Reviews paint Pichai as a bold and vibrant Thai dining experience in Montreal, with many dishes described as delicious, flavorful, and creatively prepared, and the Som Tum, tapioca dumplings, pork collar, seafood options, and Thai tea tiramisu singled out as standouts; the wine list is frequently praised and the atmosphere is lively, sometimes noisy, with a chic, cozy vibe. Several guests commend the friendly, knowledgeable service and the overall vibe, while others note moments of inconsistency, including rushed pacing, uneven service, or staff who seemed dismissive, which can affect the experience. Portion sizes are cited as variable, sometimes small for the price, while many diners feel the food justifies the cost due to quality and bold flavors. A number of reviewers consider it among the best Thai or Asian-inspired options in the city and express strong intent to return, despite occasional shortcomings such as delays or miscommunications. Overall the consensus skews positive, with food and atmosphere often praised as exceptional and the wine and cocktails adding to the enjoyment.
Incredible Thai street food style restaurant in Montreal. Came here on the recommendation of a friend - it's a bit out of the way if you are staying in old town or downtown - but easy to get to with the metro & worth the journey.
Had a variety of dishes - Laab Ped (duck ) was a surprising favorite. Amazing natural wine list with a great by the glass selection.
Ambiance is a bit hectic but fun - definitely a bit of a hidden gem for a tourist but highly recommended!
All dishes flavorful & delicious, panang curry & fried chickpea with cauli salad were standouts. I'll be back to try the whole menu & whatever's in rotation. Highly recommend. Good service, cute place. chairs are firm, not cushioned.
May 18, 2026
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Food was actually just terrible. Not Thai cuisine at all, not one Thai server/chef in sight, so I guess we should've left. The dishes marked spicy weren't even remotely spicy, so that should tell you enough.
Each dish is upwards of 30-40$, server expected us (2 people) to order up to 5 dishes.
Extremely small portions, for example the duck salad (see picture), they give you tiny pieces of ground duck & then just leafage. On top of that, it wasn't even good, unless you enjoy chewing on unseasoned herb & leaves. You will leave there hungry & disappointed & feeling scammed.
Leaving this review so the people who actually want Thai food avoid this place.
The dishes were loaded with playful spicy & subtle flavours & textures, light & fresh but also satisfying like comfort food. I was so full & happy after the corn salad & eggplant salad (which came with a nice portion of sticky rice to soak up the sauce) off the temporary specials menu. I'll be back to try more dishes soon :)
2026: I came back & had the special Galam Plee Pad Gapi (cabbage with oyster mushrooms) & a half portion of the pork collar which comes with sticky rice. Both were very good. The pork is salty but in a good way when you mix it with the rice & & eat the leaf in between bites. Also, maybe I'm just socially compatible with the staff but I think they give the best service in Montreal, maybe a tie or step up from mikado. They make you feel at home !
I came back a week later to have the Tom Som Pla soup (rockfish from Gaspesie, pineapple, tamarind). It was really wholesome but the red chilies are super spicy & they don't serve it with rice so this one I'd recommend ordering a rice to go with it. I think they should just include one tbh but I was lucky enough to be sitting next to someone who let me have some of her's ;)
A few weeks later I returned & treated myself to a mushroom night : 1/2 portion of Hed Nem Tok (grilled Montreal mushroom salad) that came with sticky rice, khanom jeeb tod (fried dumplings with stuffed pork, shrimp, Woodear mushrooms, Jimmy nardello sriracha), & 1/2 portion of the gaeng panang jaay (red curry, maitake mushrooms, celeriac, seasonal greens) that came with jasmine rice. Everything was exquisite & the service amazing as usual 🫠
Dined at Pichai on the last night of our weekend trip to Montreal - it was the highlight of our trip.
The Atmosphere: warm, full our colors, life, & small hidden details wherever you look. Great music & vibe overall.
The Service: we didn't have a reservation & were able to get a seat at the bar for 2. Our primary server (a brunette man wearing a shirt saying'piano') was welcoming, knowledgeable, & gave us great recommendations. He guided us through the menu & continued to make sure everything was perfect throughout our meal. There was ~6 other front of house staff in the restaurant at the time, everyone of which interacted with us at some point in our meal, from water service, refreshing out cutlery & plates, & small quality checks throughout the service made for an amazing dining experience. Big applause to the service staff for their attention to detail.
The Food: no notes whatsoever. We ordered 5 dishes, plus dessert to share amongst 2 people & that was the perfect amount of food. Each dish was perfectly created with a variety of elements that all complemented each other perfectly. We had the scallop crudo, tapioca dumplings, soft boiled egg, pork belly, red curry, & Thai tiramisu.
Thank you to everyone at Pichai, I will be telling everyone I know about this restaurant.
10/10 every single time. Favourite restaurant in Montreal & best Thai in the country! so. much. flavour.
Dishes are to share! You won't find your typical pad Thai, pad see eew or green curry on the menu. If you want to try a bunch of things I recommend doing the chef's choice which includes appetizers, mains & dessert. They send out a variety of items from their regular menu & specials, & can also accommodate dietary restrictions. It's plenty of food - you can expect to be walking out with leftovers & a veryyyyy happy tummy. Favourites are the mushroom salad (omg), chickpea tofu, panang curry, massaman curry & Thai tea tiramisu.
We had the chef menu. I have some dietary restrictions & they were so kind to tailor all the dishes to my needs. Everything was delicious & the portions were bountiful. The staff were also amazing. I will say, the food is generally spicy but more flavorful than hot. The Thai tea tiramisu was a great finish to our meal.
Apr 26, 2026
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I would rather say that this's a hit n miss restaurant. First of all, get the raw scallops please ppl ! It is so good ! Well balanced limey flavor with the right texture of the cold fresh scallops , very tasty! However it went downhill form the very fabulous scallops, because of the'way too salty seasonal menu item -- fried chicken'. It comes with a nice bowl of sticky rice & bitter greens ( which are pretty nice) , but the fried chicken itself was super salty & relatively dry , it almost feels like it was forgotten by the chef & left in the super salty fish sauce for more than 3 days ! Even with the sticky rice & bitter greens, it was way too salty! Sadly, when we mentioned this to the waiter at the end, we didn't get any answers from the kitchen. The curry dishes are fine, it just the fact that they don't have any green curry dish at the moment let me down a bit since me personally finds the most attractive curry is hand down green ! Hunger steak is pretty good in curry sauce, the mushroom curry is a bit too sweet for my taste, but it all fine. Just the fried chicken, avoid it at all cost ! By the way, the atmosphere was nice though, chill & filled with fish sauce scent 😀
Whenever I have anyone in town & want to impress I bring them here! This place is like if a very chic bottle of funky wine had a sabbatical year in Thailand. All the dishes are bursting with flavour, snd the atmosphere is intimate & cozy. The servers are also ++ pleasant & a fun time. I've spent my last two birthdays here with no regrets. Get the fermented pork belly & whatever else they have on special, you won't regret it!
Went to Pichai for dinner with a friend, & had a bunch of dishes to share that were all delicious! Loved the Som Tum Thai papaya salad & the Phai Mamuang Tod (pictured here) was flavourful, not too sweet & a delicious way to end the meal! Would recommend ordering a couple things to share ✨
I have to say this experience was far below my expectations.
I came here with a friend after seeing it promoted on social media as one of Canada's top restaurant menus. We arrived with high expectations, but unfortunately, the food did not live up to the hype.
First of all, every dish was overly salty. The seasoning was so heavy that we couldn't taste the flavors of the meat. All the meats tasted very similar because the seasoning overpowered everything. Even the tom yum soup was excessively salty.
The portion sizes were relatively small as the staff suggested. However, despite the small portions, I couldn't even finish my meal because it was simply too salty to continue eating, I had to drink so many water after every bite.
The sticky rice that came with the dish was cold & hard, as if it had been sitting out for a long time.
Service was average. The staff did briefly introduce the dishes when serving them, which I appreciated. However, no napkins were provided throughout the meal, & we only received them after asking at the very end. They didn't check on us during the meal time, the water ran out & then I stopped eating (I really can't eat more without my water because they are way too salty 😭😭😭). The chef should definitely try what they are cooking.
Overall, this experience was not pleasant & it will be my last time here.
Mar 2, 2026
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We ordered three dishes, pork ,duck salad & Tom yum soup, & they were either too salty or too sour. All of them had a very strong, overpowering spice flavor. I've had many other Thai meals before, but the seasoning here is very unbalanced.
The lighting at our table was also very poor - it was so dark we could barely see what we were eating.…personally really don't understand why this place has such a high ranking.
We had a wonderful experience here. The food was absolutely delicious, & the wine selection was great. Our waiter was incredibly helpful & guided us to a fantastic bottle of wine & perfectly chosen dishes. Excellent service & atmosphere - we will definitely recommend this place & come back again.
Everything about this restaurant was exceptional, from the food to the vibes to the service. We had:
- Beef tartare (seasoned perfectly & served with sticky rice & endives to make little wraps)
- Papaya salad (so fresh & exactly what you would expect)
- Tom Yum soup, which was one of the specials (high quality, imported seafood all cooked to tender perfection in a savoury broth that warmed us to the core)
- Tiramisu (the Thai tea flavour really shone through & it was delicious, but a tad on the sweet side. Loved the addition of coconut chips on top which added texture).
My only minor issue was the quantity of cilantro on everything, though I know this is a personal preference. The soup was also served in a vessel that was very cool (central flame to keep it warm), but felt a bit impractical for serving the soup since the ladle barely fit inside it.
There was a lovely selection of natural wines to complement the meal.
Overall, really nice ambiance & great flavours, you can tell a lot of love goes into these dishes. Would definitely return!
Feb 1, 2026
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We asked for the chef's choice, which was 70$ on the menu. We were two people & were served 5 dishes total. At first, we thought this was reasonable at $70 (each dish averages 17-22$), but it was not explained that this price was per person, not for the table. That meant $70 each for essentially 2.5 dishes per person. With two drinks & tip, the bill came to over $200.
What was frustrating is that the dishes served were standard menu items & not larger or special portions. Doing the math afterward, it would have been cheaper to order the same dishes individually & share them.
When we brought this up, the waitress explained that the chef's choice costs more because it's a'curated experience,' even though the selections were identical to the regular menu.
Overall, we enjoyed the meal, but it was disappointing to pay significantly more for the same dishes without the pricing being clearly explained upfront.
amazing. LOVE the scallops, fermented pork belly, grilled pork collar & thai tea tiramisu. all super flavourful super delicious.
one thing to note we got served the sticky rice with the pork belly so we thought it came with that dish & ate it all just w that but later realized it was just a sticky rice for the table :p shoulda kept some for the other dishes
Visited Pichai with a friend & I really wanted to like it, but got sick. I explained that I was celiac, which they seemed to understand & walked me through the menu. A fair amount of gluten-free options & most was dairy-free. However, they accidentally gave me the wrong salad. So, I confirmed salad was gluten free, but later came back to tell me it contained gluten after I started eating it. The main dish was also forgotten, so we had to wait a long time. Got a free cocktail for the salad issue & the other dishes were tasty, but not worth getting sick of course.
#25 of Canada top 100, & the only Thai fashion cuisine.
It is a great date night destination, the dim lighting, the music, the bar, it increases your appetite & chance.
But the dim lighting makes it difficult to see the menu & the food lol
For cilantro haters, in French speaking cities, they go by coriander!
I asked them to try removed cilantro from the dishes (I was probably asking too much since I was at a Thai restaurant) & they didn't remove any! Or maybe they did, but it was still mountain portion of cilantro in every dish.
I went in not even sure what the menu had in store. I didn't do my homework. I didn't come prepared. But sometimes in life, it's when we least expect something that we are truly delighted. That was the case at Pichai.
As a group of 6, we were recommended to order about 12-13 dishes. We got away with about 10 & everyone was full by the end. The flavors from the pork collar, scallops, pork belly & dumplings were surprising yet complementary. Dazzling pops of lime, cilantro & choy to round out the salty & the spicy meats.
But the masterpiece, the coup de gras, the show-stopping number of the evening was the Egg... this was a capital'E' Egg - soft boiled & fried, dressed to the nines in a stunning savory sauce, cilantro & hot peppers. Massive kudos to the genius chefs that devised this Egg. This was the only dish we ordered twice because it was so amazing. I will be coming back for this Egg.
The servers were beyond fantastic... detailed & swift. They explained the adventurous menu well & made great suggestions.
The ambiance was also great. We did shamelessly whip out our phones to Shazam some songs playing over the PA.
If you feel like eating thrilling food with unique, delicate details, Pichai is the place.
