Chez Suzette began, improbably, as a clothing shop. In 1996, after twenty years of selling clothes on rue Saint-Paul in Vieux-Montréal, Jean-Guy Daneau and his wife Sonja Remy decided to turn the boutique into a crêperie. The Crêperie du Vieux-Montréal, as it was then called, had just twenty seats, and it was permanently full — there were queues on the pavement, and the new restaurateurs found themselves rather overwhelmed by their own success. Two expansions followed, adding thirty-eight places and then another seventy-two, and the house now seats 130. The mission has stayed the same throughout: to share a tradition through good products and friendly service, in a warm and casual room where guests feel at home.
The savoury crêpes are the heart of the menu, and they are treated as proper main courses. The Québécoise is stuffed simply with ham and Swiss cheese ($17.99); the Montréalaise adds a béchamel; the Laurentienne brings fresh asparagus; the Charlevoix folds in ham, brie and spinach. La Cabane à Sucre and La Spéciale Délice work scrambled eggs, ham and bacon into breakfast territory, while the Suprême de Poulet arrives with a parmesan béchamel and red peppers. Vegetarians are properly served — La Traditionnelle with goat cheese, honey and almonds, La Parisienne with brie and fresh apple, the Argenteuil with asparagus and pine nuts gratinéed, La Végé with spinach, mushroom and mozzarella — and the crêpe aux crevettes, filled with nordic shrimp under a baked lobster sauce, is the indulgent one at $29.99. A gluten-free crêpe is available throughout for $2.50 more.
Around them sits a full bistro carte. Starters run from soup of the day and baked French onion soup to lobster bisque with cognac, burrata di bufala, vegetable gratin, bruschetta, escargots in garlic butter and garlic bread; there are meal salads including a smoked salmon, a goat cheese with caramelised pecans and cranberries, and a spring salad of spinach, melon, strawberry, apple and pecan. Until five in the afternoon the sandwich list is open — chicken pesto with mozzarella, ham with brie and fresh apples, a club, a caprese, and a Montreal bagel with smoked salmon — each served with a garden salad, and there's a brie and leek quiche alongside. Fondue is the other house speciality: Swiss cheese fondue with white wine and kirsch or with tex-mex spices ($29.99), Chinese fondues of thinly sliced beef, chicken or both, cooked at the table in beef broth with vegetables and sauces, and chocolate fondue for one or two. The Trio for Two at $99 threads all three together, from cheese fondue or onion soup through the meat course to chocolate fondue or crêpes Suzette.
Pudding, unsurprisingly, is where the kitchen has the most fun. Beyond the plain maple syrup crêpe ($10.99) and its cousins in sucre à la crème, dark chocolate and Nutella, there are elaborate constructions: La Cheesecake with fresh strawberry, Nutella and Graham; La Jamaïcaine with banana, dark chocolate and ice cream; La Symphonie of fresh fruit; La Rougemont with apple, cinnamon and almonds; crêpes Suzette flamed with orange, Grand Marnier and cognac; and versions built on Oreo, s'mores, tiramisu, and a Dubai chocolate crêpe of pistachio paste and dark chocolate. Children under eight get their own list, savoury and sweet.
The drinks are generous too. The coffee menu offers everything from espresso to a Viennese with whipped cream and chocolate, in cup or in bowl, with almond and oat milk available. From the bar come Quebec beers, sangria in red, white, rosé or blue by the glass or pitcher, alcoholic coffees, hot-or-cold cocktails that double as milkshakes, frozen daiquiris and coladas, smoothies and milkshakes, a short well-chosen wine list with Quebec bottles among the French, Italian and Canadian, and — a nice local touch — a whole cider section running from warm honeyed cider and the rum-spiced Cidre du Capitaine to Kir Breton, still and sparkling Quebec ciders, and non-alcoholic apple must. Thirty years on from the last dress sold on rue Saint-Paul, Chez Suzette is a Vieux-Montréal institution built entirely on a very thin pancake.