Downtown Montreal Now Has a Yogurt-Centric Breakfast and Lunch Counter

A new counter-service restaurant with a menu centred around Greek yogurt has settled on the corner of Crescent Street and Ste-Catherine.

Named Yaourti, it’s very much owning its rather specific dairy focus, and is serving a fairly extensive menu of sweet and savoury options, geared towards both lunch and dinner. So, it’s not just a frozen yogurt or dessert shop.

On the sweet side of the menu are several bowls with a Greek yogurt base, and a range of fruits, nuts, seeds, and other additions — you can choose between combinations put together by the restaurant (for example, one with berries, cocoa nibs, and honey), or build a bowl yourself. There’s also smoothie bowls, which add granola into the mix, and straight-up smoothies.

Then there are the savoury options — the whole “yogurt” thing is a little more restrained on that side of the menu. Rather than dishes that go heavy on the dairy, it’s more like a selection of salad or grain bowls that each incorporate a yogurt dressing — for example, a chickpea bowl with avocado, feta, mint, pesto, and za’atar, or a halloumi-avocado salad.

The menu is rounded out with soups (yogurt incorporated), and sandwiches — and all that yogurt appears to be made in house. Lactose-intolerant and vegan diners are also catered to, with a dairy-free yogurt option, at an extra charge.

While building an entire menu around yogurt might seem like overkill, the menu does actually seem fairly appealing here. Plus, it’s relatively restrained — across most of the menu, it’s not like you’ll actually be chowing down on a whole bowl of dairy. That said, the restaurant has made the decision to push the whole “yogurt” angle fairly firmly, which may not appetize all potential customers. Either way, it’s a new option for a downtown lunch.

STATUS — Yaourti is open at 1407 Crescent from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Friday and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

• Yaourti [Official]