AuntDai

Aunt Dai

Let the Owner's Brutally Honest Menu Guide Your Teens Through Authentic Chinese Cooking Downtown!

Cuisine AuntDai is a Chinese restaurant on Rue Saint-Mathieu, steps from the Guy-Concordia metro station. Owner Feigang Fei opened the restaurant on February 5, 2014, and named it after his friend's mother, "Aunt Dai," who taught him her recipe for bo bing, a thin Chinese pancake. The menu offers regional Chinese dishes, including Northeastern and Sichuan specialties, alongside familiar North American Chinese favourites. AuntDai drew international attention in 2021 when a customer shared Fei's candid commentary on his own menu online, and that commentary is still part of the menu today.

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When:
Open daily from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM and from 4:00 PM to 10:00 PM.

Where: 
1448 Rue Saint-Mathieu, Montréal, QC H3H 2H9
🚇 Guy-Concordia

Highlights:

• A Menu With the Owner's Own Opinions: The online version of AuntDai's menu includes a short note from the owner under each dish, sharing which dishes are his personal favourites, which are spicier than they sound, and which ones he thinks are an acquired taste. The notes can be viewed on the restaurant's website or by scanning the menu with your phone, and they make an entertaining read for teens and a practical guide for anyone unsure what to order.
  
  
• Regional Chinese Dishes: The menu includes regional dishes such as di san xian (eggplant, potatoes, and green peppers, a dish the owner describes as famous in Northeastern China), twice cooked pork, cumin beef, mapo tofu, and a Sichuan spicy pot with Sichuan peppercorns that numb the lips.
  
  
• Familiar Favourites on the Menu: Teens who prefer something familiar can choose from dishes like General Tao chicken, beef with broccoli, Yangzhou fried rice, pad thai, and sweet and sour pork ribs. A Dedicated Vegetarian Section: The vegetarian menu includes dishes such as eggplant with potatoes and green peppers, sautéed green beans, sweet and spicy fried tofu, shredded potatoes with chili and vinegar, and vegetables in garlic sauce, so families with different dietary needs can order from the same table.
  
  

Recommended Audience:
This is a good outing for parents with teens and young adults in Montreal who want to explore regional Chinese cooking in a casual downtown setting, with enough familiar dishes to suit everyone at the table.

What to Expect:
A downtown Chinese restaurant serving regional and North American Chinese dishes, with an online menu that includes the owner's own commentary.

Some things to consider during your visit:

• The Restaurant Closes in the Middle of the Afternoon: AuntDai closes daily between 3:00 PM and 4:00 PM, between lunch and dinner service.

• Some Dishes Are Very Spicy: Several dishes, including the chili beef, the fish and beef in chili oil, and the Sichuan spicy pot, are flagged on the menu as very spicy. Reading the owner's notes before you order helps your group choose dishes that match everyone's heat tolerance.

• Two Shrimp Dishes Come in Smaller Portions: The owner notes on the menu that the spicy shrimp and the salt and pepper shrimp come in smaller portions because of the cost of large shrimp.

Disclosure: Our meal at Cuisine AuntDai was hosted by the restaurant in exchange for our coverage.