Japanese Street Food Takes Over Griffintown
YATAI MTL transforms Peel Basin into a four-day celebration of takoyaki, matcha, and authentic Japanese culture.
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The Peel Basin in Griffintown has become a Japanese street market for the weekend. YATAI MTL runs through Sunday with nearly 40 merchants selling everything from takoyaki and matcha to kimonos and ceramics — a rare chance to find food that's genuinely hard to source in Montreal.
Takoyaki, the octopus-filled ball-shaped snack, is the draw for many visitors. Chef Noburu Yoshida explained why it's such a rarity here: "It's very hard to make it, as you can maybe see. It takes a lot of experience to make it, practice. The ingredients are hard to access."
Kuniko Fujita, who goes by Madame Saké, was hunting for a modern denim kimono among the stalls. For her, the festival recreates the authenticity of what she experienced in Japan. "The level of all the participants is quite high, and even for Japanese it's really authentic," she said.
Reina Sako, owner of Sakao tea company, has been selling matcha in Montreal for 13 years — long before it became the trend it is now. "When I first started it, people gave me weird looks, because people didn't know what it was, it's a green powder," she said. "But now people are just crazy about Japanese culture, green tea of course, and the matcha, so it's been just great adventure."
The festival also includes workshops and activities in an indoor space at the Haleco building near the basin. Tickets require reservation for some programming.
It's the kind of weekend that reminds you why Montrealers love having the city reinvent itself every few days.