Montreal Has A New Southeast Asian Restaurant In The Plateau Serving Signature Street-Style Food

Montreal's Plateau-Mont-Royal neighbourhood is now home to a new Southeast Asian restaurant: Kra Pow. The Montreal restaurant officially opened its doors earlier this month serving up some of the most authentic Malaysian, Singaporean and Indonesian cuisine.

If you're familiar with the name, that's because Kra Pow isn't entirely new to the Montreal foodie scene. After opening up back in 2020, Kra Pow, which is considered to be both a type of basil and a dish from Thailand, began as a pop-up shop for takeout — gaining popularity among Montreal foodies and visitors alike.

When restaurants re-opened for good post-COVID, Kra Pow owners Kevin Larken and Kimberely Briddle thought this would mark the end of their takeout reign. Well, turns out their dishes were in high demand and that meant it was time to look for a new location.

A spot opened up in the Plateau on Mont-Royal Est and Mentana, previously Tampopo, making for the ideal locale for Kra Pow's full sit-down experience. The owners got to working and Kra Pow is now back in business.

The quaint restaurant offers a small but mighty menu, all of which is gluten-free by the way.

MTL Blog spoke with owner Kevin Larken, who said that Kra Pow is sticking with its favoured dishes including the iconic Beef Krapow, which is a street-food staple made with ground beef, Thai basil, garlic, chilli, and gluten-free sauces.

Guests can also enjoy the Sambal Belacan Chicken, which is a Malaysian dish marinated in Kra Pow's special blend of chilli, belacan, garlic, and Thai basil. It is stir-fried then seared and served with toasted ground coconut and fried shallots.

A few other notable faves include the Beef Rendang and a Tom Kha Gai soup. "We also are continuing our tradition of a rotating vegetarian special," Larken told MTL Blog.

The vegetarian dish currently up for grabs is an Indonesian dish known as Sayur Asem, which is a spicy, sour and sweet vegetable soup in a tamarind broth. Made with market-fresh corn, tomatoes, daikon, squash, morning glory, green beans, red peanuts, and napa cabbage, the Sayur Asem is then topped with fried tofu and served atop Kra Pow's signature coconut-lemongrass rice.

Larken also told MTL Blog that Kra Pow will be introducing new menu items into the mix once operations are fully in order. Not to mention that the new location has a liquor license, so guests can enjoy a cold beer or a selection of sake during their meal.

Kra Pow is open Monday to Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Saturday for lunch only and is closed on Sundays. Montrealers can also get a taste of Kra Pow via delivery on Uber Eats, Doordash, and Skip the Dishes.