About a year ago Montreal saw its sushi restaurant scene going up a couple of notches with the opening of Park, a superb Asian restaurant with a creative Western bent. It went mostly under the radar at first and is still to a point one of Montreal’s best kept secret though such a stellar kitchen has since won over the best food critics (including myself!). The eponymous restaurant of Executive Chef Antonio Park bears all the fruits of his unconventional upbringing: Korean roots, Argentine-born, culinary training in Japan and work in some of the top kitchens in America. The result is a wondrous mix of impeccable Japanese techniques, American creativity, and stellar ingredients for one of the best sushi restaurant in town.
The fish is the main reason to go as it’s some of the freshest I’ve ever had the pleasure of tasting. Chef Park is one of the rare chefs with a private import license which means the fish arrives several times a week from the world’s top fishermen and you can really see the difference. Sushi and sashimi are served perfectly seasoned, the chef having already added the ideal amount of wasabi, sauce and any other garnishes to create the most perfect bite every time… elegant, silky, smooth, sublime. The variety and quality of the fish is astounding and you can have an incredibly filling and more than enjoyable meal by sticking strictly to ordering sushi.
If you like a bit of diversity, the seasonal menu offers as well a multitude of other dishes as expertly prepared as the fish such as steaks, Asian salads, Korean specialties with a twist and daily specials. You can also have the omakase tasting menu of five courses which surprisingly doesn’t have to be ordered for the whole table so we tried it coupled with a few more dishes from the a la carte menu. Our feast was of gargantuan proportions and well worth stuffing ourselves into seafood heaven. We all knew fish of that stature wouldn’t cross our palate so soon…
Oysters
Asian salad
Dashi soup with eggs and peppers
Park-style sashimi – salmon from Ireland, albacore tuna, red snapper from New Zealand, Japanese plaice
Arctic char tartare with white beet salad
Sushi platter – salmon, Japanese butterfly seabream, Japanese catfish, hamachi toro, albacore tuna, abalone, Japanese plaice
Poached lobster with potato salad, asparagus with truffle oil, and sweet potato puree – all topped with a poached egg
Bibimbap with poached egg
Maki of two tunas with salmon belly on top
Cheesecake with vanilla pod
Merci, c’est bon à savoir 🙂
c’est quoi dans le verre à Scotch?
🙂 C’est du sake…ils ont une super liste.