Restaurant GIWA

Anthony

5.0

Went there for the first time before Christmas, it was so delicious, generous portions, nice presentation & friendly service. Very cute place & top quality authentic Korean food. I'll be back for sure!

yesterday

on Google

Me

5.0

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.

Jan 14, 2026

on Google

Sara

3.0

I didn't like the beef noodle dish. The flavours were lacking & the pasta they used looked like fettuccine. The veg didn't complement the meat.

The menu is weirdly priced where the appetizers are almost the same as the mains.

We were not full after & went to another asan restaurant which was much better.

For montreal, the quality of cooking & flavour balance of this place is not at the right level especially for the price point

Jan 9, 2026

on Google

Maria

5.0

Great spot for a cozy dinner! Food was great & portions were big. The vegetarian main was super tasty. The service was friendly & welcoming

Jan 8, 2026

on Google

Kira

5.0

Just wow. Everything paired so well together. Service was great too. Super worth it.

Jan 7, 2026

on Google

Boissier

5.0

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.

Dec 29, 2025

on Google

My

5.0

Food was excellent. Comfort food with amazing presentations. I wish the seating was a little more comfortable but I would go back for the food.

Dec 14, 2025

on Google

Arianne

5.0

Superbe expérience. Les plats étaient délicieux & de grande qualité. Un peu plus cher qu'ailleurs, mais c'est dû à l'attention des détails & à la richesse des saveurs. Nous avons bien apprécié & y retournerons certainement !

Dec 7, 2025

on Google

Nika

5.0

Made a reservation here for someone who loves Korean food on their birthday; the food was surely the highlight of our night. Each meal was served with sides, & you could clearly see the chef's creativity shine through with the unusual ingredients they chose for their dishes; they all complemented each other perfectly well, each bite tasting different. The Giwa was perhaps one of the best desserts I've been served since a very long time: with matcha mousse, chocolate & vanilla ice cream hiding a biscuit cake underneath it all. All in all, I would go back without a hesitation.

Dec 7, 2025

on Google

Justine

5.0

Best appetizers! The beef tartare, the fried chicken & the Gimbap were insane

Dec 5, 2025

on Google

Denis

5.0

j ai adoré

Nov 25, 2025

on Google

Stella

5.0

We came here soon after it opened & was impressed. As a Korean, I am very critical of Korean food. This was a lovely treat. The gochu twigim is quite delicious, so we ordered a second round! We also loved the seafood sharing plate.

Nov 22, 2025

on Google

Stéphanie

5.0

Service excellent, plats aussi, & franchement la meilleure crème brûlée que j'aie jamais mangée 🥹

Nov 21, 2025

on Google

Yigon

5.0

Dakgangjeong & Dak-kalguksu are amazing! Each one of dessert is unique & has Korean taste. OMIJA COCKTAIL MUST TRY

Nov 21, 2025

on Google

Yerin

5.0

Everything we tried at Restaurant Giwa was amazing! Every dish was beautifully presented & paired perfectly with the cocktails. We'll definitely be coming back!

Nov 20, 2025

on Google

Matthieu

5.0

Very good, amazing food. Not cheap but worth the price.

Nov 19, 2025

on Google

Young

5.0

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.

Nov 19, 2025

on Google

Moogy

4.0

I was really surprised to find this restaurant & enjoyed the atmosphere. The food was very good or soso. I will try it again to see if this was a fluke & give it a 5 ⭐

Nov 14, 2025

on Google

Angela

5.0

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!

Oct 28, 2025

on Google

Arafat

5.0

Great food !

Oct 25, 2025

on Google