Kaizen Sushi Bar & Bio Gourmet Restaurant

Place was closed although Unilocal showed it is supposed to be open. We are here in Quebec from California and it is quite frustrating to navigate your way on a hungry stomach simply to pay for metered parking and find the Restraunt closed.

Expensive and the service is hit or miss yet the food is good.

I’ve been a fan of Kaizen for many years. Tonight I wasn’t feeling like leaving home so I decided to order takeout. I’m always nervous ordering takeout sushi as it never normally equals the food served on location. However I was pleasantly surprised. Despite the fact that I’m located in the old port the food was delivered very quickly. My hot food turned up perfectly hot and my sushi/​sashimi arrived fresh and as delicious. Especially good were two of my personal favorites, mackerel and oysters. I will continue to eat at the restaurant but will definitely be ordering from Kaizen anytime I don’t feel like venturing out in public. Great job!!!

This place, albeit being nicely decorated and set up, is a disappointment every time. The sushi is NOT good at all. After one experience having sushi here, I’ve tried the lunch box instead which is acceptable, but nothing amazing. Not really sure what else to say other than it seems to be a snobby place with food that is mediocre. at best. Bleh.

Update– A little late yet important to note. Later that evening Thomas from Kaizen called to apologize about the situation. It was nice to know that the restaurant cares about customer satisfaction and hold themselves accountable for the mishap. I was pleased by the way he rectfied the situation. I will give Kaizen another chance in the future.

Having just moved to the area of westmount i was excited to find the local great places to eat. Kaizen was recomended. My husband and i– plus another couple went for dinner. We went ALL out– ordering drinks, bottle pf champagne, oysters and sushi. The food was alright– nothing very special.
The next morning my husband and i were SO sick we had to call in to miss work. When i finally got around to calling Kaizen the manager insisted she had to ask the chef what was served to me before she could give me a answer. As if my saying i was sick was not enough I said i would like a refund for my food, and not even the drinks. Just the food which made us sick. She said she would call me back. I NEVER heard from them. I have since left multiple voice mails and even emailed the owner personally twice with ZERO response.
I live a block away and i will NEVER go there again. How dare they treat a good customer like this?!
Beware and stay away

The food is great but the service can be poor and it is quite pricy.

I must admit that I never had much of a love for sushi nor do I know much about it. I love fish, don’t get me wrong. I mean, I would wrestle a portuguese fisherman for some fresh cod.
But Kaizen has made me a believer. We sat at the bar in the back. The bar in my opinion is the best place to sit. It allows you to watch the restaurant and make some interesting convo with fellow patrons… and you get your drink order way faster.
The rock shrimp tempura was awesome. The steamed beef gyoza, delicious and THEN the grilled squid. My knees buckled (and trust me I’m not a knee buckling kind of girl).
It was a great time. Good food, great company.
Fuggedaboutit!

I’ve always enjoyed Kaizen! I believe they have a new kitchen chef as we were offered a few new suggestions by our waiter. It was absolutely delicious! My favorite was this exquisite crab salad, perfect appetiser for summer and to wet your palate for the melt in your mouth sashimi that we really enjoyed.
Yes, it’s a little pricey but I’ve always felt the quality was worth the price.
Highly recommended.

NOT GOOD.
There, I started my review with my actual feelings about this place.
I went with three friends this past week. I guess we based our decision on nostalgia. Kaizen USED TO be amazing.
Now, it’s just bad.
Our food was bland, it tasted liked nothing. We ordered different things so we can actually vouch for the blandness of the food.
The service was okay but leaning toward «meh» and the prices were outrageous.
As a foodie restaurant goer, a resto needs to achieve the trifecta for it to be 5 stars.
Trifecta: good service, amazing food, well priced.
Now some places can get 2 of these three right. But this place could not justify its insane prices for the bad bland food they had the guts to serve us and the overall «meh» service they provided.
I should have asked for a refund or something. I don’t like giving bad reviews but I really feel like I need to warn people.
Please spend your money elsewhere.

A supplier of my company took me to lunch at Kaizen today and I was happy to be going there, I had never tried that up-​scale sushi place.
The first impression I got when I walked in was that the décor looks worn. I can see that the place must have had it’s hay days, but the furnishings are starting to look dusty and in need of a little uplift.
The Maître D lady had difficulty with the names and while we tried to smile and help her out, she was Icy cold and would not even return our smiles (BTW we are seriously laid back and easy going, we did not aggravate her in any way, but she clearly is not familiar with local names).
Our first course, a seaweed salad. It was OK. Not amazing, just OK. It would need to be a little more seasoned with maybe a dash of rice vinegar or something. It was flat, not bad but borish.
We got to drink 2 pots of lower quality tea (I know my tea) while we waited for the sushi.
We had ordered what we thought were 12 pieces, but it turned out that the 2 listed as 3 pieces, the tempura scallops and the sashimi roe, realle are 1 piece ! that is a rolled up ball what could have been scallops and a teaspoon of roe served in an emptied out miniature lime. Two waitresses came to our table to explain that the menu «forgot» to specify this small detail !
The beef sushi was tasty but very chewy. The organic salmon sushi was perfect.
All the while the muszak, some high strung technoey annoying tune was so loud we could barely keep the conversation going.
SO, chilly staff, overpriced food, quantity NOT as advertised, a dated dusty décor and an ambiance ruined by noise… NOT HAPPY — BUT HAPPY I WAS NOT FOOTING THAT BILL !

It’s so sad. We live on an island and yet we cannot get top quality fish or seafood here. Hence, the sushi at Kaizen isn’t great but it’s very good. Is it worth what they are charging for it ?
Most of the entrées, the nigiris and sashimis are fairly priced but the maki or specialty rolls are very expensive.
Tried the veggie tempura, calamari and oysters for entrees. The tempura and calamari were ok, the oysters perfect and the various sauces that came with all three dishes exquisite. Those sauces were the highlight of the meal.
The fish was of ok but definitely not top quality. The avocado, sake and yam tempura makis were very good. The lobster maki (topped with imitation crab) was disappointing.
The décor is beautiful and the service was friendly and attentive. The service did however slow down considerably when the restaurant filled up. I only saw 2 waiters for the entire restaurant that is fairly large.
All in all an ok experience. There are other sushi places in Mtl where you can get a similar experience.

I used to love this place, I don’t know what happened… The quality of the sushi dropped tremendously. The sushi was bland, and the soya sauce seemed watered down. The only thing that I enjoyed was the Garden Salad.
I am very disappointed.

I know I know I’m from Vancity and I am a sushi snob. I am not going to deny my «birthright». So on with the review, Was the sushi good? Yes it was. Was it amazing and worth every penny? sigh. maybe in MTL but the fact is, it’s really pricey for what it is. For example, 12 freakin’ dollars for Negitoro maki? Hells no, and I’ve never in my life had to think twice about ordering it. Dynamite roll for $ 8.95? eesh. you get the picture.
I know what you’re thinking? YVR Sushi snob should stop comparing prices across the country to the land of sushi plenty. It’s true I will admit that, but there are also other decent-​ish places that are much cheaper.
So my final say? If you want to change things up in the world of sushi and money is no object, check it out, Kaizen is good, just not $ 12 a roll good. if you want to refrain from going there at least 8 times in a year, maybe you can pick up a plane ticket and check out sushi on the West coast.
*Please note that it is not my fault that I was spoiled rotten for a long long time with great seafood choices in Vancouver, and amazing sushi restaurants for lower prices. My reviews though will be biased in terms of cost, and sometimes taste when it comes to Japanese food.

I will start with my only complaint: the service at Kaizen is very slow. Plan to spent awhile sitting at your table waiting for food.
That said, the food is excellent. I have always greatly enjoyed the sushi I had there. I decided that my college graduation gift to myself would be a dinner of Kobe beef — Kaizen was the only restaurant we could find with it on the menu (we didn’t complain, we already were a fan of the restaurant). It was excellent. The dessert menu isn’t too exciting.

The food gets 4 to 5 stars. And they have delivery! But very weird how they demand cash payments for phone orders (hmmm…I wonder why) and they add a 10% charge for delivery or pick up. I would pick up more often if not for the strange policies– I downgraded the rating for that reason.

Good sushi but on the expensive side so be prepared. And don’t leave without trying at least one new fish they get imported weekly. We tried sockeye salmon and it was just divine. If u plan on parking in the lot– it’s free if u spend 30 dollars in the mall or its 5.25– not too bad if ur used to NYC.
The maki mango tolls were delish too. Good place.

Kaizen… What can I say? This place blew my mind. Beautiful restaurant and BEAUTIFUL food. Some of the highest quality sushi and maki I have ever had in my life — and this girl has consumed an obscene amount of sushi! Fresh fish, incredible flavour combinations… Some highlights from my time there would include the sea urchin tempura, the Montréal roll (the fresh mandarin orange is a surprising and delicious touch), and the LBC roll. LBC — lobster/​black cod — is the crown jewel on my ~10 years of sushi experience. The fish is so perfectly cooked, I was ready to trade in my entire plate for another order of these babies. Don’t ask me how they manage to make something so succulent in such a compact form… well worth the $ 25 for eight pieces of heaven.
The service was more than decent, and the waiter gave our party a fantastic mid-​priced sake recommendation — something I so regret not having written down. And the second time I went there, though we arrived right before the kitchen closed, they were very accommodating. They were out of tempura batter, but gave both me and my date free desserts as compensation (even though it was our fault for not bothering to check the restaurant’s hours before showing up so close to closing time!). Yes, Kaizen is pretty pricey, but my experiences there have proven that the expense is well worth it. A definite must if you find yourself in Montréal and craving top quality cuisine.
Also, in response to other reviewers’ complaints about the service — this place embraces the French attitude of restaurant service, and by that I mean they will not bother you until you ask them to. If you want the bill, you need to ask for it. This should not be considered a negative about this place — it’s merely a cultural thing that you need to be aware of before you go. Punishing a place with a low review based on cultural norms is ridiculous, and I think Kaizen has struck a healthy balance for anglophiles and francophiles alike.

Coming from Toronto, the land of cheap all you can eat sushi and $ 10 bento boxes, I’m still getting used to Montréal sushi prices. Having said that, I still found Kaizen Sushi on the expensive end of the spectrum. Rolls ranged in price from about $ 6 to $ 20 if I remember correctly, BUT you only get 4 pieces per roll! While all of the rolls we tried were really good, I’m not sure that I would return, just based on the prices. I will say that the stand out rolls in my mind were the kobe beef roll and the soft shell crab roll. The kobe beef gyozas were also quite tasty and a good size.
Service was pretty attentive, although it did take us a while to finally get our bill. I figured they would just bring it us when we said we didn’t want to see the dessert menu, but I’m also figuring out that that’s how restaurants roll in Montréal. It’s not bad, I like that I don’t feel rushed to leave, but also means you have to allot a good amount of time for meals. We had reservations, and the place seemed pretty full (mind you, it was a Friday night), so probably best to make reservations.
My search for a Montréal sushi joint that can satisfy my cravings for cheap, good, plentiful sushi continues!

I am pleased to update this Kaizen review to four stars! We went to Kaizen in its new digs across the street from the old place and we had a really delightful experience all around. The a la carte sushi and sashimi were amazing as ever, the Sapporos were frosty, and our waiter was very friendly and helpful. Good for you, Kaizen. You seem to be getting it back together.