If you’re in the market for restaurant inspiration – from coast to coast – you now have 100 options to add to your culinary bucket list. In a food and drink-filled celebration, Canada’s 100 Best Restaurants of 2023 were announced last night at a splashy affair in Toronto. The anticipated list from the annual publication is celebrated as Canada’s most accessible guide to the country’s top dining destinations, with information-packed reviews, and hot tips from food writers and culinary tastemakers across the country. The publication, led by Editor-in-Chief Jacob Richler, is a showcase of Canada’s best places to dine as selected by a team of judges, including Lauren Mozer, Franco Stalteri, Michael Smith, Mijune Pak, Élise Tastet, and Alexandra Gill.
“We had more judges on board this year than we’ve had in previous years – there were 135 judges spread out across the country, according to population,” says Richler. Each judge provides a top 10 list of their best restaurant experiences of the previous year, with some of them being outside of their region. “Any restaurant near the top needs votes from judges across the country, not just their home region,” says Richler. “They consider everything from the décor and ambience and – most importantly – the quality of food on the plate. I encourage them to be open-minded. They vote for all kinds of restaurants.”
This year’s varied list also reflects the first time the restaurants were operating as “business as usual” after the havoc wreaked upon them during the pandemic “For the first time since 2019, the restaurants they ate at were operating at full stride, firing on all cylinders, their momentum uninterrupted,” says Richler. “This list reflects that. Our new number-one restaurant Mon Lapin is helming a delicious way forward in Montreal’s gastronomy. It’s a great time to be dining out in Canada.”
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Mon Lapin offers a relaxed vibe with sophisticated French/Italian fare. “It’s very casual; extremely professional, but not the least bit stuffy,” says Richler of Mon Lapin. “It’s got wonderful joie de vivre and spontaneity on the plate, with really unique and original flavour combinations that always work. They’re classically trained in the kitchen, but also very smart and innovative.”
According to Restaurants Canada, the list is renowned for being an unbiased metric of restaurant quality in Canada and represents the consensus of the diverse, knowledgeable insights of the judges. It’s tabulated using a rigorous evaluation method and a bespoke software program. When it comes to Toronto, seven beloved restaurants made the top 10: Alo (no surprise there), Edulis, 20 Victoria, Giulia, Prime Seafood Palace, and longtime spot Canoe.
The Top 20 best restaurants in 2023 across Canada are:
- Mon Lapin (Montreal)
- Alo (Toronto)
- Published on Main (Vancouver)
- Edulis (Toronto)
- The Restaurant at Pearl Morissette (Jordan Station, ON)
- St. Lawrence (Vancouver)
- Langdon Hall (Cambridge)
- Beba (Verdun)
- AnnaLena (Vancouver)
- Kissa Tanto (Vancouver)
- 20 Victoria (Toronto)
- Bar Kismet (Halifax)
- Major Tom (Calgary)
- Giulia (Toronto)
- Pichai (Montreal)
- Monarque (Montreal)
- Prime Seafood Palace (Toronto)
- Canoe (Toronto)
- Sushi Masaki Saito (Toronto)
- Hawksworth (Vancouver)
The 2023 top best new restaurants are:
- Prime Seafood Palace (Toronto)
- Cabaret l’Enfer (Montreal)
- Portage (St. John’s)
- Wild Blue (Whistler, BC)
- Café Lunette (Halifax)
- Lupo (Banff)
- Fawn (Halifax)
- Sunnys Chinese (Toronto)
- Peacock (Halifax)
- The Royal Hotel (Picton, ON)
Three restaurants — AnnaLena and Kissa Tanto (both in Vancouver) and Beba (in Verdun, QC) — are new to the top 10 this year. Four others — led by the hard-charging 20 Victoria and 2023’s Best New Restaurant, Prime Seafood Palace — are new to the Top 20. Montreal’s Pichai was 45th last year, it is now 15th and Vancouver’s Hawksworth is up from 25th to 20th.
A total of 25 restaurants are new to the List this year, and restaurants have entered the Top 50 for the first time: 20 Victoria (Toronto), Prime Seafood Palace (Toronto), Salle Climatisée (Montreal), Gia Vin & Grill (Montreal), Cabaret l’Enfer (Montreal), Portage (St. John’s), Mott 32 (Vancouver), The Pine (Collingwood, ON), Paloma (Montreal) and Île Flottante (Montreal).
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And the awards go to…
• Best New Restaurant: Prime Seafood Palace, Toronto
• Best Sommelier: Véronique Dalle, Foxy, Montreal
• Best Pastry Chef: Kenta Takahashi, Boulevard, Vancouver
• Best Restaurant Bar: Major Tom, Calgary
• Best Destination Restaurant: Restaurant Pearl Morissette, Jordan Station, Ontario
• Best New Restaurant Design: Giannone Petricone Associates for The Royal Hotel, Picton, Ontario
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The 2023 issue also includes Canada’s 50 Best Bars – a comprehensive guide with reviews on where to sip and savour across the country – including a focus on summer patios.
The 100 Best is on newsstands and on Apple News+ starting on May 22, 2023, and available for download at canadas100best.com
