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.
Beautiful looking food I hope they get noticed by the Michelin guide & its innovative tastes great compliments to the chef amazing options & desserts with hand written messages with their cannoli just one of the best dine in experiences! Prices are so reasonable as-well just inline with Hakka food tradition & decent sized portions too considering the caliber & quality of food they serve!
Aug 6, 2025
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very cute little resto. very popular.
interesting drink menu, lots of options.
we were 3 & shared 6 plates. everything was delicious.
the chili momos were much better than the straight up steamed ones, so I would just get the chili one.
lollipop chicken, paneer, hakka noodles, lamb spring rolls. all amazing.
highly recommend
My first time dine in experience was way more than expected. I hope they keep up even in times to come, since it's not easy to come across a good Hakka Chinese restaurant. Even my friends from Toronto were taken by surprise, given the fact that there are more options in GTA.
Met with the owner & the chef also. Great duo. Overall staff, cleanliness, food & parking were just perfect. Definitely will come back for more.
Thank you for the lovely experience 😎
This is the best hakka chinese restaurant in Montreal. Oorja means Energy...& this restaurant had the best energy. The taste was outstanding & the drinks classy. & the service was homely. Hidden gem.
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.
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.
Dec 21, 2024
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Hakka food is a very unique fusion of asian flavours & this place executes it very well along with wonderful presentation. The max heat on the dishes is just right & only enhances the blend of flavours. Whenever you can eat all the plates with hakka noodles instead of rice. The cocktails are fun & inventive. The homemade red bean ice cream is a perfect way to end the night. I will say the place is small & the ambience doesn't really stand out. Service was attentive but food was a bit slow but they acknowledged that & gave us a free dessert to thank us for our patience. The wait was well worth it 👌.
Amazing place to try out indo-chinese food. Fantastic! It was my birthday & they took us in last minute. Had an absolute blast & shout out to the server Alejandro who did an exceptional service. I really enjoyed chicken chilli & chicken lollipops plus the hakka noodles were bomb. Thank you for making my day!✨
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 🤯
Apr 13, 2024
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Everything just out of this world , my new favourite Hakka place in Montreal can't recommend more. 100% drinks 🤌🏽🤌🏽🤌🏽🤌🏽😋 everything so delicious served perfectly, must visit if you in saint Henri
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.
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.
Tried 9 different dishes & all were hits amongst the table. Everyone at the table had prior experiences with Hakka cuisine & this was up there with the best of it. Really great flavours & proteins were cooked well. Service was really great & the staff was incredibly friendly. Great resto experience from beginning to the end.
Oct 15, 2023
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The food is really very close to the Indo-Chinese Hakka cuisine. But I can imagine it might be a little too spicy for some people. So just ask before you order. Ordered one cocktail & it was well made. Would love to see cauliflower lollipop for vegetarians.
Good luck to the second Hakka restaurant to open in Montreal, the bar couldn’t be higher. Top service, amazing drinks, & authentic Hakka. Already looking forward to our next visit.
Saw a few posts about how this is the first Indo-Chinese restaurant in Montreal. As someone who grew up eating hakka chinese every other week, Oorja was immediately added to my list of places to try. It did not disappoint. The service, ambience, drinks, food, literally every single thing was absolutely phenomenal & so authentic. Will be going back often.
this is the most tasteless hakka I've ever had. Toronto has many hakka & my favorite is Hakka Garden Inn...amazing. In this resto all the effort was placed in the look not the flavour...hot don't always make a good meal..I'm sorry
