Welcome to our cozy corner of the Plateau! Step into our warm, Japanese-style izakaya in Montreal. We serve authentic Japanese comfort food with a touch of French flair, in a space that feels just like a cozy spot in Tokyo.
Reviews describe SATO Izakaya as a cozy, well designed Japanese spot with a lively yet relaxed vibe, offering a broad menu of ramen, sushi, takoyaki, gyoza and tapas style dishes, with generous portions and solid value for the quality. The food is praised for freshness, flavor and thoughtful preparation, especially the katsu, aburi sushi, ramen and gyoza, while service is described as attentive and friendly and the atmosphere as welcoming. Some comments note that prices can be high for tapas and that pacing can vary on busy nights, but the overall sentiment remains very positive with guests planning to return to try more of the menu.
Sato never disappoints! I have eaten here 3 times & it is consistently superb. The salmon crudo is one of my favourite dishes, as is the grilled squid & the chicken katsu that almost melts in your mouth. If you are 2 people, order 5 plates to share & you will be full & happy. Reservations are recommended as it fills up quickly!
A real gem! Tried Sato Izakaya & were super impressed with the attention to detail & tasty dishes. My husband's ramen was steaming hot, exactly the way ramen should be served. My seaweed salad was fresh & delicious. We also shared the Spider Roll, karaage & the shrimp gyoza, which were all excellent. The beer was ice cold & served in tall Sapporo glasses, super refreshing! Highly recommend this place for the great food, nice atmosphere & friendly service.
Delicious izakaya on St-Denis not far from the Mount Royal metro station. Had a yummy spicy ramen & aburi salmon sushi! My friend tried a variety of other dishes like katsu pork, raw scallop, cod... The waitress was very nice & recommended great dishes!
We stopped by Sato Izakaya after a day of snowboarding & it was everything we were looking for. Warm sake & ramen, fresh sushi, shareable dishes, & top notch service! Each dish was plenty for our group of 4 to share, more than enough for us to try just about everything on the menu!
Their tonkotsu ramen is delicious & unique how they serve it! We also enjoyed trying the hot/cold tapas, looking forward to coming back here to try out other dishes. The service is also friendly & efficient. We had a great evening, thank you!
Dec 20, 2025
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Stumbled upon this izakaya after being told another nearby ramen place had a 3 hour wait. Waited nearly 30 minutes for a table, 15 of which was staring at an empty table that inevitably was ours. Though the restaurant was relatively busy, it didn't make any sense to us it sat empty for so long while we stood at the front waiting. Once seated, we were quickly served. Appies came & were definitely the stars of the meal. Very good aburi sushi & veggie gyozas. We all ordered ramen that unfortunately looked better than they tasted. The miso & vegan broths were good but nothing special. The noodles were plentiful but overcooked & softer in texture. Overall a good restaurant & meal but disappointed with having to wait for our table & the ramen. Looking at the other tables with their non-ramen dishes definitely made us envious as they looked much better.
A new izakaya in the neighbourhood? Let's go!
The food feels authentic, serviced by friendly & responsive staff. A few original dishes that are satisfying to the eyes & the palate, while keeping the casual vibe of a Japanese bistro. The atmosphere has still room to find itself, maybe with more muted lighting & select music tracks. Recommended!
Only issue was the chicken katsu / panko chicken, while very tender itself, did not have enough curry sauce & it was too lumpy/dry. had the right taste but it wasn't authentic in its texture or quantity of sauce. it was surprising that eating the chicken with the curry sauce left zero curry sauce for the rice, so clearly they really didnt put enough curry sauce.
also in japan they cut the chicken katsu, it so you can enjoy picking up the chicken with chopsticks & not have to use knife, fork & chopsticks, however they didnt cut the chicken so you're required to cut the chicken yourself then eat it with chopsticks.
I am being picky but its the small details that elevate your dishes to be worth the price.
most dishes were quite tasty though, just could be optimized further, which is generally the staple of Japanese cuisine.
chicken karaage was decent as well.
miso soup was nothing special.
brussel sprouts were decent but needed a sauce or something as they're a little dry by themselves.
drinks are somewhat pricy as well, hitting a few bucks over other places. service was great.
It was a delightful experience at Sato Izakaya. The food was delicious. We ordered several dishes to share - the takoyaki, Japanese katsu, salmon aburi sushi, & spicy tuna inari sushi - & they were more than enough for two people. I must also mention Mrs. Lucy, whose kindness & warm welcome made the experience even better.
