Sep Lai: Laotian delights in a bring-your-own-wine spot

Since 2022, Sep Lai has quietly established itself as one of the rare Montreal spots to put Laotian cuisine (and only Laotian!) at the heart of its offering. Opened by Natassia Marier, the restaurant takes a stance that’s still uncommon in the city: celebrating a culinary heritage too often blended into the broader “Asian” category.

Natassia is half-Laotian. Her mother grew up in Laos, her father is Québécois. Before Sep Lai, she worked at an Italian restaurant in the same neighbourhood, a world that no longer felt like hers. “I didn’t feel like working in an Italian kitchen anymore. I really wanted to open a Lao restaurant,” she shares. The budget was modest, but the drive was there, and the determination even stronger. The first few months were tough: customers were unfamiliar with this cuisine and warmed up to it slowly. The arrival of chef Line Thongvan in the kitchen changed everything for Sep Lai. She developed the recipes, trained the team, stayed for three or four years, and still comes back today to lend a hand whenever the menu evolves. “I owe everything to her,” Natassia sums up.

Sep Lai’s menu refuses easy crossovers. No pad thai, no pho: only Laotian dishes. You’ll find khao poun (the coconut milk curry soup Natassia grew up with), lap fragrant with fresh herbs, crispy nam khao, and, above all, sticky rice cooked in bamboo baskets and served with a house-made padaek sauce. “Every family has its own padaek recipe. There aren’t many places that do it like this,” she points out. Vegans aren’t forgotten either: a plant-based fish sauce made from miso, mushrooms, and seaweed stands in for the traditional version.

The space, full of warmth and light, unfolds across several small colourful rooms. On the walls, photos of the traditional skirts worn by her grandmother, mother, and aunt tell a family story. Plants and vivid hues brought back from her travels in Laos are everywhere. At the back, a roughly fifty-seat terrace, completely hidden from the street, brims with greenery and twinkling lights. “From outside, you can’t see a thing. It’s so cozy. It reminds me of my trips to Asia,” she says. A well-kept neighbourhood secret, and one to add without hesitation to the list of the city’s most beautiful terrasses.

The vibe at Sep Lai is laid-back and chill. The kind of place you go with friends to eat really well without breaking the bank, to share a bunch of dishes and crack open a nice bottle you had at home. It’s also a great pick for a date night when you want to go out without having to dress to the nines. You have a good time, you chat for hours, you feast… What more could you ask for?

Sep Lai is a bring-your-own-wine spot that deserves to be discovered! In a city where people often speak of Asian cuisines in the plural, Sep Lai is a reminder that behind every tradition there’s a singular voice. And this one is well worth listening to.

Written by Jean-Philippe Tastet
Photography by Alison Slattery

Updated on May 22, 2026

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