FAVORITES! Japanese Food
Update August 7, 2013: This list has now been split into two separate posts. And more stuff's been added to both lists. Like maps. And more places.
1)Sushi Yasu - Japanese Food - Brossard
Their website:
1200 Boul.
Rome Local W
Brossard,
Qc J4W 3H3
Tel: (450)465-8383
Bar none, this is my absolute favorite Japanese restaurant in Montreal. It's also one of the rare Japanese places that's owned and operated by Japanese folks. I imagine that this place gets by on word of mouth. Their sign is phenomenally nondescript (I seriously spent 30 minutes looking for this place the first time I went), their website harkens back to the dawn of html coding, and service, while very courteous, can be slow. But you know what? NONE of that matters! Their sushi and Japanese curry is to kill for! Personal recommendation: Get the battered, deep fried pork chop with Japanese curry, the takoyaki (octopus), and the sliced beef tongue. Go. NOW.
2)Hakata Ramen - Japanese Noodles - Downtown Montreal
Their website:
1216 Rue Stanley, Montreal, QC H3B 2S7 Telephone: 514-759-6688
Relatively new to the downtown core (it can't have been more than a couple of years), this place has quickly become one of my go-to places for downtown eating. Flavorful bowls of ramen, and a growing variety of appetizers are fantastically tempting. Primary favorite here: The grilled eel. Oh gods, the grilled eel! It's tender and it practically melts in your mouth - my biggest and only complaint is that the eel isn't served in bigger portions :( (you know it's serious when I bust out the emoticons). It's the only thing that's served in small portions though - everything else is a nice happy size! Check out my full review here: http://mouthwateringmontreal.blogspot.ca/2013/08/hakata-ramen-japanese-noodles-and-so.html
3)Imadake - Japanese Bar and Restaurant - Downtown Montreal
Their website:
4006 St-Catherine West, Montreal, Quebec Telephone:514-931-8833
It's rare for me to go to a place more for atmosphere than for food, but here we are... That's not to say, however, that the food here isn't good - it's great, in fact. Hell, any place that wraps asparagus in bacon is okay in my books (no, seriously, you need to try this). But... Really, you come here because this is a fun, raucous place. The signature drink (as far as I'm concerned) is the saké bomb. The (actually Japanese) waitress or waiter comes up to you with a partially filled glass of Japanese beer, over which a shot of saké is suspended. And then, following a fun, loud, little ritual where the waitstaff says "I say 'saké', you say?" and you say "Bomb!" several times, you pound the table so the saké falls into the drink, and you chug away. Repeat, repeatedly. And repeat again!
4)Bistro Japonais Furusato - Downtown Montreal
Their Urbanspoon Page:
2137
rue de Bleury, Montréal, QC H3A 2K2 Telephone: (514) 849-3438
This is one of those places that seems to go out of their way to be hidden. It's in the basement of a tiny building on Bleury, their sign isn't really all that arresting, they hardly take reservations, and craziest yet, they're barely ever open. No, seriously - they're open Tuesday to Friday for lunch and supper, and Saturday for supper only. Plus, if you show up too close to closing (i.e., 90 minutes before closing) when it's packed, they'll actually tell you (in the politely Japanese way of course) that it'd just be better if you come another day.
...It's like they have a crippling fear of big-time success or something. I basically had to be introduced by a Japanese national to this bistro - she said that this was one of the few Japanese places owned and operated by Japanese folks that also does a good job of making food that tastes like home (well, home for her). I've been going back a fair bit ever since. The food is very good - especially the sushi. They're all very nice too - just, you know, barely ever around. That said, it's very much worth the jumped hoops to try it!
5)Ramen-Ya - Plateau Mont-Royal
Their website: http://www.ramen-ya.ca/
4274 St Laurent Blvd, Montreal, QC H2W 2R2 Telephone:(514) 286-3832
So, funny story (well, okay, maybe not "ha-ha" funny - more "interesting" funny). The owner of this place apparently went to Japan for a visit and fell in love with the noodles there. He came back to Montreal, was saddened by the lack of the Japanese noodles he loved so much, and so OPENED HIS OWN JAPANESE NOODLE SHOP. Now THAT is commitment, friends! Now, I don't know if that story is true or not - it's a second-hand account at best. Still though, I can believe it, because of how good the noodle soups are here. Love 'em lots! I also loooooooooove the thinly sliced bbq pork that's used as a topping on one of the ramen dishes. It's the chasu ramen - I don't know what kind of magical magic they put in it, but I LOVE IT. I'm sorry, am I repeating myself?
6)Sumo Ramen - Chinatown
Their Urbanspoon page:
1007 St Laurent Blvd, Montreal, QC H2Z 1J4 Telephone:(514) 940-3668
Is it weird to find a good Japanese place in Chinatown? Who knows? I'll leave that to the philosophers to decide. What I do know is that this little ramen place makes big, flavorful bowls of ramen noodles and does a DAMN fine job with fried chicken nuggets and takoyaki (deep-fried battered octopus, oh yessssss.... see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takoyaki for more info). I'll be honest with you - I come here for the fried chicken nuggets and takoyaki more often than I do for the ramen! (The ramen's good - I just like fried things a lot).
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Delicious! They have great prices on sushi rolls! They also have a good variety. Decent service and it's clean. This is our go to place when we are craving sushi and don't want to go to an expensive restaurant.
ReplyDeleteBummer part is that they serve canned soda therefore no refills.
best sushi in Montreal