Through Oorja, we aim to create a restaurant inspired by the flavors of Hakka, primarily Indo Chinese cuisine, where the emphasis is placed on fresh ingredients and great service. We take pride in the food that we create, and it is our ambition to bring this vibrant and culturally rich cuisine to Montreal. As both a restaurant and a cocktail bar, our objective is to shape a fun and dynamic environment centered around a unique culinary experience. Our team will create dishes and cocktails made from quality seasonal ingredients sourced from local producers. Indo Chinese cuisine is surprisingly absent from Montreal, and we believe that its vibrance and imaginativeness will be very well received.
Overall, reviews of Oorja describe a vibrant Indo Chinese fusion spot with inventive cocktails, playful tapas style dishes, and a warm, stylish ambiance that can range from relaxed lunch vibes to lively evenings with live music. The food frequently earns praise for bold flavors and presentation, with favorites including momos, chicken lollipops, chilli chicken, duck wings and other tapas style plates, while some diners note portions can be small for the price and spice levels may be very high. Cocktails are repeatedly highlighted as well balanced and creative, with several guests enjoying standout options and seasonal changes. Service is a common point, with many experiences described as friendly, attentive and professional, though others recount slow or inconsistent service, missed items, or long waits. The setting is often praised as chic and cozy, with attractive presentation and a welcoming atmosphere suited for dates, gatherings, or casual bites. Overall, Oorja comes across as a notable destination for Indo Chinese fusion in the area, delivering memorable drinks and interesting dishes, but with uneven service and portion consistency that may vary by visit.
We really enjoyed the food there! The ghee garlic shrimp & fried oyster mushrooms were sooo good. We also had the lamb with beans, which was really delicious too. I wanted to try their chicken momos, but unfortunately they didn't have it. We'll definitely go back to try more. Oh, & the red bean ice cream sandwiches are a must-try!
We chose this place after seeing a lot of glowing reviews on social media & decided to celebrate a birthday here. Despite the extremely cold weather & the restaurant being packed, we were seated within 10 minutes. The staff was polite, helpful, & welcoming - no complaints there.
The ambience & vibe are definitely a highlight & set the right expectations for a great dining experience. Unfortunately, that's where the positives ended for us.
We ordered Chicken Lollipop & squid as appetizers, followed by fried rice, chilli chicken, & majestic chicken for the main course. The portion sizes were shockingly small & completely unexpected. The Chicken Lollipop had just four very small pieces, which felt unreasonable for the price being charged.
This seems to be a common misconception with fine-dining restaurants - smaller portions do not automatically mean premium dining. When customers are paying higher prices, a fair & satisfying portion should still be part of the experience.
Overall, while the service & ambience were good, the food portions left us disappointed & took away from what should have been a special occasion.
Jan 24, 2026
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Visiting Montreal & a colleague brought me here . Great cocktails & I had the super spicy fish Apollo & fried rice ...best meal I've had in a while. Highly recommend
Place is nice & cozy , food flavour is amazing 10/10 . We had the chilli chicken , chicken momo, & two kinds of fried rice . Everything was delicious BUT the portions are VERY small . You may have to order doubles if you're super hungry .
I hope more people come to this restaurant because I had a fantastic experience! It was fairly empty on a Wednesday evening (6pm). I ordered the chilli momos, fried oyster mushrooms & the pear cocktail drink. The batter on the mushrooms was flavorful, crispy & well spiced while the momos were in the most delicious savoury, tangy, spicy sauce. Both hit it out of the park for me. Cocktails are inventive & well balanced as well.
Jun 26, 2025
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They have 3 variation of Vegan momo (fried, chili, steamed). The Vegan chili momo are wok tossed in a spicy chili sauce (ginger, garlic, bell peppers, onions). The sauce is quite spicy! There's a lot of sauce leftover, so I'm gonna save it to eat with rice. :D
The menu has unique dishes. Loved the asian salad, steamed momo with the sauce & thr chili paneer. The hakka noddles & fried rice were average. If you can't handle spicy, beware cause level 1 spice was really really spicy (& I have a really good spice tolerance). The prices are reasonable with generous portions.
The food was tasty though the flavour profiles of most dishes we tried were pretty similar. The momos, both fried & steamed were a little on the tough side. Cocktails were excellent & the atmosphere was nice. Though the staff were super friendly, the service was quite slow & could be more attentive. Overall, we enjoyed our time there but not sure we'd run back.
Underrated restaurant! If you like spicy food, this is the place! They serve great food & all the flavors are great. The szechuan fried rice was very spicy, & I loved it. With all the spicy food, the servers are quick to react to fill your water glass.
Dec 22, 2024
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Indo-Hakka is actually Indian-style Chinese food. The so-called Indian Hakka cuisine is Indian ingredients & spices + Chinese seasoning cooking techniques. It is a "copycat version of Chinese cuisine" made by Chinese people far away from their hometown. "Manchurian Chicken" is the signature dish of Indian Hakka cuisine. It is similar to General Tso's Chicken. It is a kind of chicken nuggets fried in sweet & sour sauce. I didn't order it! But I ordered fried chicken buns with spicy sauce (chicken chili momo by wok ). Of course, the name doesn't matter. Deliciousness is the king. It's still a good taste. Paired with white rice, it's very delicious! The fried oyster mushrooms are also perfect. The big oyster mushrooms are crispy ,& paired with a special sauce, it's more delicious than meat! Personally, I think this is the first Chinese restaurant in Montreal that doesn't have wonton soup/hot & sour soup. The duck soup has a strong pepper flavor, which is very heartwarming in this cold winter. "Indian Hakka cuisine" is the product of Hakka immigrants. The Chinese who first arrived in India were the same as the Chinese who went to Southeast Asia. They were poor people in coastal areas of China. They crossed the ocean to avoid war or seek better life . From 1772 to 1911, the capital of British India was Kolkata, where the Chinese mainly lived. Food allows people to glimpse the history & culture of different countries & ethnic groups. The food on the plate reveals the secrets of human past & present. I often learn about the world at the table.
I went there on Friday & i was kind of disappointed. It was my second time, & i only went there again because i really enjoyed the food. On Friday, the restaurant was busy. We waited 20 minutes in order to be seated. Once we were seated, we ordered right away. Our food took very long to arrive. It took around 40 minutes & we were just 2 people. So i could say overall the service was really slow & bad. After our food has arrived we ordered spicy mayo which arrived 10 minutes later. But the food was good. We got the majestic chicken, fried rice, paneer chilli & shrimp. Not sure if we would go again.
Amazing food & great cocktails! We had a great time eating at Oorja, we ordered the chili dumplings, the duck wings, & lamb rolls for the entrees & everything was delicious! The most outstanding being the dumplings with the delicious sauce 🔥 followed very closely by the duck wings. but don't be fooled, both dishes are spicy! We love spicy food & this felt super authentic to the Indochinese flavours so we greatly appreciate the chefs effort to showcase the true spice of the cuisine. We also ordered the fried chicken with hokka noodles as main & it was amazing. For the dessert we had the red bean ice cream & it was 10/10. The cocktails were good. We had the passion fruit & the cashews all around & both were good.
Apr 27, 2024
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Their chicken fried momos, hakka noodles with Manchurian & dessert were awesome! 💯 However the place is extremely expensive, we paid 5$ for one can of Pepsi 🤯
Being of Southeast Asian descent, I've always wanted to try Hakka which technically is cuisine from a region of China. However, it gets more complicated than that because Chinese from that region migrated to Southeast Asia, India, & the Caribbean, merging their cuisine with that of their host country. Oorja is a sophisticated spot to enjoy Hakka, which I consider fusion cuisine before there was fusion cuisine. It's an intimate place with a relatively small number of tables, & a significant part of the place devoted to a lovely cocktail bar. I sometimes like to eat & drink at a bar, so that's a bonus. This time there were three of us. Our cocktails were amazing. We were served by very helpful & competent staff. The best dish by far was the Momo appetizer. So many layers of flavors which I found familiar, but mixed together in a unique way that I hadn't tasted before. My companions had the Chili chicken with fried rice & noodles on the side. They loved it. The fried rice had that typical wok hei aroma & so was well prepared. As were the noodles. I had the braised pork belly. This in my opinion was the weakest of the dishes, but I'm willing to give Oorja the benefit of the doubt on this one. Unlike the Momo with its multiple layers of flavors, the dish lacked complexity. I've had several versions of Southeast Asian pork belly which involves pan frying it with the usual Asian aromatics plus lemongrass, with umami provided by fish sauce. So I guess I was expecting something of those flavors. I do know that Hakka involves braising, rather than the other techniques I usually associate with pork belly preparation. So it might just be me having preconceived notions. Nevertheless I still enjoyed my meal. All in all, my experience in Oorja was thoroughly enjoyable.
Very good food. Chicken dish with fried rice was only slightly too sweet for my tastes but was too ultra hot spicy. Perhaps reduce a bit? Braised pork very tasty but too much fatty pieces. Chicken dumpling were delicious.
We had dinner here on a Wednesday with some friends, the menu is very limited & most of our table was vegetarian, we had: Paneer Manchurian w fried rice - very good, probably the best thing we ordered Chili Paneer, Chili Momos, Baby corn - all came with the same sauce, sweet & spicy very similar to General Tao sauce. It was fine but got a little boring having the same sauce with multiple things Fried Vegan Momos - good but nothing to write home about. Hakka noodles - a little over cooked, not so flavorful Fried rice - quite good, I'd recommend over the noodles. For the (very high) price, this place is not one I'd recommend. Maybe the bartender is different on a Wednesday but the $18 cocktails tasted like juice & the cheapest glass of wine was also $18.
A 5 for the expertly crafted cocktails. WoW! All were exceedingly delicious. Being an Indian/Asian fusion I'm undecided whether I like this combination. The lamb spring rolls were better, with two dipping sauces that were excellent. The duck wings while good were too sweet overall. Pork Braisé was plentiful yet again too sweet. Chicken & also Veg Manchurian's were ok. Opt for the fried rice, which did have delicious smoky flavor. Wait staff was very nice, however needs a bit more training. (Don't reach in front of a guest to deliver food to another. Ask if the meal is finished before removing sauce plates.) Would definitely return & enjoy cocktails & an appetizer or two.
