Izakaya in Montreal: Kazu, the fine dining background turned into casual pub food

When this restaurant opened in 2010, which I think might have been the best year for Asian food in Montreal, with joint like KanBai and QingHua popping up, it became an instant hit. The Chef trained in some kaiseki in Japan, and when he moved to Montreal, he worked at one of the greatest restaurant in the city, one that probably deserve a michelin star, Toqué!. He opened this cute little joint in the Concordia ghetto, and the food, is amazing. This blog post sums up 2 meals Iv'e had there, once with 2 good friends of mine, B and C, and once with my sister and her friend. The first meal was an alcohol fueled affair, with beer and sake, while the second one was a beer cocktail affair. Most of the dishes overlapped, we only had different specials, but the rest of the menu is pretty stellar too.

Chicken Yakitori

A simple Chicken Yakitori, with soy, mirin/sake and something sweet that I wasn't able to identify. It was pretty good chicken Yakitori. Even better with kirin Beer.

Grilled Octopus. This dish is a daily special, I think this is one of the best octopus based dish in the city. The octopus is extremely tender, but not soft. It still has a certain texture to it. Fresh, snappy octopus in a delicious sauce. I didn't expect the dish to be this good. Surprise is a really hard thing to pull in the restaurant world, this one just did. 

Beef Ribs and rice. This dish is good, but it is quite similar to what my parents makes, sugar/honey, soy, and other type of spices went into the marinade. It's good, but I won't order again, just because they have so many more interesting dishes on the menu.

That's B's Sake Ice Cream, it's sake and soft serve, what's not to like? 

Calcium Salmon, B's favourite dish. The Calcium salmon is delicious salmon bones that have been pressure cooked, mix with spices. There's some Wasabi, some sweet chilies, it is an amazing spread. Delicious with the tortilla they serve it with.

Shrimp Burger

The sauce, a mix of probably mayo, mustard, ketchup and probably something to give it umami, Worcestershire sauce maybe?, was good. The bread adequate, and the salad and tomato, fresh, as would be any salad and tomato component in the sandwich. So what makes this dish so good? The shrimp patty is fresh, sweet and amazing. Actual shrimps are used in this burger, and they are one of my favourite quick bite in the city. It is so damn good. 

Salmon and Tuna Rice Bowl. The meal filler. It is delicious. Fresh, melt in your mouth tuna and salmon, some sauce, some greeneries to counteract the heaviness of the rice and the fish. Topped with fried noodles, probably a vermicelli of some sort. Really good.

Grilled fish head, actually one of my favourite things to eat in the world. Delicious, moist, fatty, FRESH salmon head, there is seriously nothing better.

Will return often, for lunch or sharing plates at night.