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.
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.
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.
If you are feeling charitable this is the best place for you!! The food is soooo cheap (10 dumplings for 7$) it's perfect for feeding the homeless. The portions are large, & their take out containers are sooo transportable. I got 20 dumplings, two soups, a bowl of rice & a heaping plate of orange chicken doused in a thick thick saw. Take my word for it, don't bother trying the food; just give it to the homeless.
I go to this resto all the tiiime.🤩 I think they're the only restaurant I know of that did not raise their prices like all the others from the recent inflation. It's great if you don't want to end up spending like 20$ on one single plate of food.
I like ordering the dumplings because they're WAY cheaper then any other place. Love that they have plates with rice & a choice of meat dish, it saves money when you're by yourself & don't want to have to order 2 big plates. I like the soups & noodle dishes as well.
The only dish I tried so far I didn't like was the chow mein.
Staff are always super nice with me, I don't understand what those bad reviews are talking about lol. I'm pretty sure I skipped tips occasionally but they never got mad at me for it, but that may be because they know me & I go there often & will tip what I can afford most of the time.
Jan 29, 2026
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Delicious & fast food, it was busy with hightail turn over.
The pan fried pork dumplings, Xiao long boa & Cantonese Chow mein were great, my child ate a whole order of the rice noodle rolls which was super fresh.
It's fine. I'm visiting from Toronto & this place is just ok! It's a nice old school cantonse roast meat & rice restaurant vibes but the food could be better.
This is one of my favorite go-to restaurants! The food is tasty, the prices are very reasonable, & it's always a reliable stop whenever I'm nearby. My favorite dishes include the flavorful beef noodles, rice with sweet & sour pork chops, & a refreshing glass of Hong Kong milk tea or a delicious red bean dessert - simply perfect.
Located right in the heart of Chinatown, it's the ideal spot to enjoy a great meal while watching the lively, bustling street life outside. Always a fun & satisfying experience - highly recommended!
May 7, 2025
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I adore this place for its countless options & immaculate HK drinks. However, the quality of its food just isn't consistent enough for me to recommend it to others. The chicken rice I ordered last week was the best I ever had, but the one this week? The taste was off & the green onion sauce didn't look fresh at all. Visit if you like a lil gamble.
Quick food service & a nice place. Very inexpensive!! I was shocked at how low the prices were (in a good way). I really liked the food, especially the rice. I suggest a combo meal & a beverage if you're two people.
Visited this Chinese cantonese restaurant because we we searching for a place to warm up with some good hot soup. We ordered chicken corn soup & the beef soup with a side of crispy spring rolls:). Both were excellent! We also ordered the chicken fried rice, broccoli chicken, chow mein, we enjoyed all dishes the General taos chicken could have been crispier but it wasn't bad. Overall we had a nice experience. Ambiance was decent however the restroom could have used some attention. One staff member should be dedicated to this. Will visit again when in Montreal!
Dec 29, 2024
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I really don't like give stars below 3 but it was very disappointing. The skin of xiao long bao was very thick & the shrimp rice roll didn't come with many shrimp but a lot of the rice rolls. There are a lot of decent restaurants around this area, so I would just go others next time. - However the servers were friendly & I wasn't asked to give 15% tips.
Good service. Missing some A/C. Dumplings shrimp soup ok. It was not a great choice on a very muggy day [ my fault] . The shrimp toast was very good. The 20 dumplings for 10$ were soggy on the inside , not the best I have ever had, but the beef & broccoli were capital D elicious ,so much in the plate. Would have loved more of the beef sauce for the Chinese broccoli . Second time there. Very good prices for the amount of food. 46 plus tip for 3 people, soft drinks & extra rice. Good value
Only ate here because the wait upstairs at Keung Kee was too long. Made the mistake of ordering the Peking duck. The wrappers were tiny & too thin, the duck was dry, & instead of getting leftover duck with lettuce wraps we got fried bean sprouts! It was $65 for the Peking duck alone which was SOO overpriced. This place is better for casual eats like fried rice, sweet & sour pork, etc. The place was also extremely noisy & felt chaotic. For those traditionally "nicer" dishes & a calmer atmosphere, go somewhere else!!
