Located in the heart of the plateau in Montreal, Kitano Shokudo is a cozy and delightful Japanese restaurant that serves you quality handmade dishes, amazing unique sakes and wines as well remarkable service. This amazing bistro gives you a Japanese experience that you won’t want to miss!
At Chef Hiroshi Kitano’s Plateau restaurant, precise technique meets inventive twists on classic Japanese dishes. Made with top-tier local and Japanese ingredients, the fresh fish donburi and chirashi bowls stand out as some of the city's finest, while dishes like the uni carbonara, which weave in French and Italian influences, leave a lasting impression.
Patrons describe Kitano Shokudo as a tiny, intimate spot with a warm, minimalist vibe where fresh sashimi and carefully executed Japanese dishes take center stage. Standout items include duck mazemen, uni mezemen, chirashi and miso bowls, with sashimi praised for exceptional freshness, though some feel the ramen is overpriced and the broth underwhelming for the price. The two person operation can make service feel uneven or a little distant, even as when staff are present the service is friendly and attentive. Despite this, it is hailed by many as one of the best Japanese spots in Montreal outside Japan, thanks to quality, presentation and a lively atmosphere. Reservations are recommended because the space is tiny, and the overall tone is that the food justifies a visit for those seeking authentic, ingredient driven Japanese cuisine.
One of the best meals I had in Montreal! Kitano Shokudo brings a taste of Japan directly to the Québécois. You should definitely make a reservation as the table & bar seating is quite limited. The restaurant has lots of cute decorations & a simple aesthetic.
The menu isn't too large, but they also offer specials of the day. We started with the bouillon au poisson & the kaarage. The broth was very comforting & seasoned well. It went well with the spicy chili crisp. The kaarage pieces were really big, so juicy, & the batter wasn't too heavy. Dipped into the yuzu mayo, the citrusy acidity contrasted perfectly with the crispy, savory chicken.
For our mains, we shared the hotaru ika mazemen & the Hokkaido uni mazemen. The ramen noodles were cooked just right in both dishes, & the seafood tasted unbelievably fresh. The firefly squid was chewy yet tender, & the noodles were seasoned lightly overall, which allowed the quality of the ingredients to shine. The sea urchin was creamy & melted in your mouth smoothly. The salmon eggs provided a salty pop along with crispy fried shallots. The flavor profiles of these two noodle dishes kept the meal interesting & varied with each consecutive bite.
If you find yourself craving authentic Japanese cuisine in Montreal, Kitano Shokudo should definitely be on your hit list!
First dish was the Karage (fried chicken): $9 ($3 a piece) 8/10 nice tender & felt like a wonton based on the coating.
Chirashi: $42 lots of different types of sashimi & soy rice with salmon roe. 8/10
Uni Mazemen: $58 Uni with salmon roe, chili oil, fried scallions was probably the main dish to try. Overall I give it an 7/10 nothing special, was creamy & oily a little too oily basically ruined the texture of all the ingredients combined. Had a nice kick & an umami flavour but definitely a bit disappointing based on the hype I read beforehand.
Futomaki of Bluefin tuna: the last dish & probably the best dish 9/10. Fish very fresh & the rolls held up well. $46
Overall 6.8/10 the experience lacked one waiter one chef, I will note the food was good but the value was not there for me. If you are looking for a place to try some good food & something maybe a little different than the norm & want to be left alone like at home this is a good spot. But if you are looking for a WOW factor in service & being wined & dined this isn't the spot. I wouldn't go again especially if you are at a price point of $120 a person for this kind of experience.
To add: being one waiter & one chef isn't to say that it's a bad thing but you can tell that it was awkward &'cold' as it felt like you were taking time away from the server when they should be there to really make it an experience for every party dinning there.
Jan 31, 2026
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Everything was just perfect, the cozy atmosphere of just like 15 people. Smooth beats by the DJ. Awesome presentation for all the meals & the food was just delicious. We shared most of the meals the four of us so we tried the Miso soup, octopus salad, Karaage, brussel sprouts, duck Mazemen, Uni pastas & the tuna 3 ways sushis. 12/10 would recommend. The best thing is that it wasn't that expensive for the quality of things we ate.
Intimate restaurant, cool interior, excellent food, quality & value for the price. Nice service. Partner had the duck mazemen, I had the Uni & bone marrow mazemen special. Both were excellent! Interior is reminiscent of small cool Teishoku restaurants in Tokyo with vintage feel. Great place!
The best Japanese food we've had outside Japan! Everything was 10/10. The restaurant is a two man show - don't know how they do it but they pull it off well.
We ordered:
- Miso soup
- Crab Mazemen (explosion of flavour)
- Chirashi
- Maguro Don (the tuna was literally melt in your mouth)
- Dessert Pudding
Every dish was flavourful, especially the crab mazemen, very good. Need to make a reservation in advance & the service was great but a bit slow, though there was only one server doing the most so I don't blame him.
Jul 10, 2025
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Incredible food, service, & spot. We got the sashimi, octopus salad, Brussels, & crab mazemen. Everything was just deeeeeeelicious. Oh, & the matcha tiramisu. I don't even like tiramisu but I saw another table trying it & it looked fantastic. So I ordered one & bloody hell it was good. I'll come back to Montreal just to eat here. Well done!
came for random lunch, was pleasantly surprised by how GOOD everything was!! nice vibes too & great service
what we got:
duck leg confit mazemen $32
mushroom mazemen $24
chirashi bowl $38
kani hotate ikura don $46
so yeah everything was rly good. if i had to pick i would say chirashi bowl & mushroom mazemen were my top. the crab/scallop don was good too if you rly want crab but the chirashi bowl is less $$ with more variety & the tuna!! the rice is perfectly seasoned & w the wasabi & ikura w ur sashimi ugh perfect bite. the duck mazemen was okkk for me, but the mushroom mazemen just stood out way more, i feel like it had much more flavour & depth
Amazing place! The confit duck leg mazemen is simply incredible. The Chirashi is delicious & has lots of different types of fish. The food alone warrants 5 stars, & then on top of that the service is excellent, you never feel hurried, & the music is great. What a pleasant experience.
Apr 8, 2025
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One of the best Japanese restaurants I've had in quite a while, although the amazingly high quality of ingredients & cooking techniques (for all traditional Japanese, fusion, & entirely Western dishes) were beset by the rather small portion sizes. The stars of the show were both the chirashi & à la carte sashimi orders. Every slice was decently thick, at a suitable cool temperature, & was cleaned appropriately with not a single bone or fish scale in sight. The short-grain rice was perfectly executed, al dente & seasoned just right. Would highly recommend the chu-toro tuna belly, rich but delicate & melt-in-your-mouth. The sudachi lime, shiso leaf & shiso microgreens were a nice touch for the sashimi, & so were the crisp nori laver squares for the chirashi. The sea urchin & salmon roe mazemen (which I assume is part of a limited time-only special menu) was delightfully creamy, & while the sea urchin was not raw (& appeared to be either cooked or tinned), it paired surprisingly well with the springy alkaline noodles coated in a carbonara-esque sauce that was not too heavy. The confit duck (?) gizzards (also part of the special menu) were remarkably well-done. Tender but not overcooked, fully immersed with herby undertones, & the parmesan on top was balanced by a refreshing zing of lemon. The seasoning elevated the natural umami of the gizzards while not masking it entirely. I finished every single drop of the remaining emulsified sauces at the bottom of the plate. The waiter was very helpful & attentive, & made me feel at home. Service was understandably a bit slow as it was only one person servicing a fully-packed room, but the food arrived at the right temperature & at acceptable intervals.
The food was incredible. We had the cod croquette, maguro don, duck mazemen & pudding with a bit of sake. Everything was delicious, better than any croquette, duck or tuna we've ever had before. I just can't possibly emphasize enough how much I recommend it. The atmosphere was nice, pretty chill, the tables were quite close to each other but it's pretty common in such restaurants. No loud music which we really appreciated. The service was nice although they lacked professionalism. For example, they'll let you wait more than 10min (without apologizing for the wait) if you're polite & wait in the entrance to get seated, even if they saw you. I learnt from the people who came after us that you have to come in & stand in the middle of the way, only then will they happily seat you right away..
Cela faisait longtemps que je voulais découvrir ce restaurant ! Nous y sommes allées à 2 & nous avons bien mangé ! On était assises au bar avec vue sur la cuisine. J'ai pris un hotaru ika mazemen qui était très bon ! Je n'avais jamais vu ni manger de hotaru ika ce fût une excellente surprise. On a aussi pris des sashimi en entrée &... à tomber ! 🫠 Une excellente expérience !
