With an extremely impressive resume under them already, The Antonopoulos Group recently opened a whole new genre of restaurant under their wings, a Japanese izakaya by the name of Kyo. With Old Montreal already offering almost everything your culinary tongue desires, an izakaya was lacking in a major way, especially one where young professionals can go and do everything from conducting a lunchtime meeting to hosting a birthday soiree.
The Old Montreal space housing Kyo is extremely central and quite impactful, located in the beautiful Hotel Place d’Armes; it’s impossible not to notice the distinctive Kyo banner with a modern red fish logo on it.
Let’s talk décor briefly before we get into the real nitty gritty of the fab food we got to sample.
The layout of the restaurant was created to suit anyone’s needs. The high and low seating options at either the smaller tables or the long center table offer the option to either join a bigger group of guests and to be more social, or just to impress your date or business colleagues in a more private corner. If you’re in a hurry, the bar or sushi counter, all accented by brick walls, beautiful wood panelling and hand-crafted traditional looking lanterns, are perfect for the eat-and-go set. The restaurant itself is very chic, true to the Old Montreal vibe but with a special touch of Japan, making it trendy and cozy with just the right touch of culture to accompany it.
Let’s talk food now. With its izakaya-inspired menu, the impressive sushi selection and extensive sake list consisting of over 25 labels aren’t the only stars on the menu. The sashimi, meat and appetizers we tried were not only extremely fresh, but beyond tasteful with a uniqueness in each dish. Keiko, Kyo’s manager extraordinaire, was a superb host and explained each plate as it was sent over with detail and passion. Here’s what we had the pleasure of enjoying.
This beef sashimi, topped with crispy garlic, green onions and ponzu sauce (a citrus-based sauce commonly used in Japanese cuisine) on top melted in our mouths.
The always favorite at every izakaya, Ebi Mayo fried shrimp with wasabi mayo, was the ideal follow up guilty dish. Crispy to perfection, with a bit of sesame seasoning; a great starter and one of our top entrees.
Next up, the delicate and slightly sweet scallop ceviche with yuzu (a citrus fruit from East Asia), cherry tomatoes, red onions and leeks as garnish. This is a perfect healthy choice that won’t compromise your taste buds.
Talk about beautiful presentation. Reminiscent of a sunrise in a maki form, the shogun topped off with egg and filled with salmon, shiso, eel and oshinko was a burst of textures and flavours and were unexpected and delightful.
Of course, an izakaya experience can’t be complete without a taste of the pork. In this case we had the Kakuni pork, braised pork belly with shimehi mushrooms. It was a dry meat, different than what we were used to, but lighter in taste; a nice change up to the usual fatty pork we have at other restaurants.
And of course, here comes the sushi! Snake’s up with another cool visual presentation of a tuna, shrimp tempura and avocado roll. Not complicated, great tasting and a favourite share plate.
Being major sweet-toothed animals, we couldn’t wait to finish our delectable tasting with two deserts. But we were definitely not prepared for the over-indulgence we were about to face…
The donuts with yuzu, condensed milk and black sesame… oh boy, we were practically licking the bowl clean, not even kidding here.
And here’s the finale! Bread pudding with chocolate and matcha tea mix – a total explosion of a very unexpected and welcomed mix of textures, flavours and proportions.
Overall, a very pleasant, modern and mouth-watering experience at a snazzy izakaya that isn’t just all looks. YPs, make your way down and check out this new hot spot, say Notable sent you and make sure you order a “Ninja” to start off the cheers with your friends or co-workers. Kampai, everyone!