Welcome to GIWA, where authentic Korean flavors meet modern creativity. Enjoy shareable plates, local wines, and fresh, seasonal dishes in the heart of Verdun. Join us for a unique dining experience!
GIWA is widely praised for innovative Korean cooking in a focused, small menu that highlights sotbap rice dishes, carefully crafted banchan, and inventive desserts such as doenjang creme brulee and perilla oil ice cream. Flavors are described as authentic yet refined, with standout items including fried chicken, beef tartare, gimbap, seafood platters, and a balance of textures and seasonings that feels like elevated dining. Several reviews note a warm, intimate atmosphere and attentive service, though some mention occasional seating or heat issues and pricing questions. Overall, GIWA is seen as a rare, high quality Korean dining experience in Montreal, a place to return for thoughtful preparation and presentation, with desserts often singled out as memorable.
Excellent Korean restaurant. The food is authentic & delicious. The esthetics are appealing & the taste is amazing. For Korean food, it is on the pricier side; however, it is well worth it. The waitress is knowlegeable & explains every dish. I truly recommend the yukhwe (beef tartare) & the haemul jang (raw seafood platter). The sotbap was excellent too. The rice & beef come with many side dishes.
Apr 4, 2026
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L'entrée de poulet frit est tout simplement incroyable, facilement le meilleur poulet frit coréen que j'ai mangé, comparable aux meilleurs qu'on peut retrouver en Corée. Le tartare de boeuf était tout aussi exceptionnel. Excellent service du début à la fin, je recommande fortement.
I was extremely impressed with the food quality, flavours, & the chef's creativity. Great staff & amazing service. 10/10 will be back & will recommend to friends!
We came as a big family & was fully satisfied. Great service & excellent menu. They really did a great job & helped us experience a unique Korean menu. Will recommend, very intentional.
If I could give this 6 stars, I would! We went here with our family for dinner to celebrate our anniversary & the food & service was amazing. They have a small menu, but you can tell that everything was really thought out & it was so delicious! All the food was simple, but super elevated with intention. Our server took his time to fully explain the menu & what paired together. You can tell they are very passionate about their work & food. Would highly recommend & go back again!
This place is amazing & unique to other Korean restaurants. Everything was seasoned perfectly & the presentation was absolute art. I got a bunch of items on the menu but forgot to take pics of some of them because I was busy devouring it. Truly a hidden gem. I highly highly recommend.
I came here after learning that the head chef here was trained under the famous canadian chef, darren maclean. The food won't disappoint.
Aug 29, 2025
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One of the most memorable Korean restaurants I've had as of late. If you're especially a fan of raw seafood, this is the spot for you. Honestly, just get everything on the menu. All the meals were excellent. Some notable ones were the shared seafood market platter (the crab, scallop & salmon were perfect), the mushroom sot-bap, the chicken gangjeong & the stuffed green pepper. The staff was super helpful in determining quantities & very friendly too. The restaurant is good for groups of all sizes but would recommend coming as 4+ to be able to try a bit of everything.
GIWA was such a lovely experience! The sogogi sot bap (steak rice bowl) was delicious & was perfectly seasoned. The side dishes that came with it were also great pairings.
I also got the marinated seafood platter which brings my rating down just a tiny bit because the of the crab which I was most excited for. It was soy-marinated crab but it had their own spin on it which was still good, however since the crab changes everyday we got the snow crab.. & the legs didn't have a lot of meat 😭 I was expecting what's shown on their instagram however, it was still good & the salmon & shrimp really blew my mind away!
The rice is cooked to perfection & I could eat 8 bowls of it too.
The steak tartare was amazing, I highly recommend it & next time I'd try the other appetizers.
We finished with pear & perilla oil sorbet & it was the perfect sweet treat. It's hard finding delicious korean restaurants in MTL, & this one was not like anything else I've tried! I'd come back again :)
Apr 5, 2025
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Yummy food & a refreshing take on korean food with innovative modern twists. Came for the soft opening & was very satisfied with the dish selection. The staff was attentive & the chef Alex & team was very hospitable. Tried a variety of the menu but the marinated crab sharing platter was a great experience & a highlight of the meal together with the Sot Bap. Also the stuffed peppers were an exceptional starter. Highly recommend if you're looking to try a change from your typical korean food!
I never expected to find such a beautifully prepared Korean meal in Canada.
The stone pot rice was perfectly cooked, down to the last crispy layer at the bottom 🍚
The deep-fried stuffed peppers were crispy with a spicy kick that filled every bite with flavor 🌶?✨
& the yukhoe (Korean-style beef tartare) was incredibly fresh, tender, & nutty-truly irresistible 🥩🥢
Highly recommend this spot to anyone missing the comforting taste of home-cooked Korean food ❤?
This restaurant just opened a few weeks ago & was intrigued by the menu. They serve more elevated Korean dishes with a twist. The menu is small but every dish was executed amazingly. We started off with their rendition on a gimbap & the beef tartare. Both were excellent & the texture of the fried seaweed was great! For mains we got the beef sotbap, fish sotbap & the haemul jang which was an assorted raw soy marinated seafood platter. All dishes were fresh & delicious. My fave being the beef sotbap. I really appreciated the attention to detail here as every side dish was tasty & well presented. To finish off the night we ordered desserts. DO NOT skip on the desserts because they were phenomenal! We got the gochuchang brownie & the pear, perilla & lime ginger sorbet/ice creams. There was so many different textures & flavours for all the desserts. The perilla ice cream was my fave! Never had tasted that flavour before & would recommend. Overall I really enjoyed this restaurant & will definitely be back. It's difficult to find restaurants at reasonable prices with high quality dishes & innovative ideas with almost flawless execution. GIWA definitely delivered!
This was our second visit to GIWA Restaurant. We had such an amazing meal last time that we made a reservation for 5 PM today.
Tonight, we enjoyed Yukhoe & Gimbap, along with the beef & fish sot-bap, all recommended by Chef Alex. The way the rice was mixed with the soy-marinated egg sauce was simply outstanding.
GIWA is quickly becoming our family's favorite restaurant!
