Located between Mile End and Mile Ex, just short of Little Italy, this diminutive bistro run by three Maison Publique alums has got dinner covered with a bi-weekly market-inspired Souper à Deux. The three-course menu is posted on Tuesday and available for pick-up Friday to Sunday. A current offering features fennel salad, bollito misto, and a ricotta Paris Brest; sandwiches and sundry snacks are available on pick-up day.

This tiny Verdun resto run by brothers Ari and Pablo Schor has gotten back into their groove, serving up their lambwich and oversized Milanesa alongside hefty empanadas with ever-changing flavours. Warming weekly specials warrant a deeper dive, especially their very IG-worthy potato crostata with caviar, to be perfectly paired with some bubbly.

With the dining room closed, Pichai is getting behind noodles this time, with a menu they are calling Sen! Sen! Sen! Executive Chef Jesse Mulder is serious when he says noodles three times in Thai: his take on Chiang Mai’s khao soi gai is a rich coconut-based egg noodle soup with origins in Muslim-Chinese cuisine. Kuay Tiaw tom yum moo, a pork broth with ground pork, in-house Moo Daeng red Chinese barbecue pork and thin rice noodles, is served with roasted chili flakes, vinegar, and lime juice, a bright mix of flavours and textures any time.

New year, new menu for this cozy Griffintown eatery. Their Sugo Sunday pasta-and-sauce blowout has moved to takeout and they’ve also added new sandwiches, an antipasti platter and salad, and sfincione, a Sicilian-style pizza literally meaning “sponge” — margarita, pesto, or diavolo — finished with breadcrumbs. And if there’s still room, there’s always panacotta. 

The creative couple behind this Little Italy wine and dessert bar is back with more clever (and delicious) marketing: a Boîte Anti-Blues is a three-course menu for two, including a cocktail kit, appetizer and main, and their “Crunchy,” a signature labneh cream, orange flower dessert. The Sweet Date box for two includes two hot chocolates (or coffee), a yuzu and chocolate brioche, soft cookies with white chocolate, cardamon, and pistachios, and green tea petit fours. Other desserts are available à la carte, along with wines from their collection.

Specializing in tori-paitan (chicken white broth), Nakamichi’s frozen ramen is easy to warm up any time of day — you just have to order Friday to Monday for pick-up a few days later (their instagram details how it works). Available in regular, spicy, and veggie, these might look like frozen pucks but the taste is umami-rich. Spontaneous ordering from the full (not frozen) menu for this Mile End spot is still available, too.

Pointe-Saint-Charles Lao eatery Sep Lai has come up with a new takeout menu, including Lao rice salad Nem Khao Tod; a choice of laap including vegan, chicken with liver, and fish; som pak (fermented cabbage with garlic); and Lao-style papaya salad, Tam Mak Houng. There’s an emphasis on freshness, and vegans and gluten-free diners can find satisfying choices here through the carefully annotated menu. 

Spicy soy-garlic buto-buto ribs, lechon and waffles, and all manner of Pinoy food are on Junior’s winter menu, along with the classic pancit palabok with pork and shrimp. There’s still an option for the Kamayan feast — Junior’s specialty dishes, all laid out on a banana leaf for two. 

Chefs Francis Blais and Camilo Lapointe-Nascimento created a citywide buzz with their streetwise postering tactics showcasing pastry-encrusted pithiviers. Now, it’s time for their bouillabaisse to take its turn for a chance at fame; the duo have created another high-end meal kit including a garlic and saffron rouille to accompany the main and a pudding chômeur éclair for dessert. 

Jeffrey Finkelstein makes a special Friday night meal each week, but you don’t have to be Jewish to love it: from chicken to beef to lamb or fish, the choice changes every week and sells out quickly. The meal feeds two generously and includes a weekly dessert and one of the bakery’s renowned baguettes. Get some chicken soup with matzo balls if it’s been that kind of week; they say it’s good for the soul.