Laotian Lunch and Dinner Spot Sep Lai Opens in Pointe-Saint-Charles | Eater Montreal

"I'm looking forward to a new Laotian day-to-night restaurant opening Thursday, June 24 on Centre Street at the corner of Charlevoix (2601 Centre Street). Run by chef-owner Natassia Marier, who has transformed the former Machiavelli space, Sep Lai will dish up spring rolls and egg rolls—from fresh to fried and even mozzarella-filled—salads including a minty yum salat made with a traditional egg yolk dressing, and soups such as a spicy red curry khao poon with somen noodles and slaw and a chicken-broth wintermelon option. Open for lunch and dinner (initially Thursday to Sunday, 5–10 p.m., with lunches beginning next week), the menu branches out at night to include white fish steamed in a banana leaf, Laotian pork sausage meatballs, and maeh thuu jeow, an eggplant-and-ginger dip. The BYOB model remains, the renovated space will be more open and airy so Marier can engage with patrons from the kitchen, and new bar seating is planned for solo lunches of fragrant soups, herbaceous salads, and crisp deep-fried spring rolls. The name Sep Lai means “That was delicious!” in Lao, and Marier’s mother—who once ran a restaurant specializing in stuffed cylindrical snacks and now helps with recipe development via FaceTime—has been closely involved." - Valerie Silva