately imports its own tequilas and mezcals in addition to serving al pastor and fried fish tacos on Chinese tableware. With an excellent selection of beers and cocktails to add to your order, this is a must-visit for those passing through Chinatown, and it’s open late to boot.
Known for its late-night offerings and head-spinning low prices for lunch specials, VIP offers diners the chance to dine at all hours of the day in a traditional setting. Focusing on Cantonese fare, the standard offerings are available here in a joyful and laid-back environment, but the scribbled menu on the wall’s where you’ll find the off-menu/”secret menu” choices some folks wonder about. Great service and consistent quality make this a solid choice just steps away from the Quartier des Spectacles.
So, not a restaurant, but an unmissable eat while you're in Chinatown: Found behind a small glass window is Dragon Beard Candy, a tiny stall that sells a traditional, handmade confectionery unique to Hong Kong. Run by the master Mr. Chinn, the candy is made of sugar taffy that is stretched precisely 8,192 times before being covered in a peanut and sesame coating. Mr. Chin originally learned this technique from his brother who was doing the same in China, and is one of the few people remaining in the world still producing this ancient delicacy.
Located on the ground floor of a shopping mall, this incredible restaurant dishing out of the best cheap eats in the city is one of the best Chinese restaurants around, bar none. While they employ a lot of their traditional recipes in both Cantonese classics and BBQ meats served with an addictive mash of scallions, ginger and garlic, the restaurant’s pop-ups and late-night events.
Steamed "little cat" cakes? Cream-filled brioche? A bubble tea bar? This cheerful bakery specializing in traditional baked goods from Hong Kong brings all of that and more.
View this post on Instagram
Climb the steep indoor stairs on de la Gauchetière and you’ll uncover one of Chinatown’s best-kept secrets. Tables are scarce, waits are long, and reservations are basically mandatory—unless stairwell loitering is your thing. Razor clams in garlic-soy bliss and steamed chicken with jellyfish make it all worth it.
A Chinatown mainstay since 1989, Restaurant Beijing is one of those de la Gauchetière addresses you graduate into. Behind its no-nonsense dining room is a menu that happily straddles comfort and curiosity: peanut butter dumplings and sweet-and-sour pork share space with snails in black bean sauce, giant steamed oysters, and late-night classics that hit just right. (It’s open until 3 a.m.)
It’s a must for Szechuan seekers in Chinatown, especially with its menu featuring some locally hard-to-find dishes like the peppery sauerkraut basa fish stew. Ignore the plastic-chaired cafeteria vibe—just bring your own atmosphere. The fried pork bites appetizer is crunchy, succulent heaven and for dessert, the boba teas are top-notch.
View this post on Instagram
If typical Cantonese food is what you’re after, and you’re a night owl to boot, this Chinatown mainstay is Destination No. 1. Open until the small hours of the night every day of the week, it’s a neon-lit, moody getaway perfectly suited to an evening of Tsingtaos and fried noodles.
View this post on Instagram
Tucked up on the second floor in Chinatown, this lively gastropub with a killer terrasse in the summer is a great date spot for seasonal plates designed for sharing. Order up somee sevenâday lactoâfermented fries with confit shallot mayo, house kimchi and pork charcuterie, honeyâmiso roasted baby peppers, sourdough toast and smoked squash… and maybe some of the brisket with broccoli gravy? For drinks, there’s craft beer, natural wine and interesting cocktails.
View this post on Instagram
The best things to do in Chinatown, Montreal include late night feasts, shopping hubs and more—here’s the best of it.
Discover Time Out original video
Â
