There's little more comforting or satisfying than a dish involving noodles, especially when it comes from a Montreal restaurant. Chefs here give the ingredient a lot of love. It's often made from scratch and spun into dishes that are equal parts delicious and addictive.
While locals have a lot of love for noodle dishes — just look at everyone lining up for $2 chow mein on Saint-Laurent Boulevard on a Friday or Saturday night — this list is intended to deliver a cross-section of the best places to go when you’re craving noodles. That’s why all the bases are covered, from Chinese stir-fry to Japanese mazemen to Italian pasta and Caribbean mac 'n' cheese.
Here’s where to go to get the best noodles in Montreal:
​J’ai Feng
Where: 43, rue Beaubien Est
Why You Need To Go: At this small Szechuan grocer from chef Anita Feng, you’ll be able to get your hands on all kinds of limited edition dishes from a menu that changes regularly. Many of these are noodle dishes that’ll knock your socks off, all savory and rolled in the chef’s signature recipe for glowing red chili oil. If you love the stuff, the chef sells the oil to take home alongside some ready-to-eat dishes, too.
​Il Miglio
Where: (Multiple locations)
Why You Need To Go: This counter-style Italian spot is among the best places in the city to grab pasta. There’s very little they won’t cook up, from classics like spaghetti bolognese, rigatoni and lasagna to types you don’t find that often like campanelle. The recipes often change with the seasons, so unless you go every day, no two successive visits will be the same.
​Nouilles de Lan Zhou
Where: 1006, boul Saint-Laurent
Why You Need To Go: The hand-pulled noodles of this soup and noodle shop in Chinatown is among the most popular in its neighbourhood thanks to its low prices and high levels of flavour. Served either in hot bowls of broth or as ‘drier’bowls of dan dan noodles that come heaped with minced meat and vegetables, the freshly-made quality of the product translates to an exceptionally delicious meal every time. The only downside is the occasional long line-up, but the wait is worth it.
​Les Pâtes Vivantes
Where: 1186, ave Union
Why You Need To Go: If you’re rushing through downtown, you might miss this Chinese restaurant pulling fresh noodles in the window as you walk by — hence the name, which translates to "living noodles." Whether flat, thin, or thick, that product gets spun in all kinds of options ranging from spicy oil with stewed beef to Shanghai-style stir-fry with meat and seafood.
More at lespatesvivantesmtl.ca
​Yin Ji Chang Fen
Where: 1861, rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest
Why You Need To Go: Love noodles so much that you wish they made up most of the dish you’re eating from top to bottom? At this Chinese restaurant near Concordia University’s downtown campus, sheets of rice noodles get rolled up to hold contents like pork, shrimp, and vegetables. Served up on plated with small ladles of soy sauce for flavour, it’s a cheap and filling thing to dig into.
More at yin-ji-chang-fen-mtl-restaurant.business.site
Café Gentile
Where: 4126, rue Sainte-Catherine, Westmount, QC
Why You Need To Go: At this swish Italian restaurant in Westmount, they’re making their pasta dishes with noodles that are made fresh every day. They’ve got just as many classics like carbonara and cavatelli as they do unique plates you can’t commonly find elsewhere, like the ruffled edges of creste di gallo or snail-shaped lumache. What’s more, they make pasta for brunch.
Neotokyo
Where: 425, ave Viger Ouest
Why You Need To Go: There are a lot of great places for ramen in Montreal, but this cyberpunk-themed place near Old Montreal is making it exceptionally well—the cool, futuristic atmosphere is just a perk. We’re talking about ramen, mazemen (broth-less ramen), and mazesoba made with super thin soba noodles. Every one of them is savoury and heavy on rich, umami flavours, and if you need a recommendation, go for the tonkotsu or the "crème de bacon" where noodles are mixed with cream, thick-cut bacon, lightly-poached egg, pecorino, and black pepper.
Foiegwa
​Where: 3001, rue Notre-Dame Ouest
Why You Need To Go: This Saint-Henri restaurant is known for a lot of delicious dishes, but among everything on the menu here, their house spaghetti reigns supreme. It’s been on the menu since they first opened for a reason: Mounted with butter, topped with slices of black truffle, and served with a jammy, 64-degree egg with a heap of parmesan, it’s an exceptional plate when you’re craving noodles.
​Pamika
Where: 4902, boul Saint-Laurent
Why You Need To Go: Chef Pakima Sukla is among the city’s best, if not the best, when it comes to Thai food. At her eponymous restaurant in the Mile End, you can sample the full force of her skills in the kitchen, from classic pad thai and pad see ew to pad kee mao where the spice can get cranked to 11. Richly aromatic, every one of the noodle dishes they make is a bona fide winner.
More at pamikathai.ca
​Satay Brothers
Where: 3721, rue Notre-Dame Ouest
Why You Need To Go: Everyone regularly raves about the steamed pork belly buns and papaya salad at this Singaporean restaurant in Saint-Henri, but no one should sleep on their noodle dishes. The egg noodles, shrimp and squid of their mee goreng with spicy sambal? The Chinese sausage and clams with dark soy sauce in the char kuay teow? Their pancit bihon? Fresh out of their woks, each of these are worth an order.
​Kitano Shokudo
Where: 143, ave Mont-Royal Est
Why You Need To Go: Named one of the best restaurants in Canada in 2023, chef Hiroishi Kitano has made a decent amount of space on his menu for mazemen that’s intensely flavorful during both lunch and dinner times. Options range from plates topped with duck leg confit to lobster butter and burrata, uni on a carbonara option, and more.
Yokato Yokabai
Where: 4185, rue Drolet
Why You Need To Go: Made entirely with organic ingredients, the ramen made at this Japanese restaurant is a standard bearer of quality in the city. The noodles are made in-house, the broth can take up to 12 hours to make, and each bowl can be topped with a wide range of toppings. While most go for their more carnivorous options with chicken and pork, they make excellent vegan versions as well.
​Pho Tay Ho
Where: 6414, rue Saint-Denis
Why You Need To Go: Soothing in the summer, and warming in the winter, the pho noodle soups of this Vietnamese restaurant are exceptional. Their deep bowls filled with rice noodles, onions, bean sprouts, and herbs in long-simmered beef broth are the regular go-to order here, especially when they come with slices of rare flank steak that cook in the hot soup as you eat.
​Tropikà l
Where: 3426, rue Notre-Dame Ouest
Why You Need To Go: Chef Jae-Anthony Dougan’s pan-Caribbean restaurant in Saint-Henri may not always be the first that comes to mind when you’re looking for good noodles, but that’s where the restaurant’s several options for mac and cheese come in: Options go from regular and rich mac and cheese to choices of toppings like fried shrimp, oxtail, lobster, or jerk chicken.
