Cha Do Raku presents a small, intimate tea salon with a strong Japanese vibe in Montreal, where a wide range of imported teas is offered at different price points and a back tea room provides a charming setting for tasting. The desserts are praised for quality, and the menu lists ingredients, with homemade miso soup and tofu noted as delicious by some. The staff are friendly and explain the teas clearly, and a tea tasting experience is described as worthwhile with excellent tea and thoughtful explanations. The space can be quite small and seating limited, but many describe Cha Do Raku as a hidden gem that feels like a little piece of Japan in Montreal, offering memorable tea, snacks, and hospitality.
Maybe I'm a little biased toward Japanese comfort classics, but this entire setup feels like it was ripped out of a Kyoto alleyway. Japanese lady running the entire operation by herself, with a small tea room in the back.
The tea menu was a mix of premium sourcing from Taiwan & Japan. The owner mentioned the Japanese options are heavily focused on Uji tea. I've had Uji matcha before, but the pour here cranks the umami to an absolute extreme. It honestly tasted like 90% rich chicken broth with just a fleeting hint of bitterness at the very end.
Fascinating brewing mechanics as well. By using a 50:50 hot & cold water mix to hit exactly 40°C, she was essentially running a targeted extraction. Cooler water pulls out the sweet, savory amino acids like L-theanine, but it's not hot enough to drag out the bitter catechins locked in the leaves.
Also a standard pour numbs your palate through thermal shock & masks delicate flavors. But at just above body temp, TRPM5 channels fires at maximum efficiency. So the liquid hits your tongue at the perfect thermodynamic threshold where your brain is most hyper-receptive to those savory glutamates.
The food selection was low key what really hooked us tho. Ochazuke (rice in tea broth) was one of my favorite childhood comfort food, & it tasted exactly like the ones I had in Japan. The green tea broth used for this dish has a much lower umami profile with light, earthy notes. They cut their smoked salmon thick (like a steak), but serve it cold. That temperature contrast against the warm broth & the density of the cut made its texture really unique.
A group of 7 of us in town for a bachelorette party enjoyed brunch at Cha Do Raku yesterday. Shiho was wonderful to coordinate with over email & kind enough to allow us to store our bags as we were on the way to the airport. The Japanese brunch experience was incredible - a simple yet elegant array of bites with a cup of tea to start & end the meal - & we were thrilled to explore the well-stocked tea & ceramics section of the store. Highly recommend for a calming & delicious experience.
Apr 20, 2026
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We've been to this tea shop twice in a week & absolutely love it! It is very authentic & a little piece of Japan right in Montreal. They have a great variety of imported teas within different price ranges. We did the tearoom at the back both times & is a lovely experience. The owner, I believe her name is Chiro, is very friendly & welcoming. She explains the teas very well & how to make them. The desserts are wonderful & such great quality. They list the ingredients in the menu which is very nice as you rarely see that. We will keep coming back!
I was surprised that the tea shop had a small cafe area inside of tea shop. Their teas are very interesting & flavorful. I would to recommend this place to my friends who are interested in Japanese teas. I would like to try their ochazuke next time, which must be authentic & tasty.
Their tea selection is huge & we ended up choosing what the owner recommended. The green tea was mind blowing. The tea is exceptional quality.
We also got 2 desserts & the complement the tea so well. One of them is rice mochi & the other is a creamy mousse cup. It feels like a little piece of Japan in Montreal. A truly amazing experience. However, seats are limited so you might have to squeeze in a little bit. Love the atmosphere, hospitality & tea!
A hidden gem, just a block away from the bustling noise of Mont-royal street, with a great atmosphere tea house. Very small, compact, but well organized, like ony the Japanese can do. The owners are kind & welcoming. The variety of tea kinds is great, & there are light snacks that you can consume with your selected tea. Oh, & if you want to bring this piece of beauty to your home, they also sell beautiful tea pots & various tea.
Great people. Definitely worth a visit. Teas were great & presented really nicely making them more worth the price. Food was absolutely amazing. Very much recommend Japanese risotto & matcha brownie dishes. Matcha tea done in traditional way, drink fast d/t loss of heat tho. Small amt of tea in cup, but that is traditional & I liked it that way. Very friendly service. Sort of uncomfortably hot in the store area, but a bit cooler in eating area. Very small, only for small small groups. Water is room temp BUT also traditional way. Atmosphere 3 star d/t stools to sit on are uncomfortable for long periods & such a small space for any larger individual.
This adorable hole in the wall will redefine Japanese cuisine to the non-initiated, & will enchant those accustomed to real Japanese cuisine. The cook is an adorable 1st-generation immigrant who will prepare the tea right next to you. The food is incredible, too: in 10 years living in Montreal, it's one of the 2 best instances of fish I've ever had. Cannot recommend enough !
Dec 31, 2023
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