The best rooftop bars in Montreal

Climb the tiled staircase at 1071 Saint-Laurent, cross the second floor, then one more flight to reach the roof: **Canada's Best Patio**, crowned by Canada's 100 Best in 2023. Opened in July 2019 by the trio Hugo Jacques, Jeremiah Bullied and Francis B. Melançon, Poincaré takes its name from the mathematician Henri Poincaré and wears its status as Chinatown's free radical on its sleeve.

The team wrestled their terrasse permit through an epic paperwork saga in 2021. Up top, rounded balustrades echo the arches of the heritage building across the street, chili plants and hop vines climb the trellises, and a small garden grows between the wooden tables. An unexpected perk of the height: gravity-fed draft lines that pour Les Grands Bois's Kölsch the traditional Cologne way, your cylindrical glass refilling continuously until you cap it with your coaster.

Ten rotating taps, including rare pours on LUKR and an English Bitter on hand-pump, cult Quebec brews like Gaspésie's Auval, a sharp natural wine list and cocktails built on artisanal spirits, from the *Baijiu Caipirinha* (a Cantonese nod to the neighbourhood) to the carrot gin and tonic.

In the kitchen, **Jeremiah Bullied** holds an eco-conscious line centred on fermentation: lacto-fermented fries cured with cabbage for five to seven days (the house signature), house sauerkraut, Jerusalem artichoke, beet, sourdough bread, devilled eggs, kimchi and house-canned mackerel. 80 seats, no reservations for the rooftop: first come, first served.