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.
I have been a regular customer at Ethan for quite some time. I dine in & order takeout frequently, around three to four times a month, because they serve good food at an affordable price & the restaurant is only a few minutes' walk from my place. It has always been my go to Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. However, after my most recent experience, I decided never to eat there again.
During my visit, a homeless man entered the restaurant. He appeared extremely hungry & stood quietly, staring at the food. He eventually approached the serving area & touched a plate, though he did not touch the food itself. The servers immediately noticed him & scolded him, after which he sincerely apologized.
The cashier then charged him for touching the plate, which I understand is reasonable. That said, if I had been in their position, I would have chosen to offer him food out of sympathy & basic human decency. The man apologized again & paid for the food using what appeared to be his last few dollars.
After paying & receiving his meal, he attempted to sit down, but the server refused & insisted that he leave the restaurant. Feeling frustrated & humiliated after being treated this way despite paying for his food, the man threw the meal on the ground & walked out. While I agree that his reaction was wrong, I can understand the emotions behind it given how he was treated.
Unfortunately, the food landed near me & the sauce splashed all over my jacket. The servers witnessed the entire incident, yet I did not receive a single apology or any acknowledgment.
Because of this experience, I made the decision to never return to this restaurant, despite being a loyal & frequent customer for a long time.
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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La nourriture de ce restaurant chinois est bonne, c'est de la vraie cuisine chinoise, authentique & savoureuse. Cependant, l'expérience est gâchée par l'attitude des propriétaires. Ils semblent très avares & ne paient pas correctement leurs employés.
Le serveur nous a mis beaucoup de pression pour donner un pourboire de 10 $ ou plus, en disant qu'ils ne reçoivent pas un salaire adéquat & qu'ils vivent uniquement des pourboires. Ce genre de situation est très inconfortable pour les clients & injuste pour les employés.
Je pense sincèrement que le gouvernement devrait vérifier ce genre de pratiques. Une bonne nourriture ne justifie pas de mauvaises conditions de travail.
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The food at this Chinese restaurant is good; it's real, authentic, & tasty Chinese food. However, the experience is spoiled by the owners' attitude. They seem very stingy & don't pay their employees properly.
The waiter pressured us into leaving a $10 or more tip, saying they don't receive an adequate wage & live solely off tips. This kind of situation is very uncomfortable for customers & unfair to employees.
I sincerely believe the government should investigate these kinds of practices. Good food doesn't justify poor working conditions.
Bon rapport qualité prix les employés très pressé que tu quitte ils nous ont pressés de ?partir jai trouvé cela très désagréable je ne retourne pas là-bas pour cela
Anyone who is looking for something quick & delicious to eat, come here!!! First off the service is wonderful everyone is super friendly & the atmosphere is great. Secondly the wait time to order food & to get it on the table was less than 10 minutes. Not only is this place super affordable as the pricing has extreme value as you can get 18 pork dumplings for only $10!! As well as a LARGE bubble tea for $4.50.(Super delicious & house made!) The food was amazing, the general tao chicken was super delicious & crispy. If you're in the area & you're looking for something affordable & delicious I heavily recommend coming here!!
Jan 6, 2026
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Food was generally okay. However, PLEASE keep in mind that you MUST tip, because you will not allowed to leave without tipping, & if you ask for an explanation, the waiters will say to you'because this is a part of the service'.
Dec 30, 2025
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It has to be the worst experience I've ever had….
From the second I got in I was very polite, said'hello' no reply, said'thank you' again no reply, not even a smile on her face..
I got served my Wonton Soup with nothing on the table, well for the other tables, she served them water, ustensils, sauces, salt & pepper.
I had to go ask, they eventually brought me a glass of water.
She brings the tea & spill it on my table, obviously it was on purpose, no extra tissues, no cleaning.
I went back asking for tissues & sauces.. then she came bringing them to my table.
They don't deserve the tip, tho I've tipped..
FYI Ive removed my 5 stars review from two years ago, I've visited this restaurants numerous times & today I was shocked by the customers are getting treated.
Looking at the comments it doesn't seem to be a surprise to treat their customers the way they did with me.
The food was great & affordable & did not have to wait long for the food to come however, the lady that helped was so rude & very impolite. In fact all of them seem like they don't wanna help you when you are about to ask for something. When we are about to pay the bill, we obviously do not want to leave a tip for their awful service so we clicked'Skip' but the lady from the cashier told us'The tip was not included on the total' so she had to do it again & forced us to leave a tip for them & made sure that we do so.
Horrible experience!
The food was great & affordable but the lady that helped was so rude & very impolite. In fact all of them seem like they don't wanna help you when you are about to ask for something.
