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Just over a year since it was first announced, Bvrger, the latest from vegan chef and entrepreneur Christian Ventura, is here. Located on an Old Montreal stretch of Notre-Dame Street West, the meatless burger joint began flipping its patties — made of nuts, sweet potatoes, beans, soy, and shiitake mushrooms — earlier this week.
The brain behind bellwether vegan restaurant Sushi Momo, Ventura is at the forefront of Montreal’s ever-growing animal-free dining scene. In the time since opening the sushi spot on Duluth in 2014, he’s rolled out a series of other all-vegan restaurants like Mexican-Asian Casa Kaizen, Plateau torta haunt Nopalito, and a slightly more upscale Old Montreal sushi destination called Bloom — and relocated Momo (twice) into larger premises to accommodate diner demand. With Bvrger, he says the goal is to give Montrealers one more reason to consider reducing their meat consumption.
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Bvrger’s menu features 11 takes on the near-universally beloved fast food staple, including one that stuffs a brioche bun with a veggie patty, balsamic caramelized onions, confit mushrooms, and a black garlic truffle mayo, and another with a crisp mushroom-based “chicken” patty, some kimchi pikliz, baby kale, and a sesame-black bean sauce. One called the “Surf and Turf” involves a beef-like patty, faux lobster tempura, mustard caviar, fennel-green papaya slaw, and a harissa and saffron aioli. Otherwise, there’s a series of decadent oat-based milkshakes — with flavours running the gamut from salted caramel and chocolate to matcha-pineapple and S’mores — and some simple sides (fries, tater tots, and onion rings), all priced so that diners can put together a three-piece meal for less than $30.
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Additional menu items include vegan Korean fried chicken, poutine made with a black garlic gravy, Chinese five spice tempura pickles, and “bacon” croquettes made with corn, furikake, pickled red onions, and nori strips.
Matching Ventura’s plant-loving cuisine, the compact 30-seat restaurant space is outfitted with a hydroponic wall garden, plenty of potted plants, and a handsome forest-themed wallpaper, plus some patio-esque furniture. The restaurant takes over the locale that once housed Japanese snack bar Marusan.
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Though frequently credited for popularizing fish-free sushi in Montreal, Ventura joins a more saturated market when it comes to vegan burgers. Several local vegan restaurants like LOV, Maynard, and Burger Fiancé — the last of these located steps away from Bvrger — prepare meat-free patties, while plenty more beefy burger joints across town have at least one vegan alternative on the menu. But Ventura welcomes the competition: “The way I see it, the more vegan places there are, the more awareness it brings,” he previously told Eater while sharing plans for the project.
Bvrger is open daily from 12 to 9 p.m. at 401 Notre-Dame Ouest.