It is never easy to find delicious and satisfying meals at a restaurant when you are a vegetarian. Usually there is no choice but to order a salad or some kind of plain pasta. Not many chefs know how to make really good vegetarian food; so finding an amazing vegetarian restaurant is like striking gold! This resource guide is dedicated to helping vegetarians, vegans and healthy eaters track down the best vegetarian and vegan restaurants in Montreal.
1. Aux Vivres
4631 boulevard Saint-Laurent
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
(514) 842-3479
http://www.auxvivres.com/en/home/
This is one of Montreal's most well-known vegan restaurants. All of their food is vegan and organic when possible. They are open for lunch and dinner every day of the week and for brunch on the weekends. They offer delicious vegan sandwiches, salads, vegetable bowls, burgers, juices and smoothies. They even have amazing desserts that you would never believe are vegan! Their express menu and juice bar make it a great place to grab a quick meal on your lunch break, but if you prefer to sit with a menu that is possible as well! Some of the best items on their menu include the Dragon Bowl with shredded beet, carrot, daikon, lettuce, sprouts, red cabbage, dulse, toasted sesame seeds, dragon sauce and grilled tofu, the Cold Plate with veggie paté, veggie lox, tofu cream, hummus and olive tapenade with bread, and finally the Vege Pate sandwich with veggie paté, mayo, tomato, lettuce and pickle. The prices are in the medium range.
2. Chu Chai
4088 rue St Denis (at Duluth)
Montreal Quebec
514-843-4194
Chu Chai is a vegetarian Chai restaurant with meat alternatives that will make you think that you are eating the real thing! This is a restaurant that will satisfy even the most avid of meat eaters. The prices are a little on the higher-end of the scale, but the atmosphere in the restaurant is really nice and is a great place to bring a date. They have a vegetarian "duck" that is amazingly delicious, great Pad Thai and their vegetarian "beef" could fool a carnivore!
3. The Green Panther
2153 MacKay Street
Montreal Quebec
514-903-4744
The Green Panther (or Le Panthere Verte) is a casual and inexpensive vegan restaurant. They are open for lunch and dinner during the week, and for lunch on Saturdays. They are famous for their falafel. Their traditional falafel dish includes five falafels, cabbage, carrots, pickles, sauekraut, sprouts and tahini. They also have delicious smoothies. The Funky Monkey is a must-try with mango, banana, coconut milk and agave nectar. This is a great place for students to eat at because the prices are very reasonable and the food is still so healthy.
4. Le Commensal
1204 McGill College Street
Montreal Quebec
514-871-1480
Le Commensal is a vegetarian buffet-style restaurant. They offer salads, soups, pasta, tofu and more. They have a hot buffet and a cold salad buffet. The plates are charged based on weight so you can choose exactly what you like. The prices are in the medium range. They even have a dessert bar filled with the many vegetarian desserts that made Le Commensal famous in the first place. The date squares are a definite must try. The restaurant also creates pre-made vegetarian foods that are sold in supermarkets and of course at the restaurant.
5. Crudessence
2157 Mackay Street
Montreal Quebec H3G 2J2
514-664-5188
http://www.crudessence.com/en/
Crudessence is a vegan, organic, predominately raw and gluten-free restaurant. They are dedicated to not only to promoting healthy living, but healthy lifestyles as well. They are open for lunch and dinner and they offer a varied menu with Italian, Japanese and even Mexican style food. They also have a juice bar and desserts. Their menu features surprisingly good sushi rolls, an always fresh raw soup of the day, delicious sandwiches and wraps and great lasagna. Their prices are on the higher side, but are still very reasonable for the fresh, organic quality that you are receiving.
Veggie.ca is a resource guide for Canadian vegetarians. Its main focus is health and nutrition, but they do have a section on animal rights and environmental concerns and some links to more information on the topics. The website is still under construction, so there are areas that are not complete, but it seems to have great potential. Links on the side of the homepage allow visitors to click on their province of choice and they are then shown all of the vegetarian restaurants and shops that they have in their database. The list is not extensive, but it can still be useful. They have a page full of vegetarian recipes and the option to send in recipes of your own, which is really nice. The section on nutrition features general vegetarian information and more specific information for women, athletes, pregnant women and more.
The website is perfect for Canadian vegetarians. Further resources include:
- A complete list of vitamins that people need and what vegetarians can eat in order to meet all of their nutritional requirements
- A list of nutrition articles
- A library of free vegetarian recipes
- A Canadian-specific search engine - A list of Canadian vegetarian resources and organizations
- A list of recommended books
- Animal rights information
- An up and coming message board and glossary
Check out http://www.veggie.ca/index.html for all the VIP info just for Canadians!
Peta has always been a leader in promoting vegetarian and vegan diets. The vegetarian 101 section of their website is extremely detailed and contains plenty of information on every aspect of vegetarian diets. While many sites dedicated to vegetarian diets use health benefits to motivate people, Peta is one of the few that uses animal welfare information to motivate people into adopting a meat-free diet. They even have a really cool calculator where vegetarians can punch in how many years they have followed a meat-free diet and they are then informed of how many animals they have saved during that time! Peta offers great shopping guides for tracking down all types of vegetarian and vegan products, an extensive section of free vegetarian recipes, the option to order a free vegetarian starter kit and much more. This site is a great resource for vegetarians and vegans because the list of recipes is amazing, and new vegetarians, or those thinking of becoming vegetarians, can inform themselves of absolutely everything that they need to know. The site includes the following amazing tools and resources:
- Comment sections at the end of each page so that vegetarians can trade tips and motivate each other
- The option to sign up for weekly recipes
- An extensive, free database of vegetarian and vegan recipes that include everything from holiday dinners, to drinks, to desserts and more
- A Vegan baking cheat sheet, where all measurements can be calculated into animal friendly alternatives
- The option to sign a pledge to become a vegan for 30 days
- A vegetarian friendly restaurant search powered by the website HappyCow
- The option to donate to Peta and their many great causes
Check out http://www.peta.org/living/vegetarian-living/vegetarian-101.aspx for all the info!
The Savy Vegetarian is dedicated to organic and vegetarian cooking, recipes and shopping. Even though the focus of this website is cooking and recipes they also include health and lifestyle information for vegetarians and non-vegetarians alike. For instance in their huge database of articles, really interesting topics can be found, such as cooking vegetarian for guests, sticking to your vegetarian diet when your partner is a meat-eater, being a pregnant vegetarian when your mother in law does not agree, and being vegetarian when the rest of your family is not. You can sign up for weekly articles full of recipes and other vegetarian lifestyle tips.
This is an ideal resource for anyone who wants to live a healthy lifestyle. They offer great tips and information including:
- Links to cooking, health and vegetarian news blogs
- Vegetarian cookbooks and articles
- Menus including holiday menus, kid friendly menus and summer menus
- Lots of vegetarian social and lifestyle articles (which is not common on vegetarian websites)
- A variety of vegetarian cooking questions and answers
- Links to related information about living green, holistic medicine and non-GMO's
http://www.savvyvegetarian.com/index.php has all of the vegetarian cooking tips and recipes that you need!
Image by Denis Colette on Flickr.
The Vegetarian Resource Group is the ultimate guide to vegetarian and vegan diets. It includes recipes, health guides, an FAQ section, information about vegetarian restaurants, and even sections devoted to teens, athletes who want to follow a vegetarian diet. It is a non-profit organization that works to promote awareness of vegetarian and vegan diets. In the special section devoted to family and kids, there are essay contests, information about baking a vegan birthday cake, and information about raising a vegetarian family. There is a really detailed page for vegetarian business owners that gives all kinds of facts and figures related to opening a vegetarian business, including population statistics, the money that meat and dairy alternative companies make on a an annual basis and even statistics on how many people order meatless meals at restaurants. This website is perfect for anyone who is thinking of becoming a vegetarian, people who currently follow a vegetarian diet, parents who want to get their kids or teens to follow a vegetarian diet and anyone looking to open any type of vegetarian business.
This site includes many resources for vegetarians and vegans including the following:
- Informative articles that cover everything from meal plans to a vegan fast food guide
- The option to join the Vegetarian Resource Group and gain access to monthly journals and great vegetarian books
- An FAQ page that answers all possible questions related to vegetarian and vegan diets
- A vegetarian restaurant search engine that covers the USA and Canada
- The option to donate to the Vegetarian Resource Group to help promote the awareness of vegetarian diets through their journals and books
- User-friendly access to polls and statistics for all kinds of vegetarian facts and figures. Readers can participate in polls themselves through the site
- All kinds of health information about every aspect of vegetarian and vegan diets
To examine all of these great resources yourself visit:
