Bienvenue chez GIWA, où les saveurs authentiques de la Corée rencontrent la créativité moderne. Savourez des plats à partager, des vins locaux et des mets frais de saison au cœur de Verdun. Rejoignez-nous pour une expérience culinaire unique !
GIWA propose une cuisine coréenne moderne et raffinée, centrée sur le sotbap servi dans des pots et accompagnée de banchan faits maison, avec des plats et desserts créatifs utilisant des ingrédients rares comme l omija ou l huile de perilla. Le cadre intime et le soin apporté à chaque assiette donnent une impression de gastronomie maîtrisée et accueillante, et la carte volontairement reduite favorise une vraie concentration sur la qualité. Le service est en grande partie apprécié pour sa gentillesse et sa connaissance du menu, mais quelques avis soulignent des retards ou des questions de gestion des reservations et du bruit. Les plats phares tels que le sot bap, le tartare de boeuf yukhoe, le dakgangjeon et le gimbap, ainsi que des desserts originaux autour du doen jang creme brulee et du sorbet perilla, réussissent a allier authenticite et finesse. Dans l ensemble, GIWA est percue comme une perle rare a Montreal, offrant une experience coreenne moderne et memorable qui donne envie de revenir.
Première visite & j'ai vraiment aimé l'expérience. Ce fut mon introduction à la nourriture coréenne & j'ai été rapidement conquise. Nous avons débuté par le tartare de boeuf en entrée, suivi du SOT-BAQ au poisson & des nouilles au boeuf. J'anticipais un peu que ce soit trop piquant pour moi, qui trouve la sriracha presque too much, mais finalement le niveau de piquant était très tolérable.
Pour terminer, nous avons pris le Hodomaru, un délicieux dessert chocolaté présenté avec beaucoup d'élégance & énormément de saveur. Le tout accompagné d'une tisane à l'orge très réconfortante.
Le service était sympathique & convivial. On pouvait vraiment sentir que le serveur était fier de présenter les plats de son pays d'origine, avec toutes leurs saveurs & leur complexité.
Le seul point à améliorer serait, selon moi, la carte des vins, qui ne comporte que deux ou trois choix au verre, pas très intéressants. Autrement, tout était parfait ! Merci!
Restaurant Giwa is not a'Korean restaurant' in the way that term has come to mean lately. It is something far rarer.
The focus here is ?? (sotbap): rice cooked to order in an individual heavy metal pot, layered with carefully chosen ingredients, then finished so that the rice develops structure & contrast (soft grains at the top & a crisp, nutty crust at the bottom). It's a dish that demands precision & there is nowhere to hide mistakes. This is one of the reasons sotbap is uncommon even in Korea & almost never the central focus of a restaurant.
I lived in Seoul for over a decade & only encountered sotbap in one neighborhood (ie Seoul's Seongbuk-dong) where it tends to appear in restrained tradition-minded kitchens, rather than the mainstream spots that one can find anywhere. In my lifetime of actively seeking out quality Korean cuisine, I have never seen a restaurant outside Korea with sotbap on the menu, let alone a place dedicated to the dish, & I would be genuinely surprised if anything comparable exists even in major Koreatowns like Los Angeles.
What makes Giwa exceptional is not rigid adherence to recipes or performative authenticity, but care. The menu is deliberately narrow, which is exactly what you want for a dish like this. This restraint signals confidence & quality, particularly when compared to the'all you can eat meat' restos of dubious quality or the'every Korean dish our chef is willing to cook' format. The sotbap itself is outstanding across the board. Every version we've tried has been excellent, from the vegetarian mushroom to the cod, & the rice is granted the role it deserves, as the true foundation of the meal, rather than as some sort of neutral filler or side.
The level of technique throughout the meal is striking. The appetizers are prepared with a precision on par with the sort of well-reviewed ??? restaurants in Seoul (formal Korean dining where a sequence of meticulously composed dishes replaces the idea of a single'main.'). The execution feels closer to high-end French or Japanese kitchens than to the casual Korean dining most people expect. There is clear thought behind every element. & there's also some creativity here: a doen-jang crème brûlée should not work on paper, but it does & it's memorable, it's the dish that some friends are still talking about a month after our last visit.
The banchan (side dishes) deserve special mention. In Montreal, banchan are nearly always an afterthought: bulk kimchi, nuclear-yellow danmuji & barely-seasoned bean sprouts that are interchangeable & forgettable. At Giwa, the banchan are clearly handmade, clearly intentional, & clearly cared for. You're served a generous spread, I think 10-12 items, & each one feels considered. This alone puts Giwa in a different category from nearly every other Korean restaurant in the city, if not the country. (We drove to Tofino & back last summer, & ate as much Korean as we could along the way, so I feel fairly qualified to say this.)
Context matters. Montreal is full of Korean restaurants right now, many of them middling, many not even Korean-run. Most seem to be lazily riding the rise of the K-food/K-pop/K-whatever trend without any sort of commitment to quality. Giwa cuts through that noise completely. It is traditional without being rigid, refined without being precious, & ambitious in the best sense.
This restaurant is genuinely unique in Montreal & arguably one of the most serious, thoughtful presentations of Korean food you can find outside Korea. The fact that it hasn't yet been written up properly in the local media is baffling. Giwa deserves attention, not because it's trendy but because it's excellent.
14 janv. 2026
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A Korean gem to have in Montreal! If there's one thing to emphasize it's their showcasing Korean ingredients & flavours not found elsewhere: omija in a cocktail, mugwort in their tiramisu dessert, marinated egg yolks for the rice dishes, perilla oil ice cream! The menu is small & well thought out, every dish showcases strong elements of Korean favourites & has great variety. The sot-bap (rice dishes) are beautifully presented & come with tasty banchan. The gimbap is airy, crunchy & packed with flavour. The fried chicken is a MUST, the smoked Gouda foam sends it through the roof. & do ask what the chef's dessert is because he's always coming up with a creative combo of Korean ingredients. Sharing some pictures from their holiday special set menu, features regular menu items but in a smaller format for this special menu.
Small menu but everything was so tasty, well prepared, authentic flavours & beautifully presented. I was a bit apprehensive coming here after having read the bad reviews, I worried for nothing. From their appetizers to their creative desserts, every dish was so delicious. The fried chicken was the best I had in years, the sauce not drenched with cheap syrup, so perfect. The galbi jjim was flavourful, not oily, so tender, filling as it came with rice & banchan. The beef sotbap was so good too. Beef was tender, rice cooked perfectly, & the sauce seasoned just right. The noodle soups didn't disappoint either. Don't forget to be blown away by their desserts. Loved their chocolate brownie, the chef creation, & sorbet. If any thing to be improved I'd say is their service. Never been to a restaurant where we were not greeted upon entering nor leaving. Also it took awhile before the waitress brought us water & asked us if we had any questions. This is not Korean hospitality. But we will be back for it's the best Korean restaurant in town.
I had such a wonderful dining experience at Giwa! The food was absolutely amazing. The appetizers were delicious; especially the dakgangjeong. The cheese sauce on top perfectly complemented the sweet & spicy chicken, making it so addictive! The beef sot-bap was also incredible, the meat was full of flavor, & the side dishes paired perfectly with the meal.
& the dessert... wow! I loved how it wasn't overly sweet but still so satisfying & delicious. You can truly taste the time, care, & love the owners put into every dish.
This restaurant is truly a gem, & unlike anything else in the city.
The raw marinated seafood was one of my favorites - so thoughtful & intentional, especially the raw marinated crab, which is usually hard to eat with the shell but here felt effortless. The other seafood dishes were just as memorable.
The korean fried chicken was beautifully elevated, & the cheese foam complemented it perfectly. I also loved the sotbap with mackerel, made with seasonal ingredients that kept it fresh & special each time.
Other standouts were the beef tartare, the refreshing & beautifully presented watermelon salad, & the gimbap, which felt elevated & refined.
A special mention goes to the desserts. I'm usually not a dessert person, but their korean-fusion creations completely won me over.
Ultimately, Giwa is worth a visit if you're in Montréal. It's elevated Korean food with intention behind every dish.
Cozy little restaurant tucked away in Verdun; a hidden gem around Montreal. Service was amazing & the food is nothing else like I've tried here!
The menu is very well curated with each dish being delicious & purposeful. The sotbap, gimbap & dakgangjeon tasted so yummy & comforting while dishes like the hwachae & yukhwe were very bright & refreshing. The haemul jang is extremely unique & the way it's prepared makes this type of dish easy to enjoy-allowing you to focus on all the complex flavours. The desserts are also delicately prepared & the hodumaru is to die for; perfectly sweet with a little bit of umami spice.
Giwa is a modern take on Korean classics & they do it with lots of care & finesse. Wanted to try everything on the menu because it was all so amazing.. I will be back again!
31 août 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.
The sot bop & haemuljang were beyond my expectations. absolutely delicious! The servers were also very friendly, which made the experience even better.
Amazing food & very friendly staff!
Tried the haemuljang (seafood platter), by itself found it a little salty, but with the rice & the seaweed chips the balance was prefect.
Went for the sot-bap & marinated seafood plate. I believe this is the only place offering these two plats in Montreal. Both were beyond our expectations & we loved the side dishes for sot-bap. The only off is we thought there would be a whole marinated crab, since we really wanted to try the carapace. It turned out there were only snow crab legs.
We ordered gochujang chocolate mousse, perilla oil ice cream, & peach sorbet. The mousse has a strong chocolate taste, & it is a fun with a small hit of gochujang. I LOVE the perilla oil ice cream. It brought me back to the summer in Korea🥹 I would say one scoop is a good portion. Otherwise, the taste might be too heavy. My friend prefers the pear sorbet tho.
The service was good. I reserved a table on a wrong day, so we almost didn't get a chance to dine. However, they were really nice & made it work for us. The place is cozy & quiet, good for dates, friend hangout, & even small family dinner.
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 :)
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!
We had a 7:30 PM reservation for two & arrived on time, expecting to be seated shortly. There were two empty four-top tables, so we assumed one might be for us. Instead, we were told there were no tables available & asked if we wanted to sit at the bar-which we declined, since we had made a reservation specifically for a table.
We were told to wait'just a second,' but several minutes passed with no update. Then, a group of four who arrived after us was seated immediately, while we were still left standing awkwardly near the entrance. One of the empty tables remained untouched for at least 10 minutes before we were finally seated there. The staff apologized multiple times, but the whole situation felt disorganized & frustrating-especially since the point of a reservation is to avoid this kind of confusion.
We were given tea, which we assumed was a nice gesture to make up for the wait, but no one came by to refill it or offer water, & we were left quite thirsty by the end of the meal.
As for the food:
- The yukhwe was fresh & tasty, though the portion was smaller than expected given the price.
- The sogogi sotbap looked great but lacked the buttery, rich flavor we were hoping for.
- The side dishes were unique & interesting-definitely a highlight.
- The crème brûlée for dessert was the star of the meal. We'd honestly return just to try more desserts.
We were there from 7:30 to about 9:30 & ordered one appetizer, two mains, & a dessert.
Overall, 3/5. The food has promise & the staff were kind, but the seating experience really soured the evening. Hopefully, as the restaurant settles in, they'll improve table management & service flow to match the level of care they clearly put into their food.
4 avr. 2025
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This cute little restaurant has very Instagramy food: the dishes are placed in a very esthetic way, nice presentation. However I find the appetizers portion are too small for the price they charge. For example the scallop salad is 22$ for a very small amount...
The wait for the sotbap took forever. The Bol of rice came lukewarm & lacking flavor. The small dishes of banchan are ok. Out of the 3 kinds, we like the vegetarian the best. Rosemary gives a unique flavor to the rice. The fish & beef were kind of underwhelming/bland.
The star of tonight Show is the dessert!!!
We order perilla oil ice cream, it was perfect! It has a roasted nutty flavor. Who knew this can taste so good.
Also the brownie with dark chocolate mousse with maple ice cream was decadent!! (Although we didn't taste the gochuchang in the chocolate, but who cares?)
So conclusion: we would come back for the desserts.
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!
From the appetizers to the dessert, everything was made with care & were delicious. The gimbap was super crispy & delicate. The beef tartare was fun to eat with the fried nori. The sot-bap came with many side dishes & tasted healthy & comforting. The brownie had a hint of gochujang & was very special. The perilla oil ice cream tasted very unique.
The waiter was super nice & the service is quite fast.
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!
