Maison Jofei

Vi

4.0

Was really excited to try this restaurant when I heard they have hakka abacus seeds & hainanese chicken on their menu. It was quite a trek to get there from town. We ordered the shrimp toast & the nasi lemak as well.

Firstly, the service was friendly, & the house-made iced ginger tea was refreshingly good. Loved that the washroom was homely & clean. The restaurant offered a relaxed & calm space.

On food - The shrimp toast was tasty & crispy. Wish the shrimp ratio was higher. I tried the taro gnocchi next & it was super chewy & tasty. Have to say that was my favorite dish & I am so grateful to have even found a restaurant that offers this dish alone! Loved that the hainanese chicken rice came with the three signature sauces. The chicken tasted & looked just a little overcooked. It was not perfect, but good enough to satisfy. I was mostly disappointed with the nasi lemak. When I tasted the rice, I immediately knew something was different. There was no fragrance of the coconut in the rice. Then I noticed a green sauce covering the rice. At first I thought it was some kind of avocado mole, but was later told it was actually a coconut pandan sauce. I thought they ran out of coconut rice, but now looking at pictures from other reviews, it seems to be the standard offering. I'm sorry to say, but having that mild sauce over the hainanese chicken rice in nasi lemak is almost a travesty. The fried chicken with hainanese rice gets heavy quickly. Imo, the pandan coconut sauce would have stood out more if we had the sauce over plain white rice. The chicken was well seasoned but a little on the salty side, so again, white rice would have served this dish better. If I had known that fluffy & creamy coconut rice & the classic ikan bilis/peanuts combo were not served with this dish, I would not have ordered the nasi lemak here, because those two things are what make the nasi lemak dish to me. Overall, we had a good dinner experience. We need more southeast asian restaurants like these in Montreal!

Hossam

5.0

My experience at Maison Jofei was simply epic. From the moment I walked in, you can feel how much attention has been put into the décor. Everything is vintage well put together, & most importantly extremely clean (which is rare to find in Montreal!). The tables are spotless, not oily at all, & even the floors are sparkling. One detail that really stood out to me was the fresh flowers on each table.

As for the service: top-notch. I truly have nothing negative to say, everything was perfect.

For the food, first they offer a hot orange cinnamon tea as welcome drink. I started with a fig grilled cheese as an appetizer. It was delicious, with a great balance between the smoky cheese & the sweetness of the fig jam. I ordered the Nasi Lemak chicken as a main course & wow… such a rich combination of flavors, textures, & freshness all in one dish. The chicken crispy from the outside & super juicy from the inside, served with rice topped with coconut sauce, boiled egg, cucumber & anchovies.
For dessert, we had the black rice pudding with fresh mango, coconut milk, & lychee, & it was absolutely amazing.
This experience exceeded all my expectations, & I will definitely be coming back!