All-You-Can-Eat Poutine Descends on City, and Other Intel

VILLERAY — All-you-can-eat poutine is now a thing that exists at one Jarry Street spot. Le Gras Dur — known for encouraging possibly unhealthy quantities of food consumption in the past — has added an option for a never-ending bucket of fries, curds and gravy on Tuesday and Thursday nights after 6 p.m. At a $20 buy-in, you’ll need to eat around two to three poutines to get your money’s worth — to put it diplomatically, this could be a dream come true for some, and a greasy nightmare topped with curds and heart disease for others.

SHAUGHNESSY VILLAGE — Some explanations for the closure of hole in the wall Thai hotspot Bangkok are surfacing. Japanese fast-food counter Japote recently posted to Facebook that the owners of the Faubourg Sainte-Catherine are trying to push all food court tenants out of the mall in order to hand an entire floor of the building over to an Asian supermarket. Initially the food court vendors were going to be relocated within the building but the management changed its mind. Four of those vendors, Japote included, have lawyered up to try to get enough money to open up elsewhere. Between the supermarket and Kampai Beer Garden, which is also set to take over a floor of the Faubourg, it appears the the very much in-decline mall is set to transform into a home for a small number of big tenants.

VILLAGE — The little sibling café-bar for hit Haitian spot Agrikol is now open. ‘Ti Agrikol is right next door to its parent restaurant on Amherst Street, and it’s all the same people behind it — Torontonians Jen Agg and Roland Jean, in conjunction with a couple of members of Arcade Fire.

EVERYWHERE — Speaking of Agrikol, it was one of three Montreal restaurants to earn a place in enRoute magazine’s list of the top ten new eateries in Canada, placing sixth. The Olive & Gourmando team’s grill-heavy spot in Griffintown, Foxy, fared best, at fifth place, and Le Fantôme received recognition too, at number eight. As good as Fantôme is, it doesn’t quite feel like a new opening, but apparently enRoute were counting right back to summer 2015. Numerous other rave-inducing newcomers were amongst the nominees, including Hvor and Le Mousso.

VILLE ST-LAURENT — NDG burger spot Notre-Boeuf-de-Grâce is expanding rapidly — in addition to a forthcoming downtown restaurant on de Maisonneuve, they’re also set to open a more suburban location in Ville St-Laurent, on Côte-Vertu, a little west of Cavendish.

DOWNTOWN — The restaurant news around Concordia’s downtown campus is never-ending: Mon Chicha, serving a combo of Taiwanese, Hong Kong and Japanese street food (think takoyaki, steamed buns and fried chicken) opened recently on de Maisonneuve, right near Bishop.

MILE END — Stand-by for a new café called Knock Box around the corner of Villeneuve Street and Park Avenue, in the vicinity of where that ill fated attempt to mix coffee and music genres called Hip Hop Café used to be.

• Montreal Restaurant's Insane Food Challenge Starts With Five Pounds of Poutine [EMTL]
• Restaurant Japote [Facebook]
• Antonio Park's Beer Garden Takes Shape in Faubourg Ste-Catherine [EMTL]
• Canada’s Best New Restaurants [enRoute]
• Arcade Fire Resto Agrikol to Expand, and More Intel [EMTL]