Sushi in Montreal

The one great thing (but not great for my wallet) about my move to downtown is obviously the convenience of going out more. And having a roommate like Marianna is good, because more often than not, she's initiating the going out. When I was still in Montreal in May and June, I tried a fair amount of different restaurants; Rue St-Marc, which is just two blocks from my apartment, is actually home to some great finds: Alpenhaus, Soup and Noodles, and Kalinka. Marianna, who is Russian, kindly guided me through Kalinka, and she obviously got on the owner/waitress' good side by being able to speak Russian :) It's pretty expensive for what you get, but the food was good and they have live music come in every once in a while.

Anyway, Marianna was always itching for sushi (which I always welcomed, seeing how at home my family goes out for sushi pretty much every week), so we went to our share of sushi joints over the two months. Overall, I found that the variety of nigiri sushi was not as good, but they definitely have a lot of different kinds of rolls!


Kanda
Damao
Miso
Kaizen


Kanda
Ask any student where to get sushi in downtown Montreal and Kanda will definitely be one of the answers. Located on Bishop, this restaurant is well-known for its all-you-can-eat menu, but there is an à la carte menu that features "bigger" dishes and noodle dishes also (although I haven't tried it). The first time I went I found that the nigiris are generally smaller than other sushi places I've been to, and as I said, the selection is fairly limited. They do have some really good rolls--Marianna always likes the kamikaze (which seems to be a mainstay in Montreal sushi places), and I think the dragon eye (so named because the asparagus in the middle resembles the iris of an eye) is pretty good. They also have this thing called a "sushi pizza" that they always promote as a chef's recommendation, but everyone I've ever talked to about it says to steer clear from it. So I haven't tried it.

A couple days before I left I also had the opportunity to go to their Queen Mary location (they just opened a new restaurant in Pointe-Claire as well). They have a wider selection of sashimi, but less variety of rolls (if I remember correctly). Nothing to really write home about in terms of quality, but I guess you can't expect very much from all-you-can-eat...

Kanda
2045 Rue Bishop, Montreal QC
514-845-8868
5240 Chemin Queen-Mary, Montreal QC
514-483-6388
987 Boulevard St-Jean, Pointe-Claire QC
514-428-8989



Damao
Damao is a clean, modern looking sushi place that is open late for your late night sushi fix. In this list, it is another "cheap" sushi choice, but unfortunately there is no all-you-can-eat menu. Damao also has a Chinese food menu, but be warned that your hot food will take much longer than the sushi. Damao offers lots of combos, making ordering easy, and they also have some special rolls. They also have "brown rice" sushi combos, but when I ordered it there was nothing special. Marianna highly recommends the avocado milkshake, which comes sweetened and unsweetened.

INCIDENT: One evening I went to Damao with a bunch of friends before heading to The Killers concert. Three of us shared one of the bigger sushi combos (something like 30 pieces) and our other friend got some sort of chicken dish. Of course, the chicken dish took a really long time and there was actually a bit of an incident at the table next to us. The lady had ordered a spicy chicken dish but the chicken was not spicy. So she started spicing up the dish and eating it when the waiter came by her table again with the spicy chicken dish. Then both of our tables came to the realization that the first chicken dish was supposed to be my friend's. We tried to explain this to the waiter who had trouble understanding English (Damao is owned by a Cantonese-speaking family, while this particular waiter spoke Mandarin), and then he gave the dish that had been eaten by the lady to my friend! To make matters more inconvenient, my friend just started eating it because he was hungry and by this time we were going to be late for the show! The table next to us didn't approve of this at all and started telling the waiter that that wasn't right, that she'd already eaten some of the dish, and all the waiter could say was "Oh, that's too bad." (Presumably because he didn't fully understand the situation, not because he's heartless.) Fortunately, at the end of the meal I explained the situation in Cantonese to the owner and his meal was free.

All in all, I don't think the service at Damao is bad per se, but your best bet is to just order sushi, as the sushi bar/cold foods section is usually run by the owner and an assistant so if anything's messed up, it'll probably be dealt with more efficiently.

Damao
1639 Ste-Catherine O, Montreal QC (Corner of Pierce, a block from Guy)
514-931-9888


Miso
Moving from the "cheap" sushi places, Miso is a more upscale affair, and aside from sushi, it also offers breakfast and "fusion cuisine". Unlike many Montreal sushi restaurants, Miso has a greater selection in terms of nigiri. (Looking at menus at the others, I've always made a mental note that my brother would be disappointed that there is no amaebi at most places.) Unfortunately, most of it is freakin' expensive, at around $5 - $6 a piece. Miso also has a swanky Internet ordering system where you can get your sushi picked up or delivered. Unfortunately, when we did it it took a ridiculously long time and we even had to call the restaurant to make sure they got our order (it was really busy that night though, and once we put the call in the order finally got "confirmed".) To be honest this review is probably completely useless because I didn't actually go to the restaurant itself, I just did that order-out thing that one time. Marianna went with her grandparents though, and said that she hadn't eaten so much food in her life (implying that it was good, and that she didn't foot the bill).

Miso
4000 Ste-Catherine O, Montreal QC (Corner of Atwater)
514-908-MISO



Kaizen
Located on the edge of Westmount, Kaizen is freakin' expensive. However, Marianna and I wanted sushi, and we also wanted to sit outside. Since Kaizen has a patio with fancy patio furniture (like those big wooden chairs with the cushions), we decided to splurge and dragged Ezra along... besides, we weren't going to order much anyway, right? The menu was pretty tempting though, they even have an omakase (tasting) menu. We opted for a big sushi platter (they have a choice between "sushi virgin" and "sushi phile" platters of different sizes), and then ordered some random things on the side (tempura, oysters, the like). We didn't get to try the "lambas" though, which are riceless maki that looked a lot like Vietnamese salad rolls. We did, however, order a bottle of sake; we were originally going for a half-bottle, but the waitress misheard us and gave us the whole thing. It was the second cheapest kind of sake, but still it definitely compounded the cost. When the bill came, with tax and tip we owed $57 each! However, stepping into the restaurant to visit their bathroom before I left, I realized part of the reason why. The decor is insane! Dramatic red walls, dim lighting, fancy art on the wall... were there leather booths? Everything about the restaurant, from the menu, decor, food, and service was just shouting "I'm an upscale restaurant!" So although I did regret spending so much money on sushi, I suppose I can say I know where the money was going. As upscale as they are, however, they still do delivery, and yes, they have a swanky online ordering system (with pictures!) as well.

Kaizen
4075 Ste-Catherine O, Westmount QC
514-70-SUSHI