Welcome to Ethan restaurant, located on De La Gauchetiere West, in the heart of Montreal's Chinatown. You will be delighted to taste this delicious authentic Chinese food, where all the dishes cost less than $10! You can find a variety of delicious dishes, such pork, roast duck, the famous General Tao chicken, or the delicious noodle soup, prepared with honey BBQ pork. In short, the menu will suit all tastes and appetites!
Ethan restaurant is also well known by the locals, who appreciate not only its exquisite meal, but the speed and courtesy of the staff, which allows you to take time to eat your lunch, especially if you are on your lunch hour!
Come and try this unceremoniously friendly restaurant, for which you will remember as a feast of flavors!
Ethan serves a very large Cantonese menu with generous portions and prices that many reviewers call excellent value, making it a go to for affordable Chinese food in Chinatown. Dishes like Peking duck, soft rice rolls, congee with shrimp wonton soup, dumplings, and Cantonese fried noodles are frequently praised for staying tasty and satisfying, and dim sum offerings and bubble tea get positive mentions for flavor and portion size. The atmosphere is described as lively and fast paced, with quick service that suits hungry crowds, though some note that the pace can feel brisk and the staff sometimes appear stressed or overly pushy about tipping. Several reviews warn that not every item hits the same note, with some dishes being hit or miss and a few reporting off flavors or undercooked dumplings. A few accounts recount a troubling incident involving a homeless patron and criticism of how the situation was handled, influencing loyalty for some readers. While there are criticisms about service or ethics, others emphasize great value and reliable comfort food that keep them returning. Overall, Ethan is seen as a dependable, inexpensive option for big portions and authentic flavors, albeit with a caveat to temper expectations on consistency and service.
We ordered the BBQ pork duck rice, the BBQ pork chicken rice, plus the scallop shrimp dumpling dimsum.
I've had lots of char siu, & it's always one of my favourites. I love the glazed outside, sometimes a little charred, well-seasoned with BBQ sauce, a bit of fat, & usually served with extra sauce. It should be oily & have a nice colour. But this BBQ pork was plain, dry, & tough to chew, with no real seasoning & no oil. The duck was the same. The chicken, though, was good- mostly tender, oily, & juicy. The food came out quickly after we ordered, & the staff were nice to us.
The dimsum, however, had way too thick dumpling skin, too starchy, not translucent or soft. It was just okay… I wouldn't recommend the dimsum here.
A solid spot in Chinatown if you're looking for affordable Chinese food. The prices are very reasonable, which makes it a great option for a quick & casual meal. The dishes came out very quickly, which was nice when we were hungry & didn't want to wait long.
The flavors were good & satisfying - not overly fancy, but definitely tasty for the price. The staff were also quite friendly & welcoming, which made the experience pleasant.
Overall, it's a great value restaurant if you want simple Chinese food at a very good price. I would come back again for a quick meal in Chinatown. 👍
Je trouve qu'une étoile, c'est déjà trop généreux.
Mes deux arguments à faire
1. Le restaurant n'a pas respecté la loi 96 sur la langue du Québec, s'adressant à moi en anglais & en chinois dès le début.
2. Le plat qu'on m'a servi avait clairement été laissé de côté pendant un certain temps, il n'avait pas été préparé à la commande (je l'ai comparé au même plat servi à la table blanche à côté de moi). Servir des restes à des clients asiatiques, c'est pas vraiment acceptable, non ? (Malheureusement, je me suis rendu compte qu'il y avait un problème seulement après avoir fini mon repas & je n'ai pas pris de photo sur le moment.)
La caissière était extrêmement désagréable. Elle était aimable avec les Blancs, mais pas avec les Asiatiques. Sans parler des restes de nourriture ; tant la nourriture que l'expérience en général m'ont donné l'impression que le restaurant pratiquait une discrimination envers les Asiatiques. Il s'agit d'un cas de discrimination inversée.
J'ai trouvé que même un pourboire de 20 % était excessif ; je n'aurais pas payé un centime. J'ai commandé un plat de riz combiné au canard & au porc, mais par rapport au repas identique servi aux clients blancs de la table voisine, mes légumes semblaient rassis, sans saveur & extrêmement difficiles à mâcher. En y repensant chez moi, le riz lui-même était également tiède & dur (après avoir observé le repas du client blanc voisin). En tant que client asiatique, j'ai d'abord écarté mes inquiétudes en recevant le plat. Cependant, pendant mon trajet de retour, j'ai soigneusement repensé à cette expérience & l'ai comparée au plat identique servi aux clients blancs à côté de moi, ce qui m'a conduit à cette conclusion.
Il s'agit d'un cas où le racisme intériorisé s'accompagne d'hostilité horizontale.
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I think one star is already too generous.
My two arguments
1. The restaurant did not respect Quebec's Law 96 on the language, addressing me in English & Chinese from the start.
2. The dish I was served had clearly been left out for some time; it hadn't been prepared to order (I compared it to the same dish served at the white table next to me). Serving leftovers to Asian customers isn't really acceptable, is it? (Unfortunately, I only realized there was a problem after I finished my meal, & I didn't take a picture at the time.)
I felt that even a 20% tip was excessive; I wouldn't have paid a cent. I ordered a rice dish with duck & pork, but compared to the identical meal served to the white customers at the next table, my vegetables seemed stale, tasteless, & extremely difficult to chew. Looking back at it at home, the rice itself was also lukewarm & hard (after observing the white customer's meal). As an Asian customer, I initially dismissed my concerns upon receiving the dish. However, during my journey home, I carefully considered the experience & compared it to the identical dish served to the white customers next to me, which led me to this conclusion.
The cashier was extremely rude. She was nice to white people but not to Asians. Including the leftover food I received, both the food itself & the dining experience made me feel that the restaurant was discriminating against Asians. This is a case of Internalized Racism comes with Horizontal Hostility.
Quickly seated & served during busy lunch time. Excellent Szechuan chicken with some kick, perfectly cooked white rice, & savory wonton soup. Served hot. Popular.
Feb 27, 2026
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I think that because of their vast menu not all of their dishes are their forte. Having come here multiple times, I can say that their Peking duck, soft rice rolls, satay beef fried noodles & milk tea are delicious. Don't bother ordering fruit flavoured bubble tea or pad Thai, it isn't the best they have.
Regarding the service, they have place for improvement. Recently, it's gotten better from past visits though so I think they're going in the right direction.
❤? Je suis aller dîner avec ma mère
Service très rapide 👍
Un accueil chaleureux 🫶
J'ai même décider de commander des plats pour emporter pour mes enfants.
Le prix est très bon.
J'ai commandé deux canards pekin pour emporter
avec les crêpes, ils sont moins cher qu'ailleurs ce qui me fait sauver plus de 100$, une bonne différence… ce qui vaut un canard de plus pour mes enfants 😝
Donc oui, qualité prix je donne 5 étoiles 🌟
Service 10 étoiles 🌟 mais Google me permet juste de mettre 5 😂
Nous voulions un souper rapide & le service a été super expéditif c'est apprécié. Les prix sont très abordables & la nourriture est correcte. Ce n'est pas de la grande gastronomie il faut nivelé ses attentes en conséquence c'est normal. Le problème que j'ai & est que les xio long baos étaient pas assez cuits, la pâtes était visiblement encore crue. Autrement les autres plats étaient correctes. Le rapport qualité prix est acceptable.
