Restaurant Review: Zenya

Don't let the downtown location fool you, Zenya is not a tourist trap but a capable Sushi joint provided you know what to order. The restaurant is very large and has the decor fit for the downtown scene.

I've been here 6 times in the last two years and the food has been consistent: what was bad/good the first time stayed bad/good on subsequent visits. Do not order the cooked dishes!

I've been spoiled with the traditional dishes at Furusato so when I tried ZenYa's versions, they were horrible in comparison. The miso soup and miso cod are pretty standard but stick with the sushi bar.

This is my go-to place for the best amaebi (raw sweet shrimp) in town. They always have fresh Pacific salmon which is a plus. The maki rolls, the unagi (eel) and ikura (salmon roe) Are also ok like everywhere else.

They don't have the selection of Isakaya but the quality is superior.

Restaurant review: Azuma

Someone strongly recommended this Japanese restaurant on Chowhound, saying they go there weekly. It mentioned they serve traditional dishes as well as sushi so I had to try.

I started with agedashi tofu which was pretty standard except the sauce was too salty to slurp. The Chicken Kara-age however was not as pretty. Instead of marinated chicken chunks which were then deep fried, I received bland chicken nuggets with a coating that was soggy and not crispy.

If they put so much care into the decor to make the place look homey, please spend some extra dollars to give us something better than the freezer section of Provigo!

The next item was a fried maki roll with salmon, tuna, avocado, spicy mayo, and tobiko. I was happy to see this because when I lived in Northern California I enjoyed the fried California roll from the restaurant Satsuma. This version however was not as special. The fried roll was not piping hot and the coating had time to get soggy. the flavors inside was so muddled you couldn't care less what was inside. The sweet sauce that accompanied didn't help.

The unagi was chewy. The tamago was not fresh (you can buy premade tamago at the market). Only the fresh salmon was up there with the other restaurants I go to.

Overall I was disappointed with this place although it did serve traditional Japanese dishes, a rare thing in our city.

Why Japanese food ?

When I moved to Northern California for work in the mid nineties, Japanese food was still a novelty for me. My coworkers would never eat Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese or other Asian food, they prefer Japanese food for health reasons. They also eat mostly chicken and turkey as their main protein but that's another story.  Eventually I didn't miss Chinese or Vietnamese food anymore, the Japanese food fulfilled my taste buds on the Asian flavors.


These days I eat at two Japanese restaurants weekly: Furusato for traditional at-home dishes and Kazu Izakaya for modern preparations of Asian ingredients.


At Furusato I often make myself a meal out of their appetizers section. They make the best Chicken Kara-Age in Montreal. I also enjoy the simple preparation of grilled mackerel or Oyakodon (chicken and egg over rice). The word 'oyako' means 'mother and child' and is either creepy or poetic when applied to a dish. The only things I miss is the amaebi and fried fish appetizer I enjoyed from Masa's Sushi in Mountain View. I get my fix of amaebi at Zenya on Ste-Catherine St.


At Kazu I like the smaller dishes which also lets me compose my own meal with several choices. I particularly like the shrimp okonomiyaki, a cabbage pancake not found elsewhere in Montreal. Do sit at the bar if you can so you can watch the food being prepared. I've been going to Kazu since their 2nd week of opening so I now know how every dish is prepared. There's only raw salmon and tuna in this restaurant so don't go if you just want sushi.

Japanese Round-Up 2/2

Izakaya is a japanese drinking establishment that serves food to go with the drinks. It's like a tapas bar. It's all the rage now in North America as people look for a new trend to adopt.  A lot of the new japanese restaurants in Montreal are labeling themselves as such and some of the older restaurants also prominently display this to attract new customers. I went to two new izakayas last weekend. Note the Izakaya restaurant on Park is only a regular japanese restaurant.


Big in Japan is where Le Pistol used to be on St-Laurent, near the corner of Pine. It's advertised as a Brasserie Japonaise and the decor reflects the main selling point, drinks. Their main food gimmick is a series of skewered fried things. You can have meat ones (3.50$ for two, taxes included in all prices) and non meat ones (3.00$ for two). I had a small carrot and daikon salad (4.50$) which was warm and satisfying. The skewers arrived next with 2 jumbo panko fried shrimps and 2 triplets of quail eggs. The eggs were too soft (I guess they don't have a good way yet to deep fry them) but the shrimps were good.


I think they comped my 2 cups of tea because the last order took a while to arrive, a pork and potato stew. Unfortunately the pork was ground pork and in such little quantities it felt more like a garnish to the big boiled potato cut into fourths. I was the only person not drinking alcohol in the entire restaurant.


Last but not least is Kazu on Ste-Catherine and St-Marc. It's a tiny place with a counter for 8 people then tables for 12. The chef owner is rather talkative despite a weak english. He wants to knwo how is everything and throws a "see you tomorrow" as a goodbye. I had the lujnch special which is tuna on rice bowl. You have sushi rice at the bottom of this modern white bowl, bits of fresh tuna on top and a small cut lettuce salad at the top. Everything is covered in a miso dressing. I also ordered the soup of the day which was a tomato and rice or barley soup. The green tea isn't as good as at my favorite Furusato. This is definitely a place I will come back to explore the rest of the menu.

Japanese Round-Up 1/2

Last weekend I tried 3 japanese restaurants that have been discussed about on Chowhound. One was a real gem and the others are not so stellar.


Sumo Ramen bills itself as a ramen experience and some people seem to like it for its authenticity. I am not an expert on Japanese ramen joints but this place looks rather kitschy with dark orange walls glass covered tables. I ordered the japanese style fried chicken wings (5 for 3.75$, all prices include taxes) which is a greasier panko-covered wings dish. I also ate the Sumo Ramen bowl with soy soup (7.95$). This came with 3 fatty pork slices and the regular accompaniement of the soy (the other choice is miso soup) mix: seaweed, enoki mushrooms, half a cold soft boiled egg and chop suey. The chop suey is simply spicy marinated soybean sprouts. The soup was ok and the cold soft boiled egg didn't make it better. Despite the averageness of the food it's worth discovering with a group of friends and try out the other ramen bowls. They also have some dishes with rice.


On a different stretch of St-Laurent there's Ramen-Ya which is smaller and looks more upscale. They have a smaller menu as well as they don't have the bubble teas and other pan-asian items of Sumo Ramen. I had the gyoza which was quite well made even though the filling was tasteless. The gyoza skin was superb however. I got a pork belly ramen soup and this stock was much better than at Sumo Ramen.


It was fun to try out these new places but I am not keen on returning to these two any time soon.

restaurant review: Furusato

This is my favorite japanese restaurant in Montreal. I don't eat a lot of raw fish so sushi and sashimi is not what attracts me although Furusato (formerly named Osaka) has never disappointed me on it. I haven't been to Tri Express, Jun-I, 

I prefer dishes that japanese people eat at home rather than the business/bar sushi. I also like appetizers and this place has most of what I was able to have in California. I have tried most of what they offer on the english menu and I often make a meal out of 4 appetizers.

I have been eating here since 2007 when I started to work again and I go at least once a week. The staff knows me well and these days I always get extra food. Here are my favorites:

Chicken Karaage

Agedashi Tofu

Shrimp + Vegetable Tempura

Petit Sukiyaki

Chawan Mushi

Fried Squid (no longer available)

Nabeyaki Udon

Oyakodon

Unadon

Tamago (sweet omelet)

On the raw side I like (in sashimi form)

Sake (fresh salmon)

Maguro (tuna)

Toro (fatty tuna, usually belly)

Ikura (salmon roe)

Tobiko (flying fish roe)

Finally there is a special maki using pickled plum (umeboshi) and perilla (shiso) that is a very good combination of tartness and herbal. Shiso (tía tô in vietnamese) is my 2nd favorite herb in the world, after cilantro.

There are some dishes that I like but they don't have: amaebi (raw sweet shrimp), tempura'd "golden" california roll (from Satsuma Sushi in Sunnyvale), fried fish,  Teridon (from Shogun Restaurant in Mountain View),