Pichai — Restaurant in Montreal

We have mixed feelings about Pichai. On the one hand, we enjoyed good personable service (if a tad hurried) though none of the rudeness experienced by some other diners; on the other hand, the quality of the entrees were hit or miss so 100% satisfaction is NOT guaranteed. But perhaps what Pichai may be most faulted for is the poor price-quantity value ratio. It clearly attempts to be an upper-class, fancy, quasi fine tapas eatery but while the prices are premium (other words, expensive), the ambiance, service and overall feeling are not up to expectations and do not warrant these hefty prices. Also, at one point, there was a 25 min wait between the 3rd and 4th dishes which was awkward and broke the rhythm of the evening.

The fish ball appetizer ($4/two balls so $12 for three diners, two each) while tasty, was way overpriced and terribly easy to prepare. One could easily purchase an entire 1kilo bag of fish balls for $8 (50-60 pieces) at the supermarket, dunk them in an air fryer, pour over some bottled Thai sweet sauce and sprinkle some fried onion crisps. With this ultra low cost, Pichai could have offered this appetizer as an amuse-bouche and utilized it to elevate the entire Pichai experience instead of it now leaving a bitter after taste.

The raw scallops were delicious in every sense. Once again, though, at $28 for a plate of 8 mini scallops, it was way overpriced.

The pork collar was absolutely delicious and acceptably priced. The pork belly was so overly salty to the point of being inedible so that was a clear miss. The shrimp with egg was divine and the shrimps were well sized. We were not unanimous on the green curry with bourgot because two of us felt that the curry was overly sweet. The grilled chicken thigh was tasty but not exceptionally so. They also charged us $3 for an extra little bowl of rice.

In a nutshell, as much as we would have loved to walk out of Pichau, wanting again to return, we do not collectively believe that we would revisit as there was a serious lack in value. Most dishes, all tapas-sized and single bites, are $25-38 each so the bill piles up very quickly for what are simple snacks. At this price point, the service, ambiance and penny-pinching do not hold water and Pichai fails to entice us to...

Food is exquisite, authentic, and prepared and served with a high degree of thought and authenticity. I have not eaten Thai food like this elsewhere in Montreal. It would have been nice to have another noodle or rice item on the menu. The service was good, especially considering the restaurant was at capacity. I was greeted kindly, and seated within a few minutes of my reservation time. The staff seemed happy to speak English or French, and offered menus in either language. It would have been nice to have the menu for daily specials be bilingual as well (it was only in French) but the server was able to explain everything. My main hesitation to recommend this restaurant to others is that the other members of my party and I found the atmosphere to be claustrophobic and noisy. This is partly due to their being loud club type music playing. The other factor is the restaurant has too many tables for its space, especially in the rear section of the restaurant where we were seated. We were all the way against the wall and their was a claustrophobic feeling. We had to all raise our voices significantly to be able to hear each other at the same table. It is possible that if you sit outside on the patio in front or maybe in another area of the restaurant this could be alleviated, or maybe try not to go during Peak weekend hours and maybe it will not be as crowded. Still, I feel that if the music were lower, there were better cooling and Air conditioning, and maybe one or two tables were removed from this section of the restaurant to make it feel a bit more open, the atmosphere would be...

Pichai is the big brother restaurant to Pumpui in Montréal. It's a more upscale Thai place for family dining. It is currently ranked #45 on Canada's Best 100 Restaurants. We made formal dinner reservation for the patio on the same day, unfortunately it was quite windy and they moved us inside.

Known for Thai Issan cuisine, the chef doesn't hold back on spicy heat! But we had a mixed review about our dining experience at Pichai. Staff were helpful in translating the French menu for the day. It was struggle to find non-spicy dishes on the main menu that the entire family could enjoy.

For appetizer, the grilled veal tongue with a Thai miso sauce was a decent start; it was tender & resembled steak a bit in taste. Accompanying herbs & cucumber helped balance the meatiness. For mains, the grilled swordfish came in a spicy red curry sauce that only one of us could enjoy with rice. The fish itself was too firm and rather bland inside. The grilled hanger steak salad was served with an assortment of herbs, toasted rice powder & lemongrass on top. The tender meat flavours were bold but overall was too sour & salty for us despite sticky rice.

We were surprised about moving to bar seating when it was empty at opening time. Stools were uncomfortable by the end of 1.5 hr dining, especially with a young child. There were also too many routine bar interactions for our comfort. Most disappointing meal while we...