Saiko Bistrot Izakaya — Restaurant in Montreal

Perhaps it’s the rarity - but what I do when I travel is look for the truly authentic edomae-style nigiri sushi places around the world and Montreal has its Saiko to be truly proud of. If you’re looking to experience sushi as it’s meant to be take a seat at the counter in front of Satoshi-san and order the omakase (it's usually a dinner thing where things are less rushed) where you leave it in his good hands to decide what’s the best the season has to offer. I was drawn here by the review from Callista (on Foursquare) and was blown away by the quality and execution but mostly by Satoshi-san’s dedication and sincerity. Come with an open mind and leave transformed forever. But beware once you’ve taken to this form of sushi you’ll never ever be able to look back. I would know... I’ve made reservations for my second trip this Friday evening and will post a more detailed review with pictures! Fast forward to Friday and I came prepare to document what I meant by authentic edomae-style nigiri sushi... (from top left clockwise) blue-fin tuna (akami) japanese amberjack (kanpachi) hamachi japanese sea bream (tai) aburi-style (incredible they would sear the skin beforehand to a crisp.. great flavour) salmon (zuke-style + aburi-style skin) pacific saury (sanma) (it's autumn and sanma's in season!) scallop (aburi-style with dash of salt and lime that's all it takes) salmon belly (i tend to avoid salmon but their atlantic salmon pretty good) blue-fin tune (otoro) sweet shrimp with sea urchin (ama ebi + uni) eel (unagi) salmon caviar (ikura) (the slight addition of yuzu peel gave it a nice aromatic twist) cuttlefish (ika) (i'll keep this a secret but Satoshi-san was in his elements here)

I'm definitely coming back next year!

Let me know if you share the same wonderful experience I've...

We went to Saiko Bistrot on a tuesday night for my boyfriend's 25th birthday. He ordered the nigiri omakase and I ordered the complete omakase, which includes the 10 nigiri, 2 entrées, a soup and a piece of cake, and we shared everything. Warning : the prices that are displayed on the restaurant webpage are from 2020 and are not up to date. We payed 80$ for the nigiri omakase and 150$ for the complete one, which is twice the price from 2020. Apart from the surprise of the price, the food was really worth it. Every ingredient is sooo tasteful and selected with care by the chef. We sat by the bar, and the chef prepared each piece in front of us, asking us what we preferred and adapting depending on our answers. I'm not usually too much into japanese food, but this was incredible. Our entrées were 8 pieces of sashimi (salmon, tuna and scallop), followed by 3 pieces of grilled scallops with crab, that had such a nice crisp to them. The soup was served with 4 makis and it was delicious. Then, the 10 nigiri were delicious : we had salmon, yellow tail tuna, shrimp, wagyu beef, eel... And finally, for the dessert, we chose a yuzu cheesecake that was very good, even if the slice was thin. Worth noting that the restaurant closes at 9, and the omakase takes quite some time : we got there at 7, and finished eating at 9:15, rushing a little through the end.

To sum up, it is quite expensive, but I've never been so happy to spend this amount of money on a restaurant, it is...

We had the misfortune of discovering Saiko Bistrot at the end of our trip to Montreal, not the beginning. The bistrot is far enough away from the bustle of Ste. Catherine Street and nestled discretely in a sunken first floor of an office building to be easily missed. The restaurant has an open feel to it with the dining tables distributed in such a way that one never feels as if we are impinging on our neighbours' privacy. Traditional western cutlery was not offered as we were eating in a distinctly Japanese restaurant. We were served by a competent server who was able to whet our curiosity indicating that several types of soy sauce would be brought to our table and she would return to explain each one in detail. Our food came - a platter of sashimi and a platter of rolls. Our server matched the fish to the soy sauce and the soy sauce to the rolls. I trusted her completely. Each bite was a new experience and my appreciation of very fine sushi grew and grew. The meal cost $80.00 CDN and I can now say, without hesitation, that I now understand the movie 'Jiro...