The best sushi in Montreal

When Kimio Nguyen opened the first Mikado on Saint-Denis in 1988, he became the first non-Japanese restaurateur in Montreal to bet on sushi — an odd wager at the time. The Laurier Ouest room, launched a year later and since moved to a larger space, is the biggest of the three: roughly 120 seats, a 16-stool counter and an interior by designer Jean-Pierre Viau built around wood and tall windows that flood the room with daylight. The menu, still written by Kimio, runs from faultless classics — sashimi, nigiri, tempura, soba, teriyaki — to creations carrying a Vietnamese accent, such as the Miss Saigon roll and the royal tuna. This is not the city's most orthodox sushi house and it never claimed to be: you come for consistency, house sauces and a dining room large enough to hear yourself talk. Thirty-five years on, Mikado still plays the role of Montreal sushi institution.

A spiritual successor to the legendary Sata Sushi that once defined Hochelaga, Tamisé is the project of **Tania Morrison**, interior designer behind Motel Ontario and Ratafia, now co-owner and often found behind the torch in the open kitchen.

Together with partners Michael Galvao and Stéphanie Gagné, she opened this neighbourhood sushi spot in 2025 at 4721 Sainte-Catherine Est. The LOVACO-designed interior creates a warm, inclusive atmosphere with soft lighting and refined materials, including granite stone plates from Matière Bussière.

Menu signatures: torch-flambéed sushi, private-import black garlic soy sauce, melt-in-your-mouth tartares, vegan makis, and the signature *futomaki neige*. A curated list of private-import sakés and natural wines, rounded out by Apéro à Zéro mocktails and Quebec spirits, makes Tamisé as much a destination for drinks as for dinner.

Open since summer 2024 in the International District, Nama runs two propositions under one roof: an à la carte Franco-Japanese dining room, and a counter where chef-owner GaCong Ruan leads a sixteen-course omakase in front of you. Self-taught, trained in service by his restaurateur parents before stints at Maïko and Tori, he partnered with Carma Hospitality and executive chef Michael Ho — a 2023 finalist on Les Chefs!, who staged with Paul Bocuse and spent four years at Maison Boulud. Guillaume Ménard's design leaves brick and stone columns exposed, which keeps the meal hushed rather than solemn. Japanese technique with unapologetic French detours: the otoro melts, and the vegetarian eggplant dish holds its own against the fish. This is a less ceremonial — and considerably cheaper — omakase than the ones on de la Montagne, without giving up any precision.

Ryú — "dragon" in Japanese — landed on the corner of Sainte-Catherine Ouest in August 2018 to bring the group closer to its Westmount regulars. The 48 seats were designed by Ménard Dworkind, the studio behind Blossom and Red Tiger: a winding banquette along the windows, cubist swivel chairs at the counter, warm panelling and metal fixtures. The kitchen leans on a verifiable rule rather than a slogan: all the fish is Ocean Wise certified, much of it arrives from Tokyo's Toyosu market, and the menu states where each species was caught. Come first for nigiri and sashimi cut Tokyo-style — little deep-frying here, tempura being a North American import — but also for maki built for Montreal palates and carefully composed poke. To drink: privately imported sake and five signature cocktails that change with the kitchen's mood.

Open since summer 2024 inside the Hôtel St-Paul — the country's first boutique hotel, in a Beaux-Arts building on McGill Street — Yubari borrows its name from the Hokkaido town famous for its melons. Italo Di Pietro of Anonymous Concepts designed the 100-seat room, where charred wood, bonsai and leopard-print velvet banquettes undercut the restraint usually expected of a Japanese restaurant. Chef Willy Do, alongside chef Annie Kwan (formerly of Blossom and Jatoba), pulls the cooking toward France and the rest of Asia: sashimi, nigiri, atataki, bao and a wagyu roll crowned with foie gras. A six-seat omakase counter lets you watch the sushi chef work while the central bar sends out cocktails with an Asian slant. Thursday through Saturday a DJ takes over and the room tips firmly toward a party.