Thazard

When the holidays come around, you get a little lazy. That includes keeping up with the order of my posts… so today I finally get to a meal I had before Christmas! We’re going non-​linear with my reviews… at least only with this one. Anyway… My girlfriend and I with our friend Annie — the first friend of ours who said to put her name in here instead of just saying we were with «a friend» — decided for our little «Christmas» get-​together to go to a restaurant that both me and Annie — a fellow restaurant enthusiast — had on our lists for some time now: Thazard. Located on the Main in Mile End, this restaurant originally had lots of buzz during its opening in November 2014 for its desire to do French-​style guéridon service and for the fact that kitchen service would run until 2 a.m. The trolley service fell by the way side at some point but I had still heard and read enough good things to consider Thazard worth visiting.
The restaurant was completely dead on this particularly rainy Sunday night… other than two people at the bar, we were the only patrons in the restaurant until we got to our dessert course. As such, the ambience was dead — no energy, no discussion going on to create some vibe. It put a little damper on the beautiful space. The use of low lighting and candles on each table created an intimate setting. The rest of the room has a very clean and sleek look with the all-​white walls, mirrors and wooden tables. At least the lack of a crowd allowed us to enjoy the music!
Chef Hachiro Fujise’s menu is North American and Japanese fusion cooking served in a small plate format. First up was spicy edamame because I can’t help but order edamame when it is present on a menu. A nice kick on top of the usual salty edamame.
Our first true plate was the papaya salad — served with turnip white kimchi, tomato, crispy shallots, peanuts and some octopus. A nice looking dish with good favours. Despite the kimchi, it wasn’t as hot as the typical thai variant. The octopus was nice and tender and a good addition to the salad.
Next was seared baby scallops served with shiitake mushrooms, spinach and ponzu butter. A more subtle dish flavour wise, the scallops were nicely seared with the addition of the ponzu butter served under the scallops adding a little kick.
The miso poutine was the first big hit for the evening for me. The mixture of kimchi, miso butter and cheese curds is not necessarily a combination you would expect to work but somehow it does. Super rich and fatty with a nice touch of heat from the kimchi. We polished off the plate in record time… Our only lament was that the dish wasn’t bigger!
The following dish was just as good: the chicken Karaage. The chicken was fried to perfection — moist inside but with a nice spiced crunch on the outside. Served in bite-​sized pieces with a lovely garlic aioli and some kimchi which provided nice addition flavours to pair nicely with the chicken.
The final main we tried was the tonkotsu ramen — pork stock, egg, nori, pork, soy, green onions and charred leek oil. This dish was a must as my girlfriend had never been exposed to proper ramen before. Some may say I’ve failed as a boyfriend for waiting 11 months but hey… a man has to pick his battles. The broth was of the thicker variety, very smoky and rich. A nice hearty way to close out the main courses.
Dessert provided us with a couple of interesting options. First was a Genmaicha Crème Brûlée with matcha bee pollen. Again, an interesting asian twist of a classic. The texture wasn’t quite the same as the usual crème brûlée — not as firm — but still very enjoyable. Lastly, we had a homemade molasses and ginger cookie topped with candied orange zests and chocolate ganache.
We walked out of Thazard nicely satisfied and having paid a pretty reasonable price on top of it. The food was good to excellent across the board without any major issues. It was too bad that it was a dead night atmosphere-​wise but there is not much you can do about that. Despite my disappointment with the disappearance of the trolley service, Thazard’s interesting fusion play of Japanese and North American was definitely enjoyable and is worth your time if you’re around Mile End. And remember… if you are in need of proper food at 1am, they are open for you.
Cheers!

Went for lunch on a Friday. Walked in at 11:45, wondered why we got a table for two since it was empty. Then it was packed at 12:05. Ok, got it. Had the pork ramen and gyoza. Everything was delicious. Just filling enough. Lunch menu is affordable. Service was done at a good speed. I really liked the décor: original and interesting. Not for kids: mostly high tables with high stools, but they have footrest and a back so it is comfortable enough.

Went there for the MTL a Table. A menu for 31 $ and any cocktail was about 10 $.
Food quality was maybe a ⁷⁄₁₀ at most for me, but what really killed it for me was the length of the service and the quality.
Yes, it is a 5 service menu, but we didn’t have many choices, so us staying there for 4h was unacceptable.
After ordering, the MINI soup came first (the only option available), that alone took 30 minutes.
Every meal took at least 30 minutes to come and were all bite-​sized.
Took the waiters about 3 hours to notice we were out of water.
At the end, while we left the tips that we think they deserved, asked us what was wrong and we decided to be honest, they really didn’t take critism well at all.
I simply cannot recommend this to any of my friends, I’m sorry.

Service: ³⁄₁₀
The service was extremely slow (4 hours from the time we got in to the time we got out…). Furthermore, when criticized about the service and the small portion sizes, the server told us that we were the first group complaining and that the food was not designed for a group of people in their 20’s …
Food: ⁴⁄₁₀
We went there for the «MTL a table» event. It was a 5 course meal (for ants! it needed to be… at least 3 times bigger!). I also took a drink which was okay. The total was 50 $. way too expensive for the experience and the food i got… A friend of mine had the impression he was losing weight eating there (good for people on a low carb, low protein, low fat, low everything diet)… Even the girls in the group went to eat at another restaurant afterwards… Taste wise, it deserved a 6÷10… not more.

Good. Not great. I liked the vibe here though and would come back at night. Young, hip, fun. Food was OK. Service was pretty good given some of the previous comments. I’ve had better ramen in Montréal. Gyoza was good.

Really bad service. Sitting more than an hour, and two «your food will be right out» statements, we left unfed. Dishonest service, had to hunt them down to ask what was happening, no info given, didn’t come to the table once after the order was taken.

Baby scallops were incredible as was the green papaya salad. Also the udon noodles. However, salmon was a miss… Overcooked and oversalted. In a completely different category from the subtlety of these other two dishes. Wait staff were accomodating and let us pirate their wifi… Which doesnt reach all the way to the cool seat in the front window. Glad we stopped here.

The menu is not extensive but what is on the menu is delicious!
The ramen is some of the best I’ve tasted in the city!
I enjoy this place every time u go (which was 3 times in one week when I first discovered it)

I honestly love the décor! The only thing I would change is the rock music. really doesn’t work well with it. But hey, anyways, we had baby scallops, octopus spring rolls, salmon (a bit too salty but great flavor) GREAT OYSTERS! Also the papaya salad, I love salads like any other #whitegirl, but this didn’t faze me. Just over all strange. The dessert with orange and ganache flavor was amazing. poutine doesn’t require kimchi. Maybe a kimchi flavor drizzle instead?
Over all, I wouldn’t mind coming back. But I wouldn’t deliberately choose to return either.

Nous sommes venus ce samedi soir vers 20h. La salle à manger n’était pas pleine, mais bruyante. Ce bistro a un environnement très ”hip” avec des cocktails assez intéressants. Nous avons pris deux cocktails, très bon au goût, mais le rapport qualité-​prix est à revoir. Un gros morceau de glacé prenait pratiquement toute la place, ce qui faisait en sorte que le cocktail devenait très dilué et pour le prix, il y avait plus de glacé que de cocktail en tant que tel.
Pour ce qui est de la nourriture, c’est à essayer. Le maquereau était très bon et avait un goût fumé, mon mets préféré de la soirée. Le poulet kaarage était aussi bon, mais rien d’excitant au goût. Nous avons essayé également le ramen au porc traditionnel (non-​épicé). Il n’avait rien d’extaordinaire, simplement reconfortant au goût. Un morceau de porc, un demi oeuf semi-​cuit avec une feuille d’algue, donc assez ordinaire pour les ramen qu’on peut trouver à Montréal. Les prix des repas sont très raisonnables.
Le meilleur côté est le service, car nous étions servis très rapidement et l’arrivée de la nourriture a pris littéralement 5 – 10 min après avoir commandé.
En résumé, bon resto, mais avec les autres restaurants de Montréal, le ”foodie” en moi né sera pas de retour.

Disappointing, the soft shell crab is $ 16 and so small you will be done in 2 bites literally. I thought it was a joke when the waiter brought it to the table! We had a ramen soup and was average, a bit bland.
Will definitely not come back, there are so many better options in the area.

The place is very nice! The ramen is nothing of special, but the other things was so good.
The staff was very friendly and we have a beautiful dinner :)

Been many times, love it decided to leave a review. The table d’hote is a must have, for only 30 $ your get the best diner in town. Period.

As a native of Japan I’m pretty picky about my Ramen. The Ramen at Thazard definitely makes the cut.

Bön bistro japonais dans le Mile End, une option assez abordable avec une liste de cocktails interessante. Nous avons essayé plusieurs des tapas, la formule fixe n’était pas assez interessante pour nous. Nous étions au bar, habituellement on préfère ca aux tables, mais cette fois je recommanderais plutôt une table. Le tartare de bœuf était haché trop gros nous obligeant à le mastiquer longtemps, mais la salade tiède était vraiment bonne. Après le repas, vous pourrez continuer la soirée en face au Sparrow!

Not good food, not good service, good cocktail… I cook better at home… Flavours weren’t there and we had to go get the guy in the kitchen to ask for the bill. Will not go back for sure!

I really enjoy the novelty of the cart service at Thazard, although perhaps it’s just novel to me. Either way, when the cart came by our table I couldn’t resist ordering a few treats from it and ended up with kimchi, pickled vegetables, and a veggie sushi roll before ordering any actual dinner. Luckily my fellow diners were more than happy to share and since the portions weren’t giant I still had room to order the Warm Salad (made with rapini, root vegetables, bonito, tofu, eggplant and miso purée) and Miso Poutine (with miso butter, cheddar, and kimchi).
The warm salad had a lot of potential to be so delicious, but unfortunately I kept running into partially cooked root vegetables. However, the bites that were cooked well were done really well and so I would give the salad another try. For the poutine I ordered it for two reasons: 1. I have to order poutine at least once per trip to Canada (it’s part of my contract I made with myself) and 2. it was very different than any other poutine I’d encountered. It had kimchi on it for crying out loud! It was interesting, but I would probably try something else if I visited again just because the menu features a lot of food that sounds worth trying.
The space is really cozy and warm — I especially like the lighting. And the service is quite friendly. So, it was a lovely dinner experience all in all and I’d be happy to head back another time.

I liked the place, the concept, the décor.
However there are some tables that are a bit marginalized… that the waiter might end up forgetting. That’s where we were sitting, on one of the three tables close to the window.
The Menu list is not extensive.
We had the Salmon tartare (that was so-​so definitely not my favourite), the croquette (that I really liked I thought it was delish’), and the Chicken Karaage (which was delish).
I love the cart concept. The waitress in charge of the cart passed by while we were having our drinks (Champagne cocktail) and had not yet ordered food. We had the mushroom maki, which was very good but not impressive.
We felt forgotten by the waiter who was disappearing most of the times, so during the dinner there were times where we would wait for the waiter to take our order.
When we finished our drinks, the waiters just cleared the glasses without asking whether we wanted another one. We also ordered tea that we didn’t get? not sure what happened, but it wasn’t a big deal.
I loved the idea of the cart for the dessert. The finishing touches of your dessert are done in front of you which is very entertaining. There were two choices a brownie with white chocolate and lemon zest and a matcha crème brûlée.
We tried both. The brownie was yummy but the crème brûlée was too soft and as a crème brûlée fan I was very disappointed. The waiter was very observant and noticed we didn’t finish our 2^nd dessert and asked whether we liked it or not, and we mentioned our disappointment.
So he removed the crème brûlée from our bill which I thought was very thoughtful even though not necessary, but definitely very much appreciated.

We had a really really great meal here this week, I am so glad to have a cozy delicious new place in the neighbourhood! Sunday night at 7:30 the restaurant was about half full when we arrived, and the length of the bar was full of folks who work in nearby kitchens and bars — always a good sign.
We started with a cocktail and beer — short original list of both, affordable and very very good. We shared the octopus, chicken, salade tiede, and a big bowl of spicy ramen served with two small bowls for sharing. The ramen broth was rich and the noodles firm and I will go back often just to dunk myself repeatedly in bowls of this. The salade tiede was the highlight though, maybe because it was so unexpected, French and Japanese flavours with delicious roasted vegetables. Like crazy good.
The service was friendly, smart and prompt, and I love the calm look of the room where any type of quiet meal or celebration would feel welcome. The only minor off note in the décor is the glaring fluorescent lights from the kitchen — these are only visible from a few spots in the room but if that’s where you’re seating they’re a buzz kill. But whatever, the food was awesome, loved it, will be back often.

Thazard on Boul. St. Laurent. — Bistro open late serving up great Japanese comfort food. Great service and and even better natural wine list!
The evening started off at this Japanese Bistro — whose kitchen busts out dishes until 2am — with a round of drinks to shake off the weeks’ stress. Since we weren’t super hungry on our first visit (shocking — believe me we know!) a second visit to Thazard went down before publishing this — so here is an overall summary of our experience:
Aperitifs. The drinks were good, although the general consensus is that they were a bit too sweet and not strong enough for our tastes. The single massive ice cube was appreciated, in contrast to that crushed ice situation that a lot of places have been doing lately — it kept the drinks cold, without overly diluting them.
Burujowa — Rum, nigroni, cucumber, & chlorophyll
Rickey Kaffir — Gin, lime, with a kaffir leaf garnish
Champagne Cocktail — Yuzu juice, bitters, sugar, champagne
Wine. The wine list is a natural wine drinker’s dream! Both our bottles were well-​balanced, natural reds.
Langhe La Ferma 2012. Pasquale Pelissero Barnyard aromas when just opened with hints of red fruit — raspberry and tart cherry on the palate. It wasn’t overly acidic and it definitely evolved drastically throughout our meal, the hallmark of a good natural wine. Not among the most intriguing we have had, but excellent nonetheless.
Saumur-​Chamigny Ruben 2013. Sébastien Bobinet. AMAZING — LOVED THIS WINE! A natural cabernet franc with a very tight deep barnyard smell once uncorked, with high minerality at the beginning. It definitely had a leathery taste, which mellowed as the wine opened up. Not only was this bottle interesting and evolving throughout the meal, it was very drinkable and pleasurable– this was perfect as it cut some of the fatter dishes, but also paired well with the delicateness of the ramen and spicy broth.
Food. Thazard = Comfort food and it does it well. The flavours are deep yet simple.
Everything sampled was cooked well, served promptly and at the correct temperature. The staff is very knowledgeable, with the patience to help a group of hungry and indecisive scoundrels navigate the menu.
Cart — a waitress passed around with a cart containing vegetarian sushi, pickled vegetables, homemade chips, kimchi and torched mackerel. There was also a selection of desserts on the cart — a truffle and matcha tea crème brulée. Great concept — unfortunately, the cart passed by us only once, resulting in us managing to procure a single instance of pickled veg without its glorious presence being witnessed again… (Note –The cart was not seen at all on our second visit)
Vege Ramen: light, warm and full of charred leek flavour which we found complimented the noodles and broth well.
Spicy Ramen: well-​seasoned, sprinkled with sesame seeds. It had a nice level of spiciness with an almost smokey after-​bite. Warm, hardy comfort food with tender yet firm ramen and a broth which was booming with flavour.
Koji Chicken — not a hit at our table; we found the citrus to be overbearing. Nevertheless, the chicken was tender and cooked to perfection.
Miso Poutine– was the
! The spicy Kimchi above really broke up the saltiness of the miso gravy. Awesome… (mmm and now we’re hungry all over again!)
Dessert. There were 2 options. There is no greater crime then a crème brulée that gives into one’s spoon, like a limp handshake from someone with clammy hands. A nice firm handshake will do, thank you very much. And that is what the matcha tea crème brulée provided — a crystalized sugar coating that after a crisp cracking sound gave way to a beautiful creamy light green matcha tea infused silky cream interior. Our waiter saw how happy we were with the crème brulée and offered it to us at the end of the evening. The truffles were a welcome surprise of savory and sweet flavours. The Yuzu truffle was hands-​down the table’s favorite, the sweet yet punchy fruit flavour of the yuzu was strong enough to break through the rich chocolate flavour and they paired perfectly.
Final Thoughts. Thazard has a great interior, with a modern vibe. A great place to lounge, drink, eat and chat for hours.
MTL Foodsters were really on-​board with the ramen and especially impressed that Thazard features Japanese comfort food which is all 100% MSG-​free! The service was sublime; both waiters (Guillaume and Philippe) had a great knowledge of natural wines and were able to find bottles which matched our preferences.
Ultimately, it is the amazing on-​point natural wine selection, hearty ramen and casual atmosphere that will have us going back to Thazard when in need of a late-​night eatery.

The food here was excellent and the service was amazing. The menu choices are very interesting and full of taste.
The twists on Western food are descent and not too out there and the more traditional Izakaya is very good. I also like the choices they bring around on the Giridon.
The layout is modern Izakaya with lots of seats close together but still some separate seating for the less community oriented people.
Everyone should try this place!

Great food but flawed by poor service.
I wanted to love this place, great location, interior, trendy, interesting menu. However the overall experience was very subpar.
There seemed to be around ten waiters and waitresses. Each time a different person would serve the table, resulting in confusion to the point where some dishes did not even arrive. No apologies given.
Would probably visit again, but only once they settle in a bit more.