7 Best Restaurants in Lachine, Montreal

Eating out at this establishment in the St. Henri/Little Burgundy neighborhood is a little like being invited to a dinner party by a couple of friends who just happen to be top-notch chefs. Everything written on the chalkboard menu is simple, hearty, and just delicious, from the fresh oysters to the organic rib steak and the now famous lobster spaghetti. In summer, the best seat in the house is one of the 25 coveted chairs spread out on the back patio, among the beautiful patches of an organic vegetable garden. The restaurant is notorious for serving generous portions; thus an outing at Joe beef should not be attempted without stretchy eating pants!  If there's no space at Joe Beef, try booking a spot at sibling restaurant Liverpool House a few doors down at 2501 rue Notre-Dame O.

First and foremost a wine bar, this atmospheric 30-seat spot also dishes out delicious vegetable-centric, market-based cuisine. The cuisine features local and seasonal ingredients, and the flavors are simple enough to go well with the stars of the show: the many wines on offer. The homemade bread topped with mushrooms and lobster, the rotisserie whole cauliflower, or the Brussels sprouts "a la plancha" are just a few of the dishes that have become crowd favorites. End your meal with an assortment of Québec cheeses. The plates are all meant to be shared while you sip on some of the most unique wines in the city, carefully selected from wineries near and far.  Reservations are not accepted, so be sure to get a table by arriving early, when the restaurant opens at 4 pm.

The cellar of what used to be Montréal's first women's prison hardly sounds like the ideal setting for an Italian eatery, but grandma Emma's cooking hushes any bad vibes from the 1800s. Stone walls and heavy beams serve as backdrop for Roman dishes like roasted lamb, fettuccine con funghi porcini and pasta al vongole, which have all foregone fussy presentation to focus on superior fixings. Repeat customers, including Hollywood A-listers, enjoy the privacy of the secluded garden.  Reservations recommended Thursday through Saturday.

The crowd that fills this casual and lively spot nightly is hip, and the simple, modern Southern Italian comfort food and impeccable service keeps them coming back. Start your meal with the roasted cauliflower frittata or the Dungeness crab salad with confit Meyer lemon and deer carpaccio. Primis like the spinach and nettle olive leaf pasta, olives and Parmigiano broth, or the tajarin pasta with fennel-almond pesto and matane shrimps are always a great choice, and the celery root Marsala with mixed mushrooms and hazelnuts make for nice secondis. The extensive, mostly Italian and French wine list is varied and offers several by-the-glass choices.

Pick up a pastry to go at the counter or choose one of the plated desserts to enjoy on-site at Patrice Pâtissier, a beautifully designed pastry shop and lunch spot, overseen by one of Québec's most renowned pastry chefs. The almond cream with seasonal fruits is luscious and will certainly please those following a gluten-free and/or vegan diet. The chef's kouign amann (a French sugar and butter layered dessert from Brittany) is delicious, as is the maple financier—a nutty-tasting, brown butter cake.

Housed inside a stately former bank topped by a clock tower, this well-worth-the-trek restaurant uses the bank's old vault as a walk-in cellar, while the dining room features stone walls and elegant leather chairs. Main dishes are hard to predict because of the product-driven cuisine, but regularly features local and seasonal ingredients such as snow crab, Québec halibut, asparagus, and fiddleheads—but one thing that indeed does not change is the dedication and resourcefulness of the chef. The brunch menu is surprisingly creative and includes house-made beignets, jams, and spreads, and a riff on the classic pancakes, with theirs being made with apples, homemade yogurt, and maple syrup.

Bringing southeast Asia to southwest Montréal, Satay Brothers is operated by two brothers obsessed with the street food found in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Cambodia. The eclectic and oddly charming space—think red walls, illuminated Chinese lanterns, a mishmash of Asian patterns and décor—features communal seating and a long bar facing the kitchen, which fires out steamed pork buns, laksa soup, papaya salad and, of course, satays to keep the constant and lively crowd fed. If the restaurant is closed or too busy, try its original stand at nearby Atwater Market.