Montreal restaurants dominate Canada’s 100 Best list, including top pick Mon Lapin

Montreal restaurants dominate Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants List with 27 eateries on the annual ranking, led by Mon Lapin in the number 1 spot.

The 2023 list of exceptional eateries includes several Michelin-starred restaurants including Toronto’s contemporary French favourite Alo in second place, Vancouver’s locally-sourced Published on Main in third and Toronto’s Edulis in fourth.

May 16, 2023 (CREDIT: Martin Daigle, CityNews Image)

“The food, I love it. And I do think it’s well deserved,” said Jeremy Hamou.

Francis Wheeler-Hughes adding, “Yeah. I’ve lived here my whole life, and I would have to agree that it’s number one.”

Published on Main previously held the top spot on the 2022 list of best restaurants.

Toronto is home to 18 of the hotspots, including the double Michelin-starred Sushi Masaki Saito in 19th place. Vancouver has 15 restaurants on the list – including four in the top 10 – Ottawa has eight, Calgary has seven and Halifax boasts four.

Editor-in-chief Jacob Richler and the team behind the rankings also announced their top 10 best new restaurants, led by Toronto’s Prime Seafood Palace.

Now in its ninth year, the gastronomic catalogue celebrates the country’s best places to dine as decided by 135 judges chosen for their reputation and knowledge of the culinary scene.

Officials say the judges do not receive any direction on where to go and what to eat and no free meals are accepted.

This year’s judges included “Top Chef Canada” judge Mijune Pak, Vancouver restaurant critic Mia Stainsby and celebrity chef Michael Smith.

The list of 100 best restaurants includes two each from Quebec City, Winnipeg, Edmonton, St. John’s, N.L. and Whistler, B.C., with the rest of the entries scattered among smaller communities across the country.

The full announcement, including 50 best bars and awards for various categories including best sommelier and pastry chef, can be found online at canadas100best.com.

Here’s a look at the top 10:

1. Mon Lapin, Montreal

2. Alo, Toronto

3. Published on Main, Vancouver

4. Edulis, Toronto

5. Restaurant Pearl Morissette, Jordan Station, Ont.

6. St. Lawrence, Vancouver

7. Langdon Hall, Cambridge, Ont.

8. Beba, Verdun, Que.

9. AnnaLena, Vancouver

10. Kissa Tanto, Vancouver

The team behind Beba restaurant in Verdun, which was nominated 8th on Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants List. (Courtesy Facebook/@RestaurantBeba)

Mon Lapin, which snagged the top spot on Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants List posted to social media saying it’s an honour and that it wouldn’t of been possible without their incredible team.

A local food blogger says — on the list or not — Montreal’s food scene has never been more vibrant and delicious.

“Montreal’s food scene is very diverse. It’s delicious. It’s always fun. And I wish I could go out even more than I do,” said Dustin Gilman, Food Guy Montreal.

Gilman says he’s not shocked that Montreal dominated the 100 best list.

“I think it’s been said about Montreal’s cuisine and the accessibility and how, how sort of welcoming and warm the these restaurants are.”

Beba restaurant in Verdun, May 16, 2023. (CREDIT: Matt Tornabene, CityNews Image)

For the two local eateries that made it to the top ten -Gillman says it’s well deserved

“When you’re there, it’s you’re there to have a good time. You’re there to have good food. You’re here, you’re there to drink good wine. And, you know, we should always be having fun in these restaurants. And that’s exactly what, you know, why Montreal’s restaurants have ranked so high.”

As for Beba, the restaurant run by Ari Schor and his brother Pablo opened in 2019 with the goal of sharing the foods that they liked to eat with Montrealers.

Ari Schor (right) and Pablo Schor (left), co-owners of Beba. (Photo Credit: Felisha Adam, CityNews)

“I want them to enjoy themselves. I want them to be happy. I want them to maybe try things that they’ve never tried before,” explained Schor.

Since the release of the list, reservation requests at Beba have been coming in non-stop.

“So last night the reservations doubled for tonight. So that’s nice,” said Schor. “So we should be we should be full tonight. And yeah, the rest of the week is looking good and, you know, if you want to come here on a weekend book, a month in advance, maybe, I don’t know.”