MONTREAL: Souvenirs de Bangkok

I was recently in Montreal for the annual Dietitians of Canada conference. It was an excellent opportunity to gain knowledge to help refine my practice, and to network with dietitians from all across the country and hear their stories. (It's nice to not feel alone!) Of course, Montreal is also home of my alma mater, which meant I got to reconnect with some old friends and revisit some old haunts.

Souvenirs de Bangkok is only three blocks away from my old apartment and it had a few good things going for it - it was a BYOW and one of my Thai friends had said the food was pretty good. Strangely, however, whenever I walked by it it always seemed to be closed! So I was quite surprised, as I was browsing around the Google Maps app on my Hero in hopes of finding a place to go for supper, to see that it was open. So I went with my friend and hostess for the weekend, my former roommate Jessica.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that everything on the menu was quite inexpensive (that's what I get for living in expensive Calgary!) There were table d'hôte menus featuring Tom Yum Soup, spring rolls and some Chinese-sounding main dishes, so Jess and I opted to order separate entrées instead. The menu seems long, but it's really the same dishes (red curry, green curry, stir-fry with crispy spinach, peanut sauce, etc.) with different "proteins" (beef, chicken, shrimp, seafood, etc.)

Jessica ordered the Chicken Green Curry, while I ordered the Vegetarian Red Curry ($8.95), which I later found out had minimal protein (Tofu was an extra $1.50, but there was also another tofu section in the menu). Both dishes were very fragrant, containing ample amounts of Thai basil and coconut milk, and were not spicy at all (which some may find disappointing). I loved the variety of vegetables in my dish, though I was jealous of the bamboo shoots in Jessica's green curry. Both dishes were also very soupy, and the small bowl of rice we each received with our curries were certainly not enough for lapping up all the sauce.

Since dinner was so cheap, we both opted to order dessert. I had the Caramelized Banana with Coconut Milk ($2.75), which looks a lot worse than it tastes...


The banana was warm and topped with crunchy peanuts. The coconut milk that served as its sauce was sweet and warm, filled with sesame seeds and little bits of caramel from the banana. It was an indulgent dessert without being too heavy.


Jessica ordered the deep-fried pineapple with vanilla ice cream. I didn't have a taste, but it looked like the pineapple rings were surrounded by a crisp, hot crust; a perfect foil to the cool ice cream.

Overall, the service was friendly and efficient, though they did forget about us when we asked for the dessert menu! All in all, I was happy to finally discover this little hole in the wall, and perhaps next time I'm in Montreal I'll try to catch it open again!

Souvenirs de Bangkok
1925 Rue Ste-Catherine O
Montreal QC H3H 1M3
(514) 938-2235
Open Mon-Fri 11 AM-10 PM. Sat 5 PM-10 PM. Closed Sundays.