Doboy: A Classic Casse-Croûte in Chinatown
Montreal’s Chinatown has never been short on great places to eat—but until recently, it may have been missing a proper snack bar. That gap has now been filled with Doboy, a tiny counter tucked inside the Place du Quartier shopping mall, open since mid-January. It’s a surprising addition to a neighborhood best known for its dim sum and lacquered ducks, but one that’s already making waves with its take on classic Québec casse-croûte fare.
Behind the project is the team from Dobe & Andy and Buboy (Eric Ku, Webster Galman and Eric Lozaro Magno), three chefs who have already reshaped the neighborhood’s culinary landscape with their Cantonese diner and Filipino street-food counter. Both restaurants are located in the same mall, just a few steps from their newest venture. The name Doboy, a nod to its older siblings Dobe and Buboy, sets the tone: a laid-back, unpretentious project designed for locals and regulars in the area.
The menu is short but well executed. Steamed hot dogs, toasted dogs, Michigans, hand-cut fries and poutine—the classics of Québec snack-bar culture are all here. In short, everything you could want after a festive night out.
Where Doboy really stands out, though, is in the details. The poutine gravy is made using duck fat from Dobe & Andy (!), giving it a subtle hint of Chinese five-spice. The result is rich, fragrant and frankly irresistible—probably one of the best gravies in the city right now, no joke. As for the hot dogs, the steamed version comes topped with daikon, a small nod to Asian cuisine that fits surprisingly well. These touches are subtle, but they make all the difference. And this is only the beginning: the team plans to gradually introduce more Asian influences to the menu as the project evolves.
Doboy might just become the perfect bridge between the tradition of the Québec casse-croûte and the flavors of Chinatown—an unexpected combination that turns out to be remarkably delicious.
The space itself is tiny: just a few seats (four, to be exact), a counter, and that’s it. No spectacle, no polished décor—just an efficient snack bar that smells like frying oil and comfort. The spirit recalls the neighborhood diners many of us grew up with, the kind that are becoming increasingly rare in Montreal. In fact, it’s precisely that disappearance that inspired the trio to launch the project.
Doboy is a small, vintage-style snack bar that taps into a sense of nostalgia, with that little je ne sais quoi that already makes us want to come back (especially for the poutine!). Bon appétit!
Written by Jean-Philippe Tastet
Photography by Alison Slattery
