Tropikàl Restobar Best New Restaurants in Canada Montreal Saint-Henri

Montreal’s Tropikàl Restobar made the list of Canada’s Best New Restaurants

The Black-owned Saint-Henri establishment was named Best Trailblazer.

This year’s list of the Best New Restaurants in Canada just dropped, and its Montreal entry, under the banner Best Trailblazer, is Tropikàl Restobar. The Black-owned establishment, located in Saint-Henri, has a menu of “Caribbean meets Afro‑Latin cuisine via West Africa.”

Versatile chef Jae‑Anthony Dougan deftly delivers dishes like curried goat, grilled octopus and jerk chicken poutine.

Meanwhile, the bar side serves cocktails to complement the flavours of the cuisine, incorporating ingredients like housemade spicy apple syrup and ginger beer in rum-based drinks like la Palenque.

“There are more than a dozen Caribbean countries, and the reason they are separated is because of slavery. I’m trying to bring education to our culinary journey.”

“How many Black chefs are prevalent in Canada? When it comes to Caribbean food, there’s no knowledge, and there’s a cultural bias. These are the barriers I’m breaking right now.”

Jae‑Anthony Dougan on making the list of Canada’s Best New Restaurants

Saint-Henri’s Tropikàl Restobar made the list of Canada’s Best New Restaurants

For the full list of the 2021 Best New Restaurants in Canada, please click here. For more on Tropikàl Restobar, please visit the restaurant’s website.


For more on the Montreal restaurant scene, please visit the Food & Drink section.