Viral food in Montreal: Here's where to get 12 of the wildest treats you've seen on TikTok
Cube-shaped croissants, giant cheese wheel pasta, Dubai chocolate bars & more!
Mochi donuts in Montreal. Right: Tearing apart a Dubai chocolate bar.
Is your daily scroll through TikTok (let's be honest: hourly scroll) making you hungry?
From Dubai chocolate bars to tanghulu to Korean milk cream donuts, it sometimes feels like there's a new viral food trend popping up on social media every week — each one more alluring than the last.
Rather than frantically Googling to see where you can find these trending Internet foods in Montreal, allow us to do that part for you so you can focus on the fun part (the eating... duh).
Here's where you can get 12 viral TikTok and Instagram foods in Montreal right now.
Cookie Croissant aka Crookie
Where: Duc de Lorraine – 5002, chem. de la Côte-des-Neiges
It's no surprise that a combination of everyone's two favourite treats has taken Montreal — and, frankly, most of the Internet — by storm. Combining the flaky, buttery layers of a croissant with the chewy-meets-crunchy texture of a classic chocolate chip cookie, this genius creation can basically satisfy all of your sweet cravings in one bite.
According to BBC, the crookie was invented at Maison Louvard in Paris in 2022 before blowing up on TikTok earlier this year. In Montreal, we've tracked down a delicious one at Duc de Lorraine, but you can also find crookies at La Cave à Manger in Old Montreal and Café CoCo & Bean in Beaconsfield. There's even a vegan crookie available at Sophie Sucrée in the Plateau so dairy-free and egg-free eaters can indulge in this viral trend as well.
Deshi Light Snow Chocolate Berry Ice Bar
Where: T&T Supermarket – 300, av. Sainte Croix
Everyone wants to get their hands on these Chinese grocery store ice-cream bars. Why? It could be the adorable packaging, gorgeous pink to white gradient colours, or the fact that when you bite inside you find layers of chocolatey strawberry goodness. Most likely, it's all of the above. As Montreal content creator Emilie Rossignol-Arts put it: "This goes on your list next time you're shopping at Montreal's Marché T&T."
Mochi Donuts
Where: OCHA – 1651, rue Sainte-Catherine O.
Originating in Japan, mochi donuts fuse the texture of a fluffy and moist American-style donut with the soft, chewy and sticky texture of mochi (a type of Japanese rice cake). At Montreal's OCHA bubble tea shop, you can find mochi donuts in a wide variety of flavours, such as: cookies & cream, black sesame, ube (purple yam), mango, strawberry, Nutella, pistachio, tiramisu, matcha, Vietnamese coffee, cinnamon sugar and key lime.
Tanghulu
@sourbitesmtl Refreshing 🥝🍓💦 #tanghulu #sourbitesmtl #sourbites #mtl #laval #new
Where: Sour Bites – 3972, boul. Saint-Elzéar O., Laval, QC
This traditional Chinese snack consisting of candied fruit on bamboo skewers exploded on social media after gaining popularity among South Korea's ASMR scene. While it's not super easy to find in Montreal, you thankfully don't need to resort to making it at home yourself like MTL Blog reporter Mike Chaar who found himself with a deliciously sticky mess. Instead, you can get your sugar-coated fruit kebabs at Sour Bites, a dairy bar and confectionery located in Laval.
Before you get up-in-arms about Laval being outside Montreal as per the article's title, you can also find tanghulu at DingXiang Montreal, a small Chinese restaurant in the heart of Chinatown.
Lafayette Supreme Croissant
Where: La Cave à Manger – 386, rue Saint-Paul E.
If you love croissants but they always leave you wanting more oomph, it's time to try the viral supreme croissant, which is said to have originated at Lafayette Grand Café & Bakery in New York City. The supreme croissant, also known as a New York roll, is a circular croissant stuffed with flavoured cream. And if you think these rolls look good at first glance, just wait until you tear them open and heavenly bits of cream come gushing out.
At La Cave à Manger in Montreal, you'll find a variety of supreme croissants in flavours like pistachio, black forest, raspberry lychee shiso, s'mores, rhubarb, crème brûlée, green apple yuzu, vanilla mandarin, French apple pie, piña colada and maple-pecan.
You can also score some lovely supreme croissants at Café Amea in the Golden Square Mile's Maison Alcan building and Croissant Croissant on avenue Mont Royal.
Croissant Waffles aka Croffles
Where: Hazukido – 1629, rue Saint-Catherine O.
A delightful fusion of croissants and waffles, croffles are made by pressing croissant dough in a waffle iron. The end result is a dessert that contains both a satisfying crispiness and light flakiness... chef's kiss. Croffles are not a new viral trend but they're the kind of viral food that becomes a classic and sticks around forever, so you can still find them all over social media as well as at a few Montreal spots.
Hazukido, a Japanese bakery in the Guy-Concordia area, sells single croffles as well as croffles by the box in flavours, such as matcha, white chocolate and dark chocolate. If you're more of a savoury person, give their smoked chicken croffle a whirl.
You'll also find croffles (and savoury croffle sandwiches) at HolyChoco on rue Sherbrooke Est, and croffles smothered in whipped cream or Nutella at Allo Daisy on boulevard de Maisonneuve Est and all sorts of decadent Korean-style croffles at Dessert Coréen Crofre's multiple locations.
Giant Flaming Cheese Wheel Pasta
@jacopo_mtl Montreal! The Cheese wheel pasta is back at Jacopo! 🤍 Come try our fettuccine served with white wine, cream and truffle, prepared in a wheel of pecorino cheese. Available Sunday to Thursday ✨ #montreal #mt #mtlfood #mtIfoodie #mtIfoodies #montrealfood #mtIrestaurant #jacopomtl
Where: Jacopo – 436, place Jacques-Cartier
Cheese wheel pasta has returned to Jacopo, an elegant old-world Italian eatery in Old Montreal. It makes sense that videos showcasing this dish always garner a ton of social media views — the process is basically designed to make people applaud and drool, as a server lights the giant cheese wheel ablaze and mixes noodles table-side.
Jacopo's version is made with Pecorino romano, fettuccine, white wine cream and truffle. The dish is available Sunday through Thursday as part of the à la carte menu and costs $39.
Croissant Cubes
Where: Duc de Lorraine – 5002, chem. de la Côte-des-Neiges
For croissant lovers who are bored of the usual crescent shape, cube croissants are the pastry trend for you. Popularized by London's Le Deli Robuchon, cube-shaped croissants are similar to regular croissants but the dough is stacked rather than rolled before baking, creating a different texture profile (and, trust us, your taste buds will want to try it). Cube croissants are often stuffed with custard or flavoured cream and sometimes garnished with toppings.
You'll find these sophisticated-looking desserts at Duc de Lorraine as well as Croissant Croissant and Hazukido.
Handmade Onigiri & Triangle Kimbap
Where: Onigiri Shop – 5600, av. Monkland
Handmade onigiri and samgak kimbap (triangle kimbap) — seaweed-wrapped fish, meat and veggies with rice — is all the rage in Montreal as evidenced by frequent lineups outside avenue Monkland's new Onigiri Shop and at Lee N Kim, a stand in McGill station. You've also probably been seeing reels, vids and pics about these tasty triangles all over your local Insta and TikTok feeds.
Montrealers are likely used to finding mass-produced versions of these products in Japanese and Korean grocery stores, but there's clearly a big appetite for ones that are fresh and made in-house — which is the case at both of these restaurants.
While Onigiri Shop makes the onigiri in front of you and plates it or packages it to-go, Lee N Kim's samgak kimbap are generally pre-packaged for easy takeout.
You can also now find fresh onigiri at Musubi MTL in Jean-Talon Market, Le NIGIRIZ in the Plateau and more.
Realistic Banana Buns
@yegcravings They look SO real 😳 steamed banana buns at T&T! There’s also banana custard inside. #yegfood #edmontonalberta #edmontontiktok #yeg #yegeats
Where: T&T Supermarket – 300, av. Sainte Croix
What could be cuter than flavoured desserts that actually look and act like the things they're modelled after? The viral banana-shaped steamed buns (labelled pains à la banane-froid in Montreal) are currently available at the local T&T for $7.99 per pack of eight. Despite resembling mini bananas and peeling like them, too, these banana breads are really cream-filled sweet treats that make for a super fun and yummy party trick.
Korean Milk Cream Donuts
Where: Gabé Cafe – 8, rue Rachel E.
You can finally get your hands on viral Korean milk cream donuts at Gabé, a new Korean café in the Plateau. Made fresh every day, these desserts are essentially gourmet donut sandwiches, packed full of smooth, airy cream in a variety of flavours, ranging from Fruit Loops to Earl Grey tea. They've been described online as "not too sweet and not too rich" with soft, chewy dough. A little taste of heaven!
Dubai Chocolate Bar
@ak_wassim Finally got my hands on the viral knafeh & pistachio chocolate bar here in Montreal! It started in Dubai and @sweet.a_s is now making it here! #dubaichocolate #dubaiviral #montreal #canada #chocolatebar #delicious
Where: Bon Bon Thé – 1175, rue Notre Dame
The Internet's latest obsession is a rich, chunky, crunchy, smooth milk chocolate bar stuffed with shredded phyllo dough and pistachio cream. Inspired by kanafeh, a traditional Palestinian dessert, this lavish treat is finally beginning to make its way to Montreal shelves by way of Dubai, and content creators are raving about it.
"That's probably one of the best chocolate bars I've ever had in my life," said Wassim Abdul Khalek in a TikTok video.
Sweet A’s Dubai chocolate bars are available at Bon Bon Thé in Laval for $12 a bar or you can contact their Instagram page to order direct.
You can also get different Montreal-based Dubai chocolate bars from NotaChocolates ($20 for a huge bar), available for pick-up and delivery via online form or at various Munchiz Exotique locations, made by Sweetfix.
Honourable Mentions
If you're into viral foods, chances are you've been seeing Café Alphabet's pink freddo matcha everywhere. Since it's a drink rather than a food and currently unavailable, it couldn't make our official list. But the café assured us via Instagram that the bright pink and green beverage would be back; they just don't have a date yet.
In the meantime, if you're seeking a beverage with pizzazz, check out La Cave à Manger's matcha or ube hot chocolate, Umami Ramen's meikaku matcha, Tropé's strawberry matcha or 2nd Gen Cafe in Brossard's matcha drinks.
You might also want to try the viral peelable mango gummies, a dupe of a Korean peeling mango candy, which are available at Walgreens (in other words: not available in Canada). But if you're a true foodie, they're probably worth the drive to Plattsburgh or Burlington.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
This article has been updated since it was originally published on March 14, 2024.
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