Best authentic restaurants
in Montreal Chinatown
I grew up in a Chinese Teochew family, so Chinese food has always been a big part of my life. Since Teochew culture has strong roots in Southeast Asia, I also grew up eating a lot of Khmer, Vietnamese, and Thai food, which makes living close to Montreal’s Chinatown feel a bit like home to me!
Even though it is one of the smallest Chinatowns I’ve visited, the area is definitely worth exploring. In fact, its location near the Old Port makes it a convenient stop to grab an affordable lunch or a snack.
Overall, you will mostly find Cantonese food. However, there are also some Sichuanese and Vietnamese restaurants that are good too.
In this article, I share my favorite spots in Montreal’s Chinatown.
Table of Contents
Where to eat authentic asian food in Montreal Chinatown
Nouilles de Lanzhou
Noodles are one of my favorite dishes and this restaurant does them very well.
Their specialty is beef noodle soup from Lanzhou, China. The noodles are handmade in front of customers, and the thickness can be customized to your taste. The soup is light and spicy, and the sliced beef is very tender. On weekends only, another version with braised beef is available. However, it often sells out quickly! On top of that, they also serve dry noodles called Dan Dan Mian, originally from Sichuan, which are very good too. The noodles are served without soup, in a flavourful peanut/sesame/spicy sauce with minced pork and boiled bak choi. Overall, you really can’t go wrong with any of these options.
At first glance, being located above the G&D chinese supermarket, the place may not be seen like the most inviting restaurant. However, the queue that you will see almost all day long in front of the shop shows that it’s worth a try.
Sammi & Soupe Dumpling or Qing Hua Dumpling
Dumplings are also one of my favorite dishes. Not gyoza, nor mandu, nor momo, but chinese dumplings. The dumpling skin is thick, they can be pan-fried or boiled, and the filling is juicy. They are delicious, simple, and usually very affordable and perfect for a light meal.
Sammi & Soupe Dumpling specializes in xiao long bao, which are steamed dumplings with meat, vegetables and soup inside. Grab a dumpling in your spoon, bite one piece, put chinese black vinegar with chili oil inside and you’re good to go! They also serve regular chinese dumplings.
Qing Hua Dumpling offers a larger variety of regular chinese dumplings, which are very good too. I recommend trying both pan fried and boiled.
For the fillings, I recommend pork, pork with shrimp, chicken for the meat with cabbage or leek.
Chez Chili
Chez Chili is a restaurant specializing in Sichuan cuisine. This cuisine originates from southwestern China and is famous for its bold, spicy and numbing flavors due to the use of chili and Sichuan peppercorns.
I found that Chez Chili does a great job balancing the spiciness of their dishes and many non-spicy options are available too.
As Chinese cuisine is meant to be enjoyed shared, I recommend picking one dish per person, with a mix of meat and veggie options along with a bowl of plain rice per person. I tried the sweet and sour ribs and stir-fried eggplants with minced pork and black beans which were both very flavorful.
Pâtisserie Harmonie, Pâtisserie Coco or Bao
Or all three of them.
These cantonese style bakeries offer both salty and sweet snacks, perfect for breakfast, a quick snack or dessert to enjoy at Sun Yat Sen plaza. My favorites are: BBQ pork bao, pork and cabbage, chinese custard bao, and hong kong style egg tart. Pineapple buns (which actually have no pineapple in it) are also a good option.
CoCo Fresh Tea & Juice or Yifang Taiwan Fruit Tea
Both shops are famous bubble tea chains from Taiwan. I recommend simple and safe options like black or green milk tea or black or green fruit tea with peach or lemon, with or without tapioca pearls.
Pho OhYeah or Pho Bang New York
There are not that many Vietnamese places in Montreal, and most places won’t have a large selection of dishes, but Pho OhYeah and Pho Bang New York offer pretty decent options for Pho or Bun Bo Hue. It is cheap and delicious and perfect when it’s cold outside! For dessert, try the Che Ba Mau (also called Three color dessert), which is a coconut milk based sweet drink.
Note: Pho Bang New York only takes cash
Fuwa Fuwa
Fuwa Fuwa (which means « fluffly fluffy » in Japanese) serves Japanese-style soufflé pancakes. They may look heavy at first, but they’re actually very light and airy, making them perfect for dessert or a quick snack! Several toppings are available. We chose the classic strawberry, banana, and blueberry one and the crème brûlée flavor. The shop is also super cute and bright, and a great spot for a cozy and sweet break.
As pancakes are cooked on very low heat, it might take 10 to 20 minutes to get your order ready.
