Sam Cha draws praise for flavorful Korean dishes and good value, with standouts like bibimbap, tteokbokki, jokbal, pajeon, kimchi fried rice, and spicy soups, served by friendly staff in a cozy setting. Reviewers note that the place can get very busy, especially on weekends, with long lines and tables that are close together, making the atmosphere loud, though weekday visits can feel more relaxed. Reservations are often recommended or required on busy nights to secure a table. Several comments mention inconsistent service or occasional delays, and a few dishes are described as overly salty, bland, or smaller than expected, with some noting a dip in quality after menu changes. Overall, it remains a solid, affordable option for Korean classics that many diners plan to return to for more.
J'ai adoré ! Le serveur était vraiment sympathique (c'était le manager), la nourriture & cocktail super bon & belle ambiance. PS : assurez vous qu'on puisse communiquer en français avec les serveurs mais notre serveur était bilingue ;)
Très bonne adresse qui réalise d'excellents bibimbaps. Je reviendrai sans hésiter pour goûter les nombreuses autres spécialités coréennes telles que le japchae. On y trouve également du soju de plusieurs saveurs.
Nov 7, 2023
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Probably my favorite Korean spot in Montreal. Big portions & the food is always so delicious. Come here to put your name down ahead of time since the wait is usually very long. Very worth it though
One of the best authentic Korean restaurant. I highly recommended. There prices were very fair & good. The foods were super delicious & well presented. There beef tartare & tobboki were to die for. Not to mention about the soju & other Korean cocktails & rice wine, they were all phenomenal. I would definitely come back to eat again.
Small intimate korean restaurant with very good eats. Cant go wrong with anything on the menu its all good. The only ick is that they don't have side dishes.
The food is superb, expensive but the portions make up for it. It is a great spot (I went there as a second date!) for either one on one or as groups. The front spacing is a little crowded, & the area in the back has more room. The lighting & decoration is inviting & lovely. The last time my friends & I went, John was our server & he was super sociable (they all are!!). We got the dakhalbi culpan, KIMCHI FRIES, bulgogi rice, & ramen. Super recommend! We tried the pineapple & watermelon soju, super sweet & we adored it. Can't wait to come back soon!
Oct 23, 2023
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The place is small, but once you walk in the aromas of all the food smelt so good. We came here for my birthday. We got a variety of dishes to share with our small group. The service was good, we had to wait a bit to get the food.
Nous avions réservés à l’avance, donc il n’y avait pas d’attente. La nourriture était super bonne! Pour ce qui est du service, la personne est seulement venue prendre la commande, donc je n’ai pas de commentaires. Je recommande vraiment!�
I’ve been going to Sam Cha for a couple years now. My favourite dishes would be the seafood sondubu that comes with rice, the beef tartare & the dolsot bimbimbap. I’ve recently tried the mussel soup which, to me was mid, as well as their rosé cream udon that I found was too sweet for my liking. Besides that, the ambiance is cozy. There’s often a line up so plan ahead.
Oct 16, 2023
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The kimchi fries were excellent, the drinks were good, & the staff we very nice so we still tipped but the rest unfortunately fell short especially short given the price, when ordering Dolsot Bibimbap generally it comes sizzling hot, but not only was the bowl not hot the rice wasn’t even really hot enough to cook the egg, & the tofu was fridge cold with no flavour & even after adding more kimchi from the fries & more sauce the dish was still disappointing enough that we couldn’t finish it, a problem I’ve never had before with any Bibimbap Dolsot or not, I’m hoping what happened to us was a 1 off but sadly given we spent over $100 between 2 people I can’t say it’s worth the risk to go back
Mauvais expérience dû à leur système de réservation vraiiiiment douteux. Lorsque que tu arrives, tu t'enregistres sur une tablette. Pendant 20 minutes, plusieurs tables étaient vides (voir photo), des gens continuaient de s'inscrire, mais personne ne s'installait. Au bout de 45 minutes, nous avons décidé d'aller dans un autre restaurant coréen «cocoddak» (super expérience). J'ai finalement reçu le message nous invitant à nous installer 1h30 après mon inscription sur la tablette.
Un système sans réservation serait mieux, les gens attendraient & dès qu'une table serait vide, elle se remplirait.
Donc, je vous conseille d'éviter cette adresse les fins de semaine!
5 stars review for Sam Cha that wonderful Korean restaurant in Montreal. We ordered Takoyaki, Teokk bok Ki, Tofu Salad, Rose cream udon, Sea Food Ramyui, & Kimchi Fried Rice.
We had a wonderful experience at this Korean restaurant. The food was delicious, the service was excellent, & the prices were affordable. We would definitely recommend this restaurant to anyone looking for a great Korean meal in Montreal.
Sep 24, 2023
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- Bad service. We had to reach to our waiter for almost anything: water, a new grill, extra plates. We kept being told that we’d have to pay for pieces we didn’t eat. It was very annoying, & gives a cheap look.
- Extremely cramped. Chairs have no back support
- Dirty. Bathroom smelled bad & looked like it wasn’t cleaned for a while.
- Overall pricey for what you get. Kimchi & beef were great. Pork & chicken were mediocre.
I won’t go back. For 50-60$ CAD you can get better service & more gastronomic meals elsewhere.
I used to love this place! The food is really the best, to this day.
During my last visit, we took the all you can eat bbq & we didn’t get to eat as much as we would’ve liked because of the service. Waiter took 15-20 only to take our order. When we got the food, he barely came around to see us. Very disappointing:(
Dined here for the first time with my family (4) on Monday, September 4th & picked the all-you-can-eat option.
The appetizers that are included tasted good (radish & salad), though the kimchi was a little too sour for my personal taste.
They offer a wide variety of meats that were all delicious, as they were lean (not too fatty) & nicely marinated.
We also ordered a cold noodle dish from the à la carte menu, which i found was on the simpler side in terms of ingredients- it could’ve been better had it contained a little more than just half an egg, two types of veg & noodles (i loved how they were the perfect “level” of chewy).
Moreover, I tried their drink called the “I.D.H” (an iced cocktail with pear juice & soju), & it tasted amazing. & if they offered the choice to add tapioca pearls, it would’ve been a one hell of game changer.
In terms of the service, we arrived at around 5:15pm & were thankfully seated immediately.
The workers were nice & brought out the BBQ equipment + dishes fairly quickly for the first round, however the pace naturally slowed down as the restaurant got busier.
One thing, however, that I did not quite appreciate about the experience is how the waiters/waitress did not check up on our table as frequently as they should- this lead to empty dishes pilling up (leaving us little to no table space, as the grill took up a great majority of it) & the water refills were lacking to say the least.
In order to be served (ex: order more dishes), we had to either get up from our tables & walk up to the front desk, or raise our hand for at least 5 minutes- to no avail 2 out of 3 times. Mind you, I was staring at the waiters as they just stood around the front desk (not serving anyone).
I understand that most customers opt for the à la carte option (which makes the servers’ job simpler), however it should be common knowledge that the all-you-can-eat option requires more check-ins; the reason being that there are likely multiple rounds of orders & hence, more dishes to be taken care of.
All in all, I would come back -for the food- & order from the à la carte as a change for a, hopefully, improved experience in regards to the service.
