With a name that roughly translates to “big and husky,”Mastardcomes through with appropriately hearty dishes. But chef Simon Mathys (previously Manitoba) doesn’t sacrifice finesse, with ingredient’s from Quebec’s land and lakes gorgeously plated and intricately flavoured.

This café-meets-grocery-store-meets-caterer sticks to a simple menu of vegan (and gluten-free) soups, bowls, sandwiches, and salads. Expect fresh, colourful ingredients and all the veggies and grains you can pack into one dish.

This Tunisian spot delivers rich Mediterranean flavours in a homey, warm space. Bring a bottle of your own wine to enjoy with a tagine or one of the restaurant’s signature briks (filo pastry pockets stuffed with meats, veggies, cheeses and eggs).

Operating from within De Lorimier record shop Le 180g, the team at pandemic-prompted sandwicherie Mitch Deli is serving what has become a top contender for the best fried chicken sandwich in the city. Also on offer: a polenta-encrusted calamari sandwich, a mushroom sandwich for the books, rotating seasonal veggie dishes, and a reliable natural wine selection.

With burgers and tartares done with a focus on fresh and local ingredients, La Boulette got into the upscale comfort food game a few years before it took over the city's culinary scene. It also has possibly the swankiest wine for any burger spot in town, with a list made up of private imports.

Part café, part buvette, part gourmet shop, Le Elsdale takes regulars from early morning espresso to evening apéro in a cinch — with some elegant bites to boot. Consider their pecorino-dusted carrot cavatelli or halibut in an asparagus and lovage coulis.

Eater Award-winning chefMarc-André Jetté's first restaurant is a celebration of all things fresh and fire-cooked. A fire pit is key to the restaurant's perfectly Québécois-meets-French approach.

It's not a regular banh mi, it's a cool banh mi: Susan Lo beefs up the Vietnamese classic with marinades, aioli, and entirely novel concoctions like her Chinese eggplant or shiitake mushroom sandwiches. Plenty of vegetarian options here, too.

Could the city’s best fried chicken be nestled at the back of this small Beaubien Street grocery store? Many Rosemont denizens believe so.

A Haitian snack bar and community hangout churning out all the staples: tender cubes of griot, fried beef tassot, and kalalou (Haitian-style okra stew).

This colourful neighbourhood restaurant does classic Portuguese flavours: grilled octopus (and other seafood), bifana (marinated pork cutlet), and, of course, grilled chicken.