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Balsam Inn

The 15 Hottest Restaurants in Montreal, December 2014

Find out what's new this month.

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The December 2014 Eater Montreal Heatmap welcomes a respectable six new restaurants to the fold in the likes of Côte-des-Neiges, Mile End, the Plateau and the Village.

Enjoy.

12/05/13 Added: La Bête à Pain, Maïs, Lili Co., Hof Kelsten, Orange Rouge, Racines, Le Richmond
01/02/14 Added: Brasserie Bernard, Moteur, État-Major, Cardinal Tea Room, La Récréation
02/06/14 Added: Sel Gras, Le Shinji, Bethlehem XXX, Anabel, Le Serpent, Café Parvis, Au Pied de Cochon, Barcola
03/06/14 Added: Bishop & Bagg, Mercuri, Patrice Pâtissier, Saka-Ba!
04/03/14 Added: Les Coudes sur la Table, Galt, Taverne F, Biirū
05/01/14 Added: Labarake, Mesón, La Réserve, L'Gros Luxe, Majestique, Cantinho de Lisboa, Bar Mercuri
06/05/14 Added: Gia Ba, Chez Sophie, Le Mal Nécessaire, Ikanos, Sparrow
07/03/14 Added: Cafeden, Callao, Henri Saint-Henri, La Queue de Cheval Burger, Salmigondis, Sa-Fran, Scarlet Exclusive, Le Sieur d'Iberville, Le Slang, T & T Tacos and Tortas
08/07/14 Manitoba, Foyer, Grenade, Ma'tine, Rosewood, GEMA, Laurea, Brigade, Tapas24, Industria, Victoria Pier
09/04/14 Added: Café Zéphyr, Bagel St-Lo, Le Bon Vivant, Hà
10/02/14 Added: Mon Ami, Sumac, Notkins, L'Orignal, Café Sfouf, June Rose, Isle de Garde
11/05/14 Added: Balsam Inn, Cirkus, Fitzroy, Fortune, Junior, Lea, Ping Pong Club, Wilfrid sur Laurier
12/04/14 Added: La Flèche, Landry & Filles, Kinka Izakaya, Pizzeria Magpie (Village), Thazard, Uniburger

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Saint-Henri has viable Middle Eastern food now, thanks to David Bloom and chef Raquel Zagury's fresh-to-order falafel, shawarma, salads and spreads. Sarah Musgrave just gave the restaurant a rave in The Gazette.

Ma'tine

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Three of the principals in the 2013 critical smash Micro Resto La Famille left the Plateau to open this breakfast and lunch café in the Village.

June Rose

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A new spin on à volonté retro Chinese fare and cocktails, as only Big in Japan can do. The refurb of the old Ginger feels like a cross between a film noir set and opium den.

Balsam Inn

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The principals in Baldwin Barmacie, Dominion Square Tavern and Whisky Café quietly opened Balsam Inn on October 31. Like next-door neighbour Dominion Square Tavern, partners Alexandre Baldwin, Alexandre Wolosianski and Nicole Lemelin have made overt efforts to re-contextualize the century-old space to evoke the Golden Age of Downtown Montreal. As a result, all traces of recent tenant iBurger have been eradicated. The flatbread-happy menu makes good use of an original cast iron, wood-fired oven.
Toulouse native Julien Joré, formerly of Brunoise, 357c, Au Cinquième Péché and Au Petit Extra, is the owner and chef of this new restaurant in the old Pyrus Bistronomique. Girlfriend Stéphanie Labelle, who owns the excellent Pâtisserie Rhubarbe around the corner, provides the desserts.
Prolific designer Zébulon Perron is responsible for this sleek new space from the restaurant group that gave us Grinder and Hachoir. The Portuguese and Spanish inflected menu comes courtesy chef Matt Doyle and sous chef Ian Milner.

Wilfrid sur Laurier

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All herald the return of the dynamic Brunoise duo of chef Michel Ross and Zach Suhl. The two now hope to revive the space once held by Laurier mainstay La Petite Ardoise.

Ping Pong Club

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Cocktails, beers, high-low bar food, brunch and table tennis, in the former Royal Phoenix and from the same group behind Salon Officiel and Mme Lee.

Fortune

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The principals in this new wave taco counter and casse-croûte in Little Italy hail from Notre Dame des Quilles, the Royal Phoenix and Phoenix 1 food truck.

Kinka Izakaya

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Toronto import Kinka came to shake up the Montreal izakaya game. The preliminary buzz is strong.

La Flèche

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The reboot of Edgar Hypertaverne, courtesy architect/designer Francois-Martin Mortier d'Aumont, includes principals Francisco Randez, managers Maxime Langlois and Jonathan Fuglewicz and chef Pascal Cormier. Randez describes the space's new identity, as La Flèche, as a mature bar with good music where patrons can leisurely drink and enjoy a game-heavy menu of small plates.

Landry & Filles

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The food truck that gave Montreal ploye–a.k.a. New Brunswick-style buckwheat pancakes–now has a brick-and-mortar snack bar in the Plateau. Owners Marc Landry, Josée-Ann Landry and Lisa-Marie Veillette call the 32-seater a "simple yet granny-infused comfortable space."

Pizzeria Magpie

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Brothers Boris and Peter Popovic have taken their successful Mile End pizzeria concept to the Village with chef Federico Ghergo and general manager Will Cody of Maïs.
Photo credit: Diego Martin

Thazard

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Serial restaurateurs Edward Zaki and Dave Schmidt gave the old Cielo Tapas a facelift last month with help from chef Hachiro Fujise. The result is a Japanese bistro with French-style guéridon service, cocktails and a kitchen that closes at 2:00 a.m. A weekday lunch service (Wednesday to Friday) was recently added as well.

Uniburger

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The near-consensus best burger pusher in Montreal just added a second location close to the Jewish General Hospital.

Sumac

Saint-Henri has viable Middle Eastern food now, thanks to David Bloom and chef Raquel Zagury's fresh-to-order falafel, shawarma, salads and spreads. Sarah Musgrave just gave the restaurant a rave in The Gazette.

Ma'tine

Three of the principals in the 2013 critical smash Micro Resto La Famille left the Plateau to open this breakfast and lunch café in the Village.

June Rose

A new spin on à volonté retro Chinese fare and cocktails, as only Big in Japan can do. The refurb of the old Ginger feels like a cross between a film noir set and opium den.

Balsam Inn

The principals in Baldwin Barmacie, Dominion Square Tavern and Whisky Café quietly opened Balsam Inn on October 31. Like next-door neighbour Dominion Square Tavern, partners Alexandre Baldwin, Alexandre Wolosianski and Nicole Lemelin have made overt efforts to re-contextualize the century-old space to evoke the Golden Age of Downtown Montreal. As a result, all traces of recent tenant iBurger have been eradicated. The flatbread-happy menu makes good use of an original cast iron, wood-fired oven.

Cirkus

Toulouse native Julien Joré, formerly of Brunoise, 357c, Au Cinquième Péché and Au Petit Extra, is the owner and chef of this new restaurant in the old Pyrus Bistronomique. Girlfriend Stéphanie Labelle, who owns the excellent Pâtisserie Rhubarbe around the corner, provides the desserts.

Lea

Prolific designer Zébulon Perron is responsible for this sleek new space from the restaurant group that gave us Grinder and Hachoir. The Portuguese and Spanish inflected menu comes courtesy chef Matt Doyle and sous chef Ian Milner.

Wilfrid sur Laurier

All herald the return of the dynamic Brunoise duo of chef Michel Ross and Zach Suhl. The two now hope to revive the space once held by Laurier mainstay La Petite Ardoise.

Ping Pong Club

Cocktails, beers, high-low bar food, brunch and table tennis, in the former Royal Phoenix and from the same group behind Salon Officiel and Mme Lee.

Fortune

The principals in this new wave taco counter and casse-croûte in Little Italy hail from Notre Dame des Quilles, the Royal Phoenix and Phoenix 1 food truck.

Kinka Izakaya

Toronto import Kinka came to shake up the Montreal izakaya game. The preliminary buzz is strong.

La Flèche

The reboot of Edgar Hypertaverne, courtesy architect/designer Francois-Martin Mortier d'Aumont, includes principals Francisco Randez, managers Maxime Langlois and Jonathan Fuglewicz and chef Pascal Cormier. Randez describes the space's new identity, as La Flèche, as a mature bar with good music where patrons can leisurely drink and enjoy a game-heavy menu of small plates.

Landry & Filles

The food truck that gave Montreal ploye–a.k.a. New Brunswick-style buckwheat pancakes–now has a brick-and-mortar snack bar in the Plateau. Owners Marc Landry, Josée-Ann Landry and Lisa-Marie Veillette call the 32-seater a "simple yet granny-infused comfortable space."

Pizzeria Magpie

Brothers Boris and Peter Popovic have taken their successful Mile End pizzeria concept to the Village with chef Federico Ghergo and general manager Will Cody of Maïs.
Photo credit: Diego Martin

Thazard

Serial restaurateurs Edward Zaki and Dave Schmidt gave the old Cielo Tapas a facelift last month with help from chef Hachiro Fujise. The result is a Japanese bistro with French-style guéridon service, cocktails and a kitchen that closes at 2:00 a.m. A weekday lunch service (Wednesday to Friday) was recently added as well.

Uniburger

The near-consensus best burger pusher in Montreal just added a second location close to the Jewish General Hospital.