Sammi & Soupe Dumpling Brings Its Xiao Long Bao to Chinatown with Second Location

CHINATOWN — With just about six years under its belt, Shaughnessy Village’s exceedingly popular xiao long bao purveyor Sammi & Soupe Dumpling has expanded, with a second location on De La Gauchetière, by Clark Street, in Chinatown. The restaurant comes from the team behind another well-liked dumpling restaurant Qing Hua, which centers on the jiaozi dumpling style, and also boasts two locations, catering to each the Concordia and Chinatown crowds. Sammi & Soupe Dumpling’s second location opened on April 9 in the space formerly belonging to a relatively short-lived outpost of Canada-wide chain Dagu Rice Noodles. It has the same menu as the original, spotlighting the warm, broth-filled dumplings originating from the surroundings of Shanghai.

Sammi & Soupe Dumpling’s second outpost is located at 68 De La Gauchetière West.

OLD MONTREAL — So it turns out there’s a real appetite for phallic foods in the city. Montreal Gazette broke the news that a pop-up serving penis-shaped waffles on a stick would be run out of Old Montreal wine bar Loam starting April 9, and the news swiftly made the rounds on social media. The day after opening, Zizi Pop (whose name and banana logo are both not-so-subtle allusions to the form of their creations) posted a photo to Instagram showing a lengthy queue of prospective customers eager for that chocolate-dipped or bacon bit-encrusted D. “So many of you came to see us, it was just crazy!” the caption reads.

Zizi Pop is open from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Wednesday to Sunday at 400 Notre-Dame Street East.

LA PETITE-PATRIE — Anyone keeping an eye on upcoming St-André Street microbrewery Mellön Brasserie is in luck. Last week, the team behind the new project shared on Facebook that the construction of the bar was complete, and its tanks were full. The team, armed with pedigree from Hochelaga-Maisonneuve brewery Avant-Garde, started brewing out of the new location, a block east of St-Hubert, on March 26, according to another Facebook post. Mellön’s taproom is expected to host up to 80 patrons at a time (without restrictions on capacity), Beerism reports. In the meantime, perhaps we’ll get our hands on some cans of their crisp lagers sometime soon.

Mellön Brasserie is slated to open sometime this year at 7141 St Andre Street.

SHAUGHNESSY VILLAGE — With every passing week, there’s one more food-related reason to visit the strip of Sainte-Catherine sandwiched between Concordia and Atwater. This time, it’s an all-you-can-eat Japanese barbecue restaurant touching down between Saint-Marc and Saint-Mathieu, right by another beloved Japanese eatery, Kazu.

Gyubee is a chain restaurant hailing from Ontario, where it already boasts three locations in Toronto, one in Markham, and another in Ottawa — all with pretty glowing Google reviews (with averages ranging from 4.3 to 4.8 depending on the location). At these other outposts, the difference between the takeout and dine-in menus is stark, though expected given the logistical hurdles of bringing the grilling experience to diners’ homes. With how things are going in Quebec, pandemic-wise, it looks like we’ll be privy to something closer to the former, which at the other locations has included torched sushi rolls, teriyaki bento boxes, karaage, and more.

Gyubee is slated to open this summer at 1836 Saint-Catherine Street West.

MILE END — Seasonal, side-alley pop-up Parasol, located behind gourmet sandwich counter and someday wine bar Beau Temps (and before that taqueria Maïs from the same owners), is back for its sixth year running. This time, it’s opening early to take advantage of Quebec’s snow crab season. Whole crabs (served hot or cold), plus rolls, caesar salad with a sauce made of crab emulsion, and potatoes topped with a cream also made from the crustacean are all available for a limited time only — after that, the focus will, once more, be on lobster.

Parasol is open from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and from noon to 8 p.m. on Saturdays at 5439 St-Laurent Blvd.

HOCHELAGA-MAISONNEUVE — After serving the neighbourhood around Maisonneuve Market for about 10 years, Hoche Café has now been renamed Canard Café. New owners took over the café in January 2020, and with that change came the addition of a rotation of ready-to-eat meals. Earlier this month, it made the transition permanent with new branding, signage, and dishes like bolognese pasta and French onion soup that incorporate the “canard” (duck) from its new name.

Canard Café is open daily from early morning to 7 p.m. at 4299 Ontario Street East.

CITY-WIDE — The GOAL Initiatives Foundation, a charity focused on promoting mental health through sport, has launched a YouTube series spotlighting easy-to-cook recipes and conversations with Montreal chefs as they await the green light on indoor dining. Burgundy Lion Group co-owner and GOAL founder Paul Desbaillets is the host of the new video series, called Squawk & Gobble, which will run throughout the spring, with appearances from the chefs behind Elena, Ichigo Ichie, Junior, Kamúy, and more. Watch the first episode here, featuring Nora Gray’s Emma Cardarelli :

• Zizi Pop looks to stand out with penis-shaped waffle snacks in Old Montreal [Montreal Gazette]
• Speak Friend and Enter: A Sneak Peek of Mellön Brasserie [Beerism]
• The Crew Behind Mile End Summer Hangout Parasol Is Opening a New Restaurant December 1 [EMTL]
• Mile End pop-up Parasol returns as a crab shack [Cult MTL]
• Deux propriétaires déterminés qui ont le cœur sur la main [Tastet]