Reviewers describe Satay Brothers as a vibrant and bustling spot in Montreal with a lively atmosphere and a strong vibe, where the menu offers a wide range of flavorful small plates ideal for sharing and standout items like pork belly bao, laksa, satay, and papaya salad, plus bold drinks; the service is often praised for being attentive and friendly, though the place can be loud and busy, with long waits at peak times and some concerns about portion sizes or value; overall it comes across as a must visit for groups and for anyone seeking bold, authentic Southeast Asian flavors and a memorable, energetic dining experience.
Apprently groups of more than 4 don't get to choose what they want to order. I'm a big fan of Omakase & seasonal menus but this was literally the regular menu items you just don't get to choose... Food was hit or miss, bao buns & laksa are okay but that's about it. 1 drink we ordered was good the other was bad. Service was not great. After bringing up that one of the drinks tasted off I was argued with about what was wrong with it. I've been here a few years ago & it was good but wouldn't recommend it anymore. Prices are way too high for the quality you're getting.
I had a gift card given to me, so I finally got around to going to the restaurant. I so wanted to like this place far more than I ended up liking it. I have had their food at the Atwater Market & in the Royal Victoria Hospital this was first in the actual restaurant. We arrived around 6pm on a Friday, as I paid for 2 hours of parking my wife went in to secure a seat. When I found her they had seated her at the front bar & I was supposed to join her & when I saw the arrangement even though the parking was paid for I got us up to leave. The staff suggested perhaps we'd be happier at the back bar, which admittedly was less busy, but still not what I wanted, but decided to give it a go. Having perused the menu earlier in the day & had already painted a mental picture of what I wanted, I wanted to try a cross section of the menu. I asked about how sharable the menu was, & proceeded to order. As a quick side note, the prices on their own website are out of date, & just about everything was a little more expensive, not to the point where I was shocked but there is nothing worse than finding the prices online are incorrect, this is in my opinion unacceptable. I'm not saying a photo of the menu that was out of date, I can accept that, I mean front & center on the website prices are wrong, this would be a 5 minute html fix, but not done. Nevertheless we ordered & then we were offered a table which we moved to. We had our laksa soup which was very good, a strong start. Next was a chicken satay sandwich, which was the beginning of the end. It was very middle of the road. Sandwiches have the capacity to be a star attraction, but this was middle of the road, too much peanut sauce not enough of anything else to really appreciate. Our order of vegetables of the day arrive. While waiting I ordered a Pandan Daiquiri, which was good. We waited over 20 minutes for our Rendang beef & rice to arrive, we actually had to ask them to check on the order, & it was still a few minutes before we had our "main" dish, by now the simple vegetable dish was cold. The presentation of the beef was lack luster, just laddled on to a plate with little to no ceremony, while tasting fine, it just looked kinda not so appetising. Lastly we took a kueh salat for dessert. Again while it tasted fine, it was not presented in any pleasant way, but still looked better than the beef. We paid, & we left. On the drive home I concluded that since I hardly had to pay that much due to the gift card, that if I had paid for the meal I would have been pissed off by what we had. During dinner I described the place as less a restaurant & more a night club that has food. The place is loud & quite chaotic, which is part of the reason I don't think service is great, it's too busy & full of people for the staff to be attentive. So I now have another Montreal restaurant I don't need to go back to. Since the pandemic I have felt less & less inclined to go to restaurants. We used to be so spoilt in Montreal, good food, good service, reasonable portions for a reasonable price. Now I struggle with this regularly & this place doesn't stand out enough for the prices, the portions are on the small side for the prices. I mean a plate of Asian greens for $11 is outrageous, it's cooked vegetables, on a ratio of about 6:1 of preparing it at home versus eating it in a restaurant, 3:1 maybe 4:1 is the most they should be charging for this kind of thing. I fear for the future of restaurants in our city, people may be willing to pay these prices but I don't think they have an appropriate appreciation of value. In any case this is my review & I always try to find a strong counterpoint in my reviews to be as balanced as I can be, but I don't think I have anything to add, I can't even say free ample parking.
Nov 1, 2024
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Run don't walk to this gem. The fun atmosphere, incredibly warm staff, & not to forget the incredible food. You'll regret not eating here whether you're a local or just visiting. I had the chicken satay, laksa, papaya salad, & the pork bun. If I had room I would have eaten them all over again & a few more bites. Thanks for the nice meal Satay Bros!
decently sized laksa with creamy flavourful soup & tender chicken ($2 extra, so $18 in total)! it's not too spicy, so the flavour was really good. i think the dish was done well. 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 they only take reservations for 6+ people, so it was around a 20 min wait during dinner on a saturday. there is a connected bar next door we were lead to by the staff so it wasn't too bad while waiting. we were seated at a communal table & service was very nice & quick!
Nice experience to try Singapore food! Like the laksa soup! They also do half portion as well,quite thoughtful:) don't miss out chicken skewers as well as steam bun!
Killer flavours & nice atmosphere at fair prices, kid friendly too. **UPDATE**: 10 year later review update - bumping up to 5 stars. This really is one of the best restaurants in the city. Amazing & super consistent food (we're 10y+ regulars at this point). One of our favourite restaurants in the city. Great bold & bright flavours from an under-represented cuisine here in Montreal. The laksa, pork buns, satay sandwich & papaya salad are all standouts. Also, the fried rice (which changes up regularly) is amazing, truly awesome. The vibe is great too. Vibrant but laid back atmosphere, great with the family/friends earlier in the night, then it becomes a really fun evening spot with a lively clientele, a good bar & good times when the sun goes down. When people are visiting Montreal for the first time & ask for restaurant recommendations, Satay Brothers is always on the list. Not to be missed, one of our best. I'll update this review in another 10 years!
I've had the laksa maybe 6 years ago at Atwater marché stall. It was better than the one I had at the restaurant now. I haven't been to the restaurant, so we went to try it . Being from the region in South East Asia. I was immediately excited to try this place. The food was kind of below average. It was disappointing due to the portion size , cost & the quality. The laksa felt diluted , it tastes more of tumeric rather than the richness of Laksa. & the portion is so small for what you are paying for. The Satay was not bad , it was kind of bulky pieces usually they are more smaller & flat. The peanut sauce was good. For three satays the price was very high . The char kuey teow was disappointing. It didn't have that Char flavor that u want & it wasn't even piping hot , that already tells you that it wasn't going to taste correctly. The decor atmosphere looked amazing . It's a beautiful restaurant. However the food was ridiculously priced for the portions,it felt like sample size & it wasn't up to average standard . So for people who want something like street food back in Singapore Malaysia Indonesia, I wouldn't waste my money coming here. An average road side stall would have tasted better than this place. The only thing I can see enjoying in this place is bringing a larger group of friends or party for the bar & atmosphere
I only ordered take away so cannot comment on the dining service but it took about 20-25 minutes for our take away to be ready as it was very busy. The restaurant itself is well decorated & has a cool & hip ambience but the noise factor was through the roof (probably due to the design of the interior & lack of sound absorption). If the restaurant is full & you are hoping to have a decent conversation with your fellow diners, forget it! I'm sure if the restaurant wasn't full, then perhaps it's a wonderful place for a meal! The food itself is a 3 star due to lack of authenticity, flavour & size. We ordered the laksa soup noodles & Char Kway Teow. The laksa portion was probably half of what I would expect from a laksa noodle dish as am used to a generous portion of laksa & noodles. Perhaps the concept of this restaurant is smaller portions, I'm not too sure. The soup was tasty but mainly of coconut & spice & was missing the aroma of the seafood broth base. There were only two small portions of tofu puffs, loads of bean sprouts & the noodles were not as expected. Normally one would use it egg noodles/hokkein noodles/vermicelli. Despite it being not authentic, it did taste nice & hit the spot. The Char Kway Teow was nothing but disappointing. Even though there were generous portions of Chinese sausage (a little too largely sliced & too many if you ask me), the flavour was completely off. All I could taste was sweetness & soy sauce, perhaps the sauces were used in the wrong proportion? It was also missing the aroma from the smokiness of the wok, which generally would result in caramelisation on the noodles & some of the ingredients. I just didn't feel like I was eating a Char Kway Teow at all, very disappointing indeed! Next time, I would like to try some of the other dishes but not getting my hopes up!
I'm asian so I expect a lot from Asian food in terms of flavor. atmosphere wise it is a really hopping place to hang out. BUT for Southeast Asian food-- the flavors are only salty but not very nuanced & the portions are tiny. my friend got a chicken leg as a starter & for $5 they gave something that looked like one measly chicken wing. I got laksa & the soup was coconutey & fine. the shrimp was the best part-- lightly cooked great texture. but not enough noodles. three slurps & I am done the bowl. & way too many bean sprouts. papaya salad was the tastiest at the table. the vegetarian options don't even bother. gado gado had no flavor. tofu Bao is also flavorless. too expensive for what it was.
Mar 17, 2024
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I went in without reservation on a Friday night. They told me the wait was about 1 hour, & that I could wait at the adjacent bar, & they'd come get me when it was my turn. I am so happy I waited, the food was delicious, with the papaya salad & the laksa being the stars of the meals. Atmosphere was great & the servers seemed so happy to be there, it made the dining experience that much better.
Great food. Great service. Great atmosphere. I highly recommend the fried chicken, laksa, & rendang. The mee goreng was just ok - not much meat & a little too salty. Skewers were a bit overpriced & underwhelming.
Our last night in Montreal & we were blown away by such a cool place with 100% delicious foods! Such a treat - we were sad to have found them at a late stage & wish we could take them back to England with us!
We had the chicken satay, green papaya & pork & chicken laksa & chefs fried rice - so, so good!
The staff were also so lovely & friendly!
We arrived for supper at around 6 & they were very busy.
