Île Flottante’s Weekend Casse-Croûte, and Four Other New Menus to Check Out

MILE END — Île Flottante owners Nada Abou Younes and chef Sean Murray Smith have temporarily traded in the elaborate seasonal tasting menus for something many might consider to occupy the opposite end of the culinary spectrum: grab-and-go fast food. Earlier this month, the Saint-Viateur Street establishment began offering a weekend casse-croûte menu that continues to reflect Smith’s commitment to local produce, but features items like hot dogs (meat or veggie), root vegetable fries, poutine (vegetarian or vegan), root beer floats with oatmeal vanilla ice cream, and lemon shaved ice. It’s open on weekends, serving out of the restaurant’s front windows as long as the weather cooperates (it’s closed on rainy days). Bonus: The couple’s corgi, Ugo, is regularly in attendance.

Île Flottante’s casse-croûte menu is being served on Saturdays and Sundays at 176 Saint Viateur West.

Mayhem Saveurs Asiatiques/Facebook

PLATEAU — St-Denis Street restaurant Mayhem Saveurs Asiatiques is bringing its pan-Asian approach to a new menu of steamed buns — ideal for summertime park hangs. The bao-based pop-up, dubbed Mei Mei, launched last week with a compact menu featuring a “Seoul” bao (fried chicken, kimchi, and gochujang), “Tokyo” bao (fried fish, okonomiyaki sauce, pickled ginger, bonito flakes, and nori), and other iterations named after Hong Kong, Taiwan, Bangkok, and Saigon, with the last two being vegan options. Buns are sold individually for $7, in pairs for $13, or four for $24. French fries loaded with house-made kimchi, spicy mayo and gochujang; egg rolls stuffed with either Montreal smoked meat or Philly cheesesteak; and a fruity, tea-based summer drink menu round out the offering.

Mei Mei/Mayhem Saveurs Asiatiques is located at 4433 St-Denis Street.

AHUNTSIC — Chef-owner of Latin American bistro Madre sur Fleury Mario Navarrete Jr. is exploring his Italian roots with a new pop-up called Canessa, named after his maternal great-grandfather, who immigrated from Genova, Italy, to Lima, Peru, in 1890. Based out of the Fleury Street restaurant, Canessa’s menu is stacked with risottos (shrimp and zucchini, tomato and tuna, and spinach) and pastas (bolognese, puttanesca, and spinach pesto) — and Parmigiano-Reggiano dusted liberally throughout.

Canessa is open for takeout and delivery, Wednesday to Saturday, from 3 to 7:30 p.m., at 124 Fleury Street West.

OLD MONTREAL — The takeout window at Chuck Hughes’ beloved seafaring restaurant Le Garde-Manger is up and running with a seafood shack-themed menu conceived by chef Christopher Merrick. Expect dishes like lobster bisque, Nordic shrimp in milk buns, and a crème fraîche crab salad served with lavash crackers. Using ingredients from firmer ground, there’s also a lamb gyro, pork belly croquettes served with smoked maple mustard and dill pickles, and “Cheetah Fries,” beef fat-fried potatoes topped with onions and a cheesy sauce. Maple donuts, confetti cake, and white peach sherbert are among the options sweetening the deal.

Le Garde-Manger Seafood Shack is open from 12 to 8 p.m., Thursday to Sunday, at 408 Saint Francois Xavier Street.

VILLERAY — After selling its vegan sushi rolls on urban agriculture and food basket company Lufa Farms’s platform last year, Nofish has now joined forces with the frontrunner of fish-free Japanese fare in the city: Christian Manuel Ventura Alatorre. Under the new leadership, Nofish now appears to focus exclusively on hand rolls, as opposed to the makis it once served, a change presumably made to avoid overlap with Alatorre’s much-loved, maki-centric offering at Sushi Momo. The project is based out of an undisclosed address in Villeray, operating as a ghost kitchen, with orders for the hand rolls — featuring ingredients like jícama, a root vegetable originally from Mexico; green tea soba noodles; sweet marinated tofu; and mock shrimp — handled exclusively through UberEats.

Orders for Nofish can be placed here.

• Mei-Mei: le nouveau pop-up du Mayhem, restaurant montréalais de cuisine fusion d’inspiration asiatique! [NightLife]
• Le Garde-Manger Crab Shack : le casse-croûte de fruits de mer incontournable dans le Vieux-Montréal [Tastet]
• Nofish: la nouvelle cuisine fantôme végane du créateur de Sushi Momo et de la Casa Kaizen! [NightLife]