Fondue Haidilao, Montreal

Haidilao 海底捞 is a famous Chinese hot pot chain present on several continents. In Canada, you will find several Haidilao in Ontario and British Columbia. This one in Montreal  opened earlier in 2024. And “Fondue” is French for hot pot (hence the mention of “Fondue” in their name, here in Montreal).  Founded in Jianyang (Sichuan province) in 1994, it’s apparently the world’s largest hot pot chain.

The broths I ordered:

-The tomato broth  (Clockwise, it is the lil guy in the top left corner in the picture above) is very popular, according to the relevant online accounts as well as what the waitstaff told me. And indeed, it was a very enjoyable broth and one which popularity I can dig: nice expressive fresh tomato flavour, using quality tomatoes. The seasoning well judged. The pieces of tomatoes that were in the broth not falling apart, which shows how they care for important details that make a broth better (I was, one day, at another hot pot place and the same tomato broth had its pieces of tomato that were falling apart and I was like “”damn…omg…those folks are brutal, Lol. Zero care. But here, at Haidilao it is 100% caring for the little details that makes the experience of the broth really top. Haidilao is a classy place offering a refined hot pot experience , therefore they would have not  missed details like these, as expected).

 

–Spicy Beef Tallow Soup Base – Well the SBT soup base, my friends, I know what to tell you about it, but there are things I will also not tell you: I will not give you my opinion about this broth as it would be meaningless to you (whether I liked it or not will make no difference for you, as you are not …me,  obviously…). All I can tell you is that, in life, you need to try the authentic stuff as well (which this broth is all about) and not just opting for what is easy to love (I am directing this statement to non Chinese palates). You are at a Chinese hot pot, therefore be consistent and try, on top of the other broths (you can pick many broths, anyways) a genuinely Chinese broth. I know this broth and I know what to think about it, and I purposely ordered it for the sake of this review and for the sake of respecting the tradition of the hot pot place I was dining at. Encouraging you to try it, which is what I am doing, is all I care about as it is important to experience with what’s proper to the place that you are dining at. The genuine flavour profile was there, the broth really well executed (as spicy as advertised, and yet never allowing the spiciness to kill its core flavour profile, which is exactly what you are looking for in a well executed broth) so when you will get to taste it, you will know how it should genuinely taste like. At what it is, at what it’s supposed to be, they did a great job.

 

–Thai Tom Yum Hot Pot. I was at a Chinese restaurant, not a Thai restaurant, therefore, naturally, and lucidly, I was not going to expect Haidilao to pull off the same kind of  Tom Yum flavour I would expect from a Thai restaurant. What mattered here is that the core Tom Yum Thai flavour profile was still respected and it was a lovely broth (with, at the fore, the expected nice fresh core aromas of what Tom Yum are packed with,  such as the appealing fragrance of  fresh lemongrass ) that I would order again when I go back to Haidilao Montreal. And between you and me, I know some Thai places in Montreal that do not even get their Tom Yum base this right. I enjoyed dipping some of the meat in both the tomato broth and the Thai Tom Yum broth (but of course, do not mix both broths together…that will  not be the idea of the century. Just dip the meat in one broth, then dip it again in the other broth).

The meat:

Marinated beef meat. I tried this …………knowing …….exactly …..what was going to happen…… – On a grill (for eg, at a Yakiniku or Kbbq spot), this would have been a HIT.  As a hot pot, Nah, not at all, nowhere near. I perfectly understand what Haidilao was doing here (the marinade is superb), BUT…………yeah, it’s superb for BBQ, not that ….superb…for hot pot. Well, at least, from my standpoint……………………………..;p as it’s popular (so I may be in the minority here. Try it and see for yourself. Taste is always subjective, as always ………….).

 

Beef oyster blade — Advertised as being crisp and tender and that was accurate. It’s one of the most popular choices of meat at hot pots, and for good reasons, therefore no need to go on and on with the obvious. It’s like a popular hot chick…do you need a PHD in human behavior psychology to understand why she is popular? No! Lol. So, same thing here. The Beef oyster blade is a hot pick.

 

AAA Boneless Beef Ribs. Advertised as “Rich, marbled and tender beef”. Well, that was not just a tease but a reality as well.  Another popular protein at hot pot restaurants. Another hot pick, which slogan already has all you need to know about it.

As always, Haidilao was a charm. BTW, I know I was succint in some of the food item descriptions, but if you are really interested to learn more about the menu items of Haiilao, then you will be happy to learn that on their web site, they have detailed information about their food items (even suggesting what to pair with your broths, etc). Take advantage of that, as few restaurants in the world have such an informative online presence.

 

Bottom line: I tried Haidilao once in the past and that was in Toronto. Somehow, I preferred the one of Toronto, but there’s no denying that Haidilao Montreal is really good and yep, easily one of the very best hot pot places in Montreal (and that is what matters, here). The place is new, clean, service is  superb, the sourcing of the ingredients is great and the broths are well prepared. I hope they do well and thrive in Montreal as they deserve that (they work so well). Haidilao is classy but relaxed, which is great. It seems like, in Montreal, the chains are doing way better than plenty of solo operations, these days………….a reminder that in life….nothing is set in concrete………..hahaha…………..

Fuchun Soupe Dumpling, Montreal

 Fuchun first opened in 1995 in Shanghai (Soup Dumplings seem to have originated in 19th century Shanghai) and did well (at some point, according to one serious online account from Shanghai, Fu Chun Xiaolong  was even topping the charts of  Shanghai’s Jing’an District food scene, an important part of Shanghai) , there, so much so that they have expanded to Macau (2019), Tokyo (2020) then Montreal (in 2021).

 

Before I start my food report, just the usual relevant reality check: As usual, when I eat ethnic food outside of its country of origin, I use a very practical “spice” called …. common sense: food cannot and will not always taste exactly the same, especially when the country of origin is situated oceans and continents away from the country where that same food is cooked. Different soil, different water, different “terroir”, different palates to please. Cannot always be the same. Will not always  be the same!  You should always use that common sense  if you want to avoid delusions, trust yourself on that one, Lol. And always remember that a restaurant has a clientele to serve, obviously lol and …NOT our fantasies: for sure, most Chinese food in most North American cities will be…guess what…Americanized, obviously. So expect that. That said, there are still Chinese eateries in North America that do their best to be as genuine as it can be oceans and continents away from where it all started.

It is not easy to recommend a Chinese restaurant in Montreal, for so many reasons: first, if your knowledge of Chinese food is limited to fried rice, dim sum, chow mein, general tao  or other American Chinese dishes such as Beef and broccoli … OMG…please…please..Rfaol…well, you do not need me and I do not want to discuss Chinese food with you, Lol. For obvious reasons. Then, I find that too many people are not realistic enough (hence the previous paragraph). So, yeah, I hate it when people ask me to recommend Chinese food in Montreal as they always end up looking for the aforementioned dishes or confusing the Montreal Chinese restaurant scene with something else. Well, just keep in mind that Chinese food is a universe of food items that is as vast as China. Anyways……………………….

…Anyways, I’m seizing the opportunity of this review to  share with you  some of my current favourite /go-to Chinese eateries on Montreal: (1) Restaurant Chinatown Kim Fung for my fix of dim sum in Montreal. I did review it here, at some point. Listen, the dim sum of your dreams does not exist in Montreal. Point blank. As simple as that. And the KF in Brossard is a tad better. But this joint is always packed to the brim, so my guess is that their weak rating on google is justified by the babies who spend their time  crying when it comes to rating this joint on Google and yet, behind closed doors, they are very happy to eat there. You know…the same theme as the the theme of “the mistress” (she is not great looking enough to parade with, no one talks about her, but everyone look for her when they need real fun. So, just ordinary / casual human hypocrisy… (2)Nouilles de Lan Zhou – Well, this one leaves no room for hypocrisy, Lol. They are praised for what they do, and for a good reason. At whatever they are doing, Nouilles de Lan Zhou stands out in Montreal. If you expect better, then man up and go find it where it should be, but in YUL, NLZ is one of the better examples in  its category. (3)Kanbai. Kanbai, which I reviewed here had, at some point, two offshoots. One in Chinatown, which I found just Ok/nothing more. And another one that was near Guy Concordia (that one, as I explained in this review, was superb). (4)Keung Kee. KK is my dope. As explained elsewhere on this blog, I come from very humble background, so I do not care about looks, elegance, fancy stuff…all that crap. Which means I just go for soul satisfaction. That is it. Nothing else. As an eg, in NYC, I love Lechonera La Piraña…as explained here….but how can you recommend Lechonera La Piraña ? How? It’s such a laidback spot that connects with you or not …on a personal level, so you just need to go there and find out for yourself, Lol. Same logic for KK: I will not go out of my way to  recommend KK to you, Nah, I can’t do that, and I will not, but she is my “mistress”, she delivers joy/fun to my soul  and that’s all that matters to me. Just remember that you are not … me, Lol. Thank you. (5) Yin Ji Chang Fen and  (6) J’ai Feng  .

…As well as the latest updated  short list of Chinese eateries in Montreal that did not impress me (that one is fortunately short, thanks God!) : aunt dai, restaurant vip ,

Ok. Now the food report:

Pork soup dumplings – the taste was classic (nothing funky/extraneous) as expected, which is my preference (I do not mind the modern renditions of soup dumplings but I prefer the classic soup dumplings), with a tender meaty filling and a full-flavoured broth (a time-tested broth, obviously). These were a bit less “brothy” than their peers in town, therefore less messy. They were timely steamed. The skin is thicker than the skin of your other types of dumplings, which is a characteristic of soup dumplings (soup dumplings are, by design, thicker than, say, jiaozi, but then the Shanghainese dumplings are typically not as thin as, say, the ones of Hong-Kong) and yet still thin enough to allow the required proper /perfect/delicate sensation that it seems to dissolve as you bite, with the expected soft and fluffy texture (superb finesse in that texture, btw) in evidence. The authentic superb bold Porky meaty flavour that I was tasting is a taste that is not common under the roof of their competitors in Montreal. Easily some of the finest dumplings in Montreal. 8/10

 Spring rolls (vegetables and pork) – Spring rolls are the kind of food items that people tend to generally not assess properly (they either inaccurately assess most spring rolls as identical, then when they stumble upon one that is particularly fancy they will tell you that it is superior, Lol). I insist on what I just wrote, because the Spring rolls I was having, here, are exactly the sort of Spring rolls that many will confuse with your standard average Spring rolls in Montreal, but that would be as inaccurate as confusing a hill with a mountain. As it is typical of Shanghai-style spring rolls, these had cabbage in them among other classic stuffings (mushrooms, pork, etc). They had a genuinely Chinese flavour profile that, here, in Montreal, is missing in action at plenty of Chinese eateries. On top of the superb taste and the fact that it tasted more “Asian from Asia” than “Americanized Chinese”, there were plenty of other qualities to admire as well: freshly cooked, impeccable frying, flawless homemade wrapper, timely served, superb taste. These, to a properly educated palate and an eye for details were superior to most of the spring rolls you will get in Montreal. You just need to know the difference. 8/10

 

 Shanghai Style Soy Sauce Noodle, to which I did add some extra sesame and peanut butter paste (I strongly recommend that “extra”). Just don’t mix everything (the noodles, the extra sesame and peanut butter paste) at once from the get-go as I do not think that would be a good idea. Instead, eat a bit of the noodles without anything else (they are already great by themselves). Then try a bit of the noodles with the extra peanut butter paste and see how that fares to you. The noodles were tasty, the peanut butter paste equally delicious, the noodles timely cooked, the seasoning and sesame flavour well judged, the noodles responding really well to the beautifully controlled umami and savoury flavour of the soy sauce. Only the egg was just Ok, but at those sweet prices, expecting the egg of your dreams will just serve to expose how delusional you are, Rfaol. A lovely dish by Montreal Chinese current restaurant standards. 8/10.

 

Steamed chicken in Szechuan chili sauce. The genuine Szechuan chili sauce flavour profile at the fore, the heat not pushed to the extreme and that was perfectly fine. This was served intentionally cold with some sparse bites intentionally moderately warm, a fun taste sensation indeed. Good quality chicken, beautiful cooking (timing, seasoning of the big leagues) as it was the case with the other food items as well, great taste. They make good food look easy, Lol, which is always the sign of a great kitchen brigade. Again and again, some Top stuff, by Montreal Chinese restaurants standards. 8.5/10

Fu chun is the reminder that you can please other palates while remaining true to yourself —  I was, the other day, at a widely marketed relatively new Indonesian/Malaysian restaurant in Montreal and was shocked at how their food had more to do with Western food than anything remotely close to Indonesian/Malaysian food. Well, it was Malaysian/Indonesian on paper and in the concept, Lol, but at the end of the round,  I was not eating Indonesian/Malaysian food, I was eating Western fine dining. I love Western food, but for god sake, be yourself! Be what you say you are. Cook what you say you are cooking. Do not be afraid, Lol. And that’s the big problem of some ethnic restaurants: they are so afraid to disappoint that they stop being themselves. Fu Chun is the proof that you can be Authentic/Genuine and still be very accessible to others.

Overall food rating, for this specific meal, by Montreal highest food restaurant standards: 8/10. Strong, strong  performance!

 

Bottom line-  As authentic as your Shanghainese soup dumplings will get in town (to the clowns who compare all sort of soup dumplings as if there’s just one style of soup dumplings on earth…please educate yourself!  Learn to respect the diversity of soup dumplings and stop your senseless comparisons…). And indeed, some of the better freshly hand-made 小笼包 xiǎolóngbāo (soup dumpling) in Montreal. The numerous online accounts (of those in the know) suggesting that it is as genuine as the one in Shanghai is the cherry on the cake (and a good way to flip the bird at the supposedly so-called local food experts who apply themselves to ignore Fu Chun in Montreal in order to protect the other local soup dumpling houses…). If you know your sh**, not in fantasies but in real life, then you will know how superb Fu Chun is, for Montreal. If someone thinks that this is not authentic and great enough by Mtl standards, then that is coming from the same dude who, in his fantasies, thinks that he is in Shanghai, Lol. And even at that, he is failing as the taste, here, was more “genuine Asian” than Chinese American (which is what you are looking for). Fu Chun Mtl was superb: good and efficient service, superb food (for sure, they are a specialist of soup dumplings, and at that, they are superb, but what amazed me is that their non-dumpling food items were also well executed and tasted great). The food was actually affordable (relatively to what you get and pay for in Montreal, these days). I am happily adding Fuchun to the list of my go-to restaurants in Montreal. As long as Fuchun keeps their good standards, I’ll keep going back. Coeur conquis! I would happily eat here again! Long live Fuchun! Fu Chun. Addr: 1978 Blvd. De Maisonneuve Ouest, Montreal, Quebec H3H 1K5. URL: https://www.fuchuncanada.com/

Restaurant Gia Ba, Montreal

Restaurant Gia Ba | Szechuan cuisine | Addr: 5766 Monkland Avenue, Montreal | Phone number (514) 564-7698

Chef Andy  Su has cooked Szechuan food in town, for years, at various Chinese restaurants. He  recently opened  Gia Ba on Monkland street.

The restaurant is tiny and casual, but to the contrary of most casual Chinese restaurants, its looks are closer to the ones of a conventional western-style bistrot than to your old school looking Chinese eateries. I did not take any photo of the room as it was full of people, but it’s essentially a casual bistrot interior, with colorful chairs (red, beige) and clothless dark wooden tables.

Dan Dan noodles $8 comes in various versions, in China and abroad, so my rating will not take  “preferences based on the style/s I prefer ” into account. I am more interested by  the technique and of course the flavor, as well as how the texture played a role at enhancing (or not) the appreciation of the dish. The noodles featured a  moderate thick consistency which allowed for a nice chew but I find the  thinner noodles to elevate Dan Dan noodle dishes into much more enjoyable food . Still, thin or thick noodles is  not a problem here, just a matter of personal preference. My problem was with the flavor, which , while remaining as close as possible to its authentic traditional taste, left me under the impression that the kitchen did hesitate to go  bold  all the way (which KanBai, the one located at 1813 St Catherine St W, Montreal, did so well last time I ate there) by toning down a bit the flavor of  the component of the  preserved mustard green (which  was present, but   did not mesh  excitingly nor harmoniously  well with the rest as I came to expect from the finer dan dan noodles in town) . In other words, the overall taste was unidimensional , the overall lacking of the complexity of its  finer versions. 6/10

Mopo doufu $9 – Homemade tofu,  of ultra light consistency/not firm, set in a sauce made of beans/chilly oil. I have no preferred tofu textures (it boils down to the type of tofu dish…some fare well with soft tofu, others with firmer ones), but even the Mopo doufu versions using soft-textured tofu do feature tofu with a bit more texture than this one I was sampling on this evening. This was way too “melting” soft to be effectively appreciated as an important element of a Mopo doufu dish. Furthermore, the sauce lacked the complexity and exciting taste  of the finer Mopo doufu sauces I had elsewhere. 5/10

Taiwan steam pork burger $8 – Basically a steamed  pork bun. The bun is ok (for eg, not doughy tasting) , but  the flavor of this bun  lacked palatable excitement of some other buns enjoyed elsewhere. The pork was more firm than tender, a little bit dry. I had better pork buns in town (deeper porky flavor, finer bun, more elaborate work of both the textures and seasoning).  6/10

The items I picked were not expensive, but you also have pricier dishes such as chilli soft shell crabs ($28), twice cooked oysters ($28), Szechuan style crawfish ($38). For drinking, you have couple of sakes, beers and wines.

Pros: The bistrot feel is, in the context of casual Chinese dining in Montreal,  a bit unique, with a  service that’s way better than at most similar eateries.

Cons: I wish the flavors (of what I was sampling on this evening) were more complex / had more depth as generally expressed by Szechuan cuisine.

Overall personal verdict: 6/10 for the food (by Szechuan restaurant cooking standard in Montreal) . I went there only once, so I have no clue whether  it’s different or similar on other days, but this specific meal left me with the impression that they are hesitating between adapting the dishes for non-Sichuanese tastes and keeping it as close as authentically Sichuanese as you can get to in Montreal. Do not get me wrong: the  Sichuanese flavors are present (for eg, the heat /spiciness is there / the chilly oil not at its finest depth of flavor complexity but still good enough), but they seemed — to me — as not fully expressed. I have enjoyed Chef Andy  Su’s food  before and I know what he is capable of, but this evening’s meal was not conclusive.

What I think days later: Obviously, this meal did not ‘float my boat’, but do not get your knickers in a twist about it…inconsistency is the normal condition of all restaurants. Who knows, it is perhaps with the pricier  dishes that I would better understand the buzz around Gia Ba. But for now, this was nowhere near my idea of a favourite fix of Chinese food in Montreal.

Kam Fung : the best dim sum of Montreal?

Kam Fung http://www.restaurantlamaisonkamfung.com/  (1111 Rue St-Urbain  (514) 878-2888 ) is widely known as offering Montreal very best dim sums. It’s being a while that I haven’t re-visited KF. I went back for  lunch on Febr 7th 2014.  What  a breeze to see a place with such successful business turnaround: the room is large, almost like a football stadium (just kidding, well almost…), and yet it was packed and people kept getting in and out.

I will save you from the depicting of each of my bites, there are plenty of food bloggers doing that for you on the web, and I shall go straight to what I believe to matter most:  does Kam Fung really has the best dim sums in Montreal?

Regarding dim sum food, there’s definitely no clear winner among the good dim sum places of Montreal (Le Cristal Chinois, Ruby Rouge, Tong Por, etc) . But it’s a fact that, with an eye for details, you’ll notice that they, at KF,  do slightly better execute the textures of their dim sums (none of the dim sums fell apart as it’s common at most of the lesser dim sum places in town), but the quality of ingredients to be found in Montreal make those dim sums quite ordinary (though, still as good as you’ll get in town). For eg, I’d close my eyes and would not really realize that the filling of  shrimp was shrimp, the filling of squid was squid, etc. It could have been anything else. And NO…this is not because of the cooking technique (steaming). I have not started sampling dim sums  an hour ago, lol, and even without going too far (no need to go to Asia for this — I have not visited the entire globe, for sure, lol, but I know China and its various cuisines very well, and I’ll  still spare you that episode…), I had better tasting dim sums in New York and Vancouver and even Toronto. I am not saying this to try comparing the incomparable, rather to underline the fact that a dim sum can and should taste profoundly of its fillings. This problem applies to ALL the other good dim sum places of Montreal, not just Kam Fung and that is why most people who have tried the finest dim sums of NYC/Toronto/vancouver would expect a bit more from what count, admittedly, among the finest dim sums of Montreal.

Overall verdict: 7/10 Good, by Montreal dim sum standards, there’s no denying it and please keep any comparison to Asia away from any discussion about Chinese food in Montreal.  When it comes to Chinese food, Montreal  is not as bad as some might think (take that sticky rice you see on your left…although it’s true that it won’t set any bar on a worldwide perspective, it remains a well seasoned and properly executed one as you’d get from a respectable classic Chinese venture that’s not in Asia) , unless you start unreasonable comparisons to what is done in China or elsewhere. So to wrap it up, they do dim sums as good as you’ll get in town, though hardly the best per se (there’s not an ocean of difference in between Le Cristal Chinois Vs Ruby Rouge Vs Tong Por Vs Kam Fung cooking levels), and the average ingredients (the technique is there, make no mistake about that ) we have in Mtl can certainly leave the right impression that those could have been way better dim sums. The one in Brossard is a tad better, imho.

Hong Fan Tian Restaurant (also known as KanBai) – Montreal

Hong Fan Tian Restaurant (also known as KanBai) – Montreal
Type of cuisine: Szechuan cuisine, Cantonese, and Hunan
When: December 17th 2013 19:00
Addr: 1110 clark Montréal, QC H2Z 1K3
Phone number (514) 871-8778

Hong Fan Tian Restaurant (also known as KanBai – Hong Fan Tian is the name that  appeared on my bill) is widely acclaimed as the latest top Chinese restaurant in Montreal. They have a branch downtown Montreal near the Mg Gill Ghetto,  but I heard that the cooking is better at the original restaurant on Clark, in Chinatown, which is where I went.

The place is modern looking, indeed, and  my main waitress Yaoyao was very helpful in helping me  selecting my food.  One item that many food journalists and food bloggers seem to have enjoyed a lot is their  sautéed morsels of lambs (sautéed in pepper and cumin). $15.99 Tasty enough, with the meat properly  sautéed, not as way too salty as I have read from some reports, to the contrary the seasoning was well balanced, though I found this to be a light  / just decent-enough version of the far more delicious and ‘saucy-er’  indian lamb curry. So think of the Indian lamb curry, without the sauce and with the morsels of lamb than are thinly sliced and sautéed with pepper and cummin. Not bad,  but not  exciting neither.  6/10

Their Sautéed cabbage (Szechuan style) $8.99 is largely  considered as one of their most exciting  dishes. As it’s typical of Szechuan cooking, star anise was used to sautée the cabbage. Stunning sautéed cabbage is something not impossible in ethnic cooking.  To my surprise, this was some ordinary sautéed cabbage, far from being bad, but I had far more delicious  and memorable cabbage-based dishes as plenty of ethnic restaurants even here in Montreal. One problem  being that they were limited by the average cabbage we found here in Montreal. 5/10

Eggplant ($11.99) was the best item of this evening. The eggplant  itself is  your usual standard long Chinese eggplant, but it was properly cooked in a pleasant oyster sauce. Enjoyable classic dish, executed. as it should.  7/10

All in all, it is hard for me, based on this meal (I chose three of their most famous items) to understand the  current shower of praises. They must be doing something great, I am sure, or perhaps the real happening is at their other branch (the answer to this will come next, at the bottom of current review) , and/or perhaps there are better items that the three that  I chose (heard that the pork tripes are particularly delicious, but I went with what seem to come up as their better offerings) , but for now this would hardly qualify among the Chinese meals I have enjoyed the most in Montreal. I don’t even have to think about Asia to find meals that have impressed me more: right here, my meals at places like  Kam Shing (Côte-des-Neiges) , Tong Por (Ville Saint-Laurent), or even Ruby Rouge  (Chinatown — though I don’t agree with claims that their dim sums are the best you’ll get in town) have left more pleasing souvenirs on my mind. I know, they are not all offering the exact same Chinese regional  items but in cooking, you do not need to have two items of the same kind side by side (You just need to practice a lot  at home, with what you are going to assess, as well as sampling various versions of it at places where it originated so that you build realistic expectations) to get to your personal and subjective assessment  of a kitchenPersonal overall score of my meal at Hong Fan Tian Restaurant (also known as KanBai) in Chinatown: 6/10 

***couple of days later, I tried their branch on 1813, rue Sainte-Catherine Ouest. Here too, the décor is modern, with the exact same black, white and red tones . The place looks even more contemporary than its main branch, with pretty touches like pieces of bamboo and some glimpses at the red hot chilli that might later on pep the flavor of some of  your dishes. The service was  better than during my visit at their original branch in Chinatown (for eg, here, the young wait staff  would  anticipate your needs) .
Restaurant: Kanbai
Address: 1813 St Catherine St W, Montreal
Phone:(514) 933-6699

I ordered the pork tripes (it’s the dish which photo you see above), which came in a big bowl with a startling broth, plenty of red hot chilli (cool down, it’s not as hot as one might think, lol!) and tripes that would force you to use all possible terms describing delicious meat (tender, moist, meaty,fleshy, Lol….). I now understand why some have complained that this dish was too salty. Well, to those I urge you to find yourself behind a kitchen and start cooking seriously. You’ll eventually realize that you can’t deliver all the nuances of such complex and profoundly bold and delicious dish without this level of robust and exciting seasoning. Like it or not, salt, exactly like fat, are flavor enhancers. There’s a world of difference between the dull over-salting of food (for eg, if I pour 3 spoons of salt on a slice of tomato…which is un-proper exploitation of salt’s potential and NOT what this kitchen is doing)  and what comes from skilled kitchen brigades as this one of Kanbai on Ste Catherine. Salt, here,was a major ingredient of judicious seasoning. The work of the flavors (bold and yet refine)  showcasing  the sort of great cooking mastery that I have not seen since a very long time in Montreal, any cooking levels and styles  taken into account. Exciting (btw this is enough food for 1 pers, even 2)! I am amazed that the cooking here does not worry about pulling off proper Chinese cooking flavors and has opted for offerings that are genuine, albeit presented and rethought with a contemporary mind. Of course, if you do not like tripes and do like such genuine tastes, it is another story, but again: if ‘you do not like tripes, if you are not familiar with classic Chinese flavors, why would you go there?? ‘. It will save you from  inaccurate observations. 9/10

Fried Lotus roots (encased in a batter) continued the fabulous journey of palatably exciting Asian flavors, the batter not greasy at all, while intentionally avoiding the feather light texture that would distance it from its traditional roots (still, perfect texture for what needs to be achieved here, which means ditching the over-oily features of yester generations of cooks, but keeping the great taste and genuine texture) . Skills of the sorts we seldomly stumble upon in Montreal. 8/10

I now get the praises. Kanbai (on their bill, it’s written Kanbai) on Ste Catherine has the type of kitchen brigade with skills capable of some of this city’s most exciting exotic flavors. I have no clue if this kitchen performs like this on a regular basis (this is my sole visit there), but all along this meal, at times, I’d  close my eyes and thought I was in Asia. A feature that even my favourite Chinese tables in Montreal have not fully managed to firmly deliver. There’s one aspect of a kitchen brigade that impresses me more than anything else: watching (relatively) young cooks, improving upon  the best elements of what  their elders have left (the experienced palate, the superb understanding of classic flavor combinations), and this kitchen did that, and more (balancing the flavors of yesterday with nowadays palatable excitement).  It’s my turn to shower Kanbai on Ste Catherine with well deserved praises: by Mtl standards, this a kitchen of fabulous skills, one of the few standard bearers of Chinese cooking in Montreal.    8/10